At the moment, the construction market is full of a variety of materials for the construction of a residential building. All funds are endowed with certain technical and quality characteristics. Despite this abundance, a log house made of logs is in great demand. They were previously built quite often. Only over time, wood simply lost its popularity, and it became an expensive material. Now everything is different.
Characteristics of a chopped log house
There are various designs of log houses. They are distinguished by their functionality. Such buildings are endowed with excellent technical qualities. Firstly, the house will be warm, since wood is able to perfectly retain heat, this will guarantee a constant temperature. Secondly, in the winter it will not be cold in the house, and in the summer the long-awaited coolness will come. All this is due to the fact that the material easily passes air and thereby prevents the appearance of dampness and moisture.
By the way, a chopped log house is also called a log house.
Number of storeys
Since there are various designs of log houses, their number of storeys may vary. So, only one floor is considered the best option for the construction of such a structure. In this case, the parameters of the house can be any. Although it all depends on the size of the material used.
There are frequent cases of the construction of a building with two floors. These are more functional residential structures. It is possible to build a log house with an attic roof. This is an economical option for a residential building.
The advantages of logs in construction and houses from it
Why is a log house made of logs so popular? Everything is due only to the technical and quality characteristics of the material. These include:
- strength;
- reliability;
- durability;
- practicality.
Moreover, the log house will not have a large mass, which makes it possible to save a little on the construction of a base under it. Indicators of strength and reliability are at a high level. The life of the material reaches 150 years. But this is only with proper processing and preparation. Practicality lies in the fact that a log house does not require special decoration inside and out. He already has an attractive appearance.
Due to this, prices are affordable for chopped-up houses (from 10,000 to 30,000 dollars), since there is no need to spend money on additional facing tools. And this is a saving on the construction budget.
Moreover, wood is an environmentally friendly natural material that is not capable of exerting harmful effects on human health. It is mined in clean regions and, before being sold, undergoes a high-quality radiation test.
Log deficiencies
It is worth noting that a log house made of logs is endowed with not only positive characteristics, but also disadvantages. It:
- inability to withstand the effects of fire;
- low rate of moisture resistance;
- tendency to rot;
- a large period of shrinkage.
Moreover, in some cases it is rather problematic to build logged houses. Most sellers have quite high material prices. They vary in the range of 80-450 dollars per square meter. Although you can find the best options.
As already mentioned above, moisture resistance and fire resistance are at a low level. In order to increase these indicators, a number of preparatory work is necessary. They include processing by special means in the form of soil solutions. It is necessary to take into account the following nuance: for the house to serve for a long time, it is necessary to regularly process the surface of wood with such means.
Quite often, log houses after construction are varnished to protect the structure of the material from various influences.
Construction stages
To build a chopped house with your own hands, you need:
- draw up a design of the structure;
- calculate the required amount of materials;
- make a foundation;
- choose a laying of logs;
- to carry out construction and finishing works.
You can design a house yourself. Initially, the area on the site that is allocated for the building is determined. Then the dimensions are set. They depend on the parameters of the log. As a rule, the length of the material is considered to be standard in this case at 6 and 3 m. Next, the space is correctly distributed and the necessary amount of funds for building the house is calculated.
Foundation construction
So, you need to qualitatively make the foundation for the house. It can be in the case of the construction of a log house:
- monolithic;
- pile with top dressing.
The first type is made of concrete mortar and reinforcing mesh. At the same time, sand and gravel are poured into the ditch, in some cases - expanded clay. Then the formwork is done and the base is poured. The pile foundation is based on metal or wooden poles, which are concreted at a certain depth and are tied with similar materials on the soil surface.
Already on the finished base, they lay the logs.
House Walling
The most popular types of masonry chopped logs are:
- "In the paw";
- "Into the corner."
The technology is pretty simple. It is worth considering that during the construction of walls cracks or bumps may appear on the surface of the material. They need to be qualitatively repaired. That is, perform caulking. To do this, use flaxseed or dry seaweed. These tools are pushed into the distance between the logs. Putty layers can be applied over them.
The roof of the building is erected only after the house has shrunk a little. Especially if it is based on a metal frame, which will create additional loads on the base.