During the debate that flared up after the publication of the article "Ours in America", a reader who wished to tell about his personal experience. Vyacheslav has been living with his family in a house made of a solid log for four years now. And according to him, if he knew all the "nuances" at the time of choosing the material, he would build a house of brick or blocks. Below in the text - his personal "Top reasons why you should not build a house from a log house." To maintain authenticity, we left the text almost unchanged, making only light stylistic changes.
Why did we want a wooden house?
1. Once we saw with our own eyes a log house - we immediately liked it, it looked very beautiful, we wanted the same one for ourselves.
2. For practical reasons: initially it was assumed that we would come on weekends, heat a solid fuel boiler and quickly warm up the house (the concept changed during the construction process).
3. Environmental friendliness: I wanted the house to breathe easily, smell like a pine forest. Generally liked traditional concept living in a private house wooden frame, grass near the house, forest nearby, etc.
summer house
Start of construction
back view
Here we managed to learn a little from the mistakes of others. My friend, in order to save money, bought the wood himself. As a result, a timber truck came to him, the cutters selected suitable logs, half of the timber truck went back ... As a result, 120 cubic meters wood turned into 200 for him. I worked with contractors who sorted wood at their base, and only what really went into work was brought to the site.
view from the yard
Initially, I did not worry about the construction process, as I trusted the contractors. In the course of the work, they nevertheless “screwed up” in places, but not much (more on that below). The logs were laid on the moss. Chopped and hewn - by hand. After they made a “box” with a roof, the house stood for a year.
from the entrance
Of the interesting things in the construction process, I can note the discrepancy real sizes rooms to their visual perception until the moment the ceilings are covered. I personally measured a 19-meter kitchen with a tape measure, because visually it seemed that there were 7-8 meters. And so - with all the rooms.
Finishing
The most interesting thing began at this stage. Firstly, the whole house needs to be sanded from two sides. This work is dreary and not cheap - you can search for prices for work on the Internet, four years ago it cost us a pretty penny (375 square meters at $ 5 per 1 sq.m.). Moreover, when estimating the area of work, the bend of the log is added to the formula "height for length" - the area increases.
top plinth - curved fit
Then - impregnation ($ 0.7 per 1 sq.m.). Then - painting in one layer. Then - in the second (both - $ 1 per 1 sq.m.). Moreover, in order for the materials to lay down with high quality, paint the house by hand(which stretches the process in time). After all these procedures, the question of a "breathing house" and "the smell of pine" was removed by itself.
We did not make a basement, so our foundation is simple: PGS pillow, insulation, concrete. The builders pouring the floor did not cut the lower logs to the end in doorways. As a result, a year later in these places it “broke” floor tiles(porcelain stoneware). I had to remove the entire damaged tile, cut out the logs, fill the floor with a new one. It turned out to be easier than somehow cutting out the laid tiles - not every tile cutter takes porcelain stoneware.
a crack in the tile remained in the doorway
To the "pleasant" moments of finishing is added regular finishing off the moss stolen by birds, and sealing joints with sealant. This work is long, costly and dreary. Fortunately, there is a sealant manufacturer in Belarus that offers products at reasonable prices. If I had missed the import, I would have gone bankrupt to hell.
Laying communications in a log house also becomes a problem. Plug socket into round log- the same task (and the "tariff" is appropriate). You can't hide pipes inside. Attaching a plinth to an uneven log is also not an easy task, you will have to “think” and work with your hands.
plinth - plank + mastic
Due to the long shrinkage of the house, doors and windows were inserted into the frame of the boards. If you try to bet on a "live log" - the risks of getting "sloppy" increase significantly. Like risk of damage to the door or window. But even this “trick” did not help us personally: for 4 years of operation, the doors were adjusted twice. And some windows still "siphon".
House operation
kitchen box (on the left against the wall)
The house is constantly "breathing". When the heating is on, when it's not, everything moves. To hang the kitchen, it was necessary to build a metal frame, sheathe it with drywall, and only attach the kitchen to it. No other way. So loved by our citizens sliding wardrobes it is absolutely impossible to establish - there is nothing to "attach" to, and the wall and ceiling live their own lives. The ladder, which was “tied” to the wall, ended up warped, the railing was torn out.
instead of wardrobe...
Any decorative boxes covering communications turn into a work of art - they need to be somehow combine with log wall , and this process turns into a jewelry fit with a construction cutter in hand.
The joints smeared with sealant were greased twice in 4 years. Does not matter - cracks appear. Wooden floor on the 2nd floor it also dries out, there are also cracks, and this is inevitable.
crack between logs
By autumn mice enter the house, in the gap between the lower log and the foundation. It is not yet possible to block this road for them, since the interface line is very uneven. And if on the main "animal paths" this phenomenon can be "nullified" with the help of poison and mousetraps, then when mice frolic between logs without coming "to visit" - nothing can be done with them. Damn it.
Also between logs every year wasps make their nests. The issue is resolved with the help of Dichlorvos. But it still has to be decided.
In autumn and early winter on the second floor - the kingdom of flies. First flies get in the cracks for the winter. Then the house becomes warm - and they climb inside. Against this brethren, we have not yet come up with any other means than a vacuum cleaner.
And also we - best friends sellers of Tikkurila paint. There need to tint, here you need to tint: steps, joints, terrace. They did not keep accurate records of production, but a lot of buckets of paint were bought over 4 years.
In spring, when pine blossoms (and then also birch), the whole the house is covered yellow pollen. And - a thick layer. On a flat vertical wall it just wouldn't accumulate that much. This issue is solved by washing the walls with a jet from Karcher. But again, it needs to be addressed.
Bath
Inside the house dust accumulates on the bend of the logs. Here already universal means no - the dust can only be removed manually, the old fashioned way.
Sometimes spontaneous, inexplicable bursts of life happen inside the house - some bugs, midges, insects appear, but I have not installed any system here yet.
In the bath, near the bed for guests, some perky creature lives in a log, crunching on a log all night. It is not possible to find and kill her.
And finally - about the famous "winter" forest. My house was cut down from February. Bath - from the August. Haven't noticed a difference yet.
Issue price
Given all of the above, such housing cannot be called cheap. House with total area 240 sq. m. (with a small attic floor) cost me $ 40,000 only at the first stage: foundation, box and roof. Then the project expanded, we also built a utility building, a bathhouse from the same "round timber", ennobled the territory, the street next to the house. All this (together with materials, finishes, windows, doors and a geothermal boiler) cost us $ 180,000 in total.
shrinkage to the roof
Conclusion: What we got for these torments is very beautiful house. And some indescribable pleasure from the feeling of a thick, uneven log, its rough appearance, rich texture ... Friends who began to build across the site from mine listened to approximately the same text, my complaints and advice to build from blocks. And in the end ... they also cut down the log house. Here, of course, everyone decides for himself. But I gave you fair warning.
Interviewed by: Dmitry Malakhov
AT suburban construction appear more and more houses from hewn log . In terms of beauty and good quality, they are not inferior to the ancient monuments of wooden architecture. To verify this, just look at the catalog of our portal projects of houses manual felling. The term tessellation means:- smoothing, leveling irregularities on the surface of logs;
- removal of the top layer of wood;
- removal of the edging (oval side) of the log.
Waiting and worrying will pay off comfortable living in a house that is cool in summer, warm in winter, sleeps well at any time of the year. Why? Because wood is a natural air conditioner, a breathable material with high thermal insulation properties.
Turnkey hewn log houses
You can buy or order a turnkey planed log house project on our portal. The photo of the project from the manufacturer clearly shows how the design looks in ready-made how much space it will take on the site. Call, specify the details, together we will select a project taking into account the soil, terrain, and your financial capabilities.Walls of a true classic wooden house should be from a round log. Thickness wooden wall not less than 35cm, can keep warm, along with brickwork 1.5m thick. Raw wood for building a house needs to be prepared. This includes removing the bark, planing to the desired shape, drying, impregnating the wood protective equipment... There are two ways to get a round log, this is a manual tes and a log running on a machine (rounding).
is a laborious and expensive method. After all, manual processing is always valued higher. high technology. You can plan a log with both an ax and a planer. When processing with a planer, the log is pre-cleaned from the bark with a manual scraper.
Mature forest is selected for manual trimming conifers, aged 50 years and above. Select trees of approximately the same age and the same relative size. The distances between the growth rings of a log are located more densely on the north side of the tree. This side of the log is placed outside when building a house. The craftsman picks up the logs one by one during the construction of the log house, stacking the thick ends of the logs on the thin ones and vice versa.
When trimming a log with an ax, the porosity of wood decreases, due to its compaction from all sides. The most popular diameters of hewn logs are 24 cm or 32 cm, but if desired, any log diameter can be cut down.
The advantages of manual trimming are:
- Processing of trunks of any thickness. How larger diameter, the warmer the house will be;
- The outer layer rich in resins is preserved, which protects the log from atmospheric influences;
- At manual processing logs, there is a uniform drying of wood and the log cracks less.
- Using different kinds cutting with an ax, you can decorate the house with various ornamental or plot carvings.
The disadvantages of manual trimming are:
- Spending a lot of time processing logs
- For drying (curing) natural method logs large diameter takes a year and a half, or even two years.
- The presentation of a chopped log is inferior to a rounded log
When assembling a log house from a hewn log, the gaps between the crowns are laid with moss or tow. Caulking and cutting corners. The finished log house shrinks throughout the year. A year later, you need to produce an additional caulk of seams with combed tow. Sometimes you have to caulk twice. When all the cracks are closed, the house keeps heat well.
Living in a wooden house is pleasant, because the tree natural material, he always pleases with his warmth
The smell of dry wood, walls that are pleasant to run your hand over, a garden that is beautiful at any time of the year ... Landscape designer and student of the "Details" school Elena Polevaya built wooden house from hewn logs price Kaluga region |
The layout is very simple: hall, living room-kitchen and bedroom with bathroom.
Lunch group. Furniture from "Inlavka" collection "Estate" and "Province".
The wooden house, according to her, is assembled quickly, but it did not work out quickly here: there was not enough money, so the construction was delayed for several years. It took about a year to design and build a log house, another year the house was on the shrinkage. The hostess worked on the interior for only two months.
Almost all the furniture was bought in Inlavka, it was on budget and was in stock. Elena didn't want to wait.
“For me, the most important thing is the atmosphere of this house,” says Elena. - The closer you get to it, the brighter the feeling that you find yourself in a magical place where time stops. It's like opening a grandmother's chest with things dear to the heart!”
The kitchen is combined with the living room and dining room.
The magical atmosphere is created not so much by things as by the walls: the house is built from a single log house, the diameter of the logs reaches thirty centimeters. The smell of dry wood, walls that are pleasant to run your hand over, a garden that is beautiful at any time of the year ... What else is needed for happiness?
The house was built easily, the only difficulty was the small area and limited budget. BUT great advantage- the height of the ceiling, in the ridge it reaches five meters. It gives air to the space and pushes the boundaries.
A house made of debarked logs looks like round logs, but has a number of significant differences. Such material is processed manually. The main advantage is processing technology. The bark is removed in a thin layer, allowing you to save a layer of resin that protects the tree in the future.
Turnkey barked log house: pros and cons
Undoubtedly, manual technology wood processing allows you to carefully preserve protective layer wood, maximizing the life of the structure. This approach allows you to make the cottage warm and durable. At the same time, reduce financial expenses for the construction of a house from barked logs.
First, we note the advantages of the material:
- Low thermal conductivity (almost half can reduce the cost of space heating).
- Phenomenal durability (the log house is highly resistant to aggressive environment).
- Environmentally friendly material.
- A special microclimate that is created in the cottage.
- In such housing there will always be Fresh air and there will be no humidity. This ability is provided due to the fact that the tree "breathes".
- No additional wall processing required.
- The amazing beauty of the log house, due to the unique pattern of logs.
Among weaknesses the following can be distinguished:
- The price of a house made of debarked logs is quite high, it will be cheaper to build from logs. This is due to the fact that the painstaking work of carpenters eats up a significant part of the costs.
- Over time, the color of the log house can change from light to dark. Don't be scared, it's natural process, which is on performance characteristics houses made of sanded logs are not reflected in any way.
- Like all wooden structures, they are subject to shrinkage. Proceed to finishing work need not earlier than a year and a half.
- Lack of craftsmen Today, finding truly professionals in their field is not an easy task. Therefore, the price of a turnkey barked log house is quite high.
In any case, you should not refuse such a noble material as a debarked log. Modern construction companies who are building log cabins, are able to offer the client not only projects of houses made of debarked logs, the prices are objectively justified, but also specialists who are able to skillfully master the skills of manual debarking and assembling a cottage.
Projects of houses from hewn logs
The construction material received particularly positive feedback from consumers. Like debarked houses, hewn log houses are made by hand, so the procedure for processing and laying a log house is far from the fastest process, but worth it.
Why is the material so popular? A cottage from such a forest is original, it is impossible to find an identical building. This feature brings such buildings closer to the traditions of Russian architecture.
Even though it is difficult to build such housing, however, hewn log in terms of its properties, the material is more durable and less susceptible to negative impact environment. Manual cutting increases the wear resistance of the material, due to the fact that during processing the protective layer of resin is not completely removed. And additional antiseptic impregnations able to further extend the life of the log house.
However, the prices for hewn log houses are quite high. But such an investment is worthwhile.
