Often, people who live in areas with commercially available round timber have the idea of building a house on their own: especially since until recently almost all peasants possessed this wisdom, without knowing any literacy or mastering construction technology. Building a log house with your own hands is not a great science, but it still requires a deep understanding of the process and the ability to adapt old carpentry technologies to new conditions.
We immediately hasten to dissuade people who want to install a log house using modern power tools to save time. Unfortunately, the use of chainsaws and power planers is not recommended and should only be used for heavy-duty work. Wood treated with power tools is more susceptible to mold and rotting processes. For the construction of log houses, a special carpentry kit is used.
To work, in addition to axes, you will need a standard plane (as well as a Scherhebel plane for finishing work) and a scraper (for removing bark); there is also a whole range of additional carpentry tools for cutting into a cup. To cut out a longitudinal groove, an adze is used - an ax with a rounded blade and an inverted ax handle. When processing wood hand tools Wood pores are naturally clogged, and as a result, a hand-cut house will last much longer.
A house made of round timber is cut using several types of axes; professional woodcutters order axes for chopping houses to order from high-quality hardened steel. In the simplest version, we recommend stocking up on an ax for rough cutting, which without the weight of the ax handle should weigh about 1.6 kg, have a sharpening angle of 25 degrees, for convenience, use an ax length of 60 cm. And the second ax is used for finishing cutting with higher accuracy, such the model will have a sharpening angle of 20 degrees, a weight of 0.9 kg and an ax handle up to 50 cm long.
Many artels in their work use a restoration and carpentry ax, which was restored and made on the basis of ancient samples by A.V. Popov. There are many modifications of it, which were made by Popov himself. Approximately up to 90% of carpentry work involving felling a log house can be performed with this tool. Popov's ax has a wedge-shaped shape; in fact, this ax is a half-splitting ax, since its tasks include not only chopping, but also removing wood chips during work. This requirement is achieved using a special tool shape.
A number of Russian forges produce high-quality axes for cutting log houses. One of the most interesting is ToporSib. In this artel you can purchase all necessary tool for cutting a log house in the form of ready-made kits.
To build a log house you will need round timber. The thickness of the frame is selected based on the availability of materials. Usually, a house made of round timber is made with your own hands from accessible and inexpensive materials. In Russian conditions we are talking about pine round timber. There are 4 varieties of round timber available for sale; experts recommend the 2nd grade:
Pine for the construction of a log house is chosen for budgetary reasons; in addition, this wood is soft and pliable in processing, has a small number of knots, does not require additional processing, the trunk run-out (difference in diameter) usually does not exceed 1 cm. Pine does not crack as much as spruce processed, but is soft, so larch or oak is recommended for lower logs that are closer to the ground. Wherein crown molding can be made of pine, but its diameter should be 5-7 cm larger than the main log. In some cases, a high foundation can save you from ground moisture.
To cut a log house, only fresh wood is used; ideally, the log house is cut in the forest, where the material can be selected, and then transported to the installation site. Fresh material should be stored for no more than 2 weeks; for storage at the construction site, rounds are stacked. For northern regions with temperatures reaching -40C in winter period, logs with a diameter of 21-24 cm are used for middle zone 15-18 cm is enough.
When building a house, it is better to start with small forms of buildings, for example, building a gazebo or a log bathhouse with a recreation room and a bedroom. You can live in such a house before the construction of the main house, and then use it as a guest house. Typically, timber of the maximum length is ordered, and it is possible to make accurate calculations, based on the availability of windows, doors, partitions and select logs at the sawmill according to the required size.
To successfully and quickly build a house for yourself, it is better to join an artel that deals with wooden construction, at least for summer time. This will help you understand the main points of manual felling of log houses.
The foundation for a wooden frame is made using strip technology or made of stone. The higher the foundation, the wood is better will be protected from ground moisture. A house made of round timber can be installed on a columnar or pile foundation. In the old days, the first rows of logs, the so-called mother crown, were installed on stone shafts; they were called ryazhe. This solution made it possible to raise the house above the ground and secure it firmly.
Before starting work, prepare additional equipment. First of all, the support for holding the logs, the fixation of the round timber is ensured by cut out wedges. Next you need to prepare the logs to size:
Next, using a scraper, the bark is removed from the trees; you can bring the log to a smooth state with a plane, but since upper layer wood will be removed, you need to treat the log with an antiseptic solution or tar oil.
At the next stage, the cutting of the facing crown is carried out by trimming the log. On the one hand you have to get it perfectly flat surface, which will be in contact with the foundation. Next, the harness is built, the log house is made into a bowl with your own hands without much difficulty, other technologies require skill.
Here's a video of how to make a log house with your own hands:
The algorithm for cutting a longitudinal groove can be different; professional craftsmen do it manually. For beginners, a small graphical instruction will help.
The felling of a log house can be carried out in a bowl, as well as using a number of other methods, which are illustrated in the figure.
Please note that there is Russian and Canadian cutting technology. The Canadian method of cutting log houses is better designed for log shrinkage and guarantees better thermal insulation.
Cutting a log house with your own hands is a very realistic goal, as a result of which you will become the owner of a beautiful and warm home. Construction wooden house will cost you relatively little, since labor-intensive processes will be executed independently. The house will delight you with its appearance, and also create a healthy atmosphere inside due to the aroma of pine resins. The key advantage of this construction technology is the fact that a wooden house can be cut at any time of the year. If you use high-quality old wood, such a house will last at least 100 years.
Wooden materials retain heat well, are environmentally friendly, and also have an attractive appearance. You can prepare a log house with your own hands.
To prepare a log house, you need to take the following tools:
Logs can be processed underneath to make the work being done safer. The construction of a log house takes place in three stages: the main part is completed, and then the middle and upper. Along the entire length, the log may have different circumferences, so you need to change the top and butt. If you make an edging, then the crowns will connect well and not form large cracks. The deck in the extreme part is trimmed on both sides to create a flat surface.
First, timber is harvested, having previously calculated required quantity and sizes of logs, these indicators depend on the width, height and length of the building. Therefore, before starting this work, it is necessary to make a drawing of the building with clear dimensions and calculate the amount of material. Preparation of a log house depends on the layout, type of fastening of logs, and their processing.
When completing a project, they note what shape the building will be, that is, it can be standard, which consists of four walls. Or it may have an unusual appearance, and include large quantity load-bearing elements.
Logs are fastened in two ways: in a “bowl” and in a “paw”; these types of groove construction differ. With the first option, strong wind does not affect the corner parts of the building, but more material is wasted when bandaging.
With the second option, less material will be needed, but the corner parts will be exposed to strong winds, and it will also be more difficult to make the grooves.
The building can be made of cylindrical and profiled logs. In the first case, the log is processed until it takes the shape of a cylinder; special machines are used for this. This material has a number of advantages:
The profiled timber has a rectangular or square shape when cut, and its processing is also carried out using a machine. At the final stage, the side parts of the log will be flat, and there will be special grooves for fastening at the top and bottom. This material also has its advantages:
Coniferous types of wood are used to make a log house. After harvesting the logs, the bark is removed and dried.
According to the drawing, markings are made on the territory, stakes are installed and the rope is pulled. Then the foundation is made in the form of linings, with dimensions of 1 meter in length and 1/3 meter in circumference. They are laid near the corner part of the proposed building using a level, and the load will be uniform.
Then they build an edging, choose where it will be located, and lay it with this part up, fixing the log with staples. Using a plumb line, draw lines vertically; they will be the outermost parts of the edge. They stretch the rope along the edges of the log, make cuts, and cut off the material until the edge is completely obtained. The same work is carried out on the opposite part of the log.
After the foundation is poured, it must be left to dry completely.
Waterproofing material is laid on the completed foundation; roofing felt can be used. A board with a thickness of 5 centimeters is installed on top, on which the crown will be located. To keep the building warm, tow is laid on top.
Then the initial crown is laid, in which the logs should have a larger circumference compared to the rest of the material. Before starting this work, notches of about 15 centimeters along the entire length are made on the log. In this case, the material will adhere tightly to the board.
After this, the remaining crowns are laid to the required height. Tow is placed between the elements of the crown, the logs are tied in the corner part, and spikes are also used for a tight connection; they are placed at a distance of up to 1 meter. In this case, the building will have good stability.
First, mark the doorway, then install the logs using a dowel. Using plumb lines, the vertical position of the corner parts is checked, and the final window sill beam is installed on two dowels.
Then the crowns of the window element are laid, keeping the opening height to 130 centimeters. After this, the strapping is performed in the upper part.
After this, the elements for the rafters are prepared, for this purpose the logs are cut off, and about two edges are made on each of them. The elements are cut into the deck, and recesses for the rafter legs are made with a chisel.
When making rafters, there should not be many small knots in the log. Near the base of the rafters, a tenon is made by sawing, and paired installation is carried out.
Openings can be made in two ways: after the work is completed, and during construction.
In the first option, the installation of openings is carried out after completion of all work; for this, gaps are made in the crowns at the intended location. After installation is completed, these openings are cut out using a chainsaw.
In the second option, the openings are made during the process of laying logs; special bars and grooves are used for this; this method takes a lot of time and money.
Metal materials cannot be used as casing, as heat will escape through them. To install the socket on the end parts of the logs, a vertical tenon 50*50 is made on each side. They install a pigtail on it, with it reverse side the groove is located.
First, the beams are laid on the walls.
The beams are secured and the rafter legs are installed at a distance of 1 meter. A corner cut is made near the ridge for a tight connection.
Boards are nailed to the feet of the rafters or lathing is made.
Then lay the main roof covering according to the instructions for the selected material.
The ridge is covered with galvanization to protect it from strong winds and precipitation.
After completing all the work, I begin the interior finishing, namely the construction of floors.
The pillars are:
They are arranged according to their names, the thickest elements are the corner ones, the thin ones are the intermediate ones.
Corner posts are placed in a pocket, the depth of which is up to 7 centimeters. The remaining pillars are installed at a depth of about 3 centimeters. Up to three edges are made on the log house; after shrinkage occurs, they begin laying the remaining pillars.
At the end, rafters are installed; for this purpose, walkways, jibs and nails are used as fastenings. The elements are laid on the walkways, top part fastened with nails. Spikes rafter elements placed in pockets, secured with jibs, and legs secured with staples.
After all work is completed, the building is left for 1 year to shrink. To prevent the doors and windows from skewing, and to prevent the material from deforming, it is necessary to make gaps that disappear over time. While shrinkage occurs, you can construct the floor or rafters for the roof.
After shrinkage occurs, tow fills all the resulting gaps.
When constructing log buildings, the following rules must be followed:
In order to build from a log house, it is necessary to select the desired processing of the log, prepare the material, build a foundation, put waterproofing material and boards on it, and lay the initial crown of the log house on them. Then they begin to build the remaining crowns to the required height, after that they make openings for doors and windows, make floors, and leave the building to shrink, after which the roof can be made. To prevent deformation of the material and openings, it is necessary to leave compensation gaps that are filled with tow.
If the work is done correctly, the building will be warm and durable.
The traditional material for the construction of a Russian bathhouse is a solid log. Besides affordable price, sawlogs (aka round timber) are also attractive with another feature: a person with little experience in carpentry can make a log house with their own hands. You will need: availability of time, desire to self-study and theoretical preparation combined with practice. Hence the purpose of our article – to clearly explain how to properly build a log sauna with a steam room.
The first task that needs to be solved in advance is to allocate a site for building a bathhouse. Determine a location close to your home, preferably near a pond or swimming pool. Recommended location of the building and distances from other objects in the country or personal plot shown in the diagram.
The next step is to draw up a layout of the premises, taking into account the allocated area. As a rule, a sauna has 3 rooms - a washing room, a steam room and a dressing room, which at the same time serves as a relaxation room. You can read more about the correct breakdown of the area. Now that the planning is done, let's take a closer look at how to cut and assemble your log bathhouse.
So, the work is divided into the following stages:
We usually build log houses from coniferous wood - pine, spruce and larch. It is better to put the latter in the first 2-3 crowns, since it resists moisture well. Freshly cut wood is allowed to sit and dry for 1 month.
Reference. The ideal forest for constructing a log house is the part of the tree from the root (butt) to the beginning of the crown of the pine tree. There are almost no knots in this area, and the density of the tree is greater than at the top.
To build a reliable and durable log bathhouse with your own hands, select and prepare timber taking into account our recommendations:
The diameter of the saw log decreases from the butt to the top
When selecting logs, consider one thing: important feature: The diameter of the trunk necessarily decreases from the butt to the top. The technical name of the phenomenon is camber, ideally it should not exceed 8 mm per 1 linear meter of round timber.
Advice. It doesn’t matter when the consistency exceeds the specified value. Before cutting down a bathhouse, you need to disassemble the logs into pairs with the same indicator, and during construction, lay them according to the butt-top-butt pattern. An experienced carpenter will tell you in detail about this installation technology in his video:
Experienced craftsmen can work dexterously and quickly with an ax, but they also now use power tools, which significantly facilitate the work when building log structures. The optimal set of a carpenter-builder looks like this:
To mark the trunks, you will also need a special device shown in the photo - a line (otherwise known as a scriber). To make it, you need to take a thick steel wire, sharpen the ends and bend it in the form of a compass.
Log houses are heavy structures, and therefore it is better for them to pour a strip-type concrete foundation. An exception is a mini-bath measuring 3 x 3 m, under which you can make brick or block pillars, and then place the first crown on these pillars. In other cases, it is necessary to mark the contours of the building on the ground and dig a trench 40-50 cm wide around the perimeter. You need to go deep to a stable layer of soil lying 0.5-1.5 m from the surface (depending on the region).
Filling is carried out with concrete of a grade not lower than M150, prepared from 3 parts of sand and 5 of the same volumes of crushed stone per 1 measure of Portland cement M400. During installation concrete mixture compacted with vibrators, and in their absence - with long steel rods. The base will take 4 weeks to harden, the formwork can be removed after 7-9 days.
Advice. To avoid having to trim or cut the logs of the first crown and thereby reduce the durability of the structure, make a foundation strip at different levels. How this is implemented in practice, see the following video.
The first step is to protect the wood from soaking and subsequent rotting. To do this, lay waterproofing made of two layers of roofing felt on the foundation, and treat the trunks with an antiseptic compound. You can also make an additional lining under the lower tier from timber 50-100 mm thick. Then the most interesting part begins - cutting the casing crown.
There are several ways to join logs at the corners:
The simplest cutting of corners
Reference. Russian cutting methods are listed here; in addition to them, Canadian and Norwegian technology is used, but it is more difficult to implement.
Cutting in the form of a bowl
The connection with a rectangular groove shown in the photo is only suitable for building a shed. Due to direct gaps, even if caulked, such a corner will turn out cold, which is unacceptable for a bathhouse. Docking “in the paw” is more reliable, but is rarely used by modern carpenters due to its complexity. For beginners, we suggest mastering a relatively simple and “warm” option - cutting into the upper bowl with a hidden spike, otherwise - into the clap.
Before assembling the crown molding, it is necessary to trim the round timber along its entire length in order to increase the area adjacent to the foundation. The width of the contact patch must be at least 12 cm. To ensure this, place the log on a concrete strip and mark it with a line resting one end on the surface of the foundation.
Drawing a cutting line with a scriber
To speed up the work, make cross cuts with a chain saw every 10-15 cm, then cut the wood lengthwise and cut out the excess with an ax. Make a clean cut with an electric planer, or better yet, with a scraper.
Advice. In the center of the hewn side, try to make a hollow up to 5 mm deep for good seal. How the master does this is worth watching in the video:
Now let's look at how to cut the corner of the casing:
Important point. When constructing a log bathhouse, the finishing heave is done with an ax or a scraper; mechanized processing is used only to form cups and grooves. The fact is that electric planes, grinders and chain saws greatly open the wood fibers, where moisture is subsequently absorbed.
When all 4 corners are cut out, the trunks are laid on the foundation with a layer of moss or jute fiber (this is also stuffed into the joints of lumber) and tightly seated in the grooves using a wooden hand tamper. Please note: a connection to a concrete base is not used; the structure is rigidly fixed to the groove-tenon joints and stands confidently due to its decent weight.
The remaining crowns are mounted on the frame using the same technology - bowls with spikes are cut out at the corners, which cover the logs of the previous tier. After a tight nozzle with a moss gasket, an additional connection with wooden dowels, also known as dowels, is required.
Note. Traditional technology does not provide any metal connectors, often used by today's builders. Being in the thickness of the tree, the cold metal becomes covered with condensation, causing rusting and accelerated rotting of the timber.
Moss is the best inter-crown insulation for a chopped bath
A few words about how to assemble the second and subsequent crowns of a log house:
So that during the process of shrinkage and further operation the chopped bathhouse does not become askew from horizontal movement elements, they need to be fastened together with dowels. These are rods turned from dry wood with a diameter of 22-30 mm, driven into vertical holes after laying each crown. The hole drilling step is 0.8-1 m, the depth is at least 2 log diameters. To avoid hitting the previous dowels during subsequent drilling and driving, they should be placed in a checkerboard pattern.
Vertical bundle of crowns with dowels
When you need to increase the length of a log, use one of two joining methods - root tenon and dovetail. In the first case, the vertical groove and tenon at the end of the log is rectangular, and in the second case, it is trapezoidal, as shown in the photo. When joining elements of external walls, a clearance of 8 mm must be provided for the sealing gasket.
Molar joint (left) and dovetail (right)
Important point. After laying the connected trunks into the wall of the log house, the joint must be shanked on both sides.
The log walls of the bathhouse are overlapped on top gable roof. It is easier to assemble it from beams and boards, which is described in detail. Do rafter system it is possible from logs, but this process is much more complicated.
There are 2 ways of edging door and window openings:
The first option is more expensive and labor-intensive - shortening the logs to cut out the tenon must be provided for at the stage of building the bathhouse. The casing is made with an internal groove, which is fitted onto the finished flange. The perimeter of the jamb is sealed with the same material that was used for inter-crown insulation (caulking).
The second method is implemented after the construction of the log house by cutting a groove in the ends of the round timber. Then an embedded beam is hammered into it, forming the same tenon. The further procedure for installing the box is repeated, as shown in the diagram.
If, in the process of building a log house with your own hands, you follow the technology described above and work without haste, you will certainly get a good-quality and strong bathhouse that will last for decades. But do not rush to put the building into operation - the log structure needs to stand for at least 1 year for shrinkage. After this, you can start caulking the joints and interior arrangement of the bathhouses.
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Wooden frames have been used in Rus' since time immemorial. And even in our time, despite the fact that new building materials have appeared, a wooden house is very popular. Such a house is considered environmentally friendly, and in terms of its strength it is not inferior to stone and brick houses.
Perfectly suited for the construction of a log house conifers tree.
It is quite possible to build a wooden house yourself if you know the installation technology and all the details of the assembly. To know how to assemble a log house, you need to make a house project, prepare the wood and choose desired type foundation.
A log house is a structure made of horizontally laid logs that form walls.
Each row of logs around the perimeter is called a crown. The bottom row is a crown molding.
The structure at the corners is formed by connecting logs with protruding ends. If the house is represented only by external walls, then it is called a four-wall house, and if there is a partition inside, then it is a five-wall frame with a T-shaped connection of logs inside.
To build such a house, you need coniferous or deciduous wood. It is advisable that the trees be freshly cut and in winter time. Such wood contains less moisture. For a log house, it is preferable to choose coniferous wood. The best option there will be a pine tree.
For the construction of a wooden log house, logs with a diameter of 25-26 cm are used. For areas with a warm climate, logs with a size of 22-23 cm are suitable. The material must be of high quality: without wormholes and rot.
The construction of a log house consists of several stages:
To properly assemble a log house, you need to choose a technology. At the moment there are three of them: Russian, Canadian and Norwegian. The first two are based on the use of large rounded logs, and the Norwegian technology is based on logs hewn on both sides. These technologies differ in their different approaches to harvesting and laying wood.
Any technology requires careful preparation of the material: calibration, grinding, selection of logs by diameter.
The following types of foundations are suitable for a wooden frame:
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Log fastening scheme.
First you need to remove the bark from the felled trees and cut the logs to the same length, equal to the length of the walls plus 100 cm of allowance. If there are no identical long logs, then they can be obtained by splicing short ones using the tongue-and-groove method. But the first crown of the log house must necessarily consist of solid high-quality material. Logs intended for interior work, it is necessary to cut through on both sides.
You can collect in two ways:
The first method is preferable, since the contact area between the dowel and the logs is larger, which means that the structure will be securely fastened.
The dowels are connected in a checkerboard pattern, the distance between which should be no more than 2 m.
In the case of assembly with nails, it is necessary to correctly calculate the length of the nails. If the wall thickness is 100 mm, then the length of the nail must be at least 250 mm. The head of the nail is deeply recessed into the wood to prevent shrinkage of the material.
When the foundation is dry, its surface is covered with a waterproofing material: roofing felt. Next, you can lay the first crown of the thickest logs. For strength - cross-bar spacers. The lower crown and gaskets should be thoroughly coated with antiseptic and tar.
The gaps between the lower flashing and the foundation are closed with brick and concrete mortar on pre-laid roofing felt.
Connecting logs at corners is most often carried out using the “cup” method or the “paw” method. The first method involves tying at the corners with an allowance of logs, and “in the paw” - without an allowance. The cup method is for round logs. Cutting "in the paw" is used for both round and hewn logs. But this method is more economical, since there is no excess wood left at the corners.
During assembly, it is necessary to control the evenness of the corners and the verticality of the walls..
The uppermost crown of the log house, the mauerlat, serves as a support for the roof. The upper crown is made of strong and high-quality logs.
Appropriate openings are left for doors and windows. But these openings can be cut out after the construction of the log house. This method is preferable, since during the construction of the structure a uniform load on the foundation is ensured. This means that the house will not warp.
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After the construction of the log house, its walls should be caulked with moss, felt or tow. You can use artificial materials based on natural rubber. These materials hermetically close the gaps between the logs, so that the walls acquire a monolithic waterproofing structure.
Caulk vertical surfaces start from the bottom using a hammer and caulk. This procedure should be carried out around the perimeter. This means if you caulk separate walls, then the structure may become warped. When the treatment of the external walls is completed, they begin to caulk internal surfaces.
Next, the wood must be coated with antiseptic compounds. Treatment with fire-fighting substances is mandatory in those places where the stove, fireplace and chimney area will be installed. These procedures will significantly extend the life of the house.
Cutting in the “oblo” with the bowl down.
The final stage of assembling the log house will be its shelter waterproofing materials. This procedure is carried out for six months so that the house shrinks naturally.
When the walls are ready, they move on to installing the roof and interior decoration of the room.
Usually, high-quality wood is sanded and simply varnished. To do this, you can use both transparent and colored coatings.
If you still want a modern interior design, then interior walls can be sheathed with wooden clapboard or plasterboard. But before that, you should take care of installing the electrical wires. Electric wires must be insulated: with copper conductors in metal tubes.
Wooden log houses do not require additional insulation at all, so laying polystyrene foam between the walls and facing material need not. If necessary, mineral wool can be used for insulation.
The floors in the log house are made of boards, the thickness of which is 40 mm. They are laid tightly next to each other, secured, sanded and processed according to the example of the walls. You can varnish the floor, or lay laminate.
One of the oldest building structures– wooden frame – is now confidently returning to individual construction. The reason is not only the prestigious appearance of log buildings: log house It breathes very well - it is not hot in the summer, warm in the winter without additional insulation, the humidity is optimal. Setting up a log house with your own hands is quite a difficult task., but feasible for a hardworking and attentive beginner, and the savings in money compared to a custom-made log house can be 2-3 times. But no less important is the fact that the service life of a home-made log house can exceed 100 and even 200 years, while the standard for log building structures is 40 years; In fact, the best standard log houses last for 50-70 years. Reason – to build a log house for several generations, you need to observe a lot of subtleties in the work, about which this article was written; they will also help extend the service life of a typical log frame and make it more durable. Good carpenters most often know them, but not every millionaire can afford to pay for such painstaking work. And with your own hands, it will only cost you about a year of extra time: before construction continues, the correct original log house must withstand from warm to warm through the winter.
Not only before starting work, but first of all thinking about it, you need to clearly understand certain rules and apply them to your own conditions. After this, the material is selected - wild logs, rounded logs, timber - and the actual construction technology.
Measured lumber is widely sold in lengths up to 12 m. But edged 3- or 4-edged timber can be spliced in length (see below), so a timber frame on a normally buried foundation can, in principle, be very large, top left in Fig. below. Profile timber for a log house is quite expensive, but it is sold in ready-made kits for homes, bathhouses, etc. (see figure on the right), which are often accompanied by a standard project. Its approval takes place without problems, and all that remains is to assemble the log house according to the attached instructions and let it stand for the weight shrinkage for the time indicated there. The actual service life of a house made from such timber will be 60-70 years, and with high-quality caulk and regular annual maintenance (renewing the outside impregnation) - up to 100 years.
There are no reliable methods of joining round logs along the length, so the maximum length of a house made of rounded logs is 12 m from the outside. You can add living space by building an extension along with the house and on a common foundation with it (top right in the figure), but taking into account all the restrictions on cutting into the log house, the width of the extension is no more than 2/3 of the length of the wall to which it is adjacent. Maximum possible variant This type is a 12x12 log house without piers, with a 6x6 extension sticking out of each wall. The service life is the same as that of a timber structure, because A rounded log is actually a type of profile beam.
A wild log house made from self-purchased and prepared logs can last more than 200 years; log houses made from wild logs are known, of which there are more than 600. Wild logs are not a measured material and can be prepared in lengths of more than 12 m. But the assembly of a log house from “wild” logs is so unique that we will return to it a little later, but for now we will complete the analysis of those common to all types log construction rules (see figure and list below):
A log house is suitable for all types of log buildings. It is the most resistant, durable and can stand on a shallow foundation on moving soils. So let's start with a more detailed analysis.
In addition to the usual construction to wood, special tool, which was mentioned above, is absolutely necessary to cut down a log house. To build an edged timber frame, you can do without it.
You will need at least 2 axes: a carpenter's ax with a straight blade and a carpenter's ax with a convex blade, on the left in Fig. If you have a chainsaw, you don’t need a cleaver - you can use it to halve logs in the old fashioned way and chop off blocks from them. An axe-axe with an asymmetrically convex blade (top right in the figure) and a set of adzes (bottom right) will also be very useful. A wooden badger sledgehammer by 2-3.5 kg, in the inset, will greatly improve the quality of work and reduce the muscular effort required for it.
A carpenter's tool, the devil, will be absolutely necessary. There are many similar calipers on sale under this name, but they can accurately mark only the most expensive rounded logs. A real carpenter's tool is a weighty, rough, visible tool (see the figure on the right), which allows you to mark out wild woods that have been debarked by hand. You can make a line for marking logs yourself (see the drawing at the bottom right of the same figure), and it will be more convenient to work with it: a longitudinal through hole is drilled in the handle to the side of the axis for a guide pin, which is fixed with a screw or wedge. Even a completely green one can use this line, but a careful beginner will be able to correctly mark a very clumsy log, see below.
It is a wild log house that can withstand hundreds of years, gradually caking into a kind of monolith. A house or bathhouse made from wild logs breathes at full strength. If Finnish sauna can still be built from galvanized logs or beams, then the original Russian bathhouse is cut only by the “savage”. How to install a wild log house for a bathhouse, see for example. video
To understand the secrets of a wild log, let's look at the structure of its cut, see fig. on right. The wild log is debarked by hand lengthwise, rather than rotating in a peeling machine; Therefore, you need to purchase wild wood for felling from harvesters, and only unrooted wood from sellers. When manually debarking logs, the cambium, layers of wood with a special structure, is preserved. In a living tree, it is the cambium that gives the trunk growth in thickness and the formation of underlying layers. And in the log house there is the best breath of wood; in a Russian bath - the optimal ability of the walls to receive and release heat. Manual debarking (barking) of logs is a labor-intensive task, but if you want your descendants to be surprised: “It was my great-grandfather who built it!”, then it’s worth it, see the video:
Note: The cambium is most developed in the ancient contemporaries of dinosaurs - coniferous trees. In flowering dicotyledons it is thinner and has a different structure, but in arboreal monocotyledons (for example palm trees) it is not there at all.
Loggers most often sell freshly felled or, sometimes, last year's wood for pickup, otherwise there is no point in giving them a discount (and a considerable one). Wild timber purchased from loggers for felling and taking into account the payment for a timber truck trip will cost much less than even unbarked logs seasoned at a timber exchange. Which also look for - here it is more profitable for traders to give the savage wood for processing and sell off the seasoned lumber. That is, purchased wild wood will need to be dried in your own stack, see story:
The time of wood harvesting is of great importance for the durability and longevity of a log house. A number of experts believe that best wood chopped for the log house in the second half of summer and early autumn. At this time (after the seeds ripen), the tree’s own moisture content is the lowest. Natural moisture in wood is not just water, but juices from nutrients, attractive to pests. Closer to winter, the tree again collects sap for wintering: in winter it sleeps, but lives, and maintains its life with reserves of sap. Indeed, Mediterranean peoples cut down ship timber at the autumnal equinox, but in areas with harsh winters this argument is invalid.
In the Nordic countries the best forest for a log house it was always considered winter. The point is not that in the old days the forest was cut down selectively - logging block by block in countries rich in wood was practiced centuries before the advent of the Gulag and prisoners; The NKVD used already proven methods of forestry management. And it’s not that it’s easier to take a log out of the forest on a sleigh than on a cart: the carrying capacity, cross-country ability and maneuverability of a horse-drawn sleigh off a well-worn road is worse than that of a dray cart.
The point is in the ways in which the tree is protected from freezing moisture in the vessels. If the tree's sap freezes, it will die without being damaged by frost. Higher plants have gotten used to using one of the anomalous properties of water - its freezing temperature in capillaries drops; in nanotubes it is possible to keep water viscous, but still liquid at –130 Celsius (!). Conifers are very ancient plants, they vascular system is not yet so perfect, so in the winter they add more resinous substances to the juices; It is this juice that flows out in the spring when conifers are tapped for resin. From a tree cut down in winter, the water evaporates when dried, but the resin remains. In a loaded structure, it is still fluidly squeezed out to the open ends of the vessels, where in the air it quickly bituminizes and blocks the path of pests, and only occasionally a few very rare species are capable of biting or leaking spores through the dry cambium.
Note: As a result, the highest quality timber for log houses is harvested in regions with high air humidity, abundant snow and fairly low winter temperatures. In the Russian Federation - from Karelia in a strip south to the Pskov region.
Unmeasured timber is very roughly rejected for suitability for processing, while measured timber is calibrated as far as the properties of the wood allow: 1% along the length. That is, the curvature of the log, and, what is even more important for us, the difference in diameters of the butt and apical parts of the oryasina (butt and top of a raw commercial log) is allowed 1 cm/m. If you fall logs into a log house as you have to, then the skew of a 3x4 m bathhouse made of 10 crowns of 30 cm logs can run up to half a meter. Therefore, the logs prepared for the log house must be sorted before drying, disassembled on the sides of the building, and marked - which one will lie in which crown of which wall and in which direction.
If you assemble a log house in bulk, it will turn out like the one on the left in Fig. below. Not only is it not worthy of the standard period - for a 12-crown, due to the need to trim each crown, it will take 4 more logs. Which cost a lot of money. After 5-10 years, the log house splits in bulk, caulk climbs out of it, and rots or is infested with a bug. But the frame, assembled from logs, the butts and tops of which are oriented in mutually opposite directions from crown to crown (on the right in the figure), only settles down and gains strength over time.
In a log house made of rounded logs, it is also advisable to orient the butts with the tops in the opposite direction; this increases its actual service life by 1.5-2 times compared to the calculated one. In both cases, in addition to the evenness of the laying, the direction of convergence of the annual layers plays a role. The resinous balsam is squeezed out more towards the butt, and in a correctly folded log house the logs seem to help each other resist external influences. It is difficult to determine the direction of convergence of layers based on the texture of a rounded log, and on spruce and larch it is often impossible, but the “tails” of knots are an excellent indicator: in crowns adjacent in height they should be in different directions, compare left and right in Fig.
Note: When sorting logs for a frame, set aside those that are thicker for the crowns that are lower. The thickness of the logs should decrease upward. Which way does a beer bottle stand - on the bottom or on the neck? A log house made of logs, distributed unevenly in size and height, will at best last a standard period of time.
A log house in a corner has one advantage: significantly less material consumption. The correct protrusion of the area is from 1 foot, i.e. more than 30.5 cm. Now they give an area of 20-25 cm, but this reduces the maximum possible deadline the service life of a log house from this log is also 1.5-2 times. A short block makes sense only in a log house made of re-glued logs. Let's estimate: a log house in a 6x9 oblo with 12 crowns. A total of 96 protruding ends of 30 cm each - 28.8 m of logs! The obla took either almost 5 short logs, or more than 3 long ones. For the money, it bites painfully. In all other respects - in strength, rigidity, durability, appearance - the log house in the corner is inferior to the log house with the remainder. Especially in terms of durability: none of the log houses, which are definitely more than 100 years old, were cut into a corner. The oblas serve as a kind of bituminized plugs that do not allow pests into the tree, and the grooves of the frame (see below) are closed. The ends of the logs in the corner are more open to external influences.
The lowest and most important crown of a log house is called the frame. The quality of the log house as a whole depends a lot on the quality of its assembly. The conventional plane covering the casing crown must be horizontal, so the logs for it are selected and prepared especially carefully.
Not only in RuNet, but also in many old printed manuals for carpenters, one important point in laying the flashing crown is missed: what to do with the gap between it and the foundation formed on 2 sides, if the flashing crown is made like the rest (shown by red arrows in pos. 1 and 2 Fig.)
Lay it with a board or timber? Gates for harmful living creatures, rot and mold: there is no cambium on lumber. Lay a foundation with ledges (pos. 3)? Where is it said about such things with SNIPs? It will crack when it settles. Correctly the framed crown of a log house, especially a log house for a house, is assembled using a split log (item 4):
Note: do not forget here and everywhere else when making grooves to give an allowance of 5-7 mm for caulking! How to make a carriage for a chainsaw for longitudinal cut logs, see video below.
Video: carriage for longitudinal cutting of logs for a log house
Removing the edging from long logs (by the way, in the frame they are called beds, and short slabs are called boys) for laying on the foundation is also a responsible matter. You won't be able to walk along the path with a chainsaw; you'll have to work with your hands. Knock the edge into a laying position, as shown in the inset at the top left of Fig. below, maybe an experienced carpenter, and even then in a hurry. The fact is that the ax under its own weight will turn the blade down, and a person’s tactile (muscular) sense has a sensitivity threshold. A beginner without developed muscular skills will feel the ax leaving when it has already bitten down below the cuts (see below), mechanically turn it upward, and the entire edge will turn out to be humpbacked. Correctly, the edging from the bed is removed with an ax in the air (see also the figure below):
Before continuing work, we will decide what longitudinal grooves will be in the logs of the log house, or logs with which grooves to purchase. The durability and longevity of the log house depend on this more than on the cutting methods, because It is the longitudinal grooves that hold the caulking, and if they are not executed correctly, they represent the most convenient place for warping and/or the introduction of rot and pests to begin.
The corner groove (item 1 in the figure) can be cut out with any ax, incl. camping. But you need a lot of caulk in it, and when the frame shrinks and shrinks, the wings of the groove diverge, revealing layers of wood without cambium, which are less resistant to external influences. The waste of material is large. It is used for self-construction of non-residential buildings on a quick fix from waste or donated materials, for example. taiga huts made of dead wood.
The lunar groove (item 2) is often called Canadian, and the corner groove Russian, which is incorrect. Both of these grooves are Russian, because... The traditions and techniques of wooden architecture were brought to Canada and America in general by the Russian pioneers of Alaska. The lunar groove does not open during shrinkage (item 3). To cut it out (see below) you need a carpenter's ax, or, better, an ax, or, even better, an adze. The disadvantage is that caulking requires quite a lot of rough (in a puff), and to go with it you need a high-quality finishing one (in a set).
If a log house is being cut from a wild log, then so that the rudimentary crack goes as it should, and a shallow, 2-3 cm, longitudinal pioneer cut is made into the groove (marked in bright green in position 2). If the frame is made of galvanized or laminated logs with a moon groove, then it has already undergone its own shrinkage and shrinkage, and only the weight remains in the structure. Then a deep pioneer cut, through the entire sapwood to the core, is made on the arch of the log, pos. 4a. Under weight load, the groove will not diverge on its own, but will compress the arch of the lower log.
Note: Over time, cracks will appear on outer surface logs, but they are not dangerous - they do not violate the strength of the structure and arise when the core of the log turns into pure lignin, unsuitable for the settlement of pest germs.
You need to be very careful when choosing ready-made logs with a lunar groove (and a Finnish one, see below). The groove should fit on the lower log with its wings in a small, up to 7 mm, gap inside, pos. 4a. If the upper log sits on the lower one, somewhat softening the professional jargon, “butt on pussy,” pos. 4b, i.e. the gap is “squeezed out” onto the wings of the groove, this is an unacceptable defect - caulk will climb out of such a groove immediately, and a log house made from such logs is unlikely to last more than 10-15 years.
Finnish groove, pos. 5, is also performed without a top cut on wild logs (pos. 5a) and with a cut on rounded and glued logs, pos. 5 B. There is less moss suitable for caulking a log house the farther north you go, and flax, hemp (for tow), and especially jute, do not grow in Finland. Therefore, the Finnish groove requires a minimum of rough caulk and does not require finishing caulk at all. However, you can only choose it at a timber mill or, manually, with special tools, being a very experienced carpenter. Just in case, we provide a drawing of a Finnish groove for the most common log with a diameter of 260 mm (see figure on the right); the required accuracy is 0.25 mm.
Depending on local conditions and the type of foundation, a log house can be assembled in a variety of ways. It will come from the wild forest from the harvester and not be overly expensive.
Cutting logs into a bowl, see fig. below., or Russian (but see above) is the easiest: marking the bowl and longitudinal groove is done at the same time along the upper log, which is not processed when set aside, see fig. on right. The top log is placed in place, the groove is marked with a line lower crown. The top log is removed, the groove is selected, the top log is put back. The marking accuracy is as high as possible: a good log frame can be folded into a bowl from completely clumsy waste logs. But the durability of the log frame in the bowl is low, even if it is made from selected winter savage - water flows into the bowl and longitudinal groove. Temporary and non-residential buildings are quickly cut into the bowl; sometimes - log houses with re-laying. They are collected away from the foundation upside down (from the upper crowns to the lower ones) and then crown by crown are transferred to the foundation, see above. This is a bad way, because... either during rough assembly the frame will not fit together exactly, or if you do not give allowances for caulking, it will initially come out cracked.
Assembling the log house into the hood, i.e. into an inverted bowl (“Canadian”, and again - see above!) requires careful marking and selection of grooves (see below), because They are also marked in place, but separately, and the top log after marking is processed separately to the side. But every single log house, which is over 100 years old, is collected exclusively for the purpose.
There are several types of grooves in the upper log for cutting into the clapboard, see on the right in Fig. higher. A cut into an okhryap is also called a Russian castle, and from this point of view it is “even more russian” - choose a groove with flat bottom much simpler than a circular one (semicircular). Used for non-residential buildings (baths, etc.) without internal load-bearing partitions; if on a shallow foundation, then on stable, well-bearing (from 0.7 kgf/sq. cm) non-heaving and slightly heaving soils.
Cutting into the ridge (sometimes written into an oval ridge) is carried out for the same buildings, on the contrary, on moving soils in areas where the wood is not subject to rotting. A less common method, because Water flows into the longitudinal groove, and the top log needs to be removed and processed to the side to make the groove. Cutting into the okhryap with finishing (edging) of the ends is decorative - this is how log houses are installed, the external and internal surfaces of the walls of which are hewn for finishing. Log houses for residential buildings in areas where wood is susceptible to rotting are placed in a shell with a fat tail, on moving soils, and in a shell with a fat tail and a ridge - on the same soil, but in drier places and where pests are not so common.
Marking grooves on logs for log houses in the burrow and in the corner is done in various ways, but in both cases it requires extreme accuracy from the master. And therefore it is considered in one section.
When marking logs of a log house in a clapboard, the bowls are first marked (on the left in the figure; the calculated ratios for both grooves are also given there), but are not cut down yet. Attention: if you are installing a log house from a wild log, then the diameter d for marking the bowl must be taken from the bottom log, already laid in the log house, transverse to the relatively new one!
The longitudinal groove is also marked in place and along the lower, but now longitudinal, log, i.e. lying under the new one, pos. 1 on the right in Fig. It is extremely important not to skew the line (position 2), so it is either put on the hammer handle or equipped with a guide pin (see above); This technique is not disdained by experienced carpenters, who care primarily about the quality of the work, and not about showing off.
After marking, first saw down a longitudinal groove for the sample. With a chainsaw (item 3) this is not so easy: without seeing the end of the blade with the chain, you need to draw it exactly along the arc of a circle, so many craftsmen still prefer not to file the groove, but to cut it with an ax or, in extreme cases, a carpenter’s with an axe. In any case, cuts/notches are made evenly along the length so that the groove appears to be divided into squares. After this, the groove is cut out with diagonal blows with a carpenter's ax (item 4) or, better, with an ax. If the frame is made of wild logs, this is enough - the logs will fit tightly on top of each other. If the groove is on a rounded log, then they do not select it completely with an ax, but finish it clean with an adze. Now you can select the groove-bowl, lay the rough caulk and lay the log in place.
Note 6: the selection of grooves and the placement of logs in place are carried out in pairs - two short, two long. After assembling each crown, check its horizontalness and, if necessary, trim it. And don’t forget about 5-7 mm allowances for caulking!
Log cabins in a corner (corner) are assembled almost exclusively into a paw. There is no need to use methods for connecting beams (see below) for a length of material up to 12 m: round log much stronger and stiffer than a rectangular beam of that cross-sectional area.
How to mark logs for felling is shown in Fig. A paw with a notch is used if any of the sides of the log house is longer than 4.5 m. After rough filing (cutting), the notch (an additional tenon that strengthens the connection) and the groove under it are finalized with a chisel.
When planning to place a frame in a paw, be sure to consider the following: first, due to the transition of the tenon and groove under it from one side of the corner to the other on the odd and even crowns (see above), the markings must be made, respectively, straight or mirrored. Secondly, when assembling from a wild log, the smallest diameter of the logs of the previous already folded crown is taken as the base size for dividing into 8 shares in height (see figure). The task is troublesome, so often the upper and lower edges of logs for felling are removed to create a semi-edged beam of the same height. Then the same template is suitable for marking, the log house will come out stronger, warmer, and more suitable for a bathhouse. True, this will cost 4 extra logs for 3-5 crowns, so in the end, a log house made from logs into a paw ends up saving material only in length, and its consumption in cubic meters may turn out to be even more than not chopped into a log.
When dismantling old, but still quite suitable for intended use, log cabins on any side longer than 14 feet (4.27 m), it turns out that almost all of them are additionally fastened with oak or beech dowels, see fig. on right. A frame made of wild logs on dowels acquires extraordinary strength over time: it can be torn from the foundation with jacks without carriages, loaded by crane into the back of a truck and transported intact to a museum. And if you still needed to break it, then sometimes you had to use a ball, otherwise disassembly would turn into an unbearable burden.
The diameter of the dowels for fastening the log house is 40-60 mm. Length – 100-130 mm. Blind holes for dowels are drilled 1.5-2 mm after marking, processing and fitting in place of all the logs of the next crown. In the rough caulk, holes are cut for the dowels at the location, on the contrary, 3-5 mm wider. The dowels are carefully driven into the lower log using a leopard. Then the top log is placed and pressed into place with a heavy piece of wood with a handle, similar to a wooden rammer.
A timber frame is predominantly “home” - it provides, in addition to the opportunity to increase the size of the building (see above), walls that breathe more freely than logs, which is more suitable for residential premises. A Finnish or Russian light family sauna is best made from timber. Also see video:
The possibility of extending the beams for a log house in length is so significant that it should be considered first: if the joint of the beams comes apart, then the best thing that will follow is a complex repair. And in the worst case scenario, temporary eviction from the house and re-building of the log house.
A direct lock connection (on the left in the figure) is the most reliable mechanically and technologically simple, but it locks. It is recommended to use it if it is under an additional moisture-protecting finish, for example. siding covering. A bias lock connection does not attract moisture, but it is more difficult to perform and is less durable. The joint of the beams into an oblique lock must be reinforced with dowels fastening the crowns (see below), 0.6 m on both sides.
Straight and oblique half-timber connections (on the right in the figure) with dowels at the joint in the log house are absolutely unreliable: operational stresses can simply cut off the dowels, and the beam will suddenly turn out of the log house; especially if the joint is oblique. The author of these lines, in the days of his rather careless youth, had the opportunity to witness how a beam “shot” from a log house killed a coven-goer on the spot. Literally knocked my brains out with the splashes. The case is already painful, and then there’s the investigation – it’s still a corpse. The local district police officer sided with the workers, but an investigator for particularly important cases came from the region. And this last one of Stalin, with a circular mark from his cap on his brain, instead of all the convolutions, it was tightly sewn up where people have thoughts: nothing happens without a culprit. An accident - Trotskyist-bourgeois inventions. As it turned out, not at all for ideological reasons: in order to please the excuse of this, I beg your pardon, rubbish from the Soviet Union, the brigade had to fork out almost half of their summer earnings. There simply weren't any more available. As the men discussed this incident among themselves, the boatswain from the flagship of Peter the Great’s fleet would have listened. But enough dark lyrics, let's get back to the topic.
A timber frame can also be assembled into a burl and into a corner without leaving any residue. It is not so rare to see timber log cabins: they still look more or less “original”, but more often than not, log log houses are assembled in a corner: the savings on material here are not relative.
Methods for assembling a log house from timber into a clapper are shown on the left in Fig. The half-tree connection is the simplest and least durable. It is used for small non-residential buildings (up to 4x6 m) without load-bearing partitions. It doesn’t make much difference to put such a log house in an okhlop or in a bowl, because... grooves with a flat bottom and steep walls. A fat tail connection is used if the frame is made of beams that are composite along the length; in okhryap - for log houses of residential buildings made of solid timber. Most commercial log kits are prepared for jointing.
The connections of the corners of the timber frame are shown at the top in Fig. Butt jointing of high-quality beams significantly saves material, but is fragile. Assembly on a tenon for corners is rarely used, and only for buildings no larger than about 3.5x5 m. More often, a connection on a tenon is used as an additional one when installing load-bearing partitions.
If the corner of the log house is connected end-to-end on a tenon, then it is highly advisable to use a pair (more precisely, a triple) of tenon-groove(s) of the dovetail type, see Fig. The tenon itself is made from hard, fine-grained hardwood that is resistant to external influences, e.g. oak A mirror template for marking the dovetail is not needed; it is enough to alternate the overlapping beams of the crowns of adjacent heights.
The claw connection is most often used in log houses of bathhouses and non-residential buildings; We will dwell on it in more detail below. The butt joint on the main tenon (see figure) is technologically the most difficult, but durable, suitable for residential buildings and has the most valuable quality: it allows the use of defective warped timber for the assembly of a log house. After a year of shrinkage, it levels out, and if you take it out of the log house, it will be no worse than standard. However, at least 4-6 high-quality beams should be placed in each of the log walls between the “screw” ones, i.e. it is impossible to buy completely substandard equipment for a log house on the cheap: joining the main one only allows you to put into action a defect that was accidentally inserted into the party; Under no circumstances should you install defective timber into the frame crown!
When assembling a log house, the warped timber is gradually pulled into place with hoists, while straightening it is fastened to the already laid dowels, see fig. on right. When it comes to the tenon, it is cut to fit into the groove, hammered into place with a badger and wedged, tucking the very end of the warped beam so that it fits tightly onto the bottom one. Now we need a technical break in work for 2-3 days so that the strongest internal stresses in the forcibly shoved timber are released.
A half-tree connection on a plug-in tenon is rarely used, because requires the finest, ideally even timber that is naturally dried (not in a heat chamber or microwave). More commonly used when installing partitions is a butt joint with a plug-in tenon, see fig.:
Note: about corner connections log house, see also video review below.
Another important advantage of a timber frame is that it is much easier than a log frame to be partitioned inside with both load-bearing and simple planning bulkheads. Methods for inserting partitions into a timber frame are shown below in Fig. above with beam connection diagrams.
Butt-to-tenon assembly is used to install lightweight bulkheads: it does not weaken the frame itself, and the bulkhead timber may not be the same size as the one in the frame. Half-frying insert (so to speak, dovetail “half-tail”) is most suitable for load-bearing partitions of a residential building, because practically does not weaken the chopped box, but, on the contrary, strengthens it and itself adheres tightly to it. The spikes of the half-frying pan should be made mirror-like from crown to crown (shown by the red arrow).
Inserting a single partition with a frying pan (dovetail) weakens the frame, but will strengthen it if a box-shaped structure that can support the load well is attached: chopped canopy, summer kitchen, bathhouse at the house, etc. chopped extension on a common foundation with the house. On the 2-sided main tenon, partitions are embedded, subject to periodic operational loads; preim. thermal. For example, enclosing a kitchen, a cold entryway, a bathroom, or next to which there is a house stove. In this case, the insets on the main tenon of the crowns, starting from the 2nd, must alternate with butt joints on the insert tenon (shown by the red arrow), otherwise the frame itself will be excessively weakened.
The main problems of a log house are the transverse displacement of the beams due to warping and the extrusion of caulk. Many timber profiles for log houses designed to avoid both have been developed (for some examples, see the figure), but there are no methods yet for installing a timber frame without reinforcing it with dowels (through dowels).
How to install a log house into a timber claw is shown in the following. rice. using the example of 150 mm timber. Marking for other standard sizes (top left) is carried out similarly: on top – square; on the side – a bevel of half the thickness. Mortise-tenon joints should alternate in a mirror image from crown to crown, bottom left. Hardwood dowels should fit into the bottom beam at 1/3 of its height; Based on this, the drilling depth limiter 5 on the right in Fig. is set. Plus an allowance of 5-7 mm for caulking, don’t forget! Diameter of dowels – 30-40 mm; the diameter of the holes for them is 1.5-2 mm smaller. It is better to hammer in the dowels with a leopard, so much less expensive oak or beech round timber will be wasted. There should be at least 120 cm from the edge of any opening to the nearest dowel.
Beams for a log house imitating a log
Sometimes, to imitate (however, not particularly convincing for a non-specialist) a timber frame under a log frame, they use a 3-edged edged beam or one re-laminated from lamellas of the same profile. This is so popular that 3-edge timber is sold under the clever name D-log. D-logs are often sold with ready-made tenons and grooves for butt joints (in the corner) or in the burl. When buying these, keep in mind that they are “mirror” and are sold as “round-flat” and “flat-round”, see fig. on right. From both of them, opposite walls are assembled in pairs (if the beams are of the same length) or adjacent crowns of neighboring heights, if the lengths of the beams are different.
A log house without windows and doors was erected only in the old days as a cruel punishment for dangerous criminals, rebels and those disliked by the authorities. If given a choice, many convicts preferred the death penalty by beheading or hanging to imprisonment. So anyone will have to make openings for windows and doors in a log house.
It is much easier to make an opening in a log house than in any other wall: it is simply cut out, see figure:
Only 3 conditions need to be met: at least 1.5 logs or at least 2.5 timber must remain at the top and bottom of the opening; the opening is cut into the upper and lower logs/beams to half their height, and from the edges of the opening to the adjacent corner, partition or nearest dowel there must be at least 1.2 m. The blocks for assembling door and window jambs do not necessarily need to be cut down or cut out from logs; in all respects it would be better to make them from ordinary edged boards. So the work of putting up a log house with your own hands does not consist only of difficulties.
