No wonder the people associate the house with a fortress. The construction must have high reliability indicators to stand for several decades, or even more. Building a house is not particularly difficult, especially in our time, when people have modern technology at their disposal. But preserving it in its original form will be a more serious matter. At the same time, a significant role is given to the casing box in wooden houses.
Of course, building private real estate from other, much more durable materials has more advantages. However, wood has a special magic, because there are still admirers of the good old Russian construction technology.
Features of shrinkage of houses
Shrinkage is characteristic of any wooden building, which is due to the natural property of wood to dry out due to a decrease in humidity. A little differently, this is called shrinkage. This process can be affected by a number of factors, including the following:
- initial dimensions of building materials;
- breed of wood used;
- wood processing technology (in particular drying);
- operating conditions of the building;
- overall dimensions of the house;
- construction season (winter or summer);
- construction technology;
- the experience of specialists, and, accordingly, the build quality of the house.
The need for a casing in the house is also due to the fact that different wood gives different shrinkage. That is, based on the height of the house per 1 meter, the buildings undergo shrinkage:
- from logs ≈ 150 mm;
- from timber (planed and un planed) ≈ 60 mm;
- from profiled timber ≈ by 40 mm;
- from glued beams ≈ by 20 mm.
More accurate data are contained in regulatory documents, but it is worth considering that theoretical information may be different from practical indicators.
What is a casing?
Such a necessary element is also called a pigtail, or, popularly, casing. In fact, this is a wooden box, which is placed in window or wooden openings before the installation of windows or doors. The entire structure consists of several components, which include tops, risers and windowsill.
At the same time, there are some features in the manufacture of casing boxes:
- The width of all elements must not exceed 260 mm. Otherwise, the entire structure will become cracked.
- The moisture content of wood is also important and should be at least 7-9%. Otherwise, cracks cannot be avoided either.
- A simple casing is needed for simple wooden windows; for plastic structures, a complicated support with a carriage is required.
At the same time, the window for doors and windows can be of different shapes. That is, in addition to the standard rectangle, it can be a trapezoid, a polygon, or it is made in the form of balcony blocks.
Need for box
Do you really need a casing or can you do without it? Here it is important to take into account the fact that the shrinkage of a wooden house does not take place in one day or even a month. As a rule, this takes 2.5 years. Moreover, often in the first year the structure will take up only 20%, and the remaining 80% will fall on the next one and a half.
The importance of casing for wooden houses is difficult to underestimate, because some undesirable processes occur due to shrinkage. In particular, the inevitable cracking of logs, disks begin to shift. In the absence of pigs, the upper logs will press with force on the window or door frames, which will lead to distortions. As a result, windows and doors may stop opening at all. It also negatively affects the wall cladding, which leads to the formation of cracks.
Ultimately, this can lead not only to damage the appearance. The whole building, if you do not take any measures, can literally completely fall apart.
That's why a casing is needed, which is a good protection for windows and doors from distortions. In addition, its service life, as a rule, is not limited.
What is a piglet?
According to the manufacturing technique, the casing box can be of several types:
- Typing-glue.
- In the form of a pine array.
- Combined option.
For typesetting-glue sticks, edged material with a moisture level of 7-9% is used, which is still permissible. Without fail, all existing defects are cut out, whether it be tar pockets, knots and other varieties. After this, the material is spliced along the length and width by means of a special adhesive. Finally, it is machined and sanded.
For the pine version, first the round tree trunk is sawn, and the resulting carriage is dried to a moisture content of 10-12%. At the next stage, trimming on blanks of the required dimensions takes place. At the end, the finished product undergoes special processing using a machine to form the necessary profile.
At the combined casing, risers and a top can be made of pine. While type-glue technology is suitable for the windowsill. This option to install the casing is suitable only in the case when in the future it is not planned to carry out interior decoration of windows.
Self-made casing
There is nothing complicated in the technology for making a pigtail, and any owner is able to cope with such work independently. All that is required is certain knowledge regarding the products themselves. Also, you just can not do without a number of tools.
When preparing the necessary materials, you should take care of personal safety - we are talking about a protective mask with a respirator. And with these assistants, the whole process will be greatly simplified and accelerated:
- drill;
- screwdriver;
- machine for grinding wood;
- saw (circular or gasoline);
- jigsaw;
- drill;
- measuring tools.
At any economic owner of the house they are always at hand, because they are stored nearby.
Box for plastic window openings
Many owners of private real estate, thinking about installing casing boxes, choose mainly plastic windows. In this case, you can not do without preliminary preparation.
First of all, it must be understood that the dimensions of the frame should be 15 cm smaller than the opening of the window. You also need to make a carriage with a groove in the end part of the opening and cut out the comb, which will be the base. Due to this, during the shrinkage of the house, the wood will settle in grooves directly in the carriage, which will avoid a lot of pressure on the windows.
The carriage is made of a wooden bar 100 x 150 mm in size, and in its center it is necessary to make a groove inside which the comb is placed. The upper part of the pigtail is made of 40 x 150 mm boards, on both sides of which it is also necessary to make grooves for the comb.
After that, the upper part of the casing is located on the crest of the window opening. And when the side carriages are installed, the crossbar is fixed with self-tapping screws. Only here it is necessary to exercise caution, not allowing the screw to accidentally get on the comb. Otherwise, a tight grip may occur and the functionality of the casing for windows in a wooden house will be impaired.
At the end of all work, it is necessary to process the gaps with tow or any other insulation. And grooved ridges need to be caulked.
Box for wooden window openings
If wooden structures are placed in the window openings, then everything is not so complicated. Only previously on the surface of the walls, which will be adjacent to the window frame, you need to groove the grooves. Subsequently, casing bars will be installed in them.
To begin with, put the lower bar of the pigtail, which will avoid the displacement of the side elements. And before installing them, you need to lay the interventional seal. For this purpose, you can use jute or flax tow.
The top element of the casing is placed last. A shrinkage gap should be made above it, which is also filled with jute or tow. Such sequential assembly will provide the windows with good protection against deformation during shrinkage of the house.
Doorway Box
In fact, the casing for the door is almost identical to the window frame, with the exception of some minor differences. Only here there is one important point: the installation of the door frame should be carried out only after a year, and preferably 2 years after the construction of the house. During this time, the main period of shrinkage should pass.
Otherwise, everything is done the same way. That is, if a wooden door is installed, then grooves must be made in the lateral surfaces of the opening. And for plastic or metal structures, it is necessary to make a comb, on which a box with grooves is already installed. During the shrinkage of the wooden house, the comb will be inside the groove.
Additional fasteners for installing the door hinge is not required. Only between the opening and the box should the material be laid to provide heat and sound insulation. This can be done with both tow and jute.
Public opinion
On the Internet, you can find different reviews regarding casing. Someone asks whether it is necessary to maintain the prescribed period after the construction of the house (1-2 years). Some in response advise putting a pigtail right away, which is confirmed by many builders.
It is also believed that the window unit can be installed without a casing box. However, hackers or incompetent "experts" think so. But the piggy is a necessary measure, and so the vast majority of owners of wooden houses think so!