Which timber is better for building a house. Construction of a wooden house: which timber to choose

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We determine the moisture content of wood, the choice of timber for building a house

Wooden buildings are back in vogue due to the fact that they are made from natural materials and even beneficial to health. From a bar build houses, summer residences, baths and arbors. Every builder who has had experience working with wood knows how important it is to use timber of a certain moisture content. Thanks to such types of wood as pine or spruce, cheap houses made of profiled timber with natural moisture became available. Profiled timber allows you to build houses with even walls. It has grooves or a profile that simplifies construction work and makes the structure stronger. The amount of moisture in the timber will affect many indicators, consider the main ones.

• In too wet wood, harmful bacteria and mold start, rotting processes begin.
• A structure made of wood with high humidity shrinks over time, therefore its main structural elements can be deformed.
• Rapid drying of wood in the heat and sun leads to cracks, which can further increase in size.

This is not to say that completely dry wood is needed to build a house, because it will still absorb moisture from the environment. The optimal and most inexpensive option can be considered a timber with a natural moisture content of about 25 percent. In order to achieve suitable humidity levels, winter timber is folded in a special way until May. So, it undergoes natural drying, but the edges must be lubricated with drying oil so that the process is gradual. Complementing the material, we want to note that you can order a log house on the website http://srubstroy53.ru/, see what the experts offer and how much their solutions cost.

Types of wood depending on the moisture content:

• wet and freshly cut wood can contain up to 80% moisture;
• wood of natural humidity - 18-25%;
• dry - 10-12%.

Wood felled in winter has a moisture content of about 20-30 percent, and harvested in summer about 70-80. To make the wood dry, a special chamber drying is used. According to the requirements of GOST, wood with a moisture content of not more than 20-22 percent can be traded. During operation, cheap houses made of timber can gradually gain up to 30 percent of the good when it rains, or lose it in the summer during a drought. In particularly humid areas, it is advised to use additional means of protecting wood from moisture and mold.

moisture meter

A moisture meter is used to measure the moisture content of wood. It determines the amount of moisture per mass of dry wood. A moisture meter will not only help with the purchase of wood of the required moisture, it will also come in handy in the process of building from wood. It can be contact or non-contact. The contact moisture meter has needles that are stuck into the wood for analysis. The device should be able to set the type of wood and other parameters for analysis.

What kind of timber is better to build a house

The choice depends on the amount of finance, the professionalism of the builders and the amount of time available. If the house is being built from a bar of natural moisture, then experts advise waiting up to a year until the bar has passed the drying period. In addition, there is glued or profiled timber, which can also have different moisture levels.

A house made of profiled timber does not need to be caulked, it absorbs less moisture, but the drying time of wood is the same as for ordinary timber. Many build country houses from glued timber, such wood is much stronger, thanks to several layers glued together. Glued laminated timber is more expensive than usual, most often it is profiled at the same time. It is best to buy wood that is cut in the northern regions and harvested in winter.

Construction timber of natural moisture

Country houses, baths and not expensive houses for permanent residence are advantageous to build from freshly sawn timber of natural moisture.

Such lumber is much cheaper than profiled or glued beams. Assembling the walls of a house from a building beam is quite simple and, if certain rules are followed, allows you to build a reliable and durable house.

The figure below shows a variant of an unburied strip foundation, combined with a basement, for a one-story house with an attic and with walls made of timber.

Two options for arranging a strip foundation for a one-story house made of timber: a - a shallow foundation for a load-bearing wall; b - not buried foundation for the bearing wall; c - a shallow foundation for a self-supporting wall. 1 - foundation tape; 2 - air hole; 3 - sand cushion; 4 - top and bottom layer of crushed stone 5-10 cm; 5 - backfill; 6 - vertical backfilling of the construction site; 7 - vertical backfilling of slopes around an unburied foundation; 8 - bottom and top waterproofing of the basement.

The tape monolithic foundation - the basement shown in the figure is designed for building a house on weak peaty soils of the "former swamp", with a high level of groundwater.

The foundation strip of concrete grade B25 is reinforced at the lower and upper levels with three longitudinal bars of the main reinforcement of class A-III, with a diameter of 12 mm. The value of the protective layer of concrete for reinforcement in foundations - 50 mm.

To increase the bearing capacity of the soil, reduce the degree of its heaving, as well as to drain surface water from the house, soil is dumped within the boundaries of the foundation, plus at least 1.5 meters outside, pos. 6 on the image. Backfilling is carried out with non-heaving sandy soil.

For soils with a higher bearing capacity, the width of the base of the foundation can be reduced to 500 - 350 mm.

sand pillow, pos.3, laid in layers of 100 mm. on a layer of washed crushed stone rammed into natural soil pos.4. Each layer of sand under the sole of the foundation is carefully rammed.

On a sand cushion under the base of the foundation, a layer of rubble is again laid and rammed, pos.4. Compacted crushed stone is shed with heated bitumen, which, after solidification, creates a waterproofing film under the base of the foundation. The bitumen film prevents cement laitance from leaving the sand when pouring the foundation, and subsequently does not let water through the capillaries of the concrete foundation tape.

The side surfaces of the foundation in contact with the ground are smeared twice with heated bituminous mastic. The concrete surface is primed before applying the mastic.

For more information about the construction of various designs of shallow foundations, see the links above.

A house with a grillage on piles with a basement floor is more expensive, more difficult to build and operate than a house on a shallow or not buried foundation with.

Traditionally, a wooden house is made with a basement and a cold underground - leaving a space between the ground and the floor of the lower floor.

The advent of new thermal insulation materials makes it possible to build a wooden house without a basement with cheaper, warmer and more durable floors on the ground:

To learn how to make such a floor in a house from a bar, click on the picture

The lower strapping of the walls of the timber

The bars of the lower strapping along the contour of the walls are laid on the basement tape through the waterproofing layer. The surface of the plinth is coated with bituminous mastic, on which a layer of waterproofing is laid.

Outside, the dimensions of the lower trim are recommended to be 50-70 less than the dimensions of the foundation mm. from each side. Sheathing bars are supported on the outer ledge of the foundation, and the joint between and the strapping is covered with a metal sheet - a low tide. In addition, if the walls hang heavily from the foundation, then it looks ugly.

The joint of the lower trim and the base is covered with a metal sheen. The ebb sheets are fixed on the strapping beam with self-tapping screws. Wall cladding is performed over the ebb.

The bars of the lower trim and the wooden parts of the basement are recommended to be planed and treated with a protective antiseptic. The bioprotective composition must be intended for the treatment of raw wood. Planed and impregnated wood does not rot longer.

Do not coat raw wood with oil- or bitumen-based compounds. The depth of impregnation with such compositions will be small, and the waterproof film on the surface of the timber will conserve moisture inside the wood.

Bioprotection is effective only during the first few years after application, protecting the wood during its drying period.

To protect the strapping beams from moisture for a long time, it is recommended under the beams, on the basement waterproofing, to lay a gasket along the entire length dry antiseptic board wrapped with roofing felt.

Modern advanced builders make such gasket between trim and plinth made of extruded polystyrene foam(penoplex, etc.) 40 thick mm.

The gasket protects the beams from moisture, which can accumulate on the surface of the plinth waterproofing as a result of vapor condensation or soaking. By changing the thickness of the gasket, you can align the strapping bars to the horizon.

The bars of the lower harness are interconnected with construction brackets or galvanized steel linings.

After assembling and checking the diagonals (rectangularity) of the strapping frame, its position on the foundation tape is marked with paint - marks are applied to the timber and waterproofing. This is necessary to control the position of the frame during the installation of walls.

It is not recommended to fasten the strapping bars to the foundation. It should be remembered that during the drying process, the dimensions of the beam decrease, and the dimensions of the foundation remain constant. Temporary fasteners can be installed that fix the position of the piping frame on the foundation only for the period of installation of walls.

Socle ceiling of a wooden house from a bar

For the construction of a traditional basement floor, the structural scheme "beams - logs" is most often used.

Beams from a bar or boards on an edge it is better to lay on the ledge of the base. Such a ceiling design, when the beams are loosely connected to the strapping beams, provides better safety and ease of replacement of wooden parts in the basement of the house. Moisture from the beams is not transferred to the strapping beam, and vice versa. If needed the floor beam or strapping beam can be replaced relatively easily.

From above, across the beams, bars are fixed - logs. Insulation is laid between the beams and between the lags. Slabs or black floor boards are laid on the logs.

This cover design allows:

• Arrange the logs with a step convenient for laying subfloor slabs.
• Get a rigid structure and a total floor height of at least 200 mm. using cheaper lumber of a smaller section. Such a ceiling height is necessary for laying insulation plates of the required thickness between the beams and lags.

The construction of the basement only on beams, without a log, is used when using thick boards as a subfloor - 40 mm. and more, and beams with a height of 200 mm.

Beams should be laid so that there was a ventilation gap between their ends and the strapping (2 cm) . This is done with the help of gaskets, which are removed after fastening the beams with brackets or steel plates (see Fig., Node B). The end of the beam must rest on the plinth for a length of at least 120 mm.

The technology for installing beams is simple. First, mount the extreme beams and align them in a horizontal plane. After that, a board is placed on the edge between them and intermediate beams are installed on it. The work is usually controlled visually, and if necessary, a level is used. Temporary technological flooring from boards is laid on the beams.

On the base, the ends of the beams are laid in the same way as the strapping beam, through a layer of waterproofing and leveling pads.

Before installing the basement, the space under the floor is thoroughly cleaned of wood residues and other debris that can rot. The surface of the earth under the floor is covered with sandy soil with a layer thickness of 10 cm . and ram it.

Over sand preparation the soil in the subfield over the entire surface is covered with rolled waterproofing based on bituminous materials with careful gluing of the joints of the panels. Waterproofing is wrapped on the walls of the basement and glued to them.

A modern solution that provides comfort and saves on heating costs is a device.

To learn how to make such a warm floor without a concrete screed, click on the picture.

Double strapping of walls from a bar

There is another version of the device for the lower strapping of a log house - double strapping. The double strap design is well shown in the video clip.

The purpose of the double strapping device is to the floor beams rested on the protrusion of the lower beam, without cutting into the upper beam of the strapping.

The time will come, and, as mentioned above, such an independent laying of beams will make it quite easy to replace defective beams and strapping bars. In addition, the durability of wooden strapping parts is increased.

According to building codes the ends of the beams must rest on the lower beam for a length of at least 100 mm. Therefore, the lower beam is recommended to choose a width of at least 200 mm.

Double strapping is beneficial to use in structures, when the width of the basement (grillage) does not allow floor beams to rest on it.

In country log houses on piles or columnar foundations, a separate grillage is often not made. The lower beam of the strapping is laid directly on the pile heads or foundation columns. In this design, the lower beam of the double strapping actually serves as a grillage. Floor beams in this case are often cut into the upper strapping beam. This is a cheaper and less durable option.

Three ways to connect timber in the corners of the walls

When building houses or baths, the following three methods of connecting beams at the corners of walls are most popular:

1. Connection "to the floor of the tree." At the ends of the bars, horizontal cuts are made in half the thickness and the ends are laid on top of each other. The parts in the connection must be fastened with building brackets, galvanized steel linings or dowels. The connection is easy to do, but requires additional fastening of parts and is “cold”, due to easily blown gaps.
2. Connection in a one-sided key groove is an analogue of the connection, which is traditionally used in log cabins from round logs. The connection is “warm”, strong, but difficult to implement in a construction site. Most often, in log cabins, it is used in the manufacture of parts in the factory.
3. In dressing with a root spike - the most common corner connection of the bars. The profile of such a connection is quite easy to mark and cut out. The gaps in the tongue-and-groove lock are sealed by pushing the interventional insulation from above.

The "wood floor" connection is usually used in the corners to fasten the beams of the lower trim of the building.

Connections of partitions from a bar with an external wall

The connection of the beam of the inner wall - the partition with the crown of the outer wall of the groove - thorn type turns out to be “warm”, since it does not have through joints to the outside. This connection is easy to make.

"Warm" connection of the beams of the partition and the outer wall. 1- main beam; 2 - dobor bar; 3 - partition beam

In every fourth crown of the log house, the partition beam is fastened to the wall beam with building brackets, or galvanized steel overlays.

The figure below shows the connection node in the crown of three bars at once - the outer wall, the bay window and the inner wall - the partition.

The connection of the beam in the crowns of the outer wall, the bay window and the inner wall - partitions

The connection of the bars in this unit is made using rectangular keys that are inserted into the grooves in the parts to be joined.

In one crown, the end of the beam of the outer wall is adjacent to the end of the beam of the bay window, and the end of the beam of the partition is adjacent to the beam of the wall. In the next crown, the ends of the beam of the outer wall and the bay window are adjacent from different sides to the beam of the partition.

Timber for houses, baths in your city

Steel perforated fasteners for timber

The wooden parts of a house made of timber are traditionally connected and fastened together with the help of tie-ins, cuts, spikes, grooves of various configurations, as well as steel building brackets and nails.

In recent years, perforated steel fasteners have appeared on the construction market, specifically designed for connecting wooden parts in construction.

When developing the designs and sizes of connectors, the standard dimensions of wooden parts, which are widely used in construction, as well as the loads that wooden parts usually withstand, were taken into account.

Steel perforated fasteners - support for a wooden beam.

For example, the article above repeatedly emphasized the need to fasten floor beams to strapping beams without cutting, in order to ensure easy replacement of floor beams and not weaken the strapping.

The use of metal supports for attaching the beams to the strapping beams makes it easy to solve this problem and, in some cases, simplify the design of the basement of the house.

The beam support is made of galvanized steel with a thickness of 2.5 mm. with high strength values.

The metal part of the support must cover at least 2/3 of the height of the beam.

The dimensions of the "mouth" of the steel support must correspond to the width of the beam, and the height of the support is chosen at least 2/3 of the height of the beam.

The steel support is screwed to the wooden parts with self-tapping screws. The load-bearing capacity of a beam connector is equal to the sum of the load-bearing capacities of the screws that fasten the support to the beam.

In order to use the connector's load-bearing capacity to the full, self-tapping screws are screwed into each hole of the steel support. If this is not necessary, then the self-tapping screws must be screwed into the beam into the upper and lower, and then into every second hole. In the strapping beam, self-tapping screws are screwed into each hole of the row located closer to the beam.

The length of the screws is chosen equal to half the width of the beam. The diameter of the screws should be slightly smaller than the size of the holes in the steel support.

Instead of self-tapping screws, you can use "ruffed" nails. Ordinary nails with a smooth surface cannot be used.

The gap between the end of the beam and the strapping beam is allowed no more than 3 mm.

You can use perforated steel fasteners in other structures of a log house. For example, It is convenient to replace building brackets with mounting plates or corners.

A wide variety of perforated steel fasteners are available for a wide variety of timber structures.

Of course, you can admire the art of our ancestors, who built without a single nail. But taking an example from them and trying to repeat it now hardly makes sense.

Modern technologies allow a lot of things to be done faster, stronger, and cheaper. For example, it is convenient to connect a beam, a beam along the length using such a gerbera connector.

A typical application of a gerbera beam connector is connection and splicing of beams, purlins, rafters not on a support, but in a span, in the absence of bending and torque moments in the articulation unit.

Connectors should be located from the support at a distance of 1/7 of the span length L. Calculations show that at this distance from the support to the beam, girder or rafter, the minimum bending and torsional moments will act.

Always use a pair of connectors for each connection. The height of the connector must be equal to the height of the beam. Gerber connectors are made of galvanized steel with a thickness of 2 mm.

More articles on this topic:

A beam for building a house is used for private low-rise buildings. In the project of a wooden house, you can embody the most daring design ideas: from a small one-story cottage to a large two-story cottage with all kinds of balconies, attics and cozy terraces on the veranda.

The beam at a relatively low price has excellent performance characteristics and is excellent for the construction of residential buildings and baths.

How to choose a timber for such a house? To do this, you need to find out what bars are and how they are used in individual cases.

Which timber is better for building a wooden house

There are 4 main types of bars:

• unprofiled with a rectangular or square section;
• profiled solid;
• glued;
• beam LVL.

The first type is the most economical building material. It is most often used for the construction of auxiliary non-critical premises, as it is low-tech due to the lack of strict dimensions. Such wood is not treated with anything, so it is prone to rotting, insect damage and easy fire. In addition, uneven dimensions contribute to poor fit of the bars to each other, which creates the so-called cold bridges. Thus, unprofiled timber cannot be used for building walls in residential buildings.

The profiled beam of one-piece design has precise dimensions and appropriate processing. This material provides a tight pairing of wood, which facilitates installation and eliminates additional processing of the walls. The profiled timber is securely fixed thanks to the tongue and groove system. Shrinkage of a house made of such material does not exceed 5%.

Glued laminated timber consists of individual lamellas (dried timber), glued together, taking into account the direction of the fibers. This material is the highest quality and reliable. It is characterized by high manufacturability, as it practically does not shrink. A house made of glued laminated timber does not require additional processing of the walls; finishing work can be performed immediately after the walls have been erected.

Such a house has good thermal insulation and is not subject to deformation due to high humidity. Glued laminated timber can be replaced with profiled timber, but the quality of construction will suffer from this.

LVL timber is also glued laminated timber, however, veneer serves as the constituent elements. The material is hard on the outside but soft on the inside. This is the most expensive and high quality wood. LVL timber has high strength, elasticity, moisture resistance. This material is practically not subject to fire and decay, and its range consists of materials of different lengths.

Timber material is made of different sections: from 120x120 mm to 200x200 mm. But the most appropriate for building a house is a timber with dimensions of 150x150 mm in longitudinal section.

Timber house: construction technology

Before you start building a house, you need to develop its project and think through all the details. The most favorable types of wood for the construction of a log house: pine, spruce, larch.

So, the technology for building a log cabin includes the following steps:

1. Foundation laying.
2. Floor device.
3. Construction of external walls and partitions.
4. Roof construction.
5. Installation of windows and doors.

Under a standard residential log house, a strip foundation is usually made. To do this, a trench 0.7 m deep is dug around the perimeter of the future house. A sand cushion is poured into its bottom, and rubble is on top. The entire backfill is carefully tamped. After that, the dug trench is poured with a concrete mixture.

Arrangement of the floor is an important stage in the construction of a wooden house. This is due to the fact that wood absorbs moisture very quickly, due to which constant dampness may be present in the dwelling, and building material may also rot. Therefore, the floor in the house of beams consists of two layers: rough and finish.

After pouring the foundation, at least two weeks should pass, and only then they begin to lay the lower crown of beams and equip the subfloor.

Before laying the bottom row of beams, it is necessary to lay a waterproofing layer on the foundation. For this, a double layer of bitumen and roofing material is laid, alternating between them. The width of the insulation must exceed the width of the foundation by 30 cm.

The very first board is rigidly mounted to the foundation, and an ebb is attached to it, through which all the precipitation water will flow.

The first crown of a house made of beams must be treated with antiseptic impregnation to avoid rotting of the material. The evenness of the entire structure depends on the laying of the first crown. Therefore, at this stage it is important to check the accuracy of the dimensions using a laser level.

1. Lay logs with cross-sectional dimensions of 150x100 mm. Lags are laid with a narrow end down. The beams are fixed with the first crown of the house by laying in a groove. The logs should be located from each other in increments of 70 cm. If the beams are longer than 3 m, then additional supports must be laid under them - bars with a section of 200x150 mm.
2. Bars with cross-sectional dimensions of 50x50 mm are nailed to the side of the log.
3. The base of the floor is mounted on cranial bars. Floorboards are laid close to each other without fastening to the logs.
4. Lay successively layers of waterproofing, insulation and vapor barrier.
5. In the direction of the beams, special slats are laid to create a ventilation space.
6. The flooring of the subfloor is made of boards 40 mm thick. Second-class wood can serve as this material.

The final floor is laid after the walls and roof are erected. For this, high-quality processed boards with exact dimensions are used.

Features of the connection of the bars and the construction of the roof

The construction of a log house from the bars consists in the phased laying out of the crowns. For the construction of the walls of a residential building, it is better to use profiled and glued beams with cross-sectional dimensions of 140x140 mm and 90x140 mm.

For reliable fastening, the ends of the bars are made with a spike and a groove. Fixed in this way among themselves, the bars will reliably preserve the structure of the house.

After each crown, a jute insulation is laid. It provides good thermal insulation, prevents the formation of cold bridges, and also prevents the appearance of mold. Tow or linen acts as a heater.

Between themselves, the crowns are fixed with dowels. These fasteners allow you to save the structure of the house without twisting and drying out the bars. Nails 6x200 act as these hardware. Nails are hammered in increments of 1 m to a depth of 25 - 30 cm.

The roof for a house made of beams can be of various shapes: it can consist of several slopes, with an attic and an open terrace. For such options, you can not do without specialists. But if the house is being built independently, then most often they choose the option of a classic gable roof.

The gable roof is performed according to the following technology:

1. Perform a coupler of the bars of the upper crown. For the Mauerlat, a beam with a section of 150x150 mm is chosen and fixed to the crown of the wall with the help of brackets and dowels. Ceiling logs are laid in increments of 90 cm.
2. Next, rafters are made, which are based on the Mauerlat. The rafter system is a frame that will determine the shape of the roof. These bars are taken with a section size of 50x150 mm. A triangular notch is made at the attachment point for a strong grip of the elements. To maintain the desired angle, a special template is made. The rafters are laid in increments of 1 m and attached to the beams with the help of corners and self-tapping screws.
3. Spread the fronts of the roof from the bars or siding.
4. The rafter system is covered with a layer of vapor barrier, and then a crate is made of beams and boards. The step of the lathing depends on the type of roofing material. If there is a tile, then there should be practically no gaps on the crate. If there is corrugated board or slate, then the gap in the crate can be up to 30 cm.
5. Install roofing material.
6. If an attic is planned, then the roof from the inside must be insulated. For this, mineral wool is suitable, which is laid between the rafters.
7. The interior lining of the attic can be made of drywall or lining.

It should be noted that within 2 years a wooden house can shrink naturally, so it is not worth trimming it with facing materials during this period.

A wooden house is beautiful, environmentally friendly and warm.

What should be the thickness of the walls in the house

How to correctly calculate the thickness of the walls of a wooden house

During construction, the thickness of the walls affects 3 parameters:

1. Wall strength and structural stability. According to all calculations, for the construction of a two-story cottage made of wood, the thickness of the supporting structures of 160 mm is sufficient.
2. Noise isolation. Compared to bricks and blocks, wood wins, so we get good noise protection even with minimal wall thicknesses.
3. Thermal insulation. This is the main reason for disputes among customers of houses made of glued and planed timber, logs. It is to increase thermal insulation that glued laminated timber is produced with a thickness of 175, 200 and 240 mm.

The ideal situation for the builder and future owner is to build a house from a homogeneous material without additional thermal insulation. But for this it is necessary to correctly calculate the parameters of the wall.

The thickness of the walls of the house from a bar according to the standard

SP 50.13330.2012 specifies the details of calculating the thermal protection of buildings. There are many formulas in the set of rules - calculation of floors, flooring, external and internal walls, dependence on the climatic zone, a complete set for determining the characteristics of a building. But now we are only interested in calculating the dimensions of the building envelope:

d - layer thickness, R - heat transfer resistance (set for a specific region), k - thermal conductivity coefficient (depending on the material). For Moscow, the resistance to heat transfer is approximately 3.2. The average coefficient of thermal conductivity of wood: pine - 0.15, spruce - 0.11 (formulas and values ​​are taken from SP 50.13330.2012 and Wikipedia materials). The result is a wall thickness of at least 35-48 cm. According to the same calculations, a brick wall should be 0.64-2.24 m, and a concrete wall should be more than 3 m.

But we see a discrepancy almost everywhere: the thickness of the walls of log cabins rarely exceeds 140-180 mm at the joints, and for panel high-rise buildings, standard reinforced concrete products are only 140-200 mm. How do you manage to live in such houses without additional insulation? In practice, dimensions “according to the standard” are often impossible, therefore, the work of heat engineering is taken into account in construction.

A Practical Approach to Determining Wall Thickness

When calculating, they are rather based not on thermal characteristics, but on a combination of thermal insulation, type of heating equipment and heating costs. What matters is the type of building (for permanent and seasonal residence), the type of fuel (main gas, solid fuel, electricity). As a result, it turns out that you can build from virtually any material, and the extra centimeters only reduce the monthly heating costs.

Question:
It is written on the Internet that for year-round living there is not enough thickness of the wall of a house made of glued laminated timber 175-200 mm, you need at least 250 mm. So, houses with timber less than 250 mm are cold?

Answer:
It all depends on the heating and ventilation system. Even in a house with enhanced thermal insulation, there will be heat loss through the foundation, roof, when doors and windows are opened. According to our calculations, for permanent residence in the presence of main gas, the thickness of the walls in a house made of glued laminated timber of 175 mm is sufficient, otherwise the savings on heating do not pay off the construction costs. If it is supposed to use electricity, then it is better to choose the production of houses from glued laminated timber 200 or 240 mm.

Let's summarize

For exact compliance with the norms, the wall thickness should be 48 cm, but the physical properties of wood (rapid warming up, regulation of room humidity, etc.) make it possible to comfortably live in a house with a wall thickness of 200 and even 175 mm (with a slight increase in heating costs). More than 3,000 GOOD WOOD customers can confirm this: in most projects, glued laminated timber 175 and 200 mm is used. The main thing is to competently and efficiently perform the connections, correctly install energy-efficient windows, and think over the ventilation system.

Tree to tree discord: real and ideal thickness

The thickness of the walls of the house from the massif

When building a house from rounded logs, it is necessary to take into account the differences in waves - a diameter of 200 mm at the junction gives 100-120 mm. Accordingly, in bottlenecks, protection drops by 40-50%. Thermal insulation must be calculated precisely according to the characteristics at the joints. The second danger of the array is wood cracks and gaps between crowns. The material in the first months (up to one and a half years) goes through a stage of intensive shrinkage - the tree takes its final shape, the fibers twist, crack. Cracks sometimes reach the center of the log or split the beam into two parts.
When cracks and crevices appear, the thermal insulation falls. If the wall is open (builders recommend abandoning finishing and insulation in the first year), then it will be caulked. In the future, it is recommended to carry out inspections, seal cracks and renew interventional thermal insulation every 5-7 years.

The thickness of the walls of the house from glued laminated timber

The situation is more pleasant - high-tech material is glued together from several pre-dried lamellas. The shape does not change over the years, the multilayer structure protects against deep cracks. As a result, the initial thermal insulation remains at the calculated level. At least the owners' reviews of glued laminated timber and the reports of GOOD WOOD emergency inspectors do not report problems with the deterioration of thermal insulation. Theoretically, the thickness of glued laminated timber is not limited, but in most cases the standard thickness is used - 160, 175, 200, 240 mm.

The characteristics of such walls have been checked so thoroughly and in detail that GOOD WOOD specialists have developed a calculator to calculate the monthly heating costs of most typical projects:

When building houses from glued laminated timber on a turnkey basis, the calculator helps to estimate costs in advance and consciously choose wall parameters, floor characteristics, and window design.

So what should be the thickness of the walls in the house?

1. With a scientific approach to construction, it turns out that in any case it is required to increase the thickness of the walls to unreasonable limits (up to 30, 50, 100 or more centimeters) or use a layer of insulation and exterior finish. With some materials (expanded concrete blocks, logs or planed timber) this happens.
2. Practice teaches us to include heat engineering parameters and heating costs in calculations, to find a reasonable balance between thickness and heating costs. As a result, warm houses are obtained without increasing the thickness of the walls or additional insulation. The main thing in this case is to correctly assess the difference between construction costs and heating costs.

Log houses are quite popular these days because they are environmentally friendly, have an attractive appearance and are relatively cheap. In order to save money, many home craftsmen build buildings from timber with their own hands.

To date, there are various types of timber for building a house, and each of them has its own differences, which we will discuss in this article.

Timber as a modern building material

Log buildings were erected in Russia from time immemorial. Warm, strong and durable houses were obtained from wood, which for many years did not need any repairs.

The beam has all the advantages of a log, while being easy to use. In addition, this material has many more advantages that should be considered in more detail.

The advantages of timber

1. Timber buildings are distinguished by simplicity and high speed of construction.
2. Low price.
3. Buildings made of wood are distinguished by high performance characteristics that are maintained throughout the entire period of operation.

1. Timber buildings "breathe", creating a unique microclimate, a country house.
2. The use of timber as a building material excludes interior and exterior decoration. Such walls are quite warm and have an excellent appearance. Therefore, if you do not plan to operate the building all year round, then wall decoration is not needed.

Advice!
Ordinary building timber, unlike glued and profiled timber, needs finishing work.
The fact is that such walls need caulking, which is almost impossible to carry out evenly.

1. Various sizes and types of timber allow you to implement any design projects. This building material is very flexible in work, due to which today the types of houses made of timber are limited only by the designer's imagination.

timber types

Now consider the types of timber. The great popularity of this building material was the reason for the creation of several of its types, each of which has both visual differences and unique technical characteristics.

To date, there are three types of timber:

1. Construction (regular) bru with.

It is a log that is planed on four sides to give a rectangular section. It is the cheapest and simplest material option.

It has the following advantages over a log:

• Faster construction process.
• Great strength and heat capacity.
• Great ease of corner connections.
• lower cost. Many experts argue that this material is an excellent example of the best value for money.

The disadvantages of building materials include the need for finishing work. However, here there is one nuance that turns a disadvantage into an advantage. The fact is that in the process of finishing the walls can be additionally insulated, which will make it possible to use such a house for year-round use.

Advice!
Since buildings made of ordinary timber are subject to significant shrinkage (about 20 cm for a two-storey building), the walls must be finished at least six months after the completion of construction work.

1. Profiled timber differs from the usual one in that it has a more complex cross section. It is necessary for better joining of elements, which makes the walls warmer and more durable.

The types of profiled timber differ only in the structure of the profile, however, in any case, the elements are calculated in such a way as to prevent moisture from penetrating into the interventional one.

Advice!
You don't have to caulk the profiled timber walls, as they look great even without finishing.
However, such houses are suitable only for seasonal living, since without additional insulation, timber walls are quite difficult to heat in the winter.

1. Glued timber. This type of material is the most expensive, because it combines exceptionally high quality with an attractive appearance. Glued building material is the result of gluing several pre-dried lamellas together. After gluing, the material is placed under the press.
   Before gluing, the lamellas are carefully selected, and those areas that have even the slightest defects are subject to immediate removal. In order to increase the strength of the glued beams, the lamellas are laid with perpendicular alternation of fibers. This way of laying allows you to compensate for the stress that occurs due to the effects of weather conditions.

There are different types of glued laminated lumber that depend on wood as a raw material. The highest quality is considered a combined glued laminated timber. Its peculiarity is as follows: the outer lamellas are made of larch wood, and the inner ones are made of pine.

It is famous for its resistance to decay and various external influences, and therefore the material is very strong and durable.

The properties of natural wood are attributed to glued laminated timber, while it is not characterized by the shortcomings of wood, in particular shrinkage, which allows finishing work to be carried out immediately after the completion of construction work. Another advantage of the material is the increased heat and sound insulation characteristics.

Types of corner joints for timber and logs

One of the main stages in the construction of timber houses is the laying of a log house. And before starting construction work, you need to know how to connect the bars to each other, for which the material is subject to special preparation.

A log connection may be needed in two cases:

1. When cutting the corner of a building.
2. In the case of timber extension, when the element was not cut to length.

Joining methods for beams are different from logs. Therefore, we will consider some types of cutting corners from a bar.

There are currently two methods in use:

1. With the rest. In the people it is called "in the bowl."
2. No remainder. The popular name is "to the tooth."

Let's consider both options in more detail:

1. connection with the remainder.
   It can be of three types:

• Unilateral. In each element, a notch is made on one side - a perpendicular groove. Such a file must correspond in width to the perpendicular section of the beam. Most developers use this technology when working with profiled timber, since such fastening requires a minimum of effort.
• bilateral.

A double-sided slot lock involves cuts on both sides of the timber (top and bottom). The depth of the perpendicular cuts should be equal to a quarter of the height of the element. This technology allows you to achieve a high quality connection, but requires a lot of experience from carpenters, since chips and cracks in the cut are unacceptable.

• Quadripartite. In this case, the grooves are cut from all sides of the timber. This technology allows to achieve high strength of the frame. Cuts provided on all sides greatly simplify the process of erection - all crowns are stacked like a designer.

This method significantly increases the reliability of the building. Like the previous version, the four-way connection requires high skill from the carpenter.