It has long been proven that living in a wooden house brings its inhabitants a special state of mind and excellent health. You can endlessly admire the wonderful appearance of a wooden hut. However, in order to settle in such a tower, not only certain means are needed, but also important knowledge about the differences between one type of timber and another. Glued or profiled timber, price, amount of material, finishing methods and type of foundation - everything matters. For a profiled beam, the price can vary from 1000 to 2000 rubles per one log 6 m long.
Why wooden houses are popular
It is difficult to argue that natural wood has many advantages over stone, brick, and even more concrete materials. Tubules of the fibrous-cellular structure of wood are located along the entire length of the trunk. This makes the material non-conductive, lightweight, breathable, durable and resilient.
The thermal insulation properties of wood are several times superior to concrete and brick. In summer, it is cool to breathe in such a house; in winter, the comfortable temperature is excellent. The natural qualities of the material do not allow air to stagnate in the house, natural ventilation occurs, so mold and dampness are not life partners. On the contrary, house kits from profiled timber are built exclusively from coniferous wood. This contributes to the creation of a certain microclimate with a special quality of air in the home. Fumes of coniferous resins have a positive effect on improving people's health, strengthening immunity.
What modern towers are built of
For the construction of wooden dwellings, not only round traditional logs and ancient technologies are used. Well-proven construction of houses from profiled timber. What today you can build a wooden house:
- from raw raw timber of minimum cost;
- from calibrated, which has more accurate geometric dimensions and high-quality appearance;
- from profiled timber, which differs from the previous one by connecting threaded elements that simplify the assembly of the hut;
- from glued beams, which are obtained in the process of joining lamellas under high pressure and temperature, which makes these blanks quite expensive, but strong and light.
Building technologies for each of these materials are similar in basic steps. The differences are only in the time of natural shrinkage of the structures, in the methods of insulation and finishes.
Glued timber does not need external polishing of the walls, it does not need to wait until the structure shrinks. Even inside, it looks great without additional decoration.
Consequences of Using Dried Wood
The construction of profiled timber has its own characteristics. First of all, the material has a certain degree of moisture, one might say, “dryness”. Ideally, this indicator should be close to the level of 14-15%. Basically, wood of natural moisture is used for construction, that is, completely not dried after sawing. This option is much cheaper than the timber additionally processed in the heat chamber of the workshop. Profiled dry material during the assembly of the house will give minimal shrinkage, which greatly speeds up the construction time.
Unfinished logs are more susceptible to biodegradation by fungi and mold, even antiseptic impregnations do not help much. The walls of a house erected from such a tree, giving away moisture, can be severely deformed, which will lead to cracking of the windows, inverted doors and damage to the roof. Is it worth saving initially to get such problems in a couple of years?
Profiled beam: pros and cons
Is there an alternative? Among all types of wooden materials used for the quick construction of modern and beautiful buildings, profiled glued beams are most widely used. How is it different from other varieties?
From the name it becomes clear that this is not an array, but a texture consisting of several layers. The density of perfectly dried material is such that a house built from it can be moved in immediately after the completion of the work. Whereas projects from an ordinary profiled beam are built in several stages:
- first, the main box of the house is assembled on the foundation;
- then the work stops for almost a year;
- after the final shrinkage of the log house, installation of floors, roof, communications, internal and external decoration is carried out.
Such a construction period cannot be considered a plus. However, the production of profiled timber is carried out at a good pace, which indicates the demand for material on the market.
Significant Pros
A significant positive point in the use of this material in construction is a simple high-quality assembly with minimal costs for insulation of premises. To finish the external surface of the walls, it is enough to properly polish the wood so that the structure shines in the sun, like a fairy-tale tower.
A great positive quality can also be considered that the construction of houses from profiled timber practically does not require special finishing of the internal surfaces of the walls of the house. The tree itself serves as a wonderful decoration and heat insulator.
Profiled timber (the pros and cons will always be found) is a universal building material if you want to have a bathhouse or an additional guest house on the site. The technology of assembling a small structure differs little from the assembly of a large tower.
Nothing is eternal under the Moon
Rains, snow and frost affect the concrete and the profiled beam in the same way. The pros and cons of the consequences of these natural phenomena become clear only during the operation of the home. The house will be warm without additional measures if it is located in the southern regions of the country. Where frosts reach too low temperatures, the profiled beam (dry) must be insulated from the outside of the house. This can be done with additional wall cladding with mineral wool and lining or siding.
Wood is an organic material and is subject to burning and decay. Fire retardant impregnations can only temporarily protect against fire from an open flame. For safety from fungi and mold, the profiled beam (photo) needs to be regularly treated with antiseptics, which sometimes complicates the living.
What to build a house from: spruce or cedar?
Pine and spruce trunks are the most affordable and cheapest raw material for timber. Cedar wood is about one and a half times more expensive and is considered to be elite not so much because of price, but because of its density and healing properties. In addition, it is a very strong and damp-resistant material.
Larch lumber is notable for its remarkable moisture resistance. Such logs do not rot even after several years under water. That is why, in accordance with the technology, the lower row of house crowns is laid out of this wood. Larch timber is the most expensive, but if you save at this stage, in a few years you will have to disassemble and rebuild all the walls of the house.
Pine logs are the least susceptible to cracking both at the drying stage and during the many months of natural shrinkage. The upper part of the tower can be built from this material. One of the important conditions for the assembly of walls is approximately the same indicator of the moisture content of a timber from different wood. Otherwise, a skew of the entire structure may occur. It is the danger of such an event that is the main disadvantage in the construction of wooden houses. Experts say that the result of all the work depends on the ability to handle the moisture of the logs.
In the old days, the "rough" box of the log house should have stood in this form for at least a year, subject to all winds, rains, the sun and hurricanes. Only then the workpiece was disassembled into logs and again collected already in a permanent place. Next came the work on caulking, laying the floor and erecting a roof.
The modern production of profiled timber is arranged in such a way that, when the logs are properly dried in a warm chamber, they go on sale in the state of the desired humidity. If such material is purchased, then all construction can be completed in one season.
House-constructor: what you need to know
Profiled timber (the price depends on several factors) is produced using the following technology:
- a blank from a whole tree trunk (whip) is cleaned of branches and bark;
- the array is processed from four sides to give it the correct geometric shape with a certain number of spikes on both sides.
The transverse dimensions of the workpiece should be the same over the entire length and more than the calculated ones, since they decrease by several millimeters during drying. For example, to get a profiled beam 200x200, the cross section of the workpiece should be 210 × 210 mm.
The standard length of the beam is 6 meters, the shape in the section is trapezoidal. On the upper and lower sides there are grooved joints of the type "mom-dad" in full length. When laying logs on top of one another, such spikes and grooves do not allow them to move from place, which is a guarantee of the construction of strong walls.
For the possibility of a fairly simple assembly, housekits from profiled timber are sometimes called "designers".
In the corners, at the door and window openings, the timber is bound together. For this, through circular holes are drilled at the joints. After that, special birch pins (stakes) of square section are inserted and finished with blows of heavy hammers. In the process of natural shrinkage of the timber, the timber "tightly" grasps with a dowel, which ensures the reliability of the walls for many years.
Wooden tower: where to start?
It is clear that you cannot build a house in the air. The first thing to take care of is the plot of land. The next step is to select a project and design documentation, which includes an engineering component with full calculations and architectural and construction with details and details of the future home.
Projects from profiled timber have a preliminary estimated estimate, which indicates the required amount of materials. When making the calculations, the dimensions of the construction and the cross-section of wood are taken into account .
At the next stage, the foundation is installed under the structure. It is recommended to do either a pile or pile and tape version of a shallow (55-70 cm) fill. Individual selection details depend on the location and topography of the land intended for construction.
Waterproofing is laid on a stronger foundation, a layer of insulation, then the first row of logs, which are attached not only at the corners between each other, but also to the concrete base. Further construction is carried out according to the project from the selected material. If a profiled glued beam is purchased, the house is immediately assembled “for finishing”: a thin layer of linen insulator is laid between the logs, windows and doorways are installed, the roof is made and closed.
A common mistake in the assembly of wooden structures is the rigid fastening of roof trusses and medium ridge runs to shrink. What can this turn into in the future? In the process of natural drying of wood walls changes the angles of the joints between the structural elements of the roof. As a result, the crossbars that hold the roof slopes can break. As the saying goes, "hurry - then you'll cry."
Is it possible to reduce the cost of construction?
Among the most budgetary options for building a house from a tree are the following kit:
- foundation of screw piles;
- a thin 100 mm profiled beam (the pros and cons are clear without a word) of natural moisture;
- minimum insulation of floors and roofs (mineral wool up to 100 mm thick);
- simple wooden frames;
- refusal of "casing" when installing windows;
- use for fastening crowns of ordinary metal nails and pins;
- minimum finishing materials;
- roof covered with slate or ondulin.
Using the most affordable means, you can, of course, build a house. How long this home will stand and serve its zealous owner will remain a question that only time will answer. The truth has long been known that "avaricious pays twice." So is it worth saving on your own comfort, if you can save money and reduce costs in other ways?
There are other savings options where you can save a budget using solid materials for construction. First of all, it is necessary to reduce the number of halls and corridors in the project. When buying a flat plot of land, a noticeable reduction in basic expenses is possible. With a complex landscape, it is worth considering its features and using height differences when designing a project.
Construction costs can be significantly reduced by buying a finished structure from glued or profiled timber. A feature of this option is that the house is delivered to the buyer disassembled, with numbered elements and detailed assembly instructions. Any person who once attended school can understand it. In addition, the majority of companies use their workers to complete the construction and turn it over to the owner, as they say, “turnkey”.