At the moment, the construction market is full of various materials for the construction of a residential building. All funds are endowed with certain technical and qualitative characteristics. Despite such an abundance, a chopped log house is in great demand. They used to be built quite often. Only over time, wood simply lost its popularity, and it became an expensive material. Everything is different now.
Characteristics of a chopped log house
There are various projects of log houses. They differ in their functionality. Such buildings are endowed with excellent technical qualities. Firstly, the house will be warm, since wood is able to retain heat perfectly, this will guarantee a constant temperature regime. Secondly, in winter it will not be cold in the house, and in summer the long-awaited coolness will come. All this is due to the fact that the material easily passes air and thereby prevents dampness and moisture.
By the way, a log house is also called a log house.
Stories of log cabins
Since there are various projects of log houses, their number of storeys may differ. So the optimalonly one floor is considered an option for the construction of such a structure. In this case, the parameters of the house can be any. Although it all depends on the size of the material used.
It is not uncommon to build a building with two floors. These are more functional residential structures. You can build a log house with a mansard roof. This is already an economical option for a residential building.
Advantages of logs in construction and houses from it
Why is a log house so popular? Everything is due only to the technical and qualitative characteristics of the material. These include:
- strength;
- reliability;
- durability;
- practicality.
Moreover, the log house will not have a large mass, which makes it possible to save a little on the construction of the base for it. Indicators of strength and reliability are at a high level. The service life of the material reaches 150 years. But this is only if it is properly processed and prepared. The practicality lies in the fact that the log house does not require special decoration inside and out. He already has an attractive appearance.
Thanks to this, log houses have affordable prices (from 10,000 to 30,000 dollars), since there is no need to spend money on additional facing products. And this is saving the construction budget.
Moreover, wood is an environmentally friendly natural material that is unable to have harmful effects on human he alth. It is mined inclean regions and before the sale passes a quality test for radiation.
Disadvantages of log cabins
It is worth noting that a log house is endowed with not only positive characteristics, but also disadvantages. This is:
- not being able to withstand the effects of fire;
- low moisture resistance;
- prone to decay;
- long shrinkage period.
Moreover, in some cases it is rather problematic to build log houses. The prices for the material from most sellers are quite high. They range from $80-$450 per square meter. Although you can find the best options.
As mentioned above, moisture resistance and fire resistance are low. In order to increase these figures, it is necessary to carry out a number of preparatory work. They include treatment with special means in the form of soil solutions. It is necessary to take into account the following nuance: in order for the house to serve for a long time, it is necessary to regularly treat the surface of the wood with such means.
Quite often log cabins are varnished after construction to protect the structure of the material from various influences.
Stages of construction construction
To build a log house with your own hands, you need:
- draw up a building project;
- calculate the required amount of materials;
- make a foundation;
- choose log laying;
- carry out construction work andfinishing.
You can draw up a project at home yourself. Initially, the area on the site, which is allocated for the building, is determined. Then the dimensions are set. They depend on the parameters of the log. As a rule, in this case, the material length of 6 and 3 m is considered standard. Further, the space is correctly distributed and the required amount of funds for building a house is calculated.
Building the foundation
So, you need to make a quality foundation for the house. It may be in the case of the construction of a log house:
- monolithic;
- pile with top tie.
The first type is made of concrete mortar and reinforcing mesh. At the same time, sand and crushed stone are poured into the ditch, in some cases expanded clay. Then the formwork is made and the foundation is poured. The pile foundation is based on metal or wooden poles, which are concreted at a certain depth and tied with similar materials on the soil surface.
Already laying logs on the finished base.
Building walls at home
The most popular types of chopped log masonry are:
- "in the paw";
- "to the corner".
Technology is quite simple. It is worth considering that during the construction of walls, cracks or irregularities may appear on the surface of the material. They need to be of good quality. That is, to perform a caulk. To do this, use linen thread or dry algae. These funds are pushed into the distances between the logs. overthey can be applied with layers of putty.
The roof of the building is erected only after the house has shrunk a little. Especially if it is based on a metal frame, which will create additional loads on the base.
