Frame house fortification. Do-it-yourself frame house: photos of construction stages. Video: frame house - “pros” and “cons”

Cheap houses are usually called frame houses, and they are treated with caution. In fact, both economical and luxury housing are built using frame technology. Frame technologies have been used in construction since time immemorial - these include half-timbered houses in Europe and mud huts in Ukraine. As the most rapidly erected and economical frame houses were used during the development of the American West, and as the most energy efficient - in the development of Siberia.

Principle frame technology consists in the fact that the frame, which is a post-and-beam structure, is erected from durable material - metal or wood, and the walls are filled with thermally efficient and inexpensive materials.

Previously, adobe, clay, and porous stone were used in the walls, but today new materials are used to make the house even lighter and warmer. At the same time, the main advantages of such a structure remain unchanged: cost-effectiveness, thermal efficiency, speed of construction, space saving due to the smaller thickness of the walls.

	1. OSB (OSB) board, base for exterior finishing; 2. Counter grille forming a ventilation gap; 3. Ventilation gap; 4. Wind protection in the form of a vapor-permeable membrane; 5. Fiber insulation (basalt insulation); 6. Independent double frame racks; 7. Vapor barrier; 8. Internal OSB board (OSB); 9. GKL, base for interior decoration; 10. Layer of interior finishing.
	1. Waterproofing, windproof film (diffusion membrane); 2. Thermal insulation 150 mm thick; 3. OSB sheet 9-12 mm thick; 4. Exterior decoration of the walls of the house (block house, lining, imitation timber, siding); 5. Counter battens made of 30x40 mm bars; 6. Racks of the main frame (beam 150x50 mm, in increments of 500-600 mm); 7. Vapor barrier; 8. OSB sheet 9-12 mm thick; 9. Interior wall decoration (plasterboard, lining).
	1. External wall cladding (ISOPLAAT, ISOTEX, with a sheet thickness of 25 mm); 2. External sheathing (planed board 25 mm thick, in increments of 500-600 mm); 3. Exterior decoration of the walls of the house (block house, lining, imitation timber, siding); 4. Basalt insulation with a thickness of 150-200 mm; 5. Vapor barrier film; 6. Racks of the main frame (beam 70x195 mm, in increments of 500-600 mm); 7. Internal wall cladding made of OSB, 9-12 mm thick.
	1. Exterior decoration of the house (block house); 2. Lathing made of bars (50x50 mm); 3. Waterproofing, windproof film; 4. OSB-3 sheet (OSB), thickness 12 mm; 5. Racks of the main frame (beam 150x50 mm); 6. Insulation 150 mm thick; 7. Insulation 50 mm thick; 8. Lathing made of bars (50x50 mm); 9. Vapor barrier film; 10. OSB-3 sheet (OSB), thickness 12 mm; 11. Sheet of plasterboard 12 mm thick.

Modern frame construction- multi-component, its construction requires knowledge, experience and care, which are not always inherent in builders. As a result, since frame houses are very sensitive to the quality of construction, a distrustful attitude has developed towards them. There are countless myths about their negative qualities.

Myth 1. A frame house is short-lived

Different types of frame houses will last from 30 to 100 years. This indicator depends on the quality of the frame and insulation and their safety in the structure.

To ensure the durability of materials, it is important to prevent moisture from entering the wall. The durability of wood and metal under normal atmospheric humidity conditions and with proper processing exceeds 100 years.

The weak link is the insulation. A house with polystyrene foam insulation will last at least 30 years. The use of rigid mineral wool material will increase the service life of the building without repairing the wall to 60 years or more. However, these terms will be justified if the house is built with high quality, when fasteners and protective films have a high degree of reliability, ensuring the tightness of the structure for many years.

The metal frame is reliable and can bear heavy loads

The use of raw wood for the frame significantly reduces the durability of the structure. As the wood in a built house dries out, the posts and beams change their geometry, the cladding is damaged, and cracks appear at the joints, so you should carefully monitor the moisture content of the material intended for the frame (for this you can use a special device - a moisture meter). The wood must be dried naturally or artificially (vacuum drying).

Most often the frame is made of wood

Summary: the durability of a frame house is 30-100 years, and depends on the quality of materials and work.

Myth 2. A frame house is cold, it will not withstand frost

On the contrary, one of the most important advantages of frame houses is the high energy-saving qualities of the walls. They are provided by a layer of insulation 15-20 cm thick, located inside the wall between the frame posts. But insulation can also be more serious - as in frame houses with increased energy efficiency.

This solution also eliminates the cold bridges that arise at the locations of the frame posts. Wood, although it has a relatively low thermal conductivity, is still greater than the thermal conductivity of insulation. The heat transfer resistance coefficient of the outer wall of a standard frame house without external insulation is 2.9 m * °C/W, the “sheathing-insulation-sheathing” structure itself is 3.4 m * °C/W, and houses with external insulation made of extruded polystyrene foam 5 cm thick - 4.7 m * °C/W. The lowest value already meets the standards. In addition, varying the parameters of insulation allows the same designs to be used both in the southern and northern regions.

Many manufacturers make cladding from environmentally friendly cement particle boards. In this case, DSP slabs with stone chips were used.

American Frame House Lesson

After World War II, tens of thousands of American families moved to the suburbs. This happened thanks to the construction of prefabricated frame houses, which cost several times less than traditional stone ones. The author of the idea was builder and businessman Bill Levitt. The first town of Levittown (named later in his honor) was built 50 kilometers from New York. The “construction of the century” began in July 1947 and within three months the first young families moved into the new houses, and then 100-150 new settlers came a week.

In four years, the company built 17 thousand houses near New York. Levitt was accused of building temporary structures that would collapse within a few years. But the houses paid off and lasted a long time: about a thousand of them are still in use. Levitt organized factory production and a conveyor belt in construction: ready-made house blocks were delivered to the assembly site; construction teams were highly specialized. Almost anyone could buy a house (60 years ago they cost 8 thousand dollars). Levitt's idea led to a revolution in world housing construction.

Summary: the frame house is quite warm.

Myth 3. All frame houses are built using the same technology

The basic diagram of the wall for all frame houses is really the same: between the frame posts there is insulation, protected on the inside by a vapor barrier film, and on the outside by a waterproofing superdiffuse (steam permeable) membrane. On both sides, the frame and insulation are protected by rigid sheathing, various: oriented strand boards (OSB), cement-bonded particle boards (CSB), waterproof, plasterboard sheets (GKL). The floors are arranged in a similar way.

However, different types of buildings have significant differences in construction methods, materials and design nuances. Frame houses are prefabricated because they are assembled from prefabricated structures, a set of which is brought to the construction site. The production of structures must be done in a factory - this approach will ensure dimensional accuracy and completeness of the elements. At the same time, the technology for assembling a house can be different:

assembly at construction site

A wall frame is installed on a pre-prepared foundation, sheathed, filled with insulation, and protected with insulation. In the same way, the floors and roof are assembled from the prepared elements, then windows, doors, etc. are installed. Assembly time on the construction site is 3-12 weeks. The work requires care and strict adherence to installation requirements - it is difficult for a non-specialist to control this.

factory assembly (frame-panel houses)

The assembly of the walls and ceilings of the house is carried out in the factory on special production lines, and they are already brought to the construction site. They come in varying degrees of completion: from assembled frame structures to fully finished wall panels (with inserted windows and built-in utilities), multi-layer floor slabs and even roofs. Prefabricated elements must correspond to the design dimensions to the nearest millimeter, and they are only fastened together at the construction site.

The box is erected within 3-7 days, depending on the complexity of the project. To a large extent, the quality of the building depends on the factory work. Therefore, the company supplying prefabricated structures must have an impeccable reputation: then the building will also be reliable. A specially trained team must assemble the house. However, the kit, along with detailed instructions, can be supplied to the customer for self-assembly. This practice is found both in foreign and domestic frame construction. Houses are distinguished by frame material:

Wooden frame

They are made from boards, solid or laminated veneer lumber (which is the strongest, highest quality and most expensive), as well as a wooden I-beam (wood + OSB + wood). The standard section of the rack is 50 x 150 mm. The durability and strength of the house depends on the quality of the wood. The main requirement is that the moisture content of the lumber should not exceed 18%. Timber frame houses are the most common.

Metal carcass

They are made from profiles of various configurations, assembled with bolts. They must have an anti-corrosion coating (galvanized or painted). A metal frame allows you to create large spans of floors and openings in walls (in this only a frame made of laminated veneer lumber can compare with it).

Other differences between frame houses are the features of the wall construction. The materials, thicknesses and number of layers of insulation, sheathing, vapor and waterproofing, and floor structures (on beams, trusses or panels) can be different. Thus, the generalized name “Canadian houses” does not describe the entire variety of frame buildings.

The following types can be distinguished:

timber frame houses and insulation made of basalt wool and a wall thickness of 18-25 cm (frame and frame-panel);
houses with metal frame , insulation made of basalt wool and a wall thickness of 18-25 cm (frame);
frame-panele Houses with polystyrene foam insulation and a wall thickness of 12-25 cm;
premium houses with a frame made of laminated veneer lumber , several layers of insulation and a wall thickness of up to 35-40 cm.

Summary: frame houses differ in design, assembly technology and thermal properties.

How is a frame house insulated?

Insulation materials used in the walls of frame houses must provide thermal insulation of the house no lower than the standard with a layer thickness of about 15 cm (this figure is determined by the size of the frame section).

These requirements meet:

mineral (basalt) wool (sufficient thickness - 15 cm). This material also has good soundproofing qualities. Insulation boards must be rigid so that over time they do not shrink and reduce the energy efficiency of the walls of the house. Basalt wool is the most common insulation in frame houses.

Mineral wool is one of the most popular insulation materials

foamed p enopolyurethane (PPU), sufficient thickness 10-12 cm). This is a durable, tough material. Its disadvantage is that in the event of a fire it emits toxic smoke, so it must be insulated in the wall with sheathing (which exactly corresponds to the design of a frame house). Polyurethane foam is used in some types of prefabricated frame-panel houses.

extruded polystyrene foam used as additional insulation (layer thickness - 3-10 cm). It is laid on the outer cladding of houses to make them more energy efficient. This is a high-quality, durable, expensive material; it is used in premium frame houses.

ecowool — cellulose insulation (thickness 20 cm). The material is a homogeneous mass resembling cotton wool. When insulating walls, it is poured between the sheathings or moistened and applied to the insulated surface using blowing equipment. With the wet application method, the material hardens and adheres tightly to the structures (due to the lignin present in it - wood glue, a natural binder). To reduce flammability, ecowool contains fire retardants.

wood fiber wool - insulation for houses with increased requirements for environmental friendliness (thickness - 16-20 cm). It has the form of rigid boards in which the binder of thin cellulose fibers is natural tree resin.

Another type of environmentally friendly insulation - reed (reed) mats and slabs .

Properties of mineral wool

The effectiveness of thermal insulation material for a frame house consists of several aspects:

thermal insulation properties,
environmental and fire safety,
ease of installation and durability.

These criteria are met by slabs made of mineral wool - a non-combustible material, which is especially important for ensuring the fire safety of wooden frame houses. High-quality stone wool slabs do not burn, do not emit smoke or flaming droplets, and they also serve as excellent acoustic insulation. Mineral wool is hydrophobic (almost does not absorb moisture) and, in addition, does not absorb moisture from the air. The main raw materials in the production process of this insulation are basalt and gabbro. Rocks molten at a temperature of 1400 ° C undergo separation into fibers, forming stone wool. Thermal insulation products made from this material, with proper installation and operation, can last more than 50 years. The insulation in the frame structure must be laid tightly to the studs (installed by surprise), there should be no gaps between the heat-insulating boards. Depending on the type of frame structure, vapor barrier and wind protection may be required.

Thermal inertia of a frame wall

Features of a frame wall - its low thermal inertia (the ability to accumulate heat and then gradually release it). High inertia is inherent in brick, concrete, and less so in wood, so a cold house with stone walls heats up slowly, and when the heating is turned off, it cools down slowly. In a frame wall, in addition to wood, a significant part of the mass is insulation, which does not accumulate heat. This means that a house with frame walls heats up quickly, since heat is not wasted on heating the wall, but also cools down quickly when the heating is turned off. Low thermal inertia is not a positive or negative quality, but it must be taken into account.

Walls with high thermal inertia smooth out daily temperature fluctuations, and in a house with frame walls they will be more pronounced. In winter, they will have to be smoothed out due to the dynamism of the heating system (its ability to quickly heat up when turned on and cool down when turned off, which is more characteristic of electrical systems). But the low-inertia wall will never blow cold and damp. And if necessary, the thermal inertia of a frame house as a whole can be increased through the use of a reinforced concrete foundation slab (which is very convenient when constructing such buildings), more massive finishing (for example, when using two layers of gypsum plasterboard in the cladding).

Myth 4. The wall of a frame house is fragile, you can break it and climb into the house

There is some truth in this - brick is stronger, but thieves are unlikely to break down a wall when it is much easier to get into the house through a window or door. The design of a standard wall of a frame house is similar to that of a roof and has approximately the same thickness. However, it is still not easy to destroy it. OSB, which is used to cover the outside of a house, is stronger than solid wood of the same thickness due to its multi-layer structure. Even stronger than DSP. The sheathing together with the frame gives the wall the necessary rigidity and stability.

Especially high strength (due to the rigid interconnection of layers) is distinguished by a wall made of factory-made panels and walls of houses with several layers of insulation. The strength of the house itself is also sufficient. Many foreign technologies are designed for seismic resistance up to 7 points. In addition, due to the lightness of the structure, frame houses without reinforcement can be built on soils with low bearing capacity, without fear of distortions and cracks.

Summary: frame houses are strong and resistant to natural disasters, but they may not be able to resist a person who is determined to break the wall.

Ready-made panels can be ordered for self-assembly, but it is better if the construction is carried out by a team of professionals

Monitoring the implementation of the foundation of a frame house

For frame houses, foundations are most often used. Savings are achieved due to lower consumption of materials, small volume of land and installation work. The foundation is the foundation of the house, and its construction should be treated with special care. If the customer is not confident in the high professionalism of the builders, he can check the quality of work himself by checking the drawings. The calculation of the foundations and the production of working drawings is carried out by a professional designer. In the documentation, the customer will find in detail the necessary plans, views, sections, specifications, and material consumption.

When using precast concrete, you must require a certificate from builders or suppliers for the imported material. must correspond to what is recorded in the drawings. When using reinforcement, you should check whether its diameter and method of connection correspond to those specified by the designer. You can also take photographs of the various stages of foundation construction and consult with other professionals.

For houses with a wooden frame and wood panel cladding, fire gaps must be larger

Myth 5. A frame house does not breathe, it is always stuffy in it

In fact, in any home, a healthy microclimate is ensured only by ventilation, regardless of the material of its walls. The myth is based on the erroneous idea that brick walls breathe - they allow excess moisture to pass through them. However, according to experts, the diffusion of steam through a vapor-permeable wall is insignificant compared to the volume of its accumulation in a living room. In old houses, including brick ones, ventilation was provided by cracks in windows and doors, underground and in the attic.

However, an energy-efficient building, regardless of whether it is stone or frame, must have airtight structures. Fresh air in the house is provided by efficient mechanical exhaust. Its project should be part of the plan of each frame house. To prevent ventilation from reducing the thermal efficiency of the house, it is advisable to have it in the system. In addition, natural ventilation should be provided - windows in each room should open.

Summary: in a frame house equipped with a ventilation system with mechanical exhaust, even with the windows closed, there will always be fresh air.

Myth 6. A frame house is not environmentally friendly

Most frame houses meet environmental requirements, and many of them have relevant European certificates. The wood or metal from which the frame is made are among the most environmentally friendly materials known. Stone wool, which is usually used in frame houses, is positioned as a neutral material that is not harmful to health (although there are different opinions on this matter). Expanded polystyrene, used in the most economical buildings, also does not pose a danger at temperatures below 85 ° C; in addition, in the wall it is completely isolated from the internal space by sheathing. The inside walls are sheathed with gypsum plasterboard, the environmental friendliness of which is beyond doubt, or OSB, consisting of 95% wood (the percentage of harmful binding resins in them is reduced to a minimum). Insulating films as part of the wall are environmentally neutral. Floors in frame houses are made using wooden beams, and partitions are made using a wooden frame.

Of course, if a frame house is too cheap, there is a high probability of using low-quality materials that are hazardous to health. But such a danger can arise not only in the construction of frame houses. In any case, if you doubt the quality of components, ask for certificates and SES conclusions confirming their environmental friendliness.

Summary: the structures of a high-quality frame house should not contain materials that are harmful to health.

House construction technologies and environmental friendliness

Today, there are three technologies for the construction of prefabricated frame houses: 1) frame, 2) panel and 3) frame-panel (Canadian). They differ from each other in the nuances of their design. In the first case, enclosing structures and internal partitions (walls) are mounted on the erected frame. With panel housing construction, the walls of the house do not need additional reinforcement, since they themselves are load-bearing.

Canadian technology for building frame houses represents a kind of symbiosis of the first two, since the ones used, being load-bearing, are additionally reinforced by a wooden frame. The main structural elements of frame houses are wood and its derivatives, or rather OSB. There has been a lot of controversy regarding the environmental friendliness of OSB. At the very beginning of the production of these boards, manufacturers used a formaldehyde-based adhesive, but after much research, a better solution was proposed that meets strict regulations and environmental protection requirements. As a result, we now have frame-panel houses that are environmentally friendly and comfortable to live in.

Myth 7. A frame house is a fire hazard

In such buildings, all load-bearing elements of walls and roofs must have fire retardant treatment. It is also desirable to protect them from exposure to high temperatures with sheet or slab materials. These specifically include cladding made of DSP and gypsum plasterboard - non-combustible materials. Sheathing made of two layers of gypsum board will increase the fire resistance limit of the structure by 30 minutes (and at the same time improve the sound insulation of the wall). In general, the fire resistance limit of frame house structures is 30-60 minutes, which complies with the standards and must be reflected in the manufacturer’s certificate. Fire safety requirements should also be taken into account when placing a house on a site. A larger fire distance is required between frame buildings than between stone ones.

Summary: the degree of fire resistance of frame houses is lower than that of stone ones; to increase their fire safety, wooden structures are treated with fire retardants and two layers of gypsum plasterboard are used for internal cladding.

Myth 8. All frame houses are built according to standard designs

Indeed, every company that builds frame houses has at its disposal detailed standard projects, the designs of which are included in factory production programs. But if necessary, the company’s design bureau develops an individual project or adapts one that the customer already has for frame structures. Building a house in this case will cost more than a standard project, for which the factory has already established the production of structures. In addition, more time will pass from the start of design to completion of construction.

Summary: a frame house can be built according to either a standard or an individual project.

Features of the metal frame

In our country, some developers are still distrustful of frame buildings. We are accustomed to the fact that a house must be built “to last” and from massive materials, but prefabricated buildings seem too unreliable. A rigid and durable metal frame as a supporting structure allows you to switch to new construction technologies, while remaining true to the traditions of solidity.

A finished frame house built on a metal frame does not differ in appearance from buildings made from other materials.

The metal frame also has a number of other advantages. So, it can withstand heavy loads, for example beautiful, but at the same time quite heavy natural ceramic or cement-sand tiles. Metal also ensures the stability of the geometry of the house (a wooden structure made from poorly dried and untreated raw materials can fail, and additional preparation is a waste that construction companies are trying to avoid). Metal also wins in terms of fire safety. Some customers are afraid that metal carcass will be cold or will start to rust. But this is just a myth - the metal is covered with a sufficient layer of heat and waterproofing so as not to freeze and serve for many years.

Myth 9. A frame house is unrepresentable in appearance

We cannot agree with this. A frame house is just a construction technology. And its appearance depends on the finishing and architectural qualities of the project. The finishing used is the same as for houses made of stone materials: plaster, painting, ventilated facade using siding, block house, etc. It is also possible to clad the walls with brick and the plinth with stone (it is still not recommended to decorate the walls with stone). Architecturally, the design of a frame house is no different from the designs of buildings made of stone materials, and almost any of them can be recycled for frame structures. Thus, a frame house can have a quite representative appearance.

Houses built using frame technology can look modern and impressive.

There are almost no restrictions in interior design: any finishing finish can be applied to drywall, except, perhaps, heavy materials such as stone. However, the architecture of frame buildings does have its own characteristics. The frame allows you to create large open spaces in the interior without additional constructive tricks, installing wide windows, which creates a feeling of spaciousness in the house even with small areas. The idea of a low-budget frame structure has developed due to the fact that most often they are built when there is a need to save money. However, in foreign practice, frame houses are often classified as objects of modern, progressive architecture: environmentally friendly, economical and lightweight.

Summary: a frame house can look beautiful and solid.

Myth 10. All frame houses are cheap

The cost of building a frame house ranges from 150 to 1200 $/m². Such a wide range is due to various technologies and the ability for the customer to choose the degree of completion of the building: from purchasing a house kit for self-construction to turnkey construction. Within the same technology, cost fluctuations are possible depending on the materials used. For example, a house with a frame made of laminated veneer lumber will cost more than one made from solid wood. The material of insulation and cladding, etc. matters. Houses with insulation made from polystyrene foam are cheaper than those made from basalt wool, and cladding from OSB is cheaper than from DSP.

With additional insulation, the cost of the house will increase. Some technologies use imported energy-efficient windows and doors and especially reliable membranes, which also increases the cost of construction. But in general, in terms of material consumption and labor intensity, frame walls are among the most economical. This is due to the smaller volume of the foundation and walls, as well as the lower price of insulation compared to solid materials.

The cost of 1 m² of a standard frame wall with a thickness of 20 cm is 1.3 times cheaper than a wall made of timber, 1.7 times cheaper than a wall made of foam concrete blocks and 2.2 times cheaper than a wall made of brick (with the same energy-saving ability and different wall thicknesses required for its achievements). But too low a price should alert you: perhaps the frame wood will not be dry enough, the sheathing will be of minimal thickness, etc. You should always make sure of the quality of the structures and materials for assembling the house. A reliable indicator of quality is a certificate of technology compliance with European standards (construction, energy-saving, environmental), as well as a guarantee provided by the company (for the highest quality frame houses it is 30 years). One of the advantages of frame construction is the transparency of investments and the accuracy of estimates. The cost of a house set is determined individually after the project is developed and does not change further.

Summary: the cost range for 1 m² of frame houses ranges from the cheapest to the elite.

To understand the construction of the frame of a house with your own hands, you need to consider how the lower and upper trim is performed and how to install the vertical posts of the frame, and determine the most important points of construction.

At this point you should be prepared:

Foundation that has stood for at least 7 days. Concrete gains full strength in 28 days, the frame can be assembled after 7 days. It is safe for the frame and the foundation. When pouring a grillage, sometimes pins (anchors) are placed in it to secure the beam of the bottom frame. If you plan to fasten the beam this way, then the foundation at this stage will look like pillars connected by a grillage with protruding anchors.
Wood for the frame of a house. If the wood is not dried, it must be mounted as soon as possible and, after assembling the frame, immediately covered with OSB. This means that OSB boards must also be prepared in advance.
Lumber treated with antiseptic.
Ruberoid for organizing anti-capillary waterproofing of the foundation. A simple roofing material without ultraviolet stabilization and sprinkling will do (it's a little cheaper).
Fastening elements. It is impossible to calculate exactly the number of fasteners for the frame of a house, since fasteners are a material that often breaks; in some places less of them will be needed, and in others more than planned. To begin with, you can order 9-10 kg of nails (1 kg - 50 mm, 3 kg - 100 mm, 5 kg - 120 mm) and self-tapping screws (100 pieces - 50 mm, 500 pieces - 100 mm). Then it will be easy to estimate the required quantity and purchase the missing fasteners.

Tools:

Figure 1 - a sample of wood in the floor and in the paw.

perforator;
Miter saw;
hand saw;
level;
hammer;
pliers;
roulette;
circular saw or chain saw;
mites;
crowbar;
shovel and sledgehammer;
drill;
electric plane;
a set of magnetic screwdriver attachments;
construction pencils;
jigsaw;
screwdriver;
metal square;
axe;
chop cord.

Before purchasing lumber, it is necessary to determine the thickness of the thermal insulation for the floor, walls and ceiling, since to increase the thickness of the insulation it will be necessary to increase the frame.

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Methods for connecting beams

Figure 2 - Fixing beams at corner joints.

The timber is laid on the grillage along the roofing material already laid on it. Roofing felt is laid immediately before laying the beam of the bottom trim. If it is left uncovered for several months after installation, it may melt or tear. In addition, the roofing material comes here without UV stabilization, so it cannot be left open. Therefore, before laying the bottom trim beam, the foundation can be covered on top with plastic film. This will prevent the concrete milk from being washed away during rain.

Before laying the timber for the bottom trim, check the horizontalness of the upper plane of the grillage with a level. You can lay timber and waterproofing if it is completely flat. Irregularities larger than 1 cm must be leveled with a solution and allowed to stand for 7 days, and then waterproofing and timber for the lower trim must be laid. Unevenness less than 1 cm is leveled by placing planks under the timber for the bottom trim, because a solution of such thickness will not sufficiently adhere to the tape and will gradually move away and crumble.

Figure 3 - Scheme of attaching the timber to the foundation.

The beams for the bottom trim are joined together by tapping at the corners. Of the various sampling options, 2 methods are recommended: sampling wood to the floor and to the paw. These are fairly reliable options; you can choose any of them (see Fig. 1).

The bars are fixed at the corner joints. You can use one of the following connection methods for this:

The beams are connected with an anchor, which secures the beam for the bottom trim to the foundation.
The beams are connected with nails (4 nails at least 150 mm long for each corner). Fasten the nails, retreating from the edge of the beam at a distance of 1.5-2 cm.
At the junction of the beams, a hole with a diameter of at least 20 mm is drilled. A wooden dowel (a pin made of dried oak) is driven into the hole with a hammer; it should protrude at least 8-10 cm above the surface of the beam. This is necessary for the upcoming fastening of the corner posts. The diameter of the dowel should be the same as the diameter of the hole. Or the dowel may have a square shape with a side slightly larger than the diameter of the hole (Fig. 2).

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Fastening the timber for the bottom trim

Figure a, b - Anchor installation diagram.

Before fastening the beams together, you need to check the geometry: angles and diagonals. In addition to the fact that the beams of the lower frame are attached to each other, they are also attached to the foundation. If, at the stage of concreting the grillage, studs were laid as fastenings for the strapping beam, anchors will not be needed. You can immediately begin drilling holes in the timber for the studs in places that correspond to the location of the concreted studs. You should skip the step described below and proceed to attaching the bottom trim beam.

If the studs were not laid, the beam will have to be secured with anchor bolts with a diameter of 16 mm. The anchor must penetrate into the foundation to a depth of at least 100 mm and therefore, with a height of the bottom trim of 100 mm, the entire length of the anchor is 200 mm (see Fig. 3).

Holes for the anchor are drilled into the hardened concrete of the grillage. Then holes are drilled in the trim boards in the places where the anchors are located.

Figure 4 - After fastening the beams of the lower frame together and securing them to the foundation, vertical frame racks are installed.

The timber is secured to the foundation using nuts and wide washers. The washer will increase the contact area between the nut and the wood. If you tighten the nut without a washer, it will sink into the wood, and this is completely undesirable. The nut must be hexagonal (turnkey). A square nut, a round nut, a screwdriver, etc. will not work here. When connecting the beams of the lower frame in the corners with nails or dowels, the anchor is not installed in the corner. In this case, the first anchors are placed along the continuation line of the foundation strip contour (see Fig. a).

If you did not fasten it with nails or dowels in the corner, the first anchor will be in the corner (see Fig. b) and between the corners in increments of approximately 1-1.2 m.

The pitch can sometimes be wider, but not more than 2.4 m. If there are short walls, then there should be at least 2 anchor bolts on one piece of timber for the bottom trim.

Now check the diagonals, angles and levels of the upper frame timber once again. If necessary, the upper plane is leveled with an electric planer. After fastening the beams of the lower frame to each other and securing them to the foundation, install the vertical posts of the frame (see Fig. 4).

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Installation of corner and non-corner racks

Figure 7 - Scheme of timber cutting.

Install the corner posts of the house frame with your own hands.

If the beam of the bottom trim was connected at the corners with an anchor or nails, then the corner post is secured with steel corners. To do this, use reinforced corners.
If the method with dowels was chosen to connect the beams at the corners, then vertical extensions of wooden dowels of 8-10 cm will remain. Now corner posts are put on these dowels.

To do this, drill a hole with a diameter of approximately 20 mm in the lower end of the rack (depending on the diameter of the dowel). Each corner post is put on a dowel and secured with temporary jibs, which are also needed when fastening the corner post with steel corners.

Installation of non-corner posts

There are two options for mounting racks:

Attach the racks using the cutting method (cutting into the floor of the timber or full cutting).
Fasten with galvanized steel corners (approximately 2 mm thick).

Fastening with corners is best done with galvanized self-tapping screws, but you can also use black non-galvanized ones.

To attach the racks using the cutting method, markings are applied to the beam of the lower frame and grooves are made according to the size of the rack (depth 30-50% of the height of the beam). For example, if the height of the beam is 100 mm, make a cutting with a depth of 30-50 mm (see Fig. 7).

Figure 8 - Temporary fastening of the frame with long slopes.

Regardless of the method of fastening non-corner posts, they must be secured with temporary jibs. You can install a long jib on several racks at the same time or 2 short jib on each rack.

Temporary fastening of the frame with long bevels. (Fig. 8.)

If the frame layout for all walls was not made in advance, that is, it was planned to work without drawings, it is necessary to take into account at this stage that the pitch of the racks in the places of door and window openings may be different. Therefore, you should still sketch out all the main elements and walls, of course, with dimensions.

The height of the vertical post when fastened with corners is equal to the height of the floor. And when fastening using the cutting method, it should be higher by 2 cutting depths.

The bars of the upper trim at the corners are also joined using cutting.

The upper frame beam is attached to the vertical posts in the same way that was chosen for attaching the posts to the bottom frame (steel angles or cutting).

Today, this type of construction, such as the construction of frame houses, has become very popular. This is due to simple technology and the ability to do the work yourself.

A logical question arises: how, where to start, what to pay special attention to. Many people are concerned about how to secure a frame house. To answer all these questions, let's consider possible options for frame construction.

Common construction methods

Diagram of corner connections in a frame house.

Everyone has heard at least once about the frame-panel construction method, but it is unlikely that they delved deeply into its essence. This method involves carrying out work using materials delivered to the actual construction site. This list includes beams of various designs, thermal insulation and vapor barrier materials, roofing elements, fasteners, etc.

Usually this option is carried out by professional builders in strict accordance with the project. All parts of the house have special markings, with the help of which builders connect them into a single whole. Sheathing of the finished frame is carried out using OSB boards, followed by work on thermal insulation and wiring of various types of communications. And after all this work is completed, you can begin interior and exterior finishing work. Of course, it cannot be done without installing the roof; in individual cases, the issue of decorating the area adjacent to the house can be resolved.

Another method, frame-panel, consists of assembling finished panels, including frame parts, insulating material, etc., directly at the factory for their production. Ready-made parts and blocks of the future house are delivered to the construction site. These include steps equipped with windows and doors, pediments, roofing elements, floors, etc. The assembly of such a house is carried out very quickly - in a maximum of a week. The building turns out to be beautiful, cozy and, of course, very warm, which is important.

Any type of frame building includes in its design walls (external), partitions, ceilings and roofing. All these important elements are arranged according to the same scheme. The frame is made of wooden beams and is subsequently sheathed on both sides with some kind of sheet material. The void created inside is filled with modern and fairly effective thermal insulation materials.

Both of these technologies are quite common in our time and are considered the most promising in the field of private housing construction.

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Technological procedure for the construction of frame houses

The construction of frame-panel houses is, in fact, the assembly of a house from pre-prepared panels, similar to the LEGO set.

Before you begin construction, you need to take care of preparing the site and the materials you will need during the work process.

The first priority will be building the foundation. After it is filled, you need to wait approximately 7 days. Everyone knows that the foundation gains the necessary strength only after 30 days, but despite this, the construction of a frame house can begin within a week. Your actions will not be destructive to the foundation; even professionals are of this opinion. For subsequent fastening of the lower trim made of timber to the frame, you can place special pins in it at the time of pouring the grillage. It is with their help that the fastening will be carried out. One end of the stud should be recessed into the foundation, and the other should be positioned vertically to its surface. The height of the stud (anchor) must be at least 10 cm. Please note that this is the height of the outer part; the anchor goes deeper into the foundation by the same value (10 cm).
Having finished with the foundation, you need to take care of purchasing material for the frame. The wooden frame blanks will subsequently be sheathed using OSB boards, which means they should also be purchased in advance.
All wooden elements of the future frame must be treated with an antiseptic composition before installation work is carried out, since it will be much more difficult to subject an already assembled frame to this procedure.
Prepare materials for waterproofing in advance. Usually this is roofing felt. Even the cheapest of its types is ideal for this stage.
You also need to take care of purchasing various fasteners in advance. It is difficult to determine how many of them you will need, since these fasteners break quite often, so think about the amount of stock in advance. The standard option involves purchasing fasteners in the following quantities: nails - 50 mm (1 kg), 100 mm (3 kg), 120 mm (5 kg); self-tapping screws - 50 mm (100 pieces), 100 mm (500 pieces). It is usually not difficult to purchase this mounting material.
Now about the tools. You will most likely need:

axe;
hammer;
screwdriver;
saw;
drill;
building level;
square;
drills of different sizes;
Fomka and some others.

Thermal insulation material is also purchased in advance, since the size of the frame will depend on its quality, more precisely, thickness. Thicker thermal insulation material requires a larger frame size.

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Fastening points during the construction of a frame house

As it became clear from the above information, a frame house is durable and economical, and its construction does not take much time. But in order for your house to fully comply with these characteristics, you need to take care of the correct assembly of the fastening points of the frame building.

This process is quite complex, so before starting construction, it is best to carefully study the technology for assembling components.

The roof of a frame house can be covered with any materials that the developer likes. The main thing is that this process is carried out in compliance with all norms and rules.

Those who know little about construction work may wonder what fasteners are. The answer is simple: these are the connections between structural parts throughout the house. The most basic of them are floors, roofing systems and walls. Moreover, each of these main units has a number of important nodal fastenings in its design.

Below is a list of the most basic fastening points in a frame structure from bottom to top:

fastening the bottom frame made of timber to the surface of the foundation; here you can also note the joining of the beams of the bottom frame to each other in corner joints;
installation of vertical racks; Please note that the corner racks are installed first, only then the remaining non-corner racks;
fastening the top trim made of timber; performing this task involves the same method as attaching vertical posts to the bottom trim;
connections, the function of which is to strengthen the frame structure in horizontal and vertical planes; this will help the frame to be more stable, rigid and easily withstand negative impacts of various origins;
fastening the ceiling beams to the top timber frame.

first of all, this is the connection of the rafters and the top trim;
Next comes the connection of the rafters themselves in a place called the ridge;
connection of rafters and crossbar;
fastening the counter-lattice and rafters;
and finally, the connection between the sheathing and rafters.

All of the above fasteners are load-bearing in nature; they will be responsible for the strength of the entire building structure. But at the same time, you should not lose sight of secondary fastening points, which include logs and interfloor ceilings.

In order to ensure high-quality fastening, special fasteners are used to connect various parts. Their development and production are carried out in strict accordance with the specifics of these works. Read more about these important elements below.

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Fasteners for the construction of frame houses

As already noted, for the reliability and high strength of a frame house structure, it is necessary to use only high-quality fasteners designed specifically for these purposes. Each fastening point involves the use of an individual type of fastening elements. Using them as fasteners, you can avoid complex connections, such as inserting or installing various so-called locks.

The material for the manufacture of such fasteners is cold-rolled steel. The thickness of the workpiece varies from 2 to 4 mm. The size, structural shape, number and size of perforations and the presence of stiffeners directly depend on what types of fastening a particular fastening element is intended for.
As for the perforation, focusing on its size, determine the thickness of the nails or bolts suitable for this fastening, and, of course, their number. This option allows you to without hesitation determine the required number of nails (bolts) that will be needed to securely fix the connection, and you will also avoid cracking of the wooden components of the frame.
The coating of fasteners varies, but in any case they undergo anti-corrosion treatment. Most often this is either a zinc surface, or primed, or using polymer-powder paint.

As mentioned above, this kind of connecting fasteners saves you from numerous and rather complex node connections that require certain skills. This is the implementation of a half-tree type insertion or the implementation of tightening locks. By making such connections, you reduce the strength of the wooden structure, since the cross-section at the junction of the two parts is reduced. But the use of steel fasteners only increases reliability, creating additional reinforcement of the connection.

The nodes of a frame house are called important places that must be built in a certain way in order for them to fulfill the role that is inherent in them by technology.

Several dogmas of frame housing construction.

1. The frame house must be assembled on nails. Any statements that it can be assembled using screws or corners are unnecessary myths for frame house construction. Builders all over the world are building frame houses on nails(except for the Japanese, who build them on huge wooden pins and from huge timber, but not on self-tapping screws). The hack builders will try to convince you otherwise, but don’t believe them. Trust me and the building codes.

2. In a frame house practically not used iron corners. They are not needed there. The exception is working with trusses, where they are used for ease of installation. This rule does not apply to steel “boots”, which are used to hang the joists of a house or terrace from the beams “from the side”. Although this connection can often be replaced with a “support board” connection.

3. For a frame house they are used nails 90 mm(frame) and 60-70 mm (floor and trim). Large nails are not required even when working with 50 mm thick boards, and even more so if you have a frame house made of 40 mm thick boards. Reinsurance with the use of large nails is unnecessary and only leads to an increase in the value of the house.

So, let's move on to specific nodes and nail fights in them.

Frame house floor

How to nail a second floor joist frame to a double wall frame (this is also true for the first floor):

Fastening the joists of the second floor (also valid for the first floor):

The impact of nails in the floor joists through the joist strapping (this is also true for the first floor, where instead of the strapping there is a bench or):

Nail connection of the floor joist on the central load-bearing wall of the frame:

How many nails need to be driven into the joist lintel above the central support:

Marking subfloor slabs

Subfloor and its fastening to the floor joists (this is also true for covering walls with slab material):

Frame house walls

We hammer nails into the lower frame of the wall:

Upper frame of the house wall to the wall studs:

We knock down the wall frame posts to the bottom frame and subfloor:

We attach the frame racks in the middle of the house to the bottom frame and floor joists in the middle of the house:

The second top frame of the house is attached to the bottom frame and frame wall posts:

Double post of the opening for the header:

Nails in the header of a window (opening) at home:

Jib in the wall of the house:

Additional board for attaching gypsum boards to the ceiling:

We present to your attention an option with construction of a frame house with a reinforced frame. As an example, we suggest considering a one-and-a-half-story house, 8x10 m, built by our company in 2011, with a roof made of polymer-sand tiles. in the village of Olgino.

Foundation: Currently, in suburban construction, especially when construction of frame houses, foundations made of screw piles are very popular. This is completely justified. Since such a foundation does not require large material costs and is suitable for many soils, which is important when building houses in the Leningrad region. Installation is convenient and simple; setting up such a foundation does not require a lot of time. The standard length of the pile is 2 m 50 cm, the diameter of the pipe is 108 mm, the wall thickness of the pile pipe is 4 mm, the metal thickness of the lower screw auger is 5 mm. The pile is screwed into the soil below the freezing point. The screw base goes deep to hard, stable soils. Then the pile is filled with concrete and equipped with a fastening head.

Trim: Base frame house, made from two paired bars. The bottom beam is 200x200 mm, which corresponds to the thickness of the insulation of this frame house. Top beam 150x150 mm. In the combination of beams, a shoulder remains on the lower beam, which will later serve as a support for the floor joists. The lower frame beam is attracted to the pile heads using screw bolts. Between the head and the lower beam of the trim, waterproofing (roofing felt) is laid. Corner and transverse connections are tightened with a metal dowel (Nail). The surface of the strapping is treated with an appropriate antiseptic.

Subfloor: To form the subfloor as shown construction of a country frame house, dry, edged, antiseptic board with a cross section of 22 mm is used. A board cut to size is placed between the joists on a head block nailed to the bottom of the floor joist. Floor joists are made from edged boards 50x200 mm. In the upper beam of the strapping, transverse cuts are made into which the end of the floor joist is placed, the lower beam of the strapping plays the role of a supporting arm. The distance between the logs is 60 cm. The middle part of the log rests on the intermediate strapping beam.
House frame: For construction of the frame of a country house, antiseptic, edged, dry board 50x200 mm is used. Vertical posts are spaced along the perimeter of the frame at a distance of 58 cm. The insulation board has a cross section of 60 cm, so it will fit tightly between the posts. The lower end of the vertical post is attached to the lower beam of the frame. The upper end of the rack is connected to the upper horizontal belt, for which a 150x150 mm beam is used. Corner posts are combined from a pair of 50x200 mm boards. From the outside, horizontal belts made of 50x200 mm edged boards are stretched along the frame. For additional stability, support braces are placed in the corners. All connections are first nailed together, then tightly tightened with a metal fastening angle with an additional stiffening rib.
Rafter system: In the shown option for building a frame house, for the manufacture of a truss, a 50x200 mm edged board is used. The width of the board corresponds to the thickness of the roof insulation. The lower horizontal element of the truss triangle is mounted from two paired 50x200 mm boards, and is tightened with screw studs along with the intermediate supporting vertical posts of the truss. To strengthen the structure frame house all connections are tightened with a metal strip and angle. The permissible distance between trusses is 60 cm.
Roof structure: To form the roof in the shown frame house, polymer-sand tiles are used. Along the entire perimeter of the roof, a wind-proof, moisture-proof fabric is laid and well covered. Next, on top of the canvas, on the edge of the rafter leg, a block of counter-sheathing is nailed. Then bars are laid horizontally in increments of 35 cm, onto which the tiles are attached. Ridge and valley strips, front strips and other related elements necessary for roof installation are installed.

Exterior finish: In the shown country house For exterior finishing, OSB-3 board is used, with smooth and straight edges. The OSB-3 board is moisture resistant and plays the role of a starting finishing material. In the future, OSB will use a different finishing material. By house frame the wind-moisture-proof fabric is stretched, followed by a block of counter-sheathing. Next, the OSB board is fastened with a self-tapping screw, and the connection of the two sheets is on the counter-sheathing block.