Nowadays, houses in retro style have gained great popularity. However, not only houses were affected by such a fashion. Cozy, attractive, comfortable and modern with a touch of antiquity, houses and baths are obtained if made from wood. In particular, from a log. That's just the cost of building a building from a log will be much higher than from a foam block. In the article we will consider how manual felling of log cabins is carried out using various technologies. It is worth noting that the procedure for the construction of houses of this type is quite simple, anyone can do it.
What tools are needed to carry out the work?
Such houses have been built for many centuries, a lot has changed over the years. Only the general principles of construction remained, nothing more. No nails are used in the construction of any log house. But you will need to know several methods of processing the tree, so that all work is done as correctly as possible.
In order to make a log house from a manual cabin log, you need to prepare such materials and tools:
- Bars and logs.
- Ax.
- Chisel.
- Sawing wood.
Felling a building directly is a long and tedious process, so if you do not have perseverance, entrust all the work to professionals. In addition, one important point must be taken into account - the log house must dry for at least a year.
The advantages of log cabins
You immediately need to talk about what are the advantages of log cabins. These usually include the following points:
- High degree of environmental friendliness.
- Fairly attractive appearance of the structure.
- There will be no high humidity inside the premises (unless, of course, all the waterproofing works are done correctly).
- High-quality thermal insulation of the building. Wood itself is a good enough heat insulator.
Some more positive points
In addition, the fact that inside the house it is much easier to carry out finishing work can also be attributed to positive qualities. You can make openings or holes of any shape to lay pipes or electrical wires in them.
It is still impossible to ignore the low load on the base of the house (foundation). Thanks to this, it is possible to significantly save on the construction of the foundation. If you use a columnar foundation, then for its construction you will spend much less money than in the construction of a monolithic. And if the log house is small, then it can be installed without any foundation at all.
Disadvantages of wood buildings
Among the shortcomings can be distinguished that the logs have a very high cost. In addition, their quality is not always perfect, which leaves an imprint on the maximum service life of the entire building. Even provided that you will use only high-quality wood, a house from it is unlikely to last for more than 90 years. This is the maximum service life, it directly depends on how the wood was processed. However, log cabins of hand-baths are rarely used for such a purpose.
In order to make a house from logs, you must have certain skills and knowledge. Pay attention to the fact that it is impossible to make extensions to houses of this type, they have poor resistance to fire. And also the logs dry out over time, this significantly worsens the general condition of the entire building. Of course, the problem is solved simply. To do this, timely repair of the building is necessary. It should also be noted that you cannot build a house alone.
Before you begin construction, you need to decide which foundation you will use. For such buildings, pile or strip types of foundation are usually used. Piling will be more preferable, since it is cheaper and much faster to build. But the article is not about how to build a foundation, but about how to make log cabins for houses of manual cabin.
Felling in the paw
This is the easiest option for building houses from logs, the process of forming grooves is simplified as much as possible. Using this technology, you can use almost the entire length of the wood. In this case, you will significantly save material. But this design has a drawback. It must be additionally insulated, since the corners in it are poorly protected.
The appearance of the log house is not very aesthetic, it is less reliable than when using the method in the "bowl". The main difference between this type of logging is that the building is of the correct shape, the ends of the logs do not protrude beyond the walls. In order to cut down the log house using this technology, it is necessary to use wood with the same size. The fact that the greater the thickness of the logs, the warmer the house will turn out. This must be remembered in the manufacture of log cabins of houses from logs of manual cutting.
First phase of construction
First you need to use a planer to level the surface of the log on one side. Subsequently, it should be the inside of the wall. On the opposite side, it is necessary to process a part of the log, which should be equal to its two diameters. The remaining sides must be processed at a distance of one diameter.
But if there is a gap between the "paws", and you can’t get rid of it, you can install wedges of the desired width. But experienced specialists do not advise making such connections very often, as this will violate the strength of the building. Next, you need to decide how to mount the logs. Be sure to consider the fact that the grip of the bars should be as strong as possible. This is done so that the entire structure does not move under loads.
Variants of joining bars
First you need to talk about such an option, which is called a direct spike. In the "paws" it is necessary to drill vertical holes. Pegs of large diameter are driven into them. The hole must be staggered so that subsequent pegs do not fall into the previous ones. In order to strengthen the structure, it is allowed to drive straight spikes along the length of the beam. This will protect it from deformation. This method is not very complicated, but its reliability is lower than that of the next. However, this does not prevent it from being used in manual logging projects.
Now let's look at a more complex, but also very reliable option. True, only experienced builders can use it. When marking the connection, it is necessary to provide a spike that will protrude a couple of centimeters. The protrusion should have an area that is equal to 1/4 of the area of the "paw." In the next workpiece, it is necessary to cut a similar hole, after which the logs are stacked as a Lego constructor. It should be noted that construction in this way takes a very long time, as well as with great labor costs.
Final manipulations
In order to eliminate gaps and gaps, it is necessary to use tow or similar materials. During the construction of the log house in the "paw" you need to perform additional interior decoration. Once you finish the construction of the log house, it is necessary to cover the wood with quality compounds that will destroy the parasites.
This will prevent the destruction of wood, as well as increase fire safety. In log cabins, which are constructed in this way, it is imperative to warm the corners. Due to the fact that the wood dries up, cracks will appear with time. They can be eliminated using special solutions or wedges.
Dovetail
This method is about the same as the one discussed above. Its advantages are exactly the same as the previous one, but some (almost all) disadvantages are excluded. The “paws” are not perpendicular, but are located at a slight angle. The design has a number of features, among them a very reliable mount. And this gives stability to the whole structure. Therefore, you can do without stakes or spikes, as well as other fasteners. Due to the tilt angles, the house is ideally protected from the effects of wind. There are still drawbacks; there is no escape from them. This high complexity of building installation.
If you do not have experience in construction, then you do not even need to try to make a log house in this way. In addition, moisture can get inside the house with an inclined angle. This is not very good, as humidity can increase, and wooden elements also begin to break down. The construction technology is the same as in the previous case.
But at the final stage, additional waterproofing will be required. The reason is that raw wood will begin to deform after drying. This, perhaps, is all that you need to remember when manually cutting log cabins. Photos of examples are given in our article.
Construction in the "bowl"
The advantages of this method include the fact that the building has a very attractive appearance. The stability of the structure is simply incomparable, since the connection of all logs is as strong as possible. Thermal insulation of walls at a high level, and most importantly - that there is no need to carry out finishing work indoors.
The disadvantages include the fact that it is very difficult to build such a frame. In addition, more materials will need to be consumed. When building houses of this type in the corners, the ends of the logs will protrude. The tree is connected by cutting small grooves. The fact is that the logs are not used to their full length, so the maximum area of the room will decrease. That is why sometimes huts are built in several floors.
You need a tool called a “trait” to build a log house in the “bowl”. When marking, maximum accuracy must be observed. The markup is similar to drawing a circle with a compass. The bowl should be located at the bottom of the log. After you make the bowl, it is necessary to lay the bars in such a way that the bowl in the upper log perfectly flows around the contours of the lower one. Be sure to lubricate the entire cavity with a special paste, which will seal the connection.
The stability of the connection is very high, so you do not need to use various fasteners, for example, spikes, nails. But in any case, it will be necessary to additionally process the wood with various compounds in order to increase the degree of waterproofing, as well as get rid of insects.
In the event that you are making manual logging for the first time, you can use profiled timber instead of logs. On it you can train in the construction of wooden houses, so as not to make mistakes later. Please note that some works have a high degree of complexity; you cannot perform them yourself; therefore, it is recommended to resort to the help of a partner.