My construction site: "People asked if I would die behind glass and how to walk in shorts in such a house?" Cottage glazing. How to create a private glass house Construction of houses from glass and concrete

Have you ever seen glass House? If yes, then you are unlikely to forget this impressive sight, if not, then it would be nice to take a look at one of these buildings in order to gain positive emotions. Glass houses, photo which are presented on the Internet, really amaze with the magnificence of their facades, the variety of forms and architectural solutions, and their unusualness.

It may seem to some that glass country house not very convenient for living due to its transparency and the apparent fragility of glass, however, those who have the chance to live in such an architectural miracle have a completely different opinion and dream of building the same house for themselves. And how light it is!

Design features

Glass house projects rarely provide for the manufacture of all its elements of glass, but individual parts - very often. Glass walls not only look unusual, but also provide maximum penetration of light from the street. The same is difficult to say about traditional windows. Living in such a house, you can admire the surrounding nature and even the clouds if you order a glass roof. The rooms themselves will appear visually more spacious.

In addition to glass, such material as glued laminated timber is involved in the process. It is used for the construction of a load-bearing power frame, which provides almost unlimited possibilities for planning, not only in an individual, but also in a standard project. Depending on the wishes of the customer, the partitions inside the house can be either deaf or glass. Mineral wool is used as insulation in glass houses.

In order to ensure high strength and thermal insulation of the walls, triple glazing with chambers filled with argon is used. This approach provides thermal conductivity indicators similar to those of brick walls with a thickness of more than 80 cm.

Gallery of completed objects

Advantages of glass houses

The first thing that all residents of houses built of glass note is their incredible elegance and amazing impressions from the combination of glass and wood. Such houses are truly masterpieces and are not like others.

Another advantage of glass houses is their maximum energy efficiency and the use of all energy sources, including passive solar energy. That is why, when designing, the most dimensional translucent structures are placed in the south and west, where they can fully capture sunlight. At the same time, the dimensions of the structures on the north side are somewhat smaller! This approach can significantly reduce heating costs.

The half-timbered technology used in the design and construction of glass houses eliminates restrictions in the planning of living space and the location of premises. Being a supporting structure, it allows you to easily and easily carry out redevelopment and improve the house in the future if the need arises.

Strength, reliability, durability, attractiveness, originality, perfection of forms, maximum convenience and comfort - all these designations are applicable to glass houses!

“All the locals think that I am freezing behind glass walls, but I am warm,” says Vadim, the owner of an unusual house. He “invented” it and built it himself: without technical education and building skills. It turned out like in the pictures of glossy magazines - colorful, spacious, light. The most modern engineering solutions were used in the house, while the owner managed to save a lot of money (6 thousand euros on glass systems alone).

Atypical project

Vadim says that when creating the project, he already had an idea of what he wanted, so he drew the house in detail on his own. I borrowed glazing systems from a magazine and “implanted” it into the project (further the story will go in the first person).

- When they ask me: how did you master it all, built it, created it, how did you come up with it, I answer that this is the material realization of my inner world. I am the same as this house: voluminous, spacious, roomy, with character and modern style, light and comfortable. And at the same time budgetary and fisted, like all Belarusians.

According to this project, they built

Designer Daria Lapitskaya helped me in the design. I coordinated all decisions and ideas with her, asked her for comments on every issue related to aesthetics and design. The project itself, do not believe it, was drawn on A4 sheet. Already when the house had to be put into operation, an architectural project was needed. It was made in the architecture of the city already according to the finished building.

house layout

Foundation

The house was built in the Kobrin district, in the village, on 22 acres. The geometry of the plot is quite convenient: 53 × 40 meters, the horizon level difference is 45 cm. The project of the house was “planted” on a plot oriented to the cardinal points.

The trenches were dug with a chain tractor, then the dimensional accuracy was corrected with shovels. I was lucky with the materials for the foundation: I had at my disposal supporting concrete columns measuring 50 * 50 cm with a huge margin of safety (they used to hold a concrete roof in one of the productions). I saved a lot on concrete, but I had to bear the cost of loading, unloading, laying columns and their delivery. The rest of the trench was filled with concrete from a mixer. For greater savings, I bought several concrete breaking machines (instead of rubble stone), also from industrial production. As a result, the savings on concrete turned out to be very decent.

The part above the ground at 60 cm was laid out with demolition blocks, moreover, in a double wall: on the outside, a brown facing block 10 cm thick, then an air cushion 5 cm and a standard block 20 cm thick.

Looking ahead, I would like to note that I really wanted to build a foundation using German technologies, with insulation, waterproofing, but at that time it was prohibitively expensive and laborious, and this design of the above-ground part of the foundation made it possible to avoid “cold bridges” in the area where the walls meet the floors and significantly make the project cheaper. The foundation was covered with white sand and compacted, with water shrinkage. Before the walls were erected, the foundation was given time to “ripen” for a whole year.

Foundation Tips: It may sound trite, but it must be reinforced (I know that some builders do not do this). On my own behalf, I would recommend that before pouring the foundation into the trench, lay a small gravel cushion, 5 cm thick, and compact it. In the case of construction without a project of engineering systems, provide plugs in the foundation for openings for the introduction of communications. When buying demler blocks, be careful when choosing a manufacturer, since I almost bought blocks from one private trader, instead of cement, in which there was one dye, and they crumbled right in my hands.

Old log house or expensive blocks?

According to the material for the walls, there was a choice between gas silicate blocks and a wooden beam from an old village house (realt.tut.by just has this topic, and I fully support and share the author’s conclusions). The fact is that at that time (2010 - the time of the construction of walls) gas silicate was for some reason extremely expensive, so I was looking for a solution how to save money. But there was a "planned collapse" of the ruble, and the blocks became more accessible. As a result, I bought the GSB of the Berezovsky plant, 60 * 30 * 30 in size, considering the thickness of 30 cm to be quite sufficient for our latitude with a future prospect of insulation. The blocks came in perfect quality, so laying was easy and simple. My friend laid the blocks, at prices below market prices at that time, I was his assistant. I had to take a direct part in the construction for several reasons. I immediately planned to fill in a warm (hidden) armored belt along the perimeter of the walls, and U-blocks were not on sale at that time. Therefore, I cut them myself from building blocks with a drill with a long drill and a grinder. Except for me, none of the hired helpers tested succeeded in this operation.

Mauerlat relies on a "warm" monolithic belt

In the end, I saved on a helper, on U-blocks, and at the same time checked the quality of my friend's work when laying. Yes, the presence of the customer on site allows you to improve the quality of work performed and avoid irreparable mistakes of builders, especially if the project is complex.

Geometry lessons

If we somehow coped with the walls, then the roof was my headache. It is 8-pitched, hip, combined with two reverse slopes, a second light. I'll be honest: the drawing (if it can be called a drawing) on an A4 sheet was drawn by one village guy, with 8 classes behind him. He just turned out to be a talented person in this area.

However, none of the professional builders wanted to take on the roof according to this drawing, even for a lot of money. As a result, the guys from the village assembled the roof.

The truss system is assembled from pine lumber. Only in one place (above the dining room, in the reverse slope zone) was an I-beam laid for additional structural rigidity. It is located on the edges of the walls in the dining room, and in order not to suddenly destroy the edges of the walls under pressure, the corresponding unloading heels were filled in gas silicate.

OSB waste

The village roofers turned out to be talented guys. And they took payment from me at that moment absolutely at market prices, without a “surcharge” for complexity and level of responsibility. The material was cut so competently that out of 240 m² of OSB, only a few strips and small pieces remained, in a total area not exceeding 2 square meters (!!!). After work, I myself came to their aid as an assistant and spotter. Designer Daria also approved the design in terms of proportions and geometry.

The release of the roof on the walls is 95 cm, which was outlandish at that time, but now they do it everywhere. I recommend that everyone under construction use wide roof overlaps, but do not lose sight of the proportions of the entire roof and building. This allows the walls and foundation to remain dry. It is noted that even with oblique rain, the facade is only partially moistened.

For such a complex roof of all roofing materials with minimal waste and reliability, it could only be, therefore, I bought TechnoNIKOL tiles, the Jazz collection. She lay on the OSB-slab in accordance with all the rules: with a lining carpet, lubrication of starts, vapor films from the inside, installation of aerators and other nuances. Additional elements are made of brown matte tin, so as not to give glare in the sun.

The gutter system Hanter was installed immediately. Water discharge is provided by five risers with a direct outlet to the local storm-drainage system. The filing of the roof overhangs is realized with a Brest-made soffit "Vox". The soffit is fixed on rails 5*5 cm. Later, this allowed me to relatively easily and painlessly implement stylish lighting of the terraces, a welcome light in the parking lot and on the porch of the house.

“I thought I would give up glass structures”

All windows and doors are made of a five-chamber profile, with “dark oak” external lamination and “Roto” fittings. From the inside, the profile was left white. Double-glazed windows are two-chamber, on an 8 mm frame, with low-emission glass. In two children's and one bathroom windows of standard sizes - 150*150cm. In the master bedroom, instead of a window, a double-leaf, hinged glass door was installed, with symmetrical wings, 155 × 240 cm in size. Two identical windows 95 × 145 cm in size were installed in the second bathroom and kitchen.

The entrance door is also glass, hinged, 150x220cm. It is asymmetrical in the width of the wings: the entrance leaf is 80 cm wide, the second auxiliary leaf is 63 cm.

The hinged design of the doors allows you to easily bring any furniture into the house. At the same time, such a door is an element of a barrier-free environment - a person in a wheelchair can easily enter the house.

The glass system in the dining room is two stained-glass windows three meters high, set at an angle of 90 degrees.

When it came to installing a transparent wall glass system, roofing didn't seem so complicated anymore. It was necessary to solve the problem of how to close the opening of a large bay window with glass: the height on the larger side is 512 cm, on the smaller side 350 cm. The width is 390 cm. This glass wall hung like a sword of Damocles over my head for almost a year. I was afraid to implement it using a PVC profile - a large area, a huge sailing load during the wind, the “breathing” of the structure when opening and closing doors.

It was decided to assemble it from an aluminum system. I turned to a well-known Minsk company that had experience working with such material. Send me the dimensions of the opening. But when I received an answer, I was very upset - the price was “atomic”. I called my designer, who oversaw the project, and explained that there was a miscalculation in the project, in particular, the glass system of a large bay window was financially unsustainable ... On the same day, I decided to lay the wall with gas silicate blocks and insert windows three times smaller in size.

The designer, on the other hand, showed technical and professional audacity: he answered my proposal to lay the opening by two-thirds with a categorical refusal. Daria did not accept my attempt to divide the structure into two parts, placing a concrete jumper in the middle. The verdict was as follows: the structure should be from floor to ceiling, without crossbars and lintels, light and floating, fragmented into no more than 8 parts. And she proposed a new solution: we install a frame made of metal, durable, 100 by 50 mm, with a wall of at least 5 mm, we buy only overhead elements of the glazing system, I do the installation myself, I order double-glazed windows to the desired dimensions. And so it was done. From the pipes he welded the frame and painted it. The glazing system was implemented on an aluminum profile with a thermal break AGS 500, bought in Minsk. I assembled and installed it myself. To further limit heat loss and prevent sintering and galvanization of metals between themselves, I laid a paronite strip between iron and aluminum, thereby creating another thermal break.

But I had to tinker with double-glazed windows - none of the companies wanted to take on double-glazed windows with a height of 2500 mm - most manufacturers then did not have the technical capability. And no one wanted to mess around with such bulky packages manually.

The director of the company "Steklolit" helped out, who, under his own responsibility, agreed to make such packages. Now it's normal, but then it was a curiosity. Double-glazed windows are made on the 16th frame, two-chamber with low-emission glass. Made specifically on Friday evening, so as not to stop the production process in the cutting room. On Saturday everything was ready. Installation of double-glazed windows also carried out on their own.

Here they took up the lamination of aluminum decorative overlays of the glass system in the color of "dark oak" - no one else wanted to do this. The lamination engineer gave his word that the coating would not “peel off” under any circumstances. Restrained. As a result, the frames of all glass systems, windows and doors are of the same color.

Due to the fact that steel posts were used rather than aluminum, the aluminum profile system was purchased directly from the importer and not from the dealer, the double-glazed windows were purchased without space surcharges for complexity, and I did all the assembly and installation work myself, I saved about 6000 euros . This is the most significant savings in all the construction of my house.

I am grateful to designer Daria for her support and ideas, for adapting the project to Belarusian realities, for her professional audacity. It was very difficult to decide on the implementation of all these ideas. It was hard to be an innovator: the year was 2008, double-slate houses were peacefully built around, lined with white silicate brick, arched openings were arranged in the corridors, and here - a glass facade. Fellow villagers, acquaintances, passers-by opened their mouths, wondered if I would die there and how to walk in shorts in such a house? But I wanted to be like there, in the West, like in the pictures of glossy magazines - colorful, spacious, light.

Hide

The idea to use glass in the construction of residential buildings became popular at the beginning of the last century. Over several decades, architects and builders have developed a lot of technologies that involve the use of glass walls in home improvement.

House with a glass wall - its features

glass wall

The secret of the popularity of glass walls is that the design of a house with a glass wall looks more prestigious than an ordinary stone or wooden structure. The properties of the so-called glass houses are obvious:

1. Internal glass walls provide the necessary level of illumination. Thanks to the glass outer wall - as well as the inner one, you can significantly save on electricity. If conventional or movable glass walls are used in the construction of a dwelling, then about 10% of the energy used to provide light and heat in the house can be saved.

glass wall

2. Glass walls do not create any obstacles for viewing the surrounding landscape around the house, which is convenient when looking after children playing in the outdoor playground. 3. Environmentally friendly, because natural materials are used. 4. Glass walls are ideal for people who constantly suffer from allergies. 5. Thanks to the glass in the room, it is easier to maintain a constant required temperature throughout the year.

Smart glass glazing

6. There are different types of glasses. For example, you can install a wall with glass inserts, or purchase glass with built-in solar panels or a self-cleaning system (). 7. Long service life - 70 years. 8. Excellent sound insulation and excellent protection against moisture and wind, as well as dust, poplar fluff, plant pollen and other allergens. 9. External attractive appearance with a solid choice of textures and light transmission. If desired, you can stick an art film on a glass wall or apply a graphic drawing, and of any complexity.

Or if you don't want outsiders to see you at the wrong time, then use stalinite. This is the so-called. tempered glass with a frosted finish and 5 times stronger than plain glass.

Projects of houses with glass walls

House of glass and concrete

Most people think that a residential building made of glass and concrete is something uninteresting and ugly. In fact, with the help of these materials, structures are obtained that stand out significantly from the total mass. In addition, it is concrete that allows the structure to stand for many years, and glass provides good lighting for the premises.

For building a house, you can use glass blocks, the so-called. glass cubes for walls. They also have light transmission. And besides, high sound insulation and durability both to mechanical influences, and to influence of fire.

How to fold a wall of glass blocks yourself? Read about it in the instructions.
The glass entrance group is not the whole house, but a very significant part of it. Read more on our website
One of the technologies for creating glass walls is frameless glazing.

Glass house in scandinavian style

Now the most popular designs of houses with glass walls in the Scandinavian style. Such houses are not only magnificent, but also harmoniously fit into the natural environment. And as a result, we observe a single composition of the house and garden.

In addition, the combination of wood and glass is quite unusual and original. If you want a strikingly different from your neighbors, then this is undoubtedly your option.

When choosing a color scheme for home decor, give preference to light colors, diluted with beige and gray. This color palette will contribute to a great rest after a hard working day.

If you want the roof of your house to “float in the air”, then install external glass walls.

Glass walls of the house - price

glass house

You can also order them low. The cost of one standard glass cube is an average of 110-310 rubles.

House with glass walls - photo

At the end of our review, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the photo gallery

Glass walls: inside view Glass walls of a rustic house Glass walls in the kitchen

Increasingly, young families prefer building their own home rather than buying a ready-made one. The trend here is obvious: the new building makes it possible to plan your dream home and build it according to your own needs, besides, in this case, the opportunity to buy a "pig in a poke" is excluded. In recent years, in particular, glass frame houses have been popular.

The main advantages of glass houses

Of course, the very first thing is the external showiness of the glass facade. A house made of glass is a luxury, when compared with a car, it is like a Mercedes or a Ferrari.
It is also very comfortable to be inside such a house, especially if there is a marvelous landscape outside the window. Here the feeling of unity with nature and the outside world, a sense of harmony and peace does not leave.
Energy Efficient – By increasing the area that transmits light, the need for artificial lighting is significantly reduced.

Watch the video "Glass house: the nuances of construction"

Disadvantages of glass buildings

The high cost of construction - modern high-tech materials are used in construction, plus wages are an order of magnitude higher in comparison with the construction of an ordinary house.
Not every construction team can handle the construction of a glass house, so it may be difficult to choose specialists.

Difficulty in care - not everyone can handle cleaning a large glass surface and, most likely, you will have to resort to the services of cleaning services.
The likelihood of condensation in the winter.

glass house frame material

The material for constructing the supporting frame of such a house can be:

wood;
steel;
aluminum;
plastic.

House of glass and steel - exterior and interior

Consider a great example of a house made of glass and steel, which is located on the top of a hill, from the south side of the house there is a view of the endless sea, from the north side a wonderful forest is visible. The comfortable interior maintains a balance between modern and rustic.

Read also: Brick cladding of aerated concrete houses: features and methods of cladding

Natural materials were used in the interior decoration of the glass house - furniture, floors and paneling are made of wood. The design of the rooms is ascetic, but everything looks very stylish - the decoration is almost completely eliminated, a neutral color palette is used.

The idea of using glass in the construction of residential buildings originated at the beginning of the last century, gradually gaining very wide popularity. For several decades, engineers and builders have developed many different technologies that allow the implementation of almost any design solution that involves the use of translucent materials in construction.

Modern two-story glass house

If the owners of shopping centers, offices and banks, when choosing a house with glass facades, are guided, first of all, by the prestige of such buildings, then the owners of private houses and apartments pay attention to a number of some other characteristics. For example, in a residential area there must be the required amount of sunlight, since its lack can cause headaches, fatigue, bad mood, depression, etc. in residents. Translucent facades not only provide the necessary level of illumination, but also allow you to significantly save on electricity, which is spent on artificial light in the premises. It is also worth noting that such walls do not create any obstacles for viewing the landscape surrounding the house (due to which you can always keep an eye on children walking in the yard without any inconvenience).

Many people think that houses made of concrete and glass are something boring and uninteresting, but in reality these materials allow you to create structures that stand out from the crowd. Concrete provides excellent stability of the building structure, and glass provides high-quality insolation of the premises.

The simplest projects of economical country houses made of glass and concrete

Concrete, which today is produced using all kinds of special additives, is of high quality, which can significantly expand its scope. Currently, more than 1000 types of this material have been developed, among which you can easily choose the most optimal option for yourself. The most widespread is cellular concrete, which has a porous structure. The volume of these pores directly affects the technical characteristics of the material. Another equally popular material is rustic concrete, which perfectly mimics some types of natural materials. Now you can even find a type of concrete that can absorb various harmful substances from the air, which is especially important for people who care about their health.

Modern glass also has a lot of advantages. For example, it easily allows you to maintain the required temperature in the room throughout the year. In addition, on sale you can find glasses with built-in solar panels or a self-cleaning system.

The original project of a house made of glass and concrete (USA)

Another, no less popular material is glass blocks, which have high sound absorption, light transmission and strength. The construction of glass blocks is not afraid of the effects of fire, so the fire safety of the building fully meets all the necessary standards.

Advantages of a house with a glass facade

High quality room lighting. The use of glass in the design of the facade of the building allows you to increase the level of insolation so much that the use of artificial light can be reduced to a complete minimum.
Energy efficiency. According to experts, due to the use of glass in the construction of housing, it becomes possible to save about 7-10% of the energy that is spent on providing heat and light in the house.
Naturalness. The main difference between glass and many other materials is that it is environmentally friendly, so you can not be afraid for your health or the health of loved ones.
Attractive appearance. Beautiful window tinting at home will be the key to a stylish, unusual and chic look of your home.

The range of products on the market for glazing services is simply amazing in its diversity. To date, there are many different technologies: structural and semi-structural, post-transom, dople facades, spider and planar glazing. This or that option, together with a number of other factors (brand name, work of specialists, quality of products used, complexity of architectural forms, etc.) directly affect the cost of the finished glazed facade. In addition to the above factors, the pricing is influenced by the following components: the shape of the double-glazed windows, the aluminum system, the size of the post-transom mesh, the number and type of openings (tilt-and-tilt, bottom and top-hung, hinged and sliding).

houses with glass doors

Glass, which is used in the design of doors in the room, has good strength and resistance to mechanical stress (in such cases, heat-resistant and hardened material is used). Entrance glass doors of the house with a thickness of 3 centimeters can withstand even a blow with a sledgehammer. Therefore, when choosing an entrance door, it is always necessary first of all to pay attention to the frame itself, which can withstand such a strong structure. In the manufacture of budget options, as a rule, aluminum is used, more expensive ones - steel, more original ones - wood.

Wooden house with glass walls

Currently, Scandinavian-style glass house projects are becoming more and more popular. The most pleasant feature of such structures is that they fit into the surrounding landscape very beautifully and naturally, due to which a single composition is achieved between the dwelling and the garden.

A house made of wood and glass requires a very careful study of the interior and a competent selection of each piece of furniture (ideally, it should be in harmony with the glass, not standing out too much from the general background). The combination of glass and wood can rightfully be considered very original and unusual, which not every person will decide on. The ideal color scheme for the layout of such a house will be light colors, diluted with gray and beige. Such colors will contribute to good rest and relaxation after a hard day's work. In most cases, not external walls are made of glass, but internal ones, but if you want to create the illusion of a roof floating in the air, it is recommended to give preference to external glass walls. Such houses, quite suitable for permanent residence (and not just seasonal), are wonderfully combined with the surrounding nature.