Construction of wooden houses from timber
Timber is an ecological material that was previously popular in construction 40-50 years ago around the world. Now the fashion for it is returning again. The construction of your house from high-quality wood will be a beautiful and much healthier alternative to a small apartment in the city, in which there is not enough space for anything. And for its price, you can build a house that is 4-5 times larger in terms of area - which includes not only several bedrooms, a huge kitchen, a billiard room, but also a garage, a terrace and balconies.
For those who are not strictly tied to the place of work and residence, or can get to work in their car from a majestic and cozy wooden house, the construction option is perfect. Now it's just a matter of buying land and choosing a project. And so that you have the right information to choose, we have written this review article to help you.
What do all smart people start planning the construction of their house with? That's right: from the choice of construction material.
The following offers are available on the market:
- concrete and stone (the most expensive options, which are used extremely rarely and only by "exclusive" people who can spend 4-10 times more than the average for the construction of a house);
- bricks and ceramic blocks (a common option, but requires a lot of money, long terms, a serious foundation and expensive processing);
- blocks made of natural materials (limestone, shell stone, etc.) are in many respects similar to bricks, but may be cheaper or more expensive, depending on your region of residence and the cost of this material;
- cinder block (seriously it should not be considered for building a house for life);
- foam block and similar building materials (a cheap and common option, most modern budget constructions are made of it);
- frame (cheap and fast, but you can't build more than 2 floors because of the lightness of the material, and there are many low-quality structures on our market that are cold for our winters). In addition, such a house is less durable;
- tree (we'll talk about it).
Does the "tree" item sound appealing? Then let's dwell on it in more detail.
Types of wooden houses
There are a total of 6 main types of wooden houses:
- Not a profiled beam.
- Profiled rectangular beam.
- Cylindrical round log (round with grooves of 2 types: lunar and Canadian).
- Insulated beam.
- Glued timber.
- Wild timber.
We will talk with you about glued and wild timber in separate articles - we need to talk a lot about these materials separately, so now we will stop at the first 4 types.
Not a profiled beam.
This is the simplest and cheapest type of beam, when wooden trunks are turned from 4 sides to obtain equal beams of square or rectangular cross section (the most common sections are 150 * 150 or 150 * 200 mm). It should be noted right away that if you are planning a house for permanent residence, then the small dimensions of non-profiled timber can cost you a cold house in winter (for our latitudes, a minimum of 200 * 200 mm, up to 300 * 300 mm is recommended). When building from it, it is necessary to observe many nuances of technology, from fastening to caulking, otherwise it will be a cold means of wall distortion after shrinkage. Among the minuses - the caulk must be periodically strengthened (it is blown by wind, rain, stretched by birds, etc.).
Profiled beam.
It can be argued that this is the most popular construction material. This is the evolution of non-profiled. Grooves are cut along its entire length (there are many profiles of such a beam on the market, because each supplier can promote its technology). It is much easier and faster to work with it, because all the walls are made and cut to your dimensions at the factory, and the construction team assembles your house in a couple of weeks. The profile of the beams reliably fastens them together in the wall along the entire length, the material has less shrinkage compared to its predecessor, and the caulking is placed in the profile and never needs to be updated, if the technology is not violated. A type of profiled beam is a glued beam.
Cylindrical log
A cylindrical log is a tree trunk that has been given a perfectly round shape on a sawmill with a diameter from 100 mm (construction of sheds, gazebos) to 300 mm (houses, baths) and a groove has been cut along the entire length in order to stack the beams on top of each other in a joint. The usual moon groove, the so-called Scandinavian groove, is popular in the territory of the former USSR, because it implies simple manufacturing and quick construction, as well as close fit of the bars. There is also another form, the Canadian groove - in it, instead of the usual "moon-shaped" smooth slot, a slot with side grooves is made, and at the top of the logs, small indentations are made so that the lower grooves fit into them and grip well.
Insulated beam.
This is a relatively new material on the market and in its essence resembles a frame: it is two boards fastened with Chopik, between which polystyrene foam is blown. The result is a higher coefficient of thermal insulation, which can be compared to foam concrete blocks in a fur coat, but also a high price - about the same as that of glued beams. But the downside is that it is not known for sure how this material behaves after 10-15 years of living in a house, due to the fact that there are no houses made of it of this age yet.
Consider the following additional information:
You need to choose a type of tree that fits your budget. Larch and cedar are heavy and expensive. Pine is the least durable. Fruit trees are not suitable. Oak is heavy, but durable. Spruce, spruce - the optimal price / quality ratio.
A turnkey house will cost more money than just building a box. For example, often the "regular" price does not include connection to communications (gas, water, light, drainage), processing.
Top 7 advantages of building a house from timber
Here are the advantages of building your own wooden house:
- Fast construction. The parts (except for the non-profiled beam) are prepared at the factory for 2-3 months, and then simply assembled by the team on the construction site in a period of about a month or faster.
- You do not need a massive foundation, as for bricks and ceramic blocks.
- With the correct construction technology, the house will be very warm: 200-220 mm of wood wall thickness is approximately equal to 1 meter of brick wall thickness.
- Finishing, if necessary, is only minimal and only inside, because it does not make sense to finish a house made of wood from the outside with anything due to the loss of aesthetics at least. However, the outer sheathing with clapboard is periodically done - but this, as a rule, only harms the appearance. Inside, you can finish parts of the interior with plasterboard, tiles, metal ... You will probably only have to do wiring, laying floors and installing appliances and furniture, which is many times less than finishing a house made of brick or block.
- The construction cost is almost the lowest on the market - wooden houses can be delivered from 20 thousand US dollars, and considering the most luxurious options with gigantic dimensions of 300-500 square meters, it will be 100-150 thousand dollars, and this includes the most expensive wooden options for walls It is cheaper only to build from SIP panels with a modest finish or cinder block (cinder block is not recommended for houses).
- After the house shrinks (at least 4-6 months), you can move in and live, finishing and including heating. During this time, you can save up for finishing works, buying furniture, appliances, and planning your move.
- Construction can be carried out all year round in any temperature and weather conditions - which is not possible with bricks and building blocks.
Houses made of profiled timber
A profiled beam is a high aesthetic of the house, which will require a small shrinkage, with easy erection (even independently, provided that each log is numbered by the manufacturer). This option is optimal for the price of those careful owners who understand how important the family budget is and invest it wisely in the building of their family nest. Such mansions have a modern appearance, keep heat well, and look like solid country residences (even when built in the city).
Wooden houses made of cylindrical logs
Cylindrical logs are chosen by those who want to live in "old-fashioned" houses, because it was this building material that was used to build private houses 3-4-5 generations ago. Some may say that the house will look like a barn or a bathhouse, but this material will give the maximum aroma of natural material to those who care about a healthy microclimate and are close to nature in spirit. The reliability of the building is not in doubt if the technology is followed and the diameter is sufficient. The production of the raw material does not require the same time as the profiled timber, which is cut to the parameters of the future house according to the master plan. Compared to the same framers, the cost of the structure is much lower due to the prevalence of the material and the minimal finishing of the house after the walls are erected. The result: high energy efficiency and durability.
Advantages of living in wooden houses
The wood is impregnated with materials against burning, mold, rotting, rodents, insects and varnished / painted. Therefore, its aesthetic appearance will always be at a height, with high-quality wood processed in the right way. However, varnishing prevents wood from "breathing", but modern varnishes partially compensate for this. You will not need a lot of effort to maintain the house - a couple of days a year.
As a result, your home will last 50 years at the most modest estimates, and 200 at the most optimistic, if you don't forget to take care of it. However, even brick and concrete houses stand for 80-150 years, so you have nothing to worry about in terms of durability.
