In the modern world, the issue of environmental friendliness of residential premises worries an increasing number of future homeowners. In this regard, the building materials market is filled with a variety of natural products, among which the most popular is a rounded beam. Thanks to what properties it has won the recognition of customers? How is it made? Does it have flaws? We will consider all this in this article.
The mechanized processing method is a sign of high quality products.
When choosing material for building your own home, it will not be superfluous to familiarize yourself with the process of its production, which will help to draw certain conclusions about the quality and reliability of the final product. In this case, these are several main stages:
- sorting;
- shaping;
- milling;
- finish processing.
The rounded beam is made of larch wood and most conifers, which are particularly strong and durable.
Before processing, the raw materials are sorted by diameter, rejected and cleaned of bark and twigs. The prepared logs are sent for cylindering, where the upper layer (up to 20 mm) is cut from them with the help of machines and the wood takes on a flat look.
During the milling process, grooves are cut out in the material, ensuring smooth joining of adjacent elements, compensation cuts and grooves for corner joints are cut. At the exit, the manufacturer receives smooth logs of the same length, the diameter of which varies from 160 to 320 mm. Raw materials undergo antiseptic processing, are dried and put on sale.
Positive aspects of log material
The mechanized processing of wood gives the rounded beam a number of positive qualities that are not inherent in other materials used in construction. Namely:
- Ecological cleanliness . In the process of preparing the logs no harmful substances are used, which allows to maintain the absolute safety of the material for humans. In addition, resins released by wood during operation have a powerful antiviral and antiseptic property, which has a beneficial effect on the human body.
- Appearance. The rounded log (beam) is considered the most attractive variety of building materials made from natural wood. The buildings made of round timber are mesmerizing with beauty both outside and inside, and no additional treatments are necessary.
- Easy assembly . The presence of markings and grooves for joining logs can significantly reduce the time and labor involved in building a building. The structural elements lie as evenly and tightly to each other as possible.
- Availability Great competition between the producers of round timber makes them strictly control the quality of products and keep the cost of materials to a minimum.
What are the positive properties of a log house itself?
In addition to unsurpassed aesthetic indicators, a house made of logs is distinguished by its warmth and favorable internal microclimate. Natural air exchange of wood provides the premises with the necessary amount of fresh air, and the low thermal conductivity of the walls retains heat inside the room, which allows its owners to significantly save on heating the building.
Also, the positive qualities of chopped houses include the lack of costs for interior and exterior decoration. Such buildings look very organic and noticeably stand out against the background of similar buildings.
Design options for rounded log houses
Considering the advantages and disadvantages of using a rounded beam, it should be clarified that there are no restrictions in its use. Both small fairy huts and massive multi-storey cottages are actively erected from logs.
A variety of designs of houses made of logs include small buildings with a small number of rooms, long bungalows, multi-story buildings and various utility rooms.
As for the interior design of the space, in this case there are many options, however, the country-style interiors and Scandinavian design will look most successful.
But what are the disadvantages?
Along with the mass of advantages, there are a number of disadvantages, which are endowed not only with the material, but also wooden houses built from it.
The rounded beam is characterized by the duration of shrinkage, so before you call into such a building, you must let it stand for at least a year. Shrinkage time of a building can be reduced by using carefully dried building material, however such products are several times more expensive than other logs.
The second disadvantage is the fact that during the drying process, the rounded bar has the property of cracking, bending and unrolling, which can lead to severe deformation of the building. Such troubles can be avoided in the case of using dry timber, which has been dried for several years. You can smooth out the effects of shrinkage of wet wood by driving metal studs into the log (during the assembly of the house).
It should also be noted the high fire hazard and susceptibility to decay of all wooden materials, but the timely use of antiseptic solutions and fire-retardant impregnations can reduce these problems to almost zero.
A bar from a winter and summer forest: what are the differences?
Houses made of logs first gained their popularity in ancient times. Since then, we have been given the technology of their construction and some rules, one of which says that it is necessary to harvest wood for construction in the winter. It is believed that such wood is drier and less subject to shrinkage. For this reason, the manufacturer inflates the cost of such products, and buyers are willing to overpay for the best quality raw materials.
In fact, this opinion is erroneous. Indeed, in the winter, the movement of sap in the tree stops, but its trunk remains as wet. The difference between such wood is only that it dries much longer, which means that the risk of cracking is minimal.
How to choose a high-quality rounded log?
Studying the advantages and disadvantages of a rounded log, you should pay attention to the fact that if the production technology and storage rules of the finished product are not observed, its final qualities can greatly suffer. That is why, choosing material for the construction of a house, a shed or a bath from a rounded beam, it is necessary to pay attention to a number of features:
- for the assembly of one structure, a beam of one tree species should be used;
- the presence of rot, mechanical damage and wormholes on the surface of the log is unacceptable;
- diameter and longitudinal dimensions must be within acceptable limits;
- each log must be marked;
- the finished timber must be stored so that it does not come into contact with moisture, dirt and insects.
What else do you need to know about houses made of logs?
Future owners of the log house need to understand that after assembling the house, at least 6 months must pass before you can start finishing. Such designs shrink by 10-12%, which may entail the curvature of window and door openings, the appearance of new cracks.
After the building shrinks, all joints must be re-caulked. After 2-3 years, the work is repeated again.
Private buildings, a house or a bath made of logs need constant care, which includes the processing of protective solutions, cleaning and sealing of cracks.
Summing up, I would like to note that under conditions of proper operation, the service life of round timber buildings is 80-100 years, while the cost of natural material is much less than the price of a brick. This fact makes the rounded bar very popular in construction, but do not forget that it does not tolerate dampness and sudden changes in temperature, which means that it is extremely undesirable to use it for the assembly of seasonal buildings.