Choosing a bar for the house

Wooden houses have long been considered the most favorable and environmentally friendly for human life. They began to use this material for construction a very, very long time ago, thanks to which people were able to understand how high-quality and durable such buildings are. And modern technologies have only improved the characteristics of this material in conjunction with various substances for wood processing.

Let's try to figure out how to choose a high-quality timber for a house so that the building turns out to be really reliable and durable.

It should be said that in most cases, after processing such lumber, it gets a rectangular shape. At the same time, it can be of various sizes. And its cross-section can vary in the range of 50-400 mm. Now only a few types of this material are very actively used, which are suitable for the construction of various buildings.

Usually the beam is made of a unified profile and length. The material is obtained in such a way that you can literally "fold" a house out of it, as if it were a constructor. Another of its features can be called the fact that if you correctly calculate the volume, then you can simply not leave waste when using the material, which will allow you to save quite seriously.

The same glued laminated timber is not subject to shrinkage and is not covered with cracks due to the influence of natural factors. In addition, its performance does not deteriorate with prolonged use.

If we talk about the categories of timber, then there are such varieties:

• whole;
• profiled;
• glued.

Now let's talk about each type in more detail. One-piece timber looks like the simplest log, which is cut from 4 sides. The diameter of the workpiece is usually more than 0.5 cm. This type of lumber is usually most often used to create various kinds of structures. Among them are partitions between walls, rafters, as well as floors of houses that are located between floors.

This type of timber is very easy to process, which is one of the factors to ensure its availability. At the same time, it needs to be treated with protective equipment, otherwise it will not serve for a long time. Usually the cross-section of such a bar is 15-22 cm. Everything will already depend on what is required to build. If we are talking about a house, then material with a cross section of 20-25 cm will be enough, regardless of the expected size. If you plan to build a bathhouse, then you can take material 15-20 cm in size.

If we talk about the advantages of such material, then it should be called.

1. Its prevalence. It can be purchased literally everywhere without any problems;
2. Affordable price;
3. Simplicity and high speed of installation. To work with it, you do not need to involve any specialized equipment.

1. Mandatory execution of finishing work or planing of the material.
2. Commitment to cracking. After the building shrinks and shrinks, the walls may crack. And this can happen with any building, regardless of its mass and size. This problem can be solved exclusively by external cladding with decorative materials.
3. Not a very beautiful appearance, which is why an untreated timber will not be as attractive as its analogue of a profiled type.
4. In such a bar between the crowns, the seams are blown quite strongly. The reason for this is that there are no tongue-and-groove fastenings in buildings made with the use of such material.
5. High susceptibility to fungal attack. The reason for this is that logs are not dried in special chambers during harvesting. For this reason, the buyer needs to carefully process such a bar with special antiseptics. Naturally, this will greatly increase the cost of creating a house.
6. Inconsistency of wood of this type with GOSTs. Of course, you can find a really high-quality timber, but most often the price will be narrower than that of a profiled analogue.

The next option is profiled timber. Usually it is distinguished by strict dimensions, which are observed down to the millimeter. And thanks to this, it is easier to work with it, and it has more advantages than the same solid one. This type has special landing bowls with spikes entering the grooves. There are also vertical cuts to help with construction. A building made of logs of this type will not have gaps, which means that moisture and drafts will not bother its inhabitants. Naturally, the wood will not be at risk of rotting either.

Buildings from this type of timber have excellent thermal insulation characteristics, which allows you to save on the appropriate materials. In addition, it is possible not to use finishing here, due to the fact that the walls will be even. The only thing is that you should pay great attention to drying the material, so that the construction does not lead in the future.

The advantages of the material include:

• good decorative properties;
• availability of high-quality connections;
• structures made of profiled timber give uniform shrinkage;
• blowing through the building is excluded.

The last type of timber is glued. It is believed to be best suited for building a house. It is made from softwood. During the creation process, each board is treated with antiseptics and fire retardants. All lamellas have the same dimensions, which will be extremely important when gluing. One such beam can consist of 7 boards, and the shrinkage can be no more than 1 percent.

The advantages of this type of timber include:

• no cracking;
• the facade does not require finishing work;
• a house made of such a material almost does not shrink;
• the material practically does not rot and is not deformed by insects;
• high strength.

If we talk about the characteristics of the timber, then there are two important parameters that will really be important for creating a house: thickness and dimensions.

If we talk about the thickness of the timber, then this parameter is measured in millimeters. It usually varies from 130 to 250 mm. For a one-story house, an average thickness of about 150-200 mm is usually sufficient. Naturally, the presence or absence of finishing work should be taken into account. If the building is two-story, then a greater thickness or section will be required there. For example, 200 by 200 mm

If we talk about the size, then usually this figure is 100-250 mm. Here, too, everything will depend on how thick walls are needed in the building and what type of structure will be built in general. But most often, a beam of 100, 150, 200 and 250 mm is used for the construction of houses.

When erecting a log house, it becomes necessary to connect individual parts when crossing at an angle or when there is a lack of length. There are several categories of compounds, among which are:

• with the remainder;
• no residue;
• into a cup;
• in the tooth.

The first type is a one-way type connection.In this case, one side of the timber is cut across the element, and its width should be equal to the width of the element to be connected. Such a connection is often used given its reliability.

A double-sided lock requires the creation of cuts at the top and bottom. There is also a 4-sided option. Then the cuts are made from all sides of the timber, and thanks to this, the building is assembled like a constructor.

The compound without a trace has a lot of variations. The most common is butt joint. It is created using studded metal plates, which are fixed with nails or staples. Connecting veneers can also be used.

Another option is a thorn connection. It can be trapezoidal or triangular. A spike is made on one beam, and a groove is cut out under it on the other, which allows to guarantee a reliable connection.

If we talk about the choice of timber, then it is best to choose a ready-made material that is made of pine. Its mass will be less, and it is easy to work with it. And when using impregnations, pine timber will be no worse than a larch analog in terms of resistance to moisture. If we talk directly about the choice of timber, then you should pay attention to a number of points.

• The wood should not be blue or gray. If it has such colors, the timber cannot be bought.

• It is better to purchase wood that was harvested in winter. The reason is that such a bar "leads" less and its dryness is greater. If you did not manage to acquire this, you should try to fold it as quickly as possible, because every day it will be carried out more and more, that is, it will be bent along the longitudinal axis.

• If the timber is curved in one surface, then this can still be corrected, but if in 2, then in no case should you buy such wood. It is very easy to check it for bending. To do this, you should stand at its end and take a closer look at its other end.

• The acquisition is best done at bases where the material is stored under some kind of roof. And if it has also been dried in a special chamber, it will be just fine.

• You should not buy a third-grade timber - only the first or second grade. Saving will be inappropriate here, because in the future such wood will quickly become unusable.

• It will be better to acquire wood that has been loose on the band sawmill. The reason is simple - I drank cleaner on such a sawmill. Such a bar will then be easier to process with a planer;

• If you have the opportunity to choose wood carefully, then it should be remembered that it is better to take one where the "rings" are located denser, that is, the northern part of the tree. In addition, it will be best if the wood has a minimum of knots and wane.