This material is most preferable to choose for those who do not have much experience in construction, but have a desire to try to build a house on their own. In addition, the final cost of the final structure will be an order of magnitude lower than that of the same building plan, but built of brick. The simpler the layout and design, the less likely it is that a novice master will make gross mistakes during work.
The technology of timber construction itself will depend on the type of material chosen: methods of sealing joints, the time required for shrinkage, delays for carrying out work on cladding external walls, and much more. This material may differ in the following parameters:
1. Humidity of raw materials.
Dry material is more preferable, since a building assembled from it has a shorter shrinkage period. Often does not exceed three months. Accordingly, all further work will be completed earlier and the construction period of the house will be reduced.
types of wooden house foundations 
ceiling on load-bearing beams
A material with a natural level of humidity should be chosen when construction deadlines are not pressing and the goal is to save money. Sometimes complete shrinkage in this case occurs only a year and a half after the completion of construction work.
2. Availability of a profile.
Profiled products make finishing work easier, since these parts fit together better. Much less cold will penetrate through the joints, and they will not be blown by the wind, due to this the need for seam sealing work can be eliminated.
Products that are not profiled are cheaper, but they will not help significantly reduce costs in the case when the building is being built not for seasonal, but for year-round use. It is impossible to live in a house where cold wind blows from the walls in winter, which means it will be necessary to carry out high-quality sealing of the joints.
window block in a timber house 
various profiles of laminated timber
3. Manufacturing technology.
Glued parts are somewhat more expensive due to the method of their processing. They are characterized by higher strength and shorter shrinkage time. When building a house from this type of material, the construction technology from timber will also change, since there will be no The final stage on façade cladding.
Solid wood parts are less susceptible to temporary corrosion, although they cannot withstand very heavy weight loads. They are an order of magnitude cheaper, but require lining after shrinkage is complete (the latter period is quite impressive - about a year).
Conjugation of internal and external walls made of timber 
types of interfloor wooden floors
The most popular and reliable timber to timber.
The construction technology itself from timber looks like this:
At this stage, even the most minor nuances must be taken into account. To reduce the cost of plumbing and plumbing, you should place rooms with plumbing as close to each other as possible. To avoid shortcomings in the ventilation or heating system, their location also needs to be thought out in advance.
Since the weight of this structure is not as great as when used concrete materials, then you can get by with less impressive options for constructing a foundation. After calculating the weight and examining the soil, choose a more acceptable method: laying a shallow strip foundation or driving (screwing) piles.
roof diagrams with system hanging rafters
roof schemes with a system of inclined rafters
First, the constructed foundation is insulated either by double coating with bitumen or by two layers of roofing felt. Then a kind of protective layer is laid - a larch board. It will take on the main load from the weight of the house, and will also absorb excess moisture. In the future, it will be much easier to replace this particular protective layer than the whole beam. And only after this the first row of elements is laid.
The first row is connected according to the principle of half a beam. Then the connection can be different (depending on the selected type of material). A sealant (jute) must be placed between the layers. If parts that are not dry are used, then it is necessary to strengthen the walls along their length so that they do not move during drying (using dowels).
IN in this case It is better to pay attention to the simplest and most rigid structures, since the more complex the system, the more vulnerabilities it has. A building made of such material has greater shrinkage (more than concrete and brick), so there is a higher probability of roof failure.
During the shrinkage process, cracks may form in the material, which must be repaired before carrying out painting works. They are filled with special putties or jute, and sealed on top with sealants.
When the material dries, lint may rise on its surface and small chips may come off. Be sure to sand their entire surface before covering the walls with paints and varnishes. Thus, you can significantly reduce the consumption of wood preservatives.
Construction of buildings from of this material not such a difficult matter. The main thing is to simplify the layout as much as possible and do not complicate the design with unnecessary details. Slow and careful execution of work is the key to quality construction.
All photos from the article
You've read many times about how they pack up quickly, are relatively cheap, require long-term stays, etc. However, the main thing is to know and understand the intricacies of construction, which we will talk about today. Let's look at the technologies and approaches.
The purpose of the article is not just to give out a lot of incoherent information, but to find that golden mean that will really allow you to build your house from this material with your own hands and at an affordable price.
Let's take a look at the list of tasks that are necessary in any case:
Our help! Construction technologies for houses made of timber offer several options for solving the problem at each stage. We will not analyze everything, only those that are truly useful and successfully used.
This:
Let's make some comparison:
For information! Naturally, the price corridor was considered with all other parameters being equal, namely: cross-sectional area, length, humidity, material from which the timber was prepared.
Advice! No matter how hermetically sealed the thermal lock is, even it has a groove for insulation, and connecting corner connections without insulation are unthinkable.
Cheapness attracts many people and very often they buy just ordinary timber. At the shipping area, the goods are in stacks, and you go to choose the fifth on the second floor, the third on the fourth - no one will give it to you, they will ship it after the fact.
Upon delivery of timber to your site, carry out the following sorting steps:
Advice! Very often among normal beams there are those in which the natural core is shifted to one of the corners of the structure. This is bad, because when the structure shrinks and shrinks, the behavior of such wood cannot be predicted. If possible, it is better not to use such beams, or to use them on unimportant objects.
The age-old debate when analyzing technologies is about the use of two techniques for constructing foundations: tape and piles. A conciliatory option, a shallow foundation, is also proposed. Let's take them apart and compare:
| Foundation | Advantages | Flaws |
| Pile |
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| Tape |
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| Shallow |
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The technology of building a house with your own hands from timber involves one golden rule: if you have never done construction, invite at least one experienced person. Having laid the first few crowns under his guidance, you will understand the assembly technology.
It doesn't matter what techniques you have, general rules are the same:
For your information! Practitioners recommend using dowels for two beams. The explanation is simple, it is difficult to fit the connecting holes, and if this is done through the insulation, then the drill bit will not so much drill a hole in it as tear it out and crumple it.
Even if you don’t move in in the first year and wait for the entire building to shrink, the technology of building a house from timber involves installing a roof right away.
There are also useful tricks here:
Metal tiles are pleasing in color.
Advice! You will still have to insulate the ceiling. Installation of metal tiles using technology involves sound insulation and insulation. So why waste the room, use it!
A log house using energy-saving technology requires external insulation.
This is done like this:
Advice! The technology for building a house from timber with your own hands involves several solutions for external insulation, but the instructions we proposed have stood the test of time.
The result is that technology + construction of houses made of timber have been dismantled. We hope our advice will help you in building a reliable structure. The video in this article will show everything clearly.
Full-fledged timber house made of solid wood has always been not only considered a symbol of prosperity and good taste, but also demonstrated the owner’s desire to take care of the well-being and health of his household. The construction of a wooden house from timber can be considered the most justified from an environmental point of view, maintaining a healthy indoor atmosphere and ensuring good thermal insulation. The widespread use of timber materials has always been hampered by the high price of timber and the rather complex technology of constructing a wooden house.
When using the technology of constructing wooden houses from timber, it is necessary to take into account that wood has always been a capricious material that requires careful compliance with all technological operations:
Important! After laying the walls, the house is made of lumber material humidity gradually increases, because of this the wood becomes softer and more pliable, which invariably leads to the building frame settling under its own weight.
Even laminated veneer lumber, the wood of which is impregnated with resins and adhesives, can change their rigidity, which leads to the formation of cracks and divergence of joints.
In addition to its high sensitivity to conditions and storage method, wood also has such an unpleasant drawback as different strength and rigidity of the wooden material in different directions of application of force to the beam. Therefore, during the construction of a building, to obtain maximum adhesion strength of individual beams with their side surfaces, use special methods timber connections:
To seal joints at joints, especially if construction is carried out from ordinary timber, flax fiber tow must be used; in the old days, grated dry moss was laid. Many builders consider moss more resistant to moisture and decay and often use it in construction. wooden baths, dachas or country cottages made of timber.
Important! Immediately after purchasing the material and at least two weeks before the start of construction, the timber must be treated with a high-quality antiseptic and fire retardant in an organic solvent.
Simple construction technology and the relatively light weight of the material make it possible to assemble wooden buildings of almost any complexity, provided that the project timber house pre-calculated and worked out in detail with the layout of all the key elements of a wooden building.
The process of constructing the main frame of the house consists of the following steps:
The construction technology does not require the use of heavy lifting and transport equipment. Moreover, small wooden house IC can be built almost alone, but it is better to work with a team of two or three people, especially since the installation rafter frame a roof measuring 4x5 m cannot be handled by one person.
It is generally accepted that the wooden frame structure of a timber building has high rigidity, so it can be installed on almost any known type of foundation. In practice, a newly folded structure, until settlement is completed and the walls are finally strengthened, has only 50% rigidity. After construction is completed, there are considerable cracks and gaps in the joints and joints, clogged with tow or moss. As the required humidity increases, the timber of the beam swells and sets into a rigid wooden box.
The most difficult time for a “fresh” timber house is winter with severe frosts. At that time wood material the walls dry out and partially lose their rigidity at the joints. If the construction of a house made of timber was carried out on insufficiently deeply twisted piles with a weak lower crown or an insufficiently rigid grillage, there is a danger of opening the crowns of the walls with the formation of cracks under the pressure of heaving soils.
Most often for construction wooden building use a pile or pile-grillage foundation, less often for small frame houses You can use a strip, shallow version of the foundation base. Timber beams, like any wooden structural element, are especially sensitive to moisture and dampness, therefore best choice There will be the use of pile-grillage types of foundation. Besides, competent arrangement ventilation and ventilation of the basement parts of the building will be provided good protection timber and long service life.
After installing the waterproofing, the first crown row of beams is laid on the grillage or foundation strip. When constructing a foundation strip, anchor bolts are embedded into the concrete surface at intervals of 60-70 cm, with the help of which the first row of timber is secured.
When laying out the first crown, you will need to make every effort to accurately level the concrete base under the beam horizontally. If it was not possible to make a horizon, you will need to trim the surface of the timber, otherwise the next rows wooden beams they will lie unevenly, and the walls will turn out crooked. The trimming procedure sometimes has to be used, especially if the beams themselves have slight deviations. All cuts and surfaces must be treated with antiseptics and preservatives. At the next stage, in increments of 40-50 cm, logs are laid under the future floor.
Usually, before construction begins, wooden material is sorted and rejected to get rid of the most defective and crooked timber. Rejected parts are used for short inserts and tie-ins.
The connection and joining of the timber is carried out in the classic way, corners and side joints are connected “half-tree” with the obligatory ligation of the next row with a solid beam, as in the photo.
In the corners and at the insertion points of ceiling beams, joists and internal bulkheads, a dowel must be hammered in, connecting at least three rows of timber. In this case, you can use not only metal, but also a two-wedge version made of the same wood as the wall material.
Sometimes corner joints are made in the form of a dovetail joint or a dressing with a T-shaped joint.
As the timber is laid on the walls, transverse beams are simultaneously inserted onto which the internal partitions and ceilings will be mounted. But until the construction and erection of the wooden frame of the building is completed, partitions cannot be installed. Even temporary working platforms for moving along walls are reduced to two or three boards.
During the construction of walls, the frame and vertical panels of the outer parts, porch, hallway, and outbuildings are assembled. They are also left uncovered for now.
Only after the ceiling beams have been laid and the rafter system with sheathing has been installed, can you proceed to laying the floors, installing partitions and partitions.
If the construction of a wooden house from timber is made from dry or high-quality glued material, after six months you can install the roof. Otherwise, they put in a draft version. Installing a roof usually involves the use of a sliding connection at the point where the rafter rests on the top row of timber used as a mauerlat. At the ridge run, pairs of rafters are connected using a steel plate and bolts. Thus, in the process of settling and subsidence of the walls rafter beams have the ability to change the slope, thereby compensating for the formation of a gap between the roof and the upper beam. Immediately after assembling the rafters, the sheathing is filled, a vapor barrier and waterproofing material are laid.
The roof gables are temporarily covered with vertical clapboard and covered with plastic film until the shrinkage processes are completed. Finishing operations begin after the building has been standing for a year. Finishing comes down to repeated treatment with an antiseptic, caulking of cracks, installation of bulkheads and door hatches, windows. Internal surfaces wooden walls after thermal insulation are most often covered with plasterboard.
Construction of a log house requires at least skills in working with wood and good knowledge of the methods and methods of joining timber. Having built a bathhouse or a small shed with your own hands, you can move on to building a summer house, and only after successfully building a wooden country house is it worth trying to work in a team of professional carpenters in order to fully understand the intricacies of building a house from timber.
For the construction of country cottages, various wall materials, each of which has its own characteristics. Many private developers who want to have environmentally friendly and comfortable housing that does not require large construction costs choose timber. Build today timber house You can use modern advanced materials and technologies, resulting in a beautiful, reliable and durable cottage. What types of houses are made from profiled timber, photos and descriptions of the construction process are in our article.
If you are thinking about how to build a house in the forest, then timber is the best option.
This is a building material that is made from wood by hewing. It has a square or rectangular cross-section. The minimum cross-sectional size is 10 by 10 cm, the maximum is 40 by 40. It is quite durable and “warm” natural material, allowing you to build houses on light, inexpensive foundations. Timber made of resinous wood saturates the cottage premises with phytoncides (useful bactericidal substances). In addition, it belongs to vapor-permeable materials. Thanks to this, a microclimate favorable for humans is formed inside the house.
The correct geometry of the timber facilitates the process of assembling a log house and allows you to build walls without cracks and gaps. During manufacturing, the timber is treated with special compounds that protect it from moisture, insects and rodents, while making the wood fire-resistant. After completing all stages of manufacturing, the material is dried using special equipment, as a result of which it shrinks by about 10%. There is also timber with natural moisture, which dries (settles) under normal conditions for several months.
Professional developers use the following types timber for building a house:
profiled;
insulated.
This is a wood material with rectangular cross-section, which has recesses designed for the most tight joining of individual bars with each other. The front side of such a beam can be round or flat. The inside is usually flat. Profiled material eliminates the possibility of cracks in the wall. Thanks to the notches, the construction of the log house is very quick and easy.
Glued laminated timber is made from individual lamellas, which are pre-dried and then glued together with non-toxic glue. Thanks to different directions The fibers in the lamellas make the laminated material very durable. It hardly shrinks. Such material can be longer, which increases its versatility in use.
This version of the timber is distinguished by the presence of a hole between the front and back sides. This hole is filled with cellulose. The result is a material with improved thermal insulation characteristics.
On our website you can get acquainted with the most popular projects from construction companies presented at the exhibition of houses “Low-Rise Country”.
Timber for building houses is made from species that are less susceptible to rotting and rodents than others. Mostly it is larch, spruce or pine. The tree with the most attractive characteristics is larch. It is durable, fireproof, and does not rot even in sea water. The resin secreted by larch acts as a natural antiseptic that protects it from insects. The only disadvantage of this type of wood is its high cost.
Spruce and pine are considered more economical options. Spruce is looser in structure and has many knots. However, when the right approach high quality is made from it construction timber. Pine is more practical in all respects. In terms of its characteristics, it is second only to larch.
Currently, profiled and laminated timber are especially actively used. The choice between these two options is based on their differences. Thus, laminated wood is produced in a wider range of standard sizes. Due to the fact that the lamellas can be “joined” in length, laminated veneer lumber can reach 18 linear meters, while profiled material has a length of up to 6 meters.
The thicker the wall elements, the better than walls it retains heat. However, solid profiled material with a cross-section of more than 200 cm is rarely used, since thick beams are difficult to dry. Glued has fewer restrictions here too. If desired, you can purchase laminated veneer lumber with a cross-section of 275 mm.
In terms of environmental friendliness, profiled material, which is made without the use of glue, is considered more attractive. But in this matter, it should be remembered that responsible manufacturers use adhesives only from the class of safe compounds. In addition, profiled timber also does not remain completely environmentally friendly, since it must be coated with protective substances.
The level of vapor permeability of profiled timber is higher. At the same time, the glued material gives minimal shrinkage, has higher strength and is more fire-resistant. construction wood. In addition, a house made of laminated veneer lumber can be prepared for moving in immediately after assembly, while a building made of profiled material should last about six months until the shrinkage process is completed. In general, the performance of laminated wood is more acceptable, but profiled wood costs about 30% less, so it is no less in demand.
IN Lately Insulated (or double) timber is increasingly used. Houses made from it are warmer and stronger than from glued ones, since it is a structure made of wood, insulation and cross joints. Insulated timber weighs less than glued timber and is cheaper. However, before building a wooden house from this type of timber, you need to think carefully about its disadvantages. The main one is the rapid destruction of insulation, which cannot be replaced.
double timber
Laminated timber and thermo-timber, differences and cost of a turnkey house made of thermo-timber - see the following video:
The technology for building a house from timber is not particularly different from building a cottage from other building materials. But there are still some nuances.
The engineering basis of a timber house should be a high-quality professional project created by specialists who know how to properly build a house from timber. In architectural development, all characteristics of the material are taken into account, and solutions are used that enhance the advantages of wood buildings.
The timber is ideal for the construction of small and medium-sized houses. But if you wish, you can build a large wooden mansion with complex architecture. In any case, the length of the walls is calculated taking into account the standard length of the timber (6 meters). In order for the designed log house to be built quickly, while leaving a minimum of waste, the length of the walls, a multiple of 2 or 3 meters, is included in the design.
Materials are purchased in accordance with the architect's calculations. It is very important to purchase all necessary timber single purchase. This is especially true for profiled wood, where the percentage of moisture content can vary significantly between batches.
Any construction begins with site preparation. At this stage, old buildings are dismantled, trees and shrubs that may interfere with construction are removed, and the ground is leveled.
Timber cottages are built on strip foundations. Such a foundation is built in several steps. First, they dig a trench around the perimeter of the future building. Sand and crushed stone are poured onto the bottom. All this is compacted well. Next is installed wooden formwork and concrete is poured.
The construction of the timber building itself begins with laying the lower crowns and arranging the subfloor. At this stage, it is very important to know how to build a house from timber so that it turns out warm and dry. The first step is to ensure effective waterproofing of the foundation. After this, the first crown is laid from carefully processed beams. Next, the floor is installed.
For the subfloor, logs are first laid - usually with a cross-section of 150 by 100. To increase the reliability of the structure, a support made of wider beams is also laid. Floor boards are laid across the joists. Waterproofing, insulation and vapor barrier are placed on top. After this, the subfloor is laid with 40 mm thick boards.
The walls of the log house are laid out by layering crowns. All crowns are pulled together using dowels. Internal and external wall structures are erected simultaneously. For attaching internal partitions to inside of the front walls, cuts are made through the row, into which the ends of the partition beams are recessed.
The roof consists of a rafter system, lathing for fastening roofing covering and the coating itself. First, the upper crown is pulled together by laying solid beams with a section of 100 by 150. Then they are made from boards and installed rafter legs. After this, the gables are laid out.
To lay the covering, a sheathing is constructed. After this, the roof is insulated and the covering is laid.
Door and window openings are framed by racks. It is very important to provide a competent system of grooves and technological gaps around the openings so that double-glazed windows and doors do not interfere with the natural shrinkage process. Otherwise wooden elements may become deformed and crack.
Installation plastic windows in a timber house
In the construction of log houses, a practice is often used in which the walls are built from a material with a small thickness, and then an insulation system is installed. You can insulate a house from the outside or from the inside. To make wood last longer, it is better not to cover it with insulation from the outside, but to insulate it internally. In this case wooden wall it is insulated with hydro and vapor barrier, then insulation is installed, and another layer of vapor and waterproofing is installed on top. The insulating pie is covered with plasterboard, after which you can decorate the walls with any facing material.
All communications are connected to the house, according to a previously prepared project. Special attention is paid to safety precautions when laying the electrical network and arranging the heating system.
Communications in a timber house
Timber walls do not require facial finishing. The exception is houses with insulation. Usually, after the construction of the insulating pie, the walls are decorated with panels under natural wood so that the facades of the house and its internal walls form a single harmonious composition.
The floor in the house is covered with any flooring. Usually the floors in log cottages are quite warm. However, if desired, you can install a “warm floor” system.
The ceiling can be left open or decorated with a stretch fabric. Other options ceiling decoration undesirable due to shrinkage.
Let's talk about materials, about the whole cycle production process, pros and cons of technology:
On our website you can get acquainted with the most popular projects of houses made of laminated veneer lumber from construction companies presented at the exhibition of Low-Rise Country houses.
Every year in the Moscow region they are increasingly building houses from timber. Such houses are built quite quickly. But if you yourself don’t know how to properly build a house from timber, then professional builders can complete all stages in a couple of months. The main thing is to take into account the characteristics of the materials and provide everything to ensure that it lasts as long as possible.
I wanted to build a house. I immediately encountered the problem of choosing a material. There wasn’t much money, but I wanted a house that was reliable, warm and durable. Having studied the proposals of modern construction market, decided to stop at
On the forums they advise building houses with a cross-section of 15x15 cm. But I had to build it myself, sometimes with a friend, i.e. I didn’t want to involve outside workers, so I decided not to use a heavy 15-centimeter beam. Instead, I bought dry material with a cross-section of 15x10 cm. Then, when the wood shrinks, I will insulate the walls from the outside mineral wool, and the house will be warm.
To further save on construction costs, I decided to use only local materials. You can take my story as an example of guidance and navigate the situation.
First, I cleared the area under the house from debris, bushes and other things that were in the way. After this, I began laying out the foundation.
I had to think for a long time about what type of foundation would be suitable specifically for my area. I studied the geological conditions, learned the composition of the soil and the level of groundwater. Specialized reference literature helped me with this. Additionally, I asked my neighbors what foundations their houses were on.
I live in the Ryazan region. Local conditions make it possible to save on the construction of foundations, so most neighbors have houses on light supports made of limestone and concrete. Most often, they even refuse reinforcement - such is the wonderful soil we have. The soil is sandy, therefore, it is not “heaving”. The water runs deep and wooden houses weigh a little. Therefore, there is no need to install buried monolithic supports in my region.
I started by digging a trench. To begin with, I removed the fertile ball. Sand appeared. To make it seal better, I filled it with water. Then he lined the trenches with stone and laid two reinforcing bars. I tied them up in the corners. I think it is best to reinforce the tape both at the bottom and at the top. So I did.
To save yourself from unnecessary work, you could order a ready-made construction concrete with delivery. However, in my region this turned out to be unrealistic - there are simply no such proposals. And my plot is such that the truck would have to go through the garden, but I don’t need that.
Alas, you won’t be able to save this much in every region. For example, if I lived somewhere in the Moscow region, I would have to make formwork, install a spatial reinforcing frame, and only then pour in the building mixture.
While the concrete gains strength (and it needs 3-4 weeks for this), I will start preparing consumables.
Find out more detailed nuances from our new article on our portal.
The connection of the beam crowns is carried out using wooden dowels. I decided to make them from scrap boards left over from other construction projects. In my case it was the installation of roof sheathing.
For dowels, use wood that is as hard as possible. The process of making fasteners is extremely simple. I took some scrap boards and edged them on one side using a matching saw.
Then I set the stop and started sawing to size. In my situation, the size was 12 cm. As a result, I received neat and beautiful blanks.
I sawed the planks using band saw. At the end of the day I received a whole box of wooden sticks. Next, I sharpened the blanks with an ax on each side and got my dowels.
Dowels, sphagnum peat moss and boards The technology requires that between each crown of timber be laid. Professionals usually insulate roll materials. Working with them is easy and convenient - just roll out the material on top of the laid crown and you can continue working. However, convenience and ease of processing come at a price.
I decided not to waste money and use moss. Firstly, this material is abundant in nature - go and collect it. Secondly, moss is not only a decent insulator, but also an excellent antiseptic. Additionally, I studied thematic forums: moss is actively used as interventional insulation, and there are no negative reviews about it.
Red or peat moss is best suited for insulation. The first is characterized by high rigidity. The second one becomes brittle after drying. If possible, it is best to use red moss. It is easy to recognize - it has long stems with leaves that resemble a Christmas tree.
I make them for every door and window opening. For this I use a flat beam. If possible, there should be no knots at all. For greater convenience, I made an impromptu workbench directly next to my stack of lumber. Made longitudinal cuts. A circular saw helped me with this. Excess material was removed using a chisel.
Not even every professional carpenter can make the right joint. Therefore, I decided to make window jambs using simplified technology. I will install only a pair of vertical jambs in each window opening. Behind horizontal connection the window block will respond directly.
To install the block you need a “quarter”. However, here too I figured out how to simplify the task. Instead of sampling (it's shaded in the photo), I decided to glue in a strip. To do this, I sharpened the plane in advance. The result was no worse than it would have been in a situation using a quarter.
It is impossible to reduce the number of jambs in the doorway - all four are needed. However, the shape of the products can be significantly simplified.
I chose grooves in the block, which in the future will serve as a threshold, similar to the recesses in the side jambs. This allowed me to slide the bottom timber over the tenons of the opening. However, at this stage, the timber would have to be cut with a chisel across the wood fibers - not the most pleasant or simple task. I found a great way out of this situation! Taking a circular saw, I prepared the cuts by first setting the appropriate blade exit and making a rip fence.
Then I took a feather drill and made a hole 2.5 cm in diameter, just like for the dowels. Finally, I cut out an even rectangle across the wood grain. A reciprocating saw helped me with this.
Carpenters usually make two rectangular nests in the threshold, and at the bottom of each vertical jamb they create a counter protrusion, cutting down and sawing out excess wood using a chisel. I decided to make holes as for fastening dowels, and hammered in a couple of fasteners. I made similar holes at the bottom of the jambs.
Upper horizontal beam I haven’t touched it yet, but nailed a small board to the threshold - it will take on the functions of a “quarter”. The design of the opening turned out to be extremely simple, but it was difficult to cope with main function it doesn't bother him. Later I will plan the opening and glue the “quarters”.
To build a house from wooden beams, I used the following tools and devices:
I bought a circular saw to cut the wooden beams. I had to cut in two steps. First, I drew a line along the square, after which I cut, turned the beam over and made the cut again. It is best to transfer the line to the second edge of the beam using a square. If you are confident in your “eye”, you can cut “by eye”.
Using a circular saw, I made tenons and grooves for corner connections bars When arranging the tenons, I lacked a slight depth of cut, so I had to make a couple of extra movements with a hacksaw.
Laying the starter crown is traditionally done with a joint known as "into the wood floor". This unit can be made without any problems with a circular saw - just cut the material lengthwise and crosswise. In some areas the depth of the cut turned out to be insufficient - here I worked with a hacksaw, after which I got rid of excess material using a chisel. By the way, in my case, the lower crown is the only one that is connected with nails.
I placed the lower crown on board linings. There are gaps between the elements - in the future I will make vents there. In my region they are usually in the wall, not in concrete base. This option has its advantages. Firstly, making vents in the wall is easier and faster. Secondly, at a certain elevation the wind moves at a higher speed than directly near the ground, due to which the underground will be better ventilated.
Cutting timber. Half-tree connection I'm going to mount the floor beams on the pads - this way, I think, the loads on the base will be distributed more evenly.
The linings and timber of the lower crown were covered. As practice shows, the material laid at the very bottom rots most quickly. In my situation, there are pads underneath, and not the timber itself. In the future, if the boards rot, they can be replaced with much less effort than the beam of the lower crown.
reciprocating saw
Starting from the second crown of masonry, work is carried out in the same order. At the corners I connected the timber with the help of root tenons - the usual joining of elements is unacceptable here.
Taking a circular saw, I trimmed a couple of cuts. I transferred the cutting line to the second face using a square. The root tenon is easy to do, everything is demonstrated in the photo. If the disk output is insufficient, the depth can be increased with a hacksaw. The groove is made even simpler. Also demonstrated, but in the photo.
Important note! Keep in mind that in tongue-and-groove joints there should be approximately a 0.5-centimeter gap for laying the seal. A connection in which the wood simply touches the wood is unacceptable.
I first set the cutting depth I needed. With my saw, you can change the output of the blade without any problems - you just need to loosen the lever. The add-on is convenient to use. If in traditional carpentry the master sets some parameter of the working tool and prepares the required number of blanks of the same type, then in carpentry the situation is somewhat different: the material is dragged onto the workbench, and the depth of the cut is adjusted directly as the work progresses.
My saw is equipped with a thin disk - it takes much less effort to cut. The safety guard moves very smoothly and does not interfere with the cut in any way.
The walls of my house will be longer than the timber, so I will have to join the building material. To do this, I made a notch at both ends of the long beam, removed the excess with a chisel, and got a tenon in the middle. The ledge is ready, now we need a groove. Cutting wood with a chisel across the grain is impractical. I used a trick and drilled a simple through hole in the second beam. The drill bit was not long enough to create a through hole, so I had to drill from both sides. Next, I cut off the excess wood from the workpiece, made markings and cut the timber along the grain using a chisel. Connected the spliced beams. The gaps were filled with moss.
Helpful advice. In the crown, which is the beginning of the opening, it is better to immediately make spikes for the jambs of this opening. In the process of cutting timber, it will not be possible to completely make tenons with a saw; you will need to additionally chisel with a chisel to complete the process. On next photo you see the bars already with fastening spikes. Thresholds for door openings are shown as templates.
I laid the second crown on the lower one, correctly performing the corner joints and the necessary splices along the length. It's time to make markings for installing dowels - the connectors of the crowns of my house under construction. I took a square and made vertical marks on the bars at the bottom and top, in the places where the fasteners would be placed. Turned over the top beam. I moved the markings to the center of my beam. Then I drilled holes for the fasteners and drove the dowels into them using a hammer.
Logically, a round dowel would need to be driven into a round hole. Builders adhere to a different technology and use square dowels. Such fasteners are simpler to manufacture and hold the connection much more reliably. In this case, a short dowel will not interfere with the process of shrinkage of the structure.
The problem is that to drill hand drill a strictly vertical hole without the slightest deviation is impossible. When installing the beam of the next crown on a pointed and slightly protruding dowel, the first one will wobble a little. In order for the timber to be firmly fixed, it must be additionally hammered with a sledgehammer.
The dowels I use work for shearing and ensure correct shrinkage even if there are slight deviations from the vertical in the mounting holes. There will be no gaps. Firstly, the timber will shrink. Secondly, the space between the crowns is filled with insulation, which I will discuss later.
Once I had to observe how builders made holes in a wall made of timber using a long drill and drove long round pins into them, which looked like the handles of a shovel or rake. Were these holes vertical? Naturally not. Ultimately, the beam did not settle, but seemed to “hang” on the dowels, which led to the formation of impressive gaps between the crowns.
Having driven in the dowels, I laid tow and moss on the crown. He laid the tow across the beams. The moss was simply thrown over the tow. As a result, tow hangs from the walls. This will make it easier for me to caulk the walls in the future. Moss will provide adequate insulation of the building.
I installed the beams on the dowels, laid the tow, threw on the moss, and besieged the crown with a sledgehammer, but for some reason it is still wobbly. This happens due to the presence of gaps in the corner joints. In my situation, the dimensions of these gaps were up to 0.5 cm. I densely filled them with moss. A spatula and a narrow strip of metal helped me with this.
The attentive reader will ask: what about tow? Shouldn't it be put in the corners too? No no need. Firstly, as I said earlier, moss is a very good natural antiseptic. My house will stand for quite a long time without any finishing, and sedimentary moisture will continually flow into the corners. Moss will prevent the wood from rotting in these places. Secondly, in the future the timber in the corners will probably have to be planed. Moss will not interfere with this. Tow can cause the plane to break.
Now my corners are strong, insulated and windproof. At the end of the day I covered the corner joints to protect them from possible precipitation.
In the picture you can see that one of my beams is located higher than the other. But they must be at the same height. We are not in a hurry to immediately turn on the electric planer - such a problem can be easily dealt with using a simple sledgehammer.
I worked with a plane at the very end, when the obstacle to the installation of the next crown became clearly visible. I used a plane to compare small “screws” and “humps”. I compensated for more significant differences in height with the help of tow and moss - their arrangement takes much less time than processing wood with a plane.
You have already become familiar with the basic principles of laying each crown. Eat important nuances. Firstly, the crowns must be laid with alternating corner joints. Secondly, the internal load-bearing wall of the house must be connected to the longitudinal wall. This is done through one crown. For binding I use an already proven and familiar connection. Only I drill the holes for the dowels “checkerboard” in relation to the lower rims. After this, I lay down the tow and moss, and placing each beam in its designated place, I seal the joints in the corners.
That is, the procedure for building a house is extremely simple:
Along the length of the beams I join using the “staggered” method.
Having reached the height of the window sill (this is my seventh crown), I made markings for arrangement window openings. I calculated the width of each opening by adding the dimensions of the jambs and sealed gaps to the width of the purchased window block. There should be a pair of gaps on each side of the opening - between the jamb and the one being installed. window block, as well as between the jamb and the wall of the house. As a result, in my situation, the required width of the window opening was 1325 mm. Of this, 155 mm was spent on gaps.
Based on the calculation results, I installed a crown with a window opening, having previously cut tenons in the bars, similar to the stage with openings for doors.
The next crowns with a window opening were laid from timber without tenons, observing the same overall dimensions.
I constructed all the window openings from “short pieces”, the evenness of which was disrupted during the shrinkage of the timber - such material is not suitable for walls, and it would be a pity to throw it away. I didn't make any jumpers. While arranging the opening, I constantly checked its evenness using a plumb line. I also checked the walls.
I temporarily secured the separate partition with slats so that it would not fall during the work. The T-shaped structure, as well as the corner, do not require additional strengthening - they are perfectly supported by their own weight.
Important note! In places where the tenons of the opening and the cutting line are arranged, i.e. just a few centimeters from the edge, I did not lay the tow because... when cutting, it would wrap around the cutting disc. In the future, the tow can be tapped from the ends without any problems.
After laying the last crown with the window opening (it needs to be laid temporarily without fastening or compacting), I removed the top beams and made cuts for the tenons. I put blunts on them. Having set the saw blade to the required depth, I installed a parallel fence to maintain the required distance from the edge. It didn’t take me much time to do this kind of work. I was unable to cut the timber to the required depth with a circular saw - I had to finish it with a hacksaw.
I made tenons at the lower rim of the opening to control my assembly. I didn’t do this in the last crown - in the future, tenons will still have to be created in each beam.
On personal experience I was convinced that assembling the entire height of the opening for a window without a connection, and from not quite “short” ones, is not the easiest task.
Light and short cuttings can be tried on before creating a recess or tenon. It may well turn out that a block deviating to the right will fall on a beam that deviates to the left. As a result, a flat wall will be built. If both beams have a deviation in the same direction, you can’t count on the evenness of the wall.
To eliminate deviations, you can plan out the “screws” using a plane or lay the timber “ladder”. I had exactly the second case. I also eliminated the gap using a plane. At each stage, I checked the verticality of the openings being constructed using a plumb line.
The upper crown was laid. It's time to install the jambs of each opening. Thanks to these simple elements, the strength of the finished structure will be significantly increased. The bottom beam of each opening is equipped with a full-fledged tenon. On the upper beams there are cuts in the required places. I apply the guide, set the desired cutting depth and make the cut with a circular saw. After this, I draw a couple of lines from the ends according to the dimensions of the tenon and get rid of excess material using a chisel.
My tenons are smaller than the grooves. I fill the gaps with thermal insulation material. If you wish, you can make the tenons wider, and only then, at the stage of finishing the house, cut off the excess material and fill the gaps with sealant.
I inserted temporary spacers between the jambs. In the future, I planned to add a veranda to my house. If you are planning to make an extension, do not lay the top crown of the timber before starting its construction. I also mounted a smaller one on the crown.
The box is ready. I covered it with a temporary roof, closed every opening and left the house until next season. The timber will have time to shrink. After that I will continue, which I will definitely tell you about in my next story.
While the house is shrinking, I decided to take stock. Firstly, I was glad that we had to spend a lot on the foundation less money, when compared with supports of other types. It took a little money to dump the stone. There is also a lot of sand in my region - you can dig it up and bring it yourself. Most of the money was spent on cement and reinforcement.
Secondly, I was pleased with the affordable cost and relatively low consumption of building materials. When the timber was delivered to me, I laid it out in a stack about a meter high and two meters wide. At first it seemed that I had miscalculated somewhere and that I would not have enough material. As a result, about 20 beams remained unused. In general, for the construction of a house with dimensions of 6x10 m (the timber part of it is 6x7.5 m), I spent about 7.5 m3 of timber with a cross-section of 15x10 cm. For timber 15x15 cm I would have spent 1.5 times more money. And additional labor would have to be hired, which is also not free.
Thirdly, I saved on fasteners and thermal insulation. Nageli made it himself, the moss is free. My friends gladly gave the oakum to me after finishing their construction work.
Fourthly, I did not have to buy highly specialized and expensive tools. Everything that I used for construction will be useful to me on the farm in the future. I am especially pleased with the purchase of a good circular saw and concrete mixer.
Now about the speed of work. I didn’t have much experience in timber construction. As practice has shown, in a whole day, working with one hand and provided the weather is good outside, you can lay out one crown with a partition. You can do this either faster or slower, I won’t argue.
And the main advantage of such construction is that you do not need to have any special skills to carry it out. And I was personally convinced of this.
I hope that my story will be useful to you, and you can, just like me, make your dream of owning your own home come true.
