From ancient times, log walls were the most demanded in the construction of residential buildings, especially the rural and suburban segment. The construction of a log house in modern conditions attracts the owners of summer cottages and suburban areas for the opportunity to create environmentally friendly buildings that have an attractive appearance.
Therefore, before you build a residential building with log walls, you must carefully familiarize yourself with the features of their construction and decoration. In this case, one must strictly follow the basic rules for choosing a tree for the construction of such structures.
Tree properties
Of great importance in creating a high-quality wall of a log house is given to the main characteristics of the wood used in the construction process.
These indicators include:
- Hardness of wood directly depends on the type of wood and its moisture content. This indicator indicates the resistance of the material to various physical effects. For the construction of walls, hard or medium hard rocks are most often used.
- The strength of wood is particularly affected by its moisture content. Material with a high level of humidity is prone to decay and shrinkage, which can lead to warping of the wall.
- Shrinkage of wood material is a very important indicator. Carefully dried wood avoids deformation of the building material. There are tree species with strong shrinkage (elm, oak, alder, linden, beech). Pine, aspen, poplar, willow have an average degree of shrinkage. Larch and spruce are weakly drying species.
- The presence of various defects also has a significant effect on the quality of wood. Such defects include mold, surface damage by fungus, structural changes. Structural defects include a large number of knots and cracks that may occur during tree growth.
All these properties and characteristics must be taken into account when choosing a material for a log wall.
The main types of wood for the log house
Since ancient times, the most common material for the manufacture of log walls are coniferous trees.
These trees include:
- Pine occupies a leading position in the list of materials used for log cabin. Due to the possibility of easy processing and increased resistance to decay, this wood is most effective in the construction of country houses. Also, consumers are attracted by the affordable price for this material.
- Spruce is used to make a log house much less often, since a large number of knots significantly impedes the process of high-quality material processing.
- Larch is one of the hardest types of wood, but the use of this material is limited by its high cost.
- Cedar also has a high price, although it has excellent strength characteristics.
Very often, the practice of combined construction is used, in which the first crown of the log house is made of larch, and the rest of the pine.
Hardwoods have high strength and hardness, but their use for the construction of a wooden log wall is limited by the rather high cost of the material.
Walling Methods
The whole process of processing and fitting wooden logs for logs is carried out manually. And if earlier only axes and hand saws were used for these purposes, then in modern conditions, chainsaws and electric planers have become indispensable helpers for carpenters in the construction of the log wall.
There are two main technological methods of cutting:
1. An angular connection in the region, or, as is often called, in the bowl. The peculiarity of this method is that the edges of the logs extend beyond the joining plane by 20-30 cm. With this method, the dimensions of the structure are reduced by almost 50 cm on each side compared to the length of the log used. This technology greatly improves the stability of the log house and protects the walls from external influences.
2. Cutting corners into the paw does not have protruding edges of the log. Strong connection of the logs is ensured by the creation of a special locking clutch. A house built using this technology has a large usable area, but is much more susceptible to weathering.
Less time-consuming work is the installation of a wall using a bar, but such a structure loses a log house in appearance.
Causes of wall curvature
Over time, old log walls may be curved. This is most often associated with a violation of the technological process of performing operations on the joining of logs of a log house.
Also of great importance for creating a quality log house is the correct selection of the material used. Wood with a natural moisture content of up to 12% can withstand the service life for much longer, without visible surface defects. While working with dry wood, it is very difficult to achieve the absence of cracks that can lead to a curved log wall.
It is worth noting that the shrinkage of raw wood can last for many years, changing its shape right in the wall. Therefore, an important step is the proper impregnation of logs with protective compounds that prevent the harmful effects of atmospheric precipitation on wood.
Wall alignment
If over time a violation of the surface has become noticeable, then it is necessary to carefully study the question of how to align the log wall. There are only two main ways - mechanical and decorative. Using both methods to eliminate surface curvature gives the best result.
The decorative method of leveling the wall is done after the mechanical elimination of bumps, as shrinkage of the house can lead to damage to the finishing material indoors.
The mechanical way to eliminate wall irregularities
The elimination of irregularities by mechanical means is as follows:
- First you need to make or buy metal corners or steel plates, as well as rods with threaded threads with a diameter of 1-1.5 cm. On the plates you need to drill several identical holes corresponding to the diameter of the studs.
- Then the holes for fasteners are marked and the through holes are drilled in the log. In this case, the diameter of the selected drill with a diameter smaller than the cross section of the rods.
- With the help of a sledgehammer, the studs are driven tightly into the log. Plates are put on the free ends of the rods, and this is done on both sides of the wall.
- Then the nuts tighten the logs, focusing on flat areas.
- The protruding ends of the studs are cut with a circular saw.
This method is effective in leveling single logs. If there is a curvature of a large surface, it is necessary to use a jack.
Insulation of the inner wall of the house
Most often, warming of log walls is made from the inside of the room, since the outer surface can be lined with brick or adjacent to other buildings. For wall insulation, mineral wool or expanded polystyrene boards can be used.
To increase the effective life of wooden structures, it is necessary to pre-treat the wall surface. The places of joining the logs of the log house must be carefully caulked tow, to eliminate cracks. Then the walls must be cleaned of dust. A special composition is applied to the cleaned surface, which prevents the development of the process of rotting logs, as well as eliminating the damage of wood by harmful insects. Coating the wood with a special flame retardant will greatly reduce the possibility of a fire.
The next step will be the device battens for mounting mineral wool. For these purposes, a beam of 50 × 50 mm is used. The bars are mounted in an upright position with a step depending on the width of the insulation. After the device of the crate, it is necessary to lay the mineral wool and, for reliability, fix it with special dowels.
A layer of vapor barrier must be attached over the insulation. In this case, the material must be placed with foil inside the room, with an overlap at the joints of at least 10 cm. The insulation layer can be fixed with a stapler. Can be used for vapor barrier plastic film.
Polystyrene insulation
The technology of warming a log wall with expanded polystyrene plates is in many ways similar to using mineral wool:
- First, preparatory surface treatment is performed;
- then the crate is made;
- insulation plates are laid and fixed with special dowels;
- a vapor barrier layer is fastened on top of the insulation.
Plates of insulation made of dense material can be fixed with glue without mounting the crate. Next, we fix a special reinforcing mesh on the insulation and plaster the log wall.
Log wall decoration
Finishing work on the wall of a wooden log house must begin only after complete shrinkage of the structure. Shrinkage time depends on the material used for the log house, its moisture content, as well as the quality of the felling. Most often, in a warm climate, the log house must stand for at least one year for natural shrinkage of the structure to occur.
Finishing of log walls can be done by lining, plasterboard plates, as well as various panels.
Fastening of the finishing material is carried out on a pre-mounted crate. At the same time, to avoid damage to the material, you need to leave a small gap near the ceiling and floor.
Before the device of the crate, the surface of wooden structures must be treated with a protective compound.
Remember that the correct selection of wood and precise observance of the cutting technology will allow you to create a cozy, environmentally friendly country house, which in appearance can please the look of even the most picky owner.