A variety of modern building materials allows you to implement almost any architectural idea. Especially when it comes to the so-called combined houses, which have always been and remain in demand on the European housing market. It is this option of housing that allows you to quickly and efficiently build your country house at relatively low financial cost.
The emergence of architectural style
The style of combined houses is when two floors of different construction are combined in one building. That is, the lower (or basement) floor is made of more solid material, and the upper (or attic) floor is made of lighter material, such as wood.
Such a borderline and rational decision was made by the ancient Olympic shepherds, who grazed their cattle on the slopes of the mountains and built their homes there. They had enough stone for building a solid foundation and laying the first residential floor, and the presence of coniferous forests on the slopes of the mountains made it possible to build a second mansard made of wood above the first solid stone floor. Naturally, this superstructure was reserved for sleeping and other living quarters.
Fachwerk
The homeland of the combined houses is the European Alps and Scandinavia. As early as the fifteenth century, in the northern mountainous regions of Europe, peculiar dwellings of local shepherds and highlanders built of stone and wood began to grow like mushrooms. They were well adapted to the harsh conditions of the mountains. Over time, in Austria and Germany, the construction of such houses took on a whole constructive style - half-timbered (from the German Fachwerk, where Fach is a section, panel, and Werk is a structure). A feature of this type of construction was a solid wooden frame of the house with cells, which between the racks and braces was filled with stone, brick or other material.
In the Middle Ages, the cities of Central and Northern Europe were massively built up in a half-timbered way.
Chalet Style
A little later, the so-called building French style of the chalet was born from the German Austrian fachwerk (from the Latin medieval calittam, which translates as "shelter, shelter" or "shepherd's hut"). In such houses, it is the lower floor that is made of dense material, say natural stone, and the upper floor is made of wooden frame and lightweight aggregate between the timber.
This exquisite style originates in the ancient province of France, Savoy, on the border of French and Swiss lands in the Alps. He combined all the local traditions of half-timbered buildings.
Remarkable chalet-style houses are fundamentally distinguished by a wide, relatively flat roof, which strongly receded by its canopy from the wall of the house and diverted rain streams further from the wooden walls. The roof itself delayed large mountain precipitation of snow and thereby naturally insulated the attic sleeping floors of the house. For example, in the Canadian French-speaking province of Quebec, any summer ranch or cottage is called a chalet.
Even later, in the 14-17th centuries, on Slavic land, we had our own similar style of building residential buildings - the Cuban, when the first technical floors were brick and the next made of logs.
Constructive options for combi houses
The whole charm of the design of the project of combined houses is that the tree from which the second floor of the house is built remains durable due to the separation from the ground through the stone first floor. In addition, the building is well protected by the roof from rain and snow.
There are many options for combining structural materials in the construction of combined houses. The traditional or artificial stone with the laying of the first floor is replaced by a brick, reinforced concrete structures, foam or gas blocks. Functionally, the first floor is reserved for the kitchen, boiler room, garage, as well as the living room, if it is planned to place a fireplace in it. Usually the first floor is connected with a spacious view terrace.
Stone and wood
Combined stone and wood houses are the basis of the chalet style. After all, such houses were built in the mountains and were temporary, and then a permanent haven for shepherds and their cattle. The uniqueness and convenience of the buildings lies in the fact that the shepherds had the building material under their feet, and the solid, coniferous forest on the mountain slopes - as much as you like.
Many combined houses of stone and wood were later used as farms for the summer season. Shepherds lived in them and procured cheese, milk, butter. With the onset of winter, everyone descended from the mountains to more comfortable valleys, and the houses awaited the inhabitants until the new summer season.
Alpine mountains - a harsh region. The difficult mountainous terrain dictates its conditions, so the foundation of the chalet has always been built of natural stone. It was resistant to landslides, storms and rains. From above, a powerful timber frame fachwerk was lining up, the cells of which were filled with various material. The bars of the frame under the influence of heat, moisture and cold eventually darkened to black. This introduced its severity into the image of the house. And in combination with a stone base and a massive gently sloping roof, such a building looked very reliable, strong and even beautiful.
Modern chalets made of stone and wood, in fact, have not changed at all in comparison with their historical predecessors. Only along with natural materials, artificial finishing materials appeared that work both under the nature of stone and under the shape of a wooden beam.
Modern technologies take their toll. But the principle: bottom - stone, and top - wood - remains fundamental in the development of projects for combined houses.
Foam blocks and wood
Over time, the chalet changed. The top remained unchanged in it, which was built from coniferous species (pine, larch), but the lower, ground floor, with the advent of new building materials that could replace natural stone, was constantly improved.
One of these options in the modern construction of private chalet houses is combined houses made of foam blocks and wood. Such buildings are quite practical, because they create comfort and significantly save money. The use of foam blocks for the construction of the first floor of the house allows him to breathe. In turn, the weight of foam blocks, like wood, is small, so the load on the ground is minimal. This will provide additional cost savings when installing the foundation of the house. At the same time, walls from foam blocks are quickly erected, because foam blocks themselves usually have a size of 20 x 30 x 60 cm. Finishing of such walls is also convenient and quick.
Brick and wood
In the modern housing market, combined houses made of brick and timber are becoming popular. The basement and basement are usually made of concrete, but the first floor is laid out of brick, often from the front. It is very refreshing to the buildings.
The second floor, made in timber, gives the house solidity and warmth. The elegance of the brick and the brutality of the logs, plus the sophistication of the design together give an excellent example of a modern chalet.
Aerated concrete and wood
The foam concrete, however, appeared with an operatic for construction. Increasingly now combined houses are being built from aerated concrete and wood. Aerated concrete is practically no different from its predecessor, except for the preparation technology. Foam concrete is made as a result of a chemical reaction of foaming of a special substance, and aerated concrete is made on the basis of specially prepared foam. Various special additives allow you to change the parameters of these materials. An already pre-solidified mass is cut with a saw into foam or gas blocks. At the same time, the gas block is more technologically advanced in processing and inferior in weight to its rival foam block. Lighter than brick.
Due to the fact that the gas block has sufficient strength and frost resistance, it is profitable and convenient to use for the construction of the foundation and first floor of a combined house. The advantages of aerated concrete are undeniable.
How are combi houses built
Any object planned for construction requires design and detailed technological, technical and other elaboration. And then focuses on two areas: the construction of the basement with the first floor and separately work with wood on the second floor. An experienced construction team always knows how to separate these processes and how to build a combined house, as it is well aware of all its pros and cons.
Benefits of Combined Buildings
The generally accepted advantages of combined buildings over classical ones are that they are designed specifically for building on a complex mountainous terrain, when the foundation and ground floor should simply merge with the landscape and be durable, well-planted on the ground. Otherwise, the construction will certainly be demolished by mountain streams, snow avalanches or rain showers.
The top of the combi-house should be as light as possible so as not to create an extra load on the foundation. Otherwise, a house in a mountainous area just by the laws of physics will sit under its own weight and slide down, because it will be difficult for him to stay on a steep slope of the mountain. That is why the combined style originated on the alpine slopes. And the combined houses transferred to the plain are already exotic, functionality and profitability, nothing more.
Which house to choose?
The eternal question: which is better - classic private residential buildings or combined houses? The pros and cons of both are known. Yet combi houses have several advantages. The main ones are durability, manufacturability and profitability, plus the originality of the image.
Each combined structure has its own unique character.
The wooden top of the chalet is separated from the ground by a stone, brick or foam block ground floor. This increases the durability of the structure. The roof of the chalet house is set aside a large distance from the wall of the house, which prevents precipitation from reaching the wooden structures of the second floor. The interiors of chalets are characterized by traditional simplicity, functionality, and the union of wood and stone creates a unique rustic comfort and a feeling of complete security.