Recently, many people in the construction of houses choose wood as the main material. In particular, timber, which is much better than brick. True, the walls of the timber lose, for example, foam concrete in terms of thermal conductivity. But if you properly perform the insulation of the house, then you will be able to achieve good performance. Please note that insulation should begin at the time of construction. Be sure to fit insulation material between the crowns. It will eventually dry out and shrink. Therefore, after about a year (as soon as the walls of the house sit down and dry) you will have to do insulation and caulking of all the walls.
Used insulation materials
When warming a wall of wooden beams, it is important to remember that it is allowed to use only vegetable natural fibers. They should not contain any artificial additives. Only in this case will it be possible to ensure the ecological purity of the atmosphere. No unpleasant odors, extraneous sounds, harmful substances will not appear in the house after processing the walls.
Such natural gaskets need to caulk all the corners of the house and the gap. If this is not done, then the house will be very cold. All the cracks will begin to let cold air in, and in harsh winters, you must admit, this is not very pleasant.
What auxiliary materials are needed
When warming the walls of a house from a timber, you do not need to finish them with plaster. In this case, natural ventilation will significantly deteriorate. Therefore, the tree undergoes debate and decay. To perform the insulation work correctly, you need to prepare the following materials:
- Bars for the manufacture of the frame. The width of the frame should be the same as that of the heat insulator.
- Hydraulic barrier.
- Insulation material - polystyrene, mineral or glass wool (you can use both rolled and plate material).
- As a finishing material, you can use a lining or siding.
Insulation of the house from the outside or inside is possible only after the wood has completely settled down. Typically, this occurs in approximately one year of operation of the building.
How to choose wall thickness
Please note that the thickness of the walls of the timber will be different, depending on what climate prevails in your area. So, if in winter the temperature drops down to -40 degrees, it is best to use bars of 180x180 mm. If the temperature does not drop below -30, then a bar of 150x150 mm is enough. For the manufacture of internal walls, it is necessary to use bars of 100x180 mm and 100x150 mm, respectively.
You can independently give the beam the desired shape if there is no suitable material on sale. If you decide to manually cut the material, then you need to use a special tool for longitudinal sawing. The part that will be cut off from the main beam can subsequently be used to build the floor, temporary fences, attic, etc.
Varieties of timber
It is also necessary to talk about the shape of the beam - it can be profiled and standard. The first is somewhat more costly. It is distinguished by the fact that it has a groove and a comb, these elements can significantly reduce the blowing ability of the structure, and increase heat-saving qualities. And most importantly - with their help you can reliably and firmly connect the walls.
When you are laying a profiled beam, it is necessary to put an element with a comb on the lower crown. The next row is a bar with a groove. The crest is usually made in the form of a hump of a rectangular shape or a small step. They fit perfectly into a groove of a similar shape. It is worth noting that it is quite difficult to make a profiled beam from the ordinary with your own hands. In addition, you will only increase the consumption of materials. It is necessary to mention that the type of timber has not a strong influence on the construction of walls.
Wall mounting
In the construction of walls of timber, you will need a wealth of experience and skills. Therefore, if in doubt about your own strengths, seek the help of specialists. There are only two ways to install walls:
- In the paw (no residue).
- In the bowl (there is a small residue).
But when compared with the log walls, the seams are horizontal flat. A layer of heat insulator must be laid between the bars. Felt or tow is suitable, which must be rolled out along the length. If the felt has a large thickness, then one layer is enough. If thin felt, then you need to make two layers. If the timber is fastened to a brick wall, it is necessary to lay the insulation between the partitions.
If snow or rain falls on the heat insulator layer, then wood may rot. Withdraw water to avoid this. To do this, outside, make a chamfer on the upper edge of each beam. It should have a width of about 3 cm. To do this, measure 2 cm on both sides of the rib and carefully cut the layer of wood.
Construction technology
Walls from timber are built according to a certain technology. During the construction of the bars you need to stack on top of each other on one crown. To make the walls strong, you need to use dowels and spikes. They are vertically placed in the bars with a certain gap. You need to start from the corner of the building.
To connect the corners with the root spike into the dressing, you will need to cut a groove in advance on each bar for a stronger connection. The spike must be made from the inside, for this, cut off the layer from the end part by about 3/4, the remaining quarter of the protrusion will play the role of the root spike. In that beam, which is laid at a right angle, you need to make grooves at the same distance at which the spikes are.
Connection of bars with nails
Next, we will look at how to make the internal walls of a house from a bar. But first you need to figure out how to make the outer walls as strong as possible. To do this, apply wooden spikes of circular cross section (screw). They are very similar to nails, have a diameter of 3 cm. To connect, you need to drill holes in the corners of the bars. One dowel can connect several rows at once.
When cutting in half a tree, each beam needs to be cut approximately halfway. These halves subsequently need to be docked with each other, it should turn out some kind of castle. As soon as you lay several rows, you need to fasten them with wooden pins. A tighter connection can be obtained using special insert keys.
Construction of interior walls
And now let's talk about how to make walls of timber inside the house. They must be built at the same time as the external ones, since you will have to do pairing. It is allowed to apply one of the styling options:
- With the help of dowels.
- In the dressing.
- Half a year.
- Frying pan.
The last two methods are based on the fact that holes are cut in the uneven bars on the outside. They should include the ends of the bars of the inner wall. In the dressing - stacking is done alternately (the odd ones need to be cut from the outside, the even ones are half-and-more).
Now consider a more detailed method using the keys. The beam from which the inner wall is made is inserted into the outer with the help of dowels. First, the lower crown of the outer wall is laid on the base. Then you need to cut out the grooves in the bars for the main wall for installing the keys. Similar grooves need to be cut down in the walls from the outside. Then the second crown is laid. In the interfaced with the inner walls you need to make an opening, the width of which will be equal to the size of the beam.
Now you know how to attach the beam to the wall located on the outside. Pay attention to the fact that the inner walls sag much less, since they are not affected by the mass of ceilings and roofs. Be sure to consider this fact when building a house of wood.
Internal thermal insulation
After the work is done to seal the walls, you need to proceed with thermal insulation from the inside. For this, insulation is laid between the interior decoration and the wall. Very often plasterboard or gypsum fiber is used as a finish. It is necessary to make a vapor barrier - it will not allow various kinds of vapors to act on the insulation layer.
But it should be noted that if the work is carried out incorrectly, the log house may crack or begin to rot. In addition, the usable area of the rooms will decrease significantly. Therefore, if in doubt about whether it is necessary to do internal thermal insulation, weigh the pros and cons. But wouldn’t it be better to do only the external?
External insulation
The most suitable option for wooden houses is insulation from the outside. It is necessary to make a ventilated facade system with an air layer. In this case, all the ascending streams will independently remove excess moisture. In the manufacture of such a system, you will get a fairly effective thermal insulation, and most importantly - all the walls will always be dry.
Be sure to carry out the sealing of window and doorways, floor, attic (if any) and ceilings. The floor and floors must be insulated with bulk, rolled, plate materials. It is necessary to use vapor barrier, otherwise the insulation layer absorbs moisture and becomes unusable. In addition, he will increase weight and significantly worsen performance.