A house made of logs just right. Assembling a log house from rounded logs with your own hands: detailed video

In this article we will look at how to make a house from a log with your own hands, which will not be inferior in beauty and functionality to a structure made by specialists.

Modern technologies

If you have a question about how to build a house from a log, we recommend reading this material. The most popular thing is to build a house from rounded logs. There is an explanation for this:

  1. This type of building material undergoes preliminary mechanical processing, due to which each trunk has the same size.
  2. The length of the logs is adjusted according to the customer’s project, and with the help of laser equipment a connection is made on each trunk with great precision. Thanks to this, there is practically no manual adjustment, and the frame is assembled as if from parts of a construction set.

Where to begin?

Of course, from the project. There is some limitation to the flight of fancy for creating own project The size of the logs can be used - they have a certain length. Therefore, you first need to inquire about what is sold in your area, since standard length logs - 6 m, and the maximum can reach 13 m, but this is only possible if you purchase Siberian larch.

However, if your knowledge of design is superficial, then it is better not to experiment, as mistakes can be very costly, to the point that the house may become uninhabitable. What to do?

There are many ready-made projects on the vast expanses of the Internet - some can be downloaded for free, others are sold. The second option is more reliable, since everything is calculated down to the smallest detail by specialists. Whatever route you take, before you build a log house, you need to have a clear idea of ​​the size of the house and the number of floors. This will help you decide what kind of foundation you need.

Choosing a foundation

From how much solid foundation will have a house built from logs, the period it will last depends. An undoubted advantage wooden house is its light weight, due to which there is no need to make an overly powerful foundation. Its structure may be different, but the foundation must be built in accordance with all standards of strength and reliability. Let's consider several options suitable for this purpose:

  • Shallow strip foundation.
  • Columnar foundation.
  • Pile foundation.
  • Slab foundation.

The most common is strip foundation. This is followed by columnar and pile, but in cases where the soil is too loose and wet, then the last option remains - the device slab foundation. This costs more, but even if a log house “floats”, it will only be with the slab. In any case, before deciding what kind of foundation to make, you need to “get to know” the soil.

After completing the work, carefully check the levelness of the base surface using a hydraulic level. If the difference is more than 1 cm, then it must be leveled cement mortar or waterproofing.

Material selection

Even a child will answer the question about which tree is the most resinous - well, who doesn’t remember how hard it is to wash your hands after you grab the trunk. Someone may have less pleasant, but vivid memories of resin - sitting on a bench, from the boards of which this liquid was released, sticking to everything it came into contact with. Undoubtedly the most resinous are tree logs. coniferous species.

Due to the fact that this wood contains a lot of resin, it is less susceptible to rotting. In addition, the trunks coniferous trees straight, and this is one of the most important factors to build a wooden house, so, given the low cost of this material, we will choose it.

If you wish and have the funds, you can purchase larch beams, which have a very beautiful texture, they are strong and durable, but very expensive.

Stages of work

For any house, and especially for a wooden one, you need to be well insulated construction material from moisture. First of all, the concrete is coated with molten bitumen. Before laying the first crown, lay at least 2 layers of waterproofing on the foundation (in addition, you can install it once with “glass insulation”). Then there is a laying board, and on top there is another layer of waterproofing, which must be laid in such a way that all layers extend 25 cm beyond the edge of the foundation on all sides.

The timber must be prepared in advance, even when unloading the timber onto the site. You need as even logs as possible, with minimum quantity knots and without blue. The forest is selected based on its annual rings - the one with the most rings is the densest. Please note that this is central part tree. This can be determined by the location of the center point on the cut of the log.

Be sure to coat the selected wood several times with liquid bitumen mastic(this composition is achieved by mixing with waste machine oil), leaving the ends untouched, as moisture will escape through them. This will help to saturate the timber as much as possible, thereby significantly increasing the service life of the crown before it is replaced.

If the log is slightly curved, then it should be laid with its straight edge down. Secure the beams with metal dowels, which need to be driven to a depth of 3 cm.

Next, the house is assembled from blanks, which is not particularly difficult. While maintaining the sequence of laying, the logs must be laid on top of each other, but before laying the next logs, attach tape insulation made of jute, hemp or tow to the longitudinal groove.

It is important to securely fasten the beam near window openings and doors. This is done using a dowel - a wooden stake that connects 2-3 logs. Before securing the log, check its position relative to the wall. Secure it with nails by driving them into the sides.

This will prevent the log from moving when drilling it with a hammer drill with long drill, the diameter of which should be 5 mm less than the dowel used. That is, if the drill is Ø 20 mm, then the dowel should be Ø 25 mm. Tightly driven dowels firmly hold the logs together, making the frame strong.

Video

This video talks about building a house from logs.

When wondering what kind of house I would like to live in, for some reason I remember a tower from children's fairy tales. Why not? A wooden house has an excellent internal climate: warm in winter and cool in summer, always dry, even in very humid areas, the wonderful rich aroma of wood creates not just comfort, but also a wonderful atmosphere for life and creativity. In your search for the ideal home, you inevitably come to the realization that no one has come up with anything better than log houses. They are beautiful, practical, do not require finishing, retain heat perfectly and are absolutely environmentally friendly, if not even healing. Construction log house- a very responsible and labor-intensive task, although our ancestors overwhelmingly built such houses on their own, everyone knew the technology that was passed on from generation to generation, but today the thread of knowledge has been broken. There are very few good architects left, but industrial methods of construction have appeared wooden houses. Of course, you can choose turnkey log houses, but within the framework of this article we will consider options for how to build log house with your own hands.

Rounded or planed (chopped) log - which is better?

In total, two types of buildings are called log houses: the first is made of chopped logs, i.e. planed by hand, it is also called “wild log house”, the second is made from logs rounded on a special machine. Let's figure out which option is better.

Until the beginning of the twentieth century, all log houses were exclusively "wild log house". What does this mean? All the logs were processed by hand, carefully removed from a freshly cut tree upper layer- bark, while trying to keep the bast layer intact, which protects the deeper layers of wood from moisture from the outside. This provided amazing resistance to fungi and mold. Obviously, the sawn log tapers from the lower end, which is closer to the root, to the upper end, which is closest to the top. Even after processing, this difference in diameter remains; the closer to the top, the thinner the log. Enough tall tree can be cut into 3 logs: the thickest one, the end of which is located near the rhizome, is called the butt, the middle one is called the druga, and the top one is the third or top. The butt was always used for construction, as it is the most durable, thickest and has a smaller change in diameter. To compensate for the difference in thickness, when constructing a log house, the butt and top were always alternated. In one crown, the butt “looks” in one direction, and in the next, in the opposite direction. Selecting hand-cut logs is not an easy task, because it is necessary to create an even, durable structure from logs of different diameters.

The technology for building log houses has remained virtually unchanged to this day. Everyone also builds houses from different-sized logs, trying to fit them as perfectly as possible. Moreover, such houses are considered luxury housing, and the services for their construction are much more expensive than houses made of timber or even rounded logs. This is dictated by the complexity, duration and labor intensity of the work. After construction, a log house made from chopped logs must stand for at least 1 - 1.5 years, during which time the wood will shrink by about 5 - 7%. Only after this can you start decorating the house: installing doors, windows, installing communications, etc. In general, in addition to the colossal work of preparing and individually fitting the logs, a lot of waiting time will be required.

Thanks to modern technologies, all inconveniences using planed logs can be avoided. On special machines in industrial conditions, logs are processed to a perfectly cylindrical shape, and a groove is cut into them for further fastening into crowns. All dimensions are adjusted to the millimeter. This greatly simplifies the work when constructing a log house; it simply resembles assembling a construction kit according to instructions and drawings.

Very light and comfortable material for construction, but he lost all the advantages of planed logs in production. The fact is that during the production process, not only the bark is removed from the log, but also all the upper layers, including the sapwood, leaving only mature and heartwood, which is not protected in any way from external factors. Therefore, when used, a rounded log is treated with special antiseptics and other antifungal and anti-rot impregnations, as well as agents that prevent insect damage. The result is: comfortable, beautiful, very smooth and less durable and environmentally friendly. In addition, the maximum diameter of such a log is less than 300 mm, while a chopped log can be of any diameter.

For ready-made log houses, the price depends precisely on what kind of log was used: chopped or rounded. Log houses are more expensive. And although many say that they look less aesthetically pleasing, in fact this is not so: from hand-planed logs you can create a masterpiece according to your personal taste. individual order, which will not be like any other house in the world. At the same time, the walls look primitive and unusual. It is much easier to build a house from rounded logs, especially on your own, since the human factor is almost completely eliminated.

Log houses: projects, technologies, cost

Any construction begins with the creation of a project, and the construction of a log house is no exception. You can take a ready-made project, or you can make it individual by ordering it from a special bureau. You shouldn’t first pour the foundation and then think about what kind of house you would like to build, because it will be quite difficult to adjust it to the dimensions of a ready-made foundation.

The cost of a log house depends on its number of storeys, material and complexity of the structure. Houses may have one floor, or two or three. The walls can be adjacent to each other at almost any angle, since the logs can be cut into a bowl of any shape. Those. a polygon-shaped wall is quite normal for a log house.

Today, log houses are built in two ways: logs are prepared directly on the construction site from chopped wood, or a house is assembled according to a drawing from rounded logs pre-made and fitted at the factory.

In the first case, the forest is always natural humidity, i.e. After construction, the log house is caulked and left for a year and a half to shrink, and only then work continues. Installation of windows and doors is carried out using two technologies: the first is to immediately cut the logs to the required length, leaving space for a window or doorway, the second is based on first allowing the wood to dry evenly, shrink, and only then next year, cut out openings. The second option is preferable, as it ensures the strength and durability of the log house due to uniform shrinkage. But this is a waste of time. And the first option is faster, so it is used more often, although to the detriment of the log house itself.

Rounded logs are sold both at natural moisture content and dried in production. The designer always assumes that all the logs already have their final length, all that remains is to assemble it. Companies involved in the construction of houses from rounded logs extremely rarely agree to build from unprocessed logs; almost always the fitting and complete assembly of the house is carried out in production, then the log house is marked, disassembled and transported to the site where it is reassembled.

How much a log house costs depends not only on the type of log, but also on its diameter, as well as on the related work that the customer asks to perform. For example, the construction of only a log house from rounded logs will cost approximately 280 - 350 USD. for 1 m2, from chopped logs - 350 - 450 USD. for 1 m2. If you order in construction company arrangement of the foundation, carrying out communications, finishing the house, in general, everything, then count on 1000 USD. for 1 m2.

How to choose the right wood for a log house

Most often, the construction of log houses is made from coniferous wood: pine, spruce, larch, cedar, but you can also use aspen, oak, ash and other deciduous trees. Pine and spruce are the most affordable materials, so they prevail. It is necessary to purchase logs cut down in winter; such wood has ideal moisture resistance characteristics.

If you have the opportunity to choose, it is better to opt for northern coniferous wood, it is more resistant to negative impacts. A good option- pine from the Baltic coast and Canadian spruce. But prepared in middle lane wood is also not bad if all storage, drying and transportation conditions are met.

Important! Please note when choosing wood that grown in different climatic zones the forest will have absolutely different characteristics and density level, despite the same processing conditions.

It is better to buy wood from a proven and reliable harvester. The strength of the entire house depends on this. If you make a mistake with the wood, it's a waste of money. The diameter of the logs is selected depending on the design of the house and the severity winter cold. For example, if the temperature in winter does not drop below -20 °C, 200 mm of logs are enough, if up to -30 °C, then 220 mm of logs, and if up to -40 °C, then 240 - 260 mm. Of course, these calculations are purely advisory in nature. You can safely choose logs of greater thickness, up to 500 - 600 mm in diameter, or use 250 mm logs in a fairly warm climate, the tree compensates for temperature changes.

When you come to a sawmill or timber warehouse, pay attention to the following features:

  • The surface of the logs should be yellow or dark yellow.
  • The cut should be tight and even, without blue spots.
  • The core should occupy ¾ of the cut and have an even dark shade.
  • There should be no resin pockets.
  • It's better if there are no branches. But even if they are present, they should sit without gaps. If you see such a picture, it means the core is rotten.
  • When the ax hits the end of the log, there should be a ringing sound.
  • The maximum depth of a permissible crack in a log should be 1/3 of the cut.
  • The logs should not be twisted; in the construction of a house they can only be used for floorboards and rafters, having previously been cut into bars.

Feel free to reject logs with the above flaws. If you are buying a project house made of rounded logs, be sure to include a clause in the contract obliging you to replace substandard logs at the company’s expense upon the customer’s first request. Pay attention to the conditions in which the timber was stored, whether all requirements were met, or maybe after a couple of months mold will appear on the logs.

DIY log house

The easiest option for self-construction- house made of rounded logs. We will consider it further, since log house will still require not only the ability to hold a tool in your hands, but also decent experience working with wood.

First of all, we order a project or a house already finished project in a special company. After we have discussed all the issues, the factory produces full set logs for our house, as well as floor beams, joists and rafters. This is where the house is assembled for the first time to make sure that all the logs are cut correctly. The house is then dismantled.

Our participation begins with an inspection of the timber package. Then we must prepare a place on the building site for storing wood, equipping it with a canopy so that the wood does not get wet in the rain.

Foundation for a log house

Before building a log house, it is necessary to arrange the foundation on which it will stand. Since a wooden house is a relatively light structure, the foundation can be made shallow. Most often used pile-strip foundation, pile, slab and less often buried strip.

Let's consider a pile-strip foundation.

  • We mark the area, then remove the top fertile layer and set it aside for landscaping needs.
  • We excavate the soil to a depth of up to 30 cm across the width of the strip foundation.
  • Along the perimeter of the building, in increments of about 2 m, we drill wells with a diameter of up to 180 mm, to the depth of soil freezing, i.e. 150 cm.
  • We fill the wells with a layer of sand and crushed stone.
  • We weld the frame from the reinforcement and lower it into the well.
  • We fill the well with concrete, then tamp it with a vibrator.
  • Install wooden formwork for strip foundation. It should protrude no less than 50 - 60 cm above the ground level.
  • We weld the frame for the strip foundation and connect it to the reinforcement sticking out of the wells.
  • We fill the strip foundation with concrete, compact it and wait for it to harden.

After the foundation has completely dried, you can begin waterproofing it. This is especially important since our house is made of wood. We lay roofing material on the foundation in 3 - 4 layers and additionally coat it with mastic.

Construction of a log house from rounded logs: erection of walls

Please note, this is extremely important; the first crown - the mortgage - cannot be installed directly on the foundation. Although you may encounter such a design, be aware that it threatens that the mortgage crown will quickly become unusable.

So, to begin with, we lay the so-called “backing” linden board on the foundation. This can be a beam about 50 - 100 mm thick and at least 150 mm wide. Then we begin to assemble the log house:

Important! The lower mortgage rim must have an end cut off at the bottom with a width of at least 150 mm. This is necessary so that the house rests firmly on the plane of the end. If you suddenly notice that the crown logs have the same groove as all the others, contact the manufacturer and request a replacement.

  • The first two logs of the foundation crown are laid on opposite walls of the foundation parallel to each other, on a backing board. We carefully check their even position.

Important! All logs included in the set already have a factory-made groove for a longitudinal connection and a locking corner connection. Most often this is a moon groove and a “bowl” connection.

  • We lay insulation on the logs that we will lay on the remaining two sides. We fill the entire groove and recess of the bowl with caulking material. It could be moss, tow, hemp or jute. Most often, for caulking rounded logs, jute or linen tape insulation is used with a width corresponding to the width of the groove in the log. We spread the insulation so that at the edges it hangs 5 ​​- 6 cm on each side. We fasten it using a construction stapler.

Important! The recess must be completely filled with insulation. When the jute tape is spread, it covers the entire longitudinal groove, but in the bowl it only goes through the middle. Therefore, in the area of ​​the bowl it is necessary to insulate with two pieces.

  • We install two logs on the transverse sides of the foundation, resting them on the mortgage crown. The bowls should fit together neatly. We check that there is the required angle between the logs, for example, 90 °. We control the level of their horizontality. The insulation should hang from the log.

  • We install all other crowns according to the same scheme, assembling them like a construction set.
  • For greater strength, some technologies involve fastening the crowns together not only with the help of grooves and bowls, but also with dowels. This wooden slats made of denser wood. A hole is drilled in the logs to a depth of more than one log and a dowel is inserted into the hole.

  • The last two crowns are not secured. This is necessary for proper shrinkage.

Important! We must treat all logs with antiseptics, otherwise they will rot in the first winter.

Do not forget to constantly check the correct installation. Horizontal logs and strict verticality of the log house are required. The rounded log house includes holes for window and door frames. We carefully lay the short logs and secure them carefully.

Installation of a log house roof

Log walls cannot be left without a roof, so immediately after the walls are erected, we cover the frame. Rafters and floor beams are included in the kit. The rafters can be installed directly on the logs of the upper crown, or you can first lay the mauerlat (beam for the rafters).

If the project provides for a veranda, then we insert special shrinkage compensators, because horizontally laid logs will dry out and shrink, but vertical logs will not. So that the house does not warp, everything vertical logs must be equipped with compensators.

We connect the ridge logs using metal pins. We install the rafters in increments of 600 mm. For this we use 50x200 mm timber. We attach the rafters to the last crown on sliding supports. We lay a waterproofing film on top of the rafters. Then we attach the sheathing, the pitch of which depends on the chosen roofing material. Lastly, we lay the roofing material.

After the walls of the log house are ready and the roof is installed, all the insulation that sticks out of the logs should be carefully caulked. To do this, using a caulking tool (tool), we wrap these 5 - 6 cm of insulation down and push it inside the gap between the crowns. Then we make a pushing movement at the top of the gap and in the middle.

In this condition: with the roof and walls caulked for the first time, we leave the house for a year to shrink.

A year later, we repeat the caulking, sealing all newly formed cracks and gaps with tow, hemp or jute.

Important! Sometimes it is advised to carry out another caulking after the house is whole year be operated with the heating turned on in winter.

Installation of doors, windows, installation of ceilings and floors

All windows, doors and partitions are installed only after maximum shrinkage of the log house, i.e. a year after construction.

Neither doors nor windows are placed directly into openings. To begin with, wooden casing boxes with compensation fastening and they already have windows and doors. This precaution is due to the fact that wood is a plastic material. It expands from moisture and shrinks from its lack, in addition, the shrinkage of a wooden house lasts 5 - 6 years. And although a rounded log is less susceptible to shrinkage, casing is still necessary.

The floor joists of the first floor cut into the embedded crown or the subsequent one. They must be firmly attached. Since the embedded crown must be well ventilated so as not to rot longer, it is recommended to install the floor on the joists with the crown higher.

At this stage you can already mount heating system and other communications, install interior doors, slopes, baseboards, plumbing and other finishing.

Now that the log house is ready, you can move in. In conclusion, I would like to note that logs of insufficient length can be joined, but it is important to make a connecting groove, and there should not be many such joints in one wall. Vents should be provided in the foundation for free ventilation of the underground. And don’t forget, you can’t leave the log house uncovered with a roof or at least a film, and also don’t treat it with an antiseptic. A rounded log can deteriorate even in one season.

The rounded log undergoes multi-stage processing, which makes it very convenient for installation: the diameter is the same along the entire length and connecting elements carefully worked out on the production site. Services professional builders are expensive, but you can easily handle this material yourself, so assembling a log house from rounded logs with your own hands will allow you to save a lot of money.

Types of log house

You can assemble a rounded log house with your own hands in just a few days, but for this you need the maximum high-quality processing surfaces of logs and connecting bowls. Therefore, you need to purchase this material from large companies that have sufficient production capacity and normal technical equipment to handle orders at a high quality level.

To properly assemble a log house, it is necessary to lay the processed logs according to the scheme in compliance with construction technology. There are several options for constructing a log house:

Sequence of actions during installation

How to assemble a log house with your own hands: the work begins with creating a project, which can be found ready-made or developed from scratch. After a location on the site has been selected, it must be cleared of debris and various green spaces, after which the foundation is built. For buildings of this type, a strip foundation is most often chosen, which is laid around the perimeter of the house and at the locations of the partitions.

When the base is completely dry and hardened, you can proceed to installing the walls using technology. Companies that produce rounding offer customers the opportunity to purchase a wall kit consisting of numbered tree trunks treated with antiseptics.

How long does it take to assemble a log house? - The work itself may take only a few days, but after completion of construction the building is left for a period of shrinkage. The full process lasts at least a year. During this period, the building cannot be heated, as due to the difference in temperatures, the wood may begin to crack.

How to assemble a finished log house with your own hands - sequence stages of work:

Knowing how to assemble a rounded log house, you can quickly erect a durable and warm building that will last for many years. When the last crown is laid and the floor beams are installed, you can begin installing the rafters and installation roofing system. Wooden house goes well and looks harmonious with various materials for the roof.

Finishing

It is often said that a structure made from cylinders does not need additional finishing, since the wood is beautiful in itself. This is partly true: the natural pattern and color of wood are very attractive, and there is no need to cover them with any other materials, and the wall does not need to be leveled.

And yet, it will not be possible to leave a house made of rounded logs completely unfinished, since living material needs full protection from destruction: the tree is threatened by biological and physical negative factors. There are several types of finishing work:

A house made of cylinders is one of the most common and sought-after types suburban construction. It can be built from ready-made elements without the involvement of professionals and thereby save a lot of money. This great choice both for a summer residence and for permanent residence.

Over the past decades, the construction of wooden houses from logs has become the most common. At first glance, installing such houses is not difficult, but this is not so. In fact, the process requires that the technology for assembling a log house from rounded logs be followed.

A log house is a wall structure made of horizontally connected logs.

Basically, log houses are assembled in winter time years, and by spring the walls will be ready. The house should be ready by autumn natural shrinkage, which requires a warm period. Well, then you can start finishing work.

Main characteristics of assembling a log house from rounded logs

In construction, a log house is a structure of walls made of horizontally connected logs. One laid row is called a crown. The lowest row is a frame crown, and subsequent crowns are mounted on it. For the very first row, it is best to use larch wood, as it has the greatest strength and is the best option for these purposes.

A rectangular log house consisting of four walls is called a four-wall building, and if the walls are complemented by a partition, it is called a five-wall building. In a design without partitions, the frame is tied only at the corners, and the five-wall structure also has an internal T-shaped connection between the partition and the outer structure.

The base of the log house, made of rounded logs, is mounted in a horizontal position from coniferous or hardwood wood. For construction, it is recommended to use wood harvested in winter and freshly cut, since such material will contain little water and is easy to process, and also has the least shrinkage, deformation and is less susceptible to rotting. If the choice was made in favor of coniferous species, then the best option would be pine wood rather than spruce, since pine logs have a long service life and have less resin content.

The most difficult thing is to bandage the outer corners. There are two main types of dressings:

  • with the remainder. In this case, the ends of the logs protrude beyond the corners (into the “bowl”);
  • without a trace (in the “paw”).

Basically there is no difference between the masonry. In current buildings, the most common method of installation is “in a bowl”.

Required Tools

  • axe;
  • plane;
  • pencil;
  • roulette;
  • square;
  • hammer;
  • jigsaw;
  • hacksaw, chainsaw, etc.

Principles of assembling a log house from rounded logs

Before starting work, it is necessary to sort the logs, and the following must be observed: temperature regime. If in winter period the temperature is not lower than -30 °C, then logs can be used with a cross-section of 22-24 cm, and in regions with a more severe climate - 26 cm or more.

When choosing logs, it is important to ensure that there are no rotten areas or similar defects. Logs with visible deformation should not be used. If the logs are short, they are spliced ​​using a vertical ridge. To do this, the connecting ends of the logs are cut perpendicular to the axis.

A groove is marked on the log, and a ridge is marked on the second log, knocked out with a chisel. The dimensions of the groove should not exceed one third of the cross-section of the log. It is recommended that the bottom row and the top crown be selected to the required length; if this is not possible, then they are fused with a tooth at a right or oblique angle.

It is necessary to re-check the length of the logs. The partition inside the log house is connected to the outer wall by a vertical ridge, which is usually called a “frying pan”; it has widened ends. In logs outer wall special grooves must be cut out. When one side of the comb is made at a right angle, it is called a "half-fry" and is usually used in a cross joint.

On the finished foundation, it is necessary to lay a board impregnated with bitumen, which has a thickness of 5 cm and a width of 15 cm. A flashing crown is pressed onto the board from the bottom side. The following crowns are laid, which must be adjusted if necessary. When laying logs, you need to periodically check the horizontality and verticality of the logs.

Marking and cutting down the log house “in the paw”.

The crowns must be fastened with wooden dowels, observing a checkerboard pattern, which have a cross-section of 2 cm, with a pitch of about 2 m between them. At least 2 dowels are installed in the walls. with an interval of 20 cm, starting from the edge of the wall.

When installing crowns, do not forget about window and doorways, according to the drawing. When laying the covering crown, the opening is sawed down using a plumb line. The ends are processed and end with a vertical ridge. Mounting into doorways and window boxes, you need to leave about 5 cm on top for shrinkage. It is important to remember that in the opening, the logs both below and above should not have a ridge.

Once the house is installed and the walls are fully assembled, caulking is carried out. To do this, use tow, hemp, flax or felt. Modern assembly technology involves the use special materials, placed between the logs during assembly. Thanks to this, it is possible to better insulate the seams between logs.

Once the log house made from rounded logs is fully installed, it is not touched until it shrinks for about six months. During this time, the log house can shrink by about 12 cm.

It is important to know that the dowels and tenons should not reach the bottom of the socket 15-20 mm; this is necessary for proper shrinkage of the rounded log frame.

But introducing modern technologies, it is possible to achieve a reduction in the shrinkage time of the structure. You can mount a flashing crown through which all the studs pass, with a cross-section of 12 mm and a length of about 1 m. They are lowered to the ground. At the bottom of the stud there is a washer, 3 mm thick, and a nut. But it is necessary to take into account that the stud should not come into contact with the foundation. Subsequent crowns are laid. The stud must be raised tightly, and nuts are screwed onto the protruding part - couplings no less than 6 cm long, into which subsequent studs are screwed. After the topmost crown is mounted, using wrench All studs around the perimeter are tightened.

If you measure the height of the log house before and after tightening, you can make sure that shrinkage has occurred with the logs.

After this, you can continue to assemble the log house. Such a house will be durable and will not fall apart even during an earthquake; therefore, such an assembly is used in seismic zones.

How to avoid mistakes when installing a log house from rounded logs?

Many people cannot imagine what the technology of assembling a log house is, all the nuances of the process. This is important for monitoring the installation, since the consequences of poorly performed work can bring a lot of trouble, including the unsuitability of the log house for habitation.

It is important to know:

After building a log house, there are uncleaned areas of bark left on the logs, which will begin to darken over time, so the log house must be sanded.

  1. The permissible moisture content of the material should not exceed 20%. But there are cases when log houses are assembled from logs with high humidity, which is above 60%, this means that the forest was practically only cut down. Such material can lead to deformation and severe cracking of the logs, as well as to the appearance of inter-crown cracks and gaps in the locking part. Humidity leads to rotting and the formation of mold and fungal deposits. Checking the moisture content of the material is not difficult; you just need to purchase a moisture meter. Its price is not so high compared to the losses that may arise when building from low-quality material.
  2. An important factor is the processing of all wooden structures antiseptic, bioseptic and fire retardant, since mold will subsequently be very difficult to fight, and fungus can turn a building into dust in a short time.
  3. Before installation, it would be useful to check the logs for straightness. The sag should not exceed 3 mm; if it exists, then it is better to discard this material, since it will be difficult to join the crowns. The first crown must be firmly connected to the base, into which steel pins are first placed, and the crowns are tightened together with dowels. If the technology is not followed, cracks will form and the frame may become loose.
  4. The rims must not be allowed to touch loosely over the entire plane. To correct this flaw, you will subsequently have to dismantle the entire frame; therefore, it is necessary to check the installation from the first rows.

A few words in conclusion

The assembly of a log house from rounded logs has a decent interior appearance, and therefore the houses do not require additional decoration. Wood material can be covered thin layer varnish that will perform protective function from influences environment and emphasizes the naturalness of wood.

Our portal is replete with examples of the construction and operation of small, or, as they are now commonly called, mini-houses, but usually these are either frame-modular or frame structures. As it turned out, a log is also suitable wall material, especially when the construction concept is environmentally friendly and natural. One of our craftsmen, with the nickname mike099. His topic collected all the stars, which indicates its relevance, so it makes sense to expand the reach of the audience by considering the construction process in stages:

  • Eco-hut.
  • Preparation.
  • Foundation.
  • Box.
  • Roof.
  • Interior work.

Eco-hut only 30 m²

mike099 User FORUMHOUSE

The dream has long crept in about building a wooden house - environmentally friendly, practically without paints, mineral wool, polystyrene foam and other “benefits” of modern industry. The task is to build a solid, comfortable home, suitable for winter driving and year-round residence, therefore, shingles, boulders, mezzanines, Russian stoves and other delights of the past centuries were not included in the project.

The craftsman immediately decided on the design:

  • Pile foundation.
  • Box made of hand-cut logs.
  • Metal roofing.
  • Sawdust with and sawdust with lime are used as insulation for floors.

Preparation

The preparation stage included clearing the site, digging a well, installing a purchased wooden cabin and toilet, after which the project selection stage began. Initially, the craftsman set his sights on a one-and-a-half-story log house, 8x9 meters, with five rooms, but as he began to think about it, a completely different design emerged. I refused the second floor, even though it was an attic, both due to my reluctance to do staircase fitness, and for other reasons. In addition, with the planned stove heating there will be a large temperature difference between the levels. Plus, it’s problematic to insulate with sawdust pitched roof, with a ceiling and a cold attic it is much easier. Next it was the turn of quadrature, and the result of the selection optimal layout became a project for a 6x6 meter log house, with a set of functional rooms.

The vital meters needed for a comfortable existence were taken into account, as well as savings on operation by reducing heating costs, and the specifics of a dacha - a house for “drinking tea and sleeping.” However, this adjustment in scale led to the abandonment of the planned log cutting into a cup. A six-meter log just fits into the plan, but a seven-meter log is much more expensive, and only a few people work with it. Yes, visually cutting into a cup wins, but also “ dovetail"with a crossing is quite functional, and the ends can be covered with platbands.

Foundation

Preference screw piles was given due to the desire to try the “ultra-modern solution” and save money, as well as due to the speed and relative simplicity installation A total of nine piles were screwed in - three points of support for each load-bearing beam, pile diameter 108 mm, thickness – 4 mm. Despite some problems when installing piles and the flimsiness of the coating, which is positioned as durable protective layer, but in fact, it can be easily removed with a fingernail, and the craftsman is pleased with the choice. Moreover, perhaps the bathhouse will also be placed on stilts, although he admits that a tape or slab “will be more reliable.”

Box

The frame was collected using moss that had been ordered in advance from another region; before installation, the moss was poured out to dry, since when it was delivered it was still fresh and had not dried out much during the two weeks spent waiting in the wings. Making log partitions turned out to be problematic due to the small dimensions of the four-wall, and the cost of the box in this case would have jumped by almost half. Therefore, in one day, the hired team delivered and in another day assembled just a box, and although the moss after assembly hung picturesquely all over the walls, it took significantly less than planned, as practice has shown - they obviously did not report it.

To dry the log house, they cut out ventilation holes size 30x30 cm, with grill. To everyone who is just in the process, mike099 advises making more of them. Curling ( primary caulking cutting the log house with moss) was already working on his own, driving the hanging moss into the voids, cutting off the excess with a stationery knife.

Roof

From popular now soft tiles the craftsman refused for several reasons.

mike099

I rejected the soft roof immediately, due to its less environmental friendliness and higher price. The binders, the basis of soft tiles, are far from natural materials. Its installation is more expensive, and you need a smooth flooring made of OSB or plywood.

Therefore I preferred metal tiles, imitating a ceramic source. A wide, semicircular ridge, instead of sub-rafter elements there is a central supporting ridge beam. Waterproofing, counter-lattice along the rafters (50×50 mm), lathing with pitch to match the covering profile (35 cm). As planned, the eaves overhangs are 70 cm long; in the future there will be a metal drainage system.

After assembling the frame “under the roof”, I protected the ventilation windows with awnings, and also installed temporary flashings made of waterproofing along the ends, cracks of the flashings and at the junction of the frame and trim. No matter how much I wanted to avoid the use of chemicals, I had to treat the imitation timber gables with protective impregnation.

Interior work

The ceiling was made at the stage of assembling the timber; I wanted to maintain the style, but processing a log now is not a cheap pleasure, just like the log itself. The craftsman replaced the log with a board, 50 mm thick, covering the cracks unedged board 25 mm thick, all lumber was debarked and sanded before installation. To avoid problems when insulating with a mixture of sawdust and clay, two support logs go through the ceiling.

I made some of the openings myself, as specialized companies raised the price tag to unattainable heights.

mike099

The frame was made simple, rough T-shaped: the grooves in the log were marked with a saw, the main cutting was done with a milling cutter. I laid a 50x50 mm dry block with linen tape (insulation) and attached a box of 200x50 mm boards to it with self-tapping screws.

Another relief in favor modern materials – steel door and two plastic windows, wooden Euro windows were installed in the future living quarters. Again, in order to save money, he painted the windows himself, which he regrets - the quality turned out to be lower than the factory quality, and taking into account the cost of consumables, the difference in money is minimal despite the high labor costs.

To increase the heat capacity of the house, I chose a combined stove, brick, with a cast-iron stove, as a compromise between an iron potbelly stove and a Russian stove. The foundation under the furnace is 1.7 m deep, reinforcement cage, two m³ of concrete.

As the subfloor dried, it showed cracks; I had to cover them with strips; before adding sawdust, I laid the remaining dry moss as a natural antiseptic.

Before laying, the sawdust was flavored with lime and carefully compacted. Before starting the installation of the finishing floorboard, the craftsman installed communications.

An unpleasant surprise was the strong warping of the floor after drying for just one day and the falling out of knots. The result is the opening of the coating and re-installation, and the reason is the purchase of materials in a hurry, on the market.

The craftsman decided to leave in the first winter with an insulated underground - metal carcass along the perimeter of the base, to it, XPS, 50 mm thick, and horizontally, on the ground, with a slope from the house, also sheets of insulation. The horizontal layer was simply covered back with earth, the lawn on the site was right under the log house, and the base was later lined basement siding under brickwork.

Sanding logs mike099 started on my own, first with the help of an eccentric grinding machine. It turned out to be rather weak, so we replaced it with a grinder, first I used a wheel with 80 grain, the second pass - with 120-150 grain. The vacuum cleaner alone collected 200 liters of waste, but it was worth it.