The variety of modern building materials makes it possible to implement almost any architectural idea. Especially when it comes to the so-called combined houses, which have always been and remain in demand on the European housing market. It is this housing option that allows you to quickly and efficiently build your country house at relatively low financial costs.
Architectural style emerges
The style of combined houses is when two floors of different design are combined in one building. That is, the lower (or basement) floor is made of a more solid material, and the upper (or attic) floor is made of a lighter material, such as wood.
The ancient Olympic shepherds came to such a borderline and rational decision, who pastured their cattle on the slopes of the mountains and made their dwelling there. Stone for the device of a solid foundation and bookmarksthey had enough of the first residential floor, and the presence of coniferous forests on the slopes of the mountains made it possible to build on the first solid stone floor of the second - a wooden attic. Naturally, this superstructure was assigned to sleeping and other living quarters.
Fachwerk
The birthplace of combined houses is the European Alps and Scandinavia. Back in the fifteenth century, in the northern mountainous regions of Europe, peculiar dwellings of local shepherds and mountaineers, built of stone and wood, began to grow like mushrooms. They were well adapted to the harsh conditions of the mountains. Over time, in Austria and Germany, the construction of such houses took shape in a whole constructive style - half-timbered (from the German Fachwerk, where Fach is a section, panel, and Werk is a structure). A feature of this type of buildings was a solid wooden frame of a house with cells, which was filled with stone, brick or other material between the posts and braces.
In the Middle Ages, the cities of Central and Northern Europe were massively built up in the half-timbered way.
Chalet style
A little later, from the German Austrian fachwerk, the so-called French chalet building style was born (from the Latin medieval calittam, which translates as "shelter, shelter" or "shepherd's hut"). In such houses, it is the lower floor that is made of dense material, say, natural stone, and the upper one is made of a wooden frame and light aggregate between the timber.
This exquisite style originates in the ancient province of France, Savoy, on the border of the Frenchand Swiss lands in the Alps. It combined all the local traditions of half-timbered buildings.
Wonderful chalet-style houses are fundamentally distinguished by a wide, relatively sloping roof, which strongly receded with its canopy from the wall of the house and diverted rain streams further from the wooden walls. The roof itself held back large mountain snowfalls and thus naturally insulated the attic sleeping floors of the house. So, for example, in the Canadian French-speaking province of Quebec, any summer ranch or cottage is called a chalet.
Even later, in the 14th-17th centuries, we, on the Slavic land, developed our own similar style of building houses - a cube, when the first technical floors were brick, and the next ones were made of logs.
Constructive variants of combi-houses
The beauty of the design of combined houses is that the wood from which the second floor of the house is built remains durable due to being lifted from the ground through the stone ground floor. In addition, the building is well protected by a roof from rain and snow.
There are many options for combining structural materials in the construction of combined houses. Traditional or artificial stone with the laying of the first floor is replaced by brick, reinforced concrete structures, foam or gas blocks. Functionally, the first floor is reserved for the kitchen, boiler room, garage, as well as the living room, if it is planned to place a fireplace in it. Usually the first floor is connected with a spacious view terrace.
Stone and wood
Combined houses made of stone andwood is the basis of the chalet style. After all, such houses were built in a mountainous area and were temporary, and then a permanent haven for shepherds and their livestock. The uniqueness and convenience of the buildings lies in the fact that the shepherds had the building material under their feet, and there was as much coniferous forest on the slopes of the mountains as you like.
Many combined stone and wood houses were later used as farms for the summer season. Shepherds lived in them and prepared cheese, milk, butter. With the onset of winter, everyone descended from the mountains to more comfortable valleys, and the houses were waiting for the inhabitants until the new summer season.
The Alpine mountains are a harsh land. The complex mountainous terrain dictates its own conditions, so the foundation of the chalet has always been built from natural stone. It was resistant to landslides, storms and rain. From above, a powerful half-timbered frame was built, the cells of which were filled with various materials. Frame bars under the influence of heat, moisture and cold eventually darkened to black. This brought its severity to the image of the house. And in combination with a stone plinth and a massive sloping roof, such a building looked very reliable, strong and even beautiful.
Modern chalets made of stone and wood, in fact, have not changed at all in comparison with their historical predecessors. Only along with natural materials, artificial finishing materials appeared, working both under the nature of stone and under the shape of a wooden beam.
Modern technology is taking over. But the principle: the bottom is a stone, and the top is a tree -remains fundamental in the development of projects combined houses.
Foam blocks and wood
Over time, the chalet has changed. The top remained unchanged in it, which was built from coniferous species (pine, larch), but the lower, basement floor, with the advent of new building materials that could replace natural stone, was constantly improved.
One of these options in the modern construction of private chalet houses are combined houses made of foam blocks and wood. Such buildings are quite practical, because they create comfort and significantly save money. The use of foam blocks for the construction of the first floor of the house allows it to breathe. In turn, the weight of foam blocks, like wood, is small, so the load on the ground is minimal. This will give additional cost savings when constructing the foundation of the house. At the same time, the walls of foam blocks are quickly erected, because the foam blocks themselves usually have a size of 20 x 30 x 60 cm. The finishing of such walls is just as convenient and fast.
Brick and wood
In the modern housing market, combined brick and timber houses are becoming popular. The basement and basement are usually made of concrete, but the first floor is laid out of brick, often from the front. It makes the buildings very refreshing.
The second floor, made in timber, gives the house solidity and warmth. The elegance of the bricks and the brutality of the logs, plus the sophistication of the design, combine to make a perfect example of a modern chalet.
Aerated concrete and wood
Aerated concrete, however, has a rival for construction. Increasingly, combined houses of aerated concrete and wood are now being built. Aerated concrete is practically no different from its predecessor, except for the technology of preparation. Foam concrete is produced as a result of a chemical reaction of foaming a special substance, and aerated concrete is produced on the basis of specially prepared foam. Various special additives allow you to change the parameters of these materials. The already pre-hardened mass is cut with a saw into foam or gas blocks. At the same time, the gas block is more technologically advanced in processing and is inferior in weight to its rival foam block. It is lighter than brick.
Due to the fact that the gas block has sufficient strength and frost resistance, it is profitable and convenient to use it for building the foundation and the first floor of a combined house. The advantages of aerated concrete are undeniable.
How combi houses are built
Any object planned for construction requires design and detailed technological, technical and other study. And then attention is focused on two areas: the construction of a basement with the first floor and separate work with wood on the second floor. An experienced construction team always knows how to separate these processes and how to build a combined house, as they are well aware of all its pros and cons.
Advantages of combined buildings
The generally accepted advantages of combined buildings over classic ones are that they are designed specifically forbuildings on a difficult mountainous terrain, when the foundation and the first floor should simply merge with the landscape and be strong, competently planted on the ground. Otherwise, the structure will certainly be demolished by mountain streams, snow avalanches or rain showers.
The top of the combi-house should be as light as possible so as not to create an unnecessary load on the foundation. Otherwise, a house in a mountainous area simply, according to the laws of physics, will sit down under its own weight and slide down, since it will be difficult for it to stay on a steep mountainside. That is why the combined style arose on the alpine slopes. And the combined houses transferred to the plain are already exotic, functional and economical, nothing more.
Which house to choose?
The eternal question: which is better - classic private residential buildings or combined houses? The pros and cons of both are known. Still, combi-houses have a number of advantages. The main ones are durability, manufacturability and economy, plus the originality of the image.
Each combined structure has its own unique character.
The wooden top of the chalet house is separated from the ground by a stone, brick or foam block first floor. This increases the durability of the structure. The roof of the chalet house is set aside at a great distance from the wall of the house, which prevents precipitation from falling on the wooden structures of the second floor. The interiors of the chalets are traditionally simple and functional, while the union of wood and stone creates a unique rustic coziness and a sense of complete security.
