What kind of timber is used in the construction of houses. What to choose: dry profiled timber or regular. The choice of timber for building a house

Log houses are quite popular these days because they are environmentally friendly, have an attractive appearance and are relatively cheap. In order to save money, many home craftsmen build buildings from timber with their own hands.

To date, there are various types of timber for building a house, and each of them has its own differences, which we will discuss in this article.

Timber as a modern building material

Log buildings were erected in Russia from time immemorial. Warm, strong and durable houses were obtained from wood, which for many years did not need any repairs.

The beam has all the advantages of a log, while being easy to use. In addition, this material has many more advantages that should be considered in more detail.

The advantages of timber

1. Timber buildings are distinguished by simplicity and high speed of construction.
2. Low price.
3. Buildings made of wood are distinguished by high performance characteristics that are maintained throughout the entire period of operation.

1. Timber buildings "breathe", creating a unique microclimate, a country house.
2. The use of timber as a building material excludes interior and exterior decoration. Such walls are quite warm and have an excellent appearance. Therefore, if you do not plan to operate the building all year round, then wall decoration is not needed.

Advice!
Ordinary building timber, unlike glued and profiled timber, needs finishing work.
The fact is that such walls need caulking, which is almost impossible to carry out evenly.

1. Various sizes and types of timber allow you to implement any design projects. This building material is very flexible in work, due to which today the types of houses made of timber are limited only by the designer's imagination.

timber types

Now consider the types of timber. The great popularity of this building material was the reason for the creation of several of its types, each of which has both visual differences and unique technical characteristics.

To date, there are three types of timber:

1. Construction (regular) bru with.

It is a log that is planed on four sides to give a rectangular section. It is the cheapest and simplest material option.

It has the following advantages over a log:

• Faster construction process.
• Great strength and heat capacity.
• Great ease of corner connections.
• lower cost. Many experts argue that this material is an excellent example of the best value for money.

The disadvantages of building materials include the need for finishing work. However, here there is one nuance that turns a disadvantage into an advantage. The fact is that in the process of finishing the walls can be additionally insulated, which will make it possible to use such a house for year-round use.

Advice!
Since buildings made of ordinary timber are subject to significant shrinkage (about 20 cm for a two-storey building), the walls must be finished at least six months after the completion of construction work.

1. Profiled timber differs from the usual one in that it has a more complex cross section. It is necessary for better joining of elements, which makes the walls warmer and more durable.

The types of profiled timber differ only in the structure of the profile, however, in any case, the elements are calculated in such a way as to prevent moisture from penetrating into the interventional one.

Advice!
You don't have to caulk the profiled timber walls, as they look great even without finishing.
However, such houses are suitable only for seasonal living, since without additional insulation, timber walls are quite difficult to heat in the winter.

1. Glued timber. This type of material is the most expensive, because it combines exceptionally high quality with an attractive appearance. Glued building material is the result of gluing several pre-dried lamellas together. After gluing, the material is placed under the press.
   Before gluing, the lamellas are carefully selected, and those areas that have even the slightest defects are subject to immediate removal. In order to increase the strength of the glued beams, the lamellas are laid with perpendicular alternation of fibers. This way of laying allows you to compensate for the stress that occurs due to the effects of weather conditions.

There are different types of glued laminated lumber that depend on wood as a raw material. The highest quality is considered a combined glued laminated timber. Its peculiarity is as follows: the outer lamellas are made of larch wood, and the inner ones are made of pine.

It is famous for its resistance to decay and various external influences, and therefore the material is very strong and durable.

The properties of natural wood are attributed to glued laminated timber, while it is not characterized by the shortcomings of wood, in particular shrinkage, which allows finishing work to be carried out immediately after the completion of construction work. Another advantage of the material is the increased heat and sound insulation characteristics.

Types of corner joints for timber and logs

One of the main stages in the construction of timber houses is the laying of a log house. And before starting construction work, you need to know how to connect the bars to each other, for which the material is subject to special preparation.

A log connection may be needed in two cases:

1. When cutting the corner of a building.
2. In the case of timber extension, when the element was not cut to length.

Joining methods for beams are different from logs. Therefore, we will consider some types of cutting corners from a bar.

There are currently two methods in use:

1. With the rest. In the people it is called "in the bowl."
2. No remainder. The popular name is "to the tooth."

Let's consider both options in more detail:

1. connection with the remainder.
   It can be of three types:

• Unilateral. In each element, a notch is made on one side - a perpendicular groove. Such a file must correspond in width to the perpendicular section of the beam. Most developers use this technology when working with profiled timber, since such fastening requires a minimum of effort.
• bilateral.

A double-sided slot lock involves cuts on both sides of the timber (top and bottom). The depth of the perpendicular cuts should be equal to a quarter of the height of the element. This technology allows you to achieve a high quality joint, but requires a lot of experience from carpenters, since chips and cracks in the cut are unacceptable.

• Quadripartite. In this case, the grooves are cut from all sides of the timber. This technology allows to achieve high strength of the frame. Cuts provided on all sides greatly simplify the process of erection - all crowns are stacked like a designer.

This method significantly increases the reliability of the building. Like the previous version, the four-way connection requires high skill from the carpenter.

Your warm and reliable home is the dream of many people. A house built of wood is not only warm and reliable, but also environmentally friendly. Modern construction technologies offer various options for the construction of wooden houses. Perhaps the best is building a house from a bar.

The beam minimizes the unpredictability of the behavior of the tree during operation, and therefore is the optimal building material. Timber houses are completed within one season and have a lifespan of at least 50 years. There are 4 types of timber used in the manufacture of wooden houses: solid non-profiled, solid profiled, glued profiled and the so-called LVL timber (from the English LVL - Laminated Veneer Lumber).

Which is better to use to get a house that is optimal in terms of price / quality ratio? Consider the pros and cons of each type.

Solid non-profiled

The beam is made from a single log, which has a round edge cut off on four sides. For the construction of residential buildings, as a rule, a bar 150x150 mm of natural drying is used.

• low cost;
• availability at any sawmill, that is, by choosing the nearest one, the issue of delivery of building material is easily resolved.

• warping, shrinkage and cracking - shortcomings of natural drying wood;
• wood defects - internal rot, flying knots, foci of damage by pests, fungus that appear after construction is completed;
• the need for additional finishing - it is not subjected to finishing, therefore, it needs additional finishing;
• the need for enhanced insulation of the seams - it does not have strict transverse dimensions and evenness of the saw cut, as a result - large gaps between the crowns;
• low manufacturability - initially not suitable for the construction of walls, so you have to make additional strengthening of the bearing walls and corners of the house, and this is extra labor and time.

The price of a solid unprofiled bar of natural moisture is about 9500 rubles. per cube Plus the cost of finishing, mandatory processing with fire-retardant compounds and additional work.

Conclusion: not the best material for building a house, but if you have working hands, patience, accuracy and attention to detail during construction, you can build a house from it, and for moderate money.

Solid profiled

The beam is also made from a single log, only at the same time it is driven through special equipment, where it is given ideal geometric dimensions, a special lock profile is selected and, of course, planed to give an aesthetic appearance.

• low probability of warping - the technology of industrial drying of wood makes it possible to achieve 10-15% moisture content in the final material with virtually no deformation effects;
• does not need additional processing and fine finishing of the walls;
• high connection accuracy (no gaps);
• manufacturability - locking profiles greatly facilitate the construction process.

• all possible defects of wood, which were mentioned above;
• the need for additional time for shrinkage - after all, the existing probability of shrinkage and warpage of solid beams requires time for shrinkage of finished walls.

The price for a solid profiled beam of chamber drying is on average 12,000 rubles. per cube More expensive than unfiltered, but the final result is much higher in quality.

Conclusion: after processing with fire and bioprotection, subject to the construction technology, perhaps the best choice in terms of price / quality ratio, however, one must be prepared to deal with possible "surprises" of a solid bar.

Glued profiled timber

As the name implies, this type of timber is also calibrated and equipped with a lock profile. However, it is not made from a single log, but from separate blocks. They are glued under pressure with special glue.

• all the advantages of profiled timber;
• resistance to warping - due to the combination of different types of wood when chopping blocks for one log, further deformation, cracking is absolutely excluded and shrinkage of finished beams is practically excluded;
• no need for additional time for shrinkage - a house built from glued beams does not shrink and is habitable almost immediately after construction is completed.

• high price;
• low environmental friendliness compared to a solid timber - glue is an alien material;
• the natural circulation of moisture inside the timber is somewhat disturbed, due to the use of glue, moisture is not able to circulate between the layers, because of this, a slight disturbance of the microclimate inside the house is possible.

The price of glued laminated timber is on average 25,000 rubles. per cube - twice as expensive as whole. However, it should be noted that the cost of a project of wooden houses made of glued laminated timber is no different from similar projects of houses made of solid timber, and in the cost of construction itself, the cost of walls is about half of the entire construction budget. Consequently, the final house will not rise in price by much. In addition, with a reduction in construction time, and when using glued laminated timber, as mentioned above, it is minimal, the cost of work also decreases.

Conclusion: if it is possible to spend money on this expensive version of a timber, then for the quick construction of a turnkey wooden house this is the best option, otherwise, it is probably better to stop at a solid profiled timber.

Beam LVL

The manufacturing technology of LVL timber resembles the technology of glued laminated timber, only it is glued not from a block, but from 3 mm veneer. Plywood is produced in almost the same way, only, unlike it, the wood of adjacent layers in an LVL beam is parallel to each other relative to the fibers. This allows this type of timber to be processed in the same way as solid or glued timber. When gluing, the density of the various layers is selected in such a way that the denser layers are located on the outside, and the soft ones are on the inside.

• all the advantages of profiled glued beams, only raised to the rank of an absolute;
• increased strength and elasticity, as well as indefiniteness in length, makes it possible to manufacture spans of any size;
• increased moisture, fire and biostability.

• the highest price;
• the lowest environmental friendliness.

The price for LVL timber is about 35,000 rubles / m 3. Such a price makes it unprofitable when building the walls of houses from timber, but since it makes it possible to increase the spans without the use of supporting pillars and beams, in combination with other types of timber, it significantly expands the possibilities when choosing a project.

Conclusion: for the construction of walls is an irrational material, but quite suitable for auxiliary structures.

All conclusions are quite clearly shown in the final table:

Thus, what will be the house, it is always up to the one who will live in it. Materials for construction must be selected based on your requests and available funds. From the analysis carried out, we can conclude that the most preferable for building a house from a bar are solid profiled and glued profiled bars, however, there is also a place for other types.

For the construction of private houses, timber is becoming more and more relevant, which is a suitable material for both summer cottages and country houses. The beam is a log of wood with a square or rectangular section. Wood for the manufacture of logs - both coniferous and deciduous trees (larch, pine, cedar, spruce, etc.), which have all the characteristics of materials for the construction of residential premises.

The advantage of log houses is that this lumber has a small mass, is environmentally friendly and safe for human health, and is affordable. In addition, wooden houses are built very quickly and provide a lot of options for interior solutions.

So which bar to choose?

Our experts have summarized the characteristics of all types of lumber in a table, based on many years of construction experience.

These tables clearly represent the qualitative characteristics of timber in comparison with chopped logs, and allow you to make an assessment of various building materials and wood.

	chopped log	rounded log	Bar of natural moisture		Glued laminated timber
Humidity		natural, 18-20%	natural, 18-20%	natural, 18-20%
Shrinkage period	up to 3 years		up to 3 years
wall cladding	not required	not required	from 2 sides	not required	not required
Finishing work
House care after construction	After 5 years, re-caulk and paint / impregnate with compositions without fail. Further painting / impregnation with compositions is carried out every 5 years.	After 5 years, re-caulk and paint without fail. Further painting is carried out every 5 years.	The house needs to be sheathed from 2 sides, so nothing can be done if the sheathing is not wooden.		Every 5 years painting / impregnation with compounds.
Production time					2-4 weeks
Price per cube with work (more details on pricing here)
	environmentally friendly material, better air and moisture exchange, accumulates heat (cool in summer, warm in winter). Preservation of the protective layer of the tree - sapwood.		environmentally friendly material, better air and moisture exchange, plus it accumulates heat (cool in summer, warm in winter)	environmentally friendly material, the best air and moisture exchange, plus it accumulates heat (cool in summer, warm in winter). Gives less shrinkage. A tighter fit of the beam, does not require caulking. The shape of the profile prevents rainwater from penetrating between the bars. Cracks in depth and width are much smaller than those of a rounded log.	Minimum shrinkage, glued laminated timber does not change its shape during operation. Manufacturing technology allows to exclude defective areas of wood. High quality of front surfaces, absolutely no cracks, aesthetic appearance. Glued laminated timber has a greater strength compared to ordinary wood. It is possible to start finishing work within 2 weeks after completion of construction. Elite material, very low cracking. Also, in pursuit of super profits, the manufacturer can use low-quality and cheap wood in production, which will show itself only after a few years
	Moderate cracking of logs, caulking required	Severe cracking due to removal of sapwood cover, caulk required	Strong cracking due to the removal of the protective layer of sapwood. Mandatory finishing is required (sometimes very expensive). Purge	severe cracking	Contains glue (depending on the correctness of the chosen glue and the literacy of the manufacturer)
Advantages at the first stage of building a house in terms of capital investment, i.e. how much will the log house itself cost, without finishing and everything else

Our experts came to a common opinion that the best in terms of quality characteristics are buildings made of glued and profiled beams. Here are their salient features:

Photo of houses from a bar: profiled and glued

As you can see, houses built from profiled and glued beams have practically no differences.

Timber logs

Advantages and disadvantages of different types of timber

1. Glued timber.

It consists of several boards or bars of small size, interconnected with a special adhesive composition. The purchase of glued laminated timber in the form of a finished log house will be appropriate for the construction of a bathhouse, garage, cottage, house or outbuildings.

The advantages of this type of timber include:

• Strength;
• Minimum shrinkage even after many years of operation;
• Fire resistance due to special impregnation;
• The material is prefabricated, which makes it possible to choose bars of various shapes and sizes;
• Efficiency of building construction.
• Good thermal insulation of the house;
• Practically does not require interior decoration.

Despite a number of positive characteristics, glued lumber also has significant disadvantages:

• Relatively high cost of the material.
• The possibility of acquiring material of insufficiently good quality. At first glance, glued laminated timber seems to be of high quality, but only after a long period of time you can understand what it really is. Poor-quality timber begins to dry out, beams or walls are deformed, and boards begin to stick. To prevent this from happening, you need to carefully choose lumber, focusing on its price. Since glued laminated timber itself is not cheap, the higher the price, the better the quality of the buildings.
• Insufficient quality, that is, cheap lumber, does not have the necessary environmentally friendly characteristics. As a rule, it is treated with impregnations based on synthetic compounds. This excludes air circulation in the wood and leads to the release of toxic substances. There are no adhesive formaldehyde compounds in high-quality lumber, and it is impregnated only with natural impregnations.

2. Rounded timber

obtained by processing logs on special carpentry machines. The bars are round in shape, of the same size and length, which is ideal for building a bathhouse or a house.

Rounded beams can be selected in various diameters and know that they have the following positive characteristics:

• Aesthetic appearance of buildings;
• The strength and durability of buildings is ensured by solid logs;
• Efficiency of erection of buildings;
• Good sound insulation of rooms;
• Reasonable price for any budget;
• Good thermal insulation and fast heating;
• Does not require facade finishing.

Despite a sufficient number of positive aspects, rounded beams also have negative sides:

• Exposure to adverse weather factors. Rounded logs can crack.
• Houses made of logs have a certain period of shrinkage - from 1 to 3 years, and at this time they are not suitable for living. At this time, you should not start the arrangement, it is better to use the building as a summer residence.

The quality of rounded beams is easily determined - by the appearance of the sawn timber. The presence of mold, rot, chips, darkening, cracks and irregularities is a reason to refrain from buying. A quality log house should be made of logs of the same length and thickness, treated with impregnation to protect against mold.

Nevertheless, our experts advise not to build houses from logs, as they are prone to cracking.

3. Profiled timber

This lumber is convenient for construction work, since the grooves on both sides provide strength and better connection of the structure. According to our experts, profiled timber is ideal for building a house or garage. The aesthetic appearance of the building is ensured by the flatness and smoothness of the outer and inner sides and the side connecting grooves.

The advantages of profiled timber include the following:

• Ease of fastening beams in the construction of walls and partitions;
• Made from solid wood;
• Possibility to choose different shapes of beams;
• Tight-fitting beams do not require additional work and the consumption of lumber for sealing cracks;
• Excellent thermal insulation of the room;
• Long-term heat retention;
• Does not require work on interior and exterior decoration.

The disadvantages of the material include the following:

• Poor-quality treatment with antifungal impregnation, as a result of which the material begins to rot.
• In the manufacture of material from low-quality wood, cracks may occur on it;
• The unnatural humidity of the timber prolongs its shrinkage period up to 3 years.

For the construction of various buildings, it is worth choosing a wooden beam, focusing on its quality characteristics.

The question arises: how much timber should be purchased for a log house? How to choose? How to arrange delivery? How and where to store on the site?

How to choose?

If you are building on your own, then it is better to choose pine. It is much easier to process (and by weight) than larch. Modern impregnations will allow pine timber to almost equal larch timber in terms of moisture resistance. And for the price, pine is much more profitable than larch, and even more so cedar. But if there are funds to hire a team, then you can think about a more moisture-resistant larch. And it is physically difficult for one to build from larch.

We did not consider glued and profiled timber due to its high cost. We chose the usual pine timber. It is necessary, of course, to choose it yourself, directly on the basis of building materials.

• The blue and grayness of wood signal the presence of mold processes. Do not take such a bar. Although at the base you will be convinced of the opposite.
• It is better to buy winter harvesting timber, it “leads” less, and it is drier. Many bases also provide a service for storing timber until spring. Well, if it was not possible to buy a “winter” timber, then try to fold the log house as quickly as possible, since every day it will be “led” more and more, that is, acquire a stable bend along the longitudinal axis.
• A bar curved in one plane is called a "beam", and a bar curved in two planes at once is called a "propeller". If the “rocker” can still somehow be corrected during laying, then it’s bad with the “propellers”, such beams are very difficult to lay. When selecting a bar, in no case do not take the "propellers"! You can check the beam for bending by standing at its end and, squinting, look at its other end.
• Of course, it is better to buy timber at bases where there is a roof over the material stored there. It would be ideal if you also use the services of drying the forest in a special drying chamber.
• You should not buy a timber of the third grade, better than the first or second. Savings in price will then affect the quality of the log house, and the interior decoration will become more expensive.
• It is better to buy a bar loosened on a band sawmill than on a regular one, since I drank on a band saw. Then it will be easier to process such a bar with a planer.
• If it is possible to carefully choose the forest at the base (for example, if there is a good relationship with the owner of the base), then you can also be guided by the principle: take the bar with the “rings” located more densely, that is, the northern part of the tree. This side is then placed on the outside. This is how our great-grandfathers built it. And if they allow you to choose also with a minimum of knots and wane (bark remnants), then this is generally wonderful.

How much do you need to buy timber for a log house?

First, you need to understand what kind of beam you will use. Section 15x15 (or more) - for country houses and cottages. We built an ordinary country house, so our choice fell on the most common section 10x15 (15 in height). And, of course, you need to know all three measurements of the house - length, width, height, number and parameters of partitions, windows, doors. You need to know how many ceiling beams and floor logs will be - for this you can use the table for calculating the sections of wooden single-span beams and logs.
There are two ways to calculate the amount of timber. The first method allows you to quickly and easily orient how many cubes you need, but it is inaccurate. In this method, for ease of calculation, we do not take into account windows and doors. For example, for a 6x6 house 2.5m high (from the foundation to the top of the ceiling beams) with one partition along the entire length of the house, you will need: 6m * 2.5m height * 0.1m (beam width) * 5 walls \u003d 7.5 cubic meters. Plus on the ceiling beams and floor logs: according to the section calculation table, for example, 10 beams 10x15 6-meter per floor and the same amount per ceiling = 6m (length) * 0.1m (width) * 0.15m (height) * 10 pieces *2 = 1.8 cu. Only 9.3 cubes. We take with a small margin of 6-7% in terms of waste, a total of 10 cubic meters. Piece by piece, this will be: 10 cubes: (the volume of one bar is 6m * 0.1m * 0.15m) \u003d 10 cubes: 0.09 cubes \u003d approximately 111 bars.
The second method allows you to more accurately calculate, since both windows and doors are taken into account. We start in the same way, but it will be necessary to subtract the window and door openings. For example, in the above house there will be two doors - the entrance and in the partition, this is minus two doors in volume occupying 2m (door height) * 0.9m (door width) * 0.1m (opening thickness) \u003d 0.18 cubic meters each. We also minus the windows: 5 windows * 1.2m (window height) * 1.2m (window width) * 0.1m (opening thickness) \u003d 5 * 0.144 \u003d 0.72 cubic meters for all windows. Together with two doors, this is 0.72 cubic meters + 2 * 0.18 cubic meters \u003d 1.08 cubic meters. But here it must be taken into account that in order to tie the box of the log house, it is necessary to make jumpers on the windows - one at a time, and on the doors - two at a time. That is, it will be 5 windows * 1.2m * 0.1m * 0.15m + 2 doors * 2 lintels * 0.9m * 0.1m * 0.15m = 0.144 cubic meters. This amendment must be subtracted from 1.08 cubic meters, you get 0.936 cubic meters. We divide this by the volume of one bar (0.09 cubic meters), and we get that we would buy about 10 unnecessary bars. Thus, according to the second calculation method - more complex, we need to buy 101 bars.

How to arrange delivery?

Firstly, you need to understand whether the country road can withstand the car with the entire volume of the forest at a time. Our road can withstand only about 6 tons, we remember this from the mixer-concrete mixer, so we divided the entire volume into two deliveries. The weight of one cube of standard moisture pine is from 460kg to 620kg, larch from 650kg to 800kg. On the first day we brought 5 tons, on the second day 4.5 tons. Of course, the days for delivery must be chosen dry, unless, of course, you have asphalt rolled up to your house.

It is better to order a self-loader, since it is still a pleasure to unload the same 100 beams weighing 72 kg each.

Fig. 1 It is better to ask the truck driver to use tarpaulin tapes when unloading, rather than chains - quite large chips are torn out of the timber with chains

Do not be afraid to order from the base located in the neighboring area of ​​the city. At wholesale bases, the price of timber is always cheaper than in hardware stores located along the way to the dacha. Yes, delivery will cost a little more, but the choice of timber at wholesale depots is wider. Yes, and usually self-loaders are taken for at least three hours of work, so the game is not worth the candle here.

How and where to store on the site?

When the loader brings you timber, he will most likely dump everything just on the ground, in one heap. So you need to immediately lay out the timber, even if you are sure that the construction will be completed in a week.
It is better to store in the shade. The surface must be even. Try to avoid slopes and bumps, carefully check everything with a building level. Lay, for example, knocked-down shields left from the formwork to protect the bottom row of timber from dew. Under the shields - bricks to make it higher. Ideally, if the height from the ground is 30 centimeters. Or you can use not knocked down shields, but every meter and a half on the ground put old sleepers or logs, or other old, but strong and thick material. Also check the level.

Fig. 2 Our forest lay on shields

We put bars of the same thickness on the shields, then the first row of bars, 10 pieces in a row, keep the distance between adjacent bars about 1 cm. Do not make our mistake, do not put the bars from the old painted fence, although it is convenient - the entire bar is of the same thickness, but the paint will remain on the bar. Then stack each row through the bars. The distance between the bars is about 70cm. And one more thing - store it so that the beams lie with the narrower side horizontally, and the high side vertically. That is, a 10x15 beam should be laid vertically with a 15-centimeter edge, and horizontally with a 10-centimeter edge. It is necessary.

Fig. 3 Do not forget that the bar must be of the same thickness for each row, otherwise the bar will lead literally in a day!

At the end of laying, be sure to organize a canopy over the stack or cover it with slate sheets

Fig. 4 Press the slate sheets with bricks, since with a strong wind the slate can easily be blown away

And finally, remember that when buying a forest of natural moisture, you need to put it into action as soon as possible. It is better to start building from the very next day, since even with properly organized storage, when drying under natural conditions, cracks form in the beam, and the rejection of the material after a month or two can be up to 10%.

Many of those who live in stuffy apartments, and when they go out into the street fall into gray smog and deaf from the noise of cars, want to change their environment. Live in a wooden house, breathe clean air and enjoy the silence. And those who decide to do this often wonder how to choose a timber in order to build a beautiful and reliable home for their family.

Today, a variety of types of timber are presented on the construction market, differing in geometric parameters, profile, grade, production method. Choosing the best one is not an easy task, especially if the financial possibilities of the buyer are not unlimited.

From this article you will learn about all types of this material, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as how to save money on a purchase without sacrificing quality.

Which beam is better

If you are not faced with the question of what to choose - a beam or a frame, if you have already decided that you will build a wooden house, then the first thing you need to do is to study the range of local construction markets and hypermarkets. As a rule, they offer three main types of timber: planed, profiled and glued.

Consider each type separately with all its disadvantages and advantages.

Planed timber

The material is obtained by cutting a log, during which a product is obtained that has a rectangular or square section. The main competitive advantage of planed timber over glued and profiled timber is its low price. Compared to a log, it is easier to assemble into a log house, and compared to a brick, it requires less effort and cost for the device.

However, in addition to tangible advantages, this type of timber also has serious disadvantages that you need to know about and which you need to reckon with if your goal is a strong, durable and warm house.

Planed timber is made from wood of natural moisture.

It gradually decreases as the tree dries, and this can lead to the following unpleasant consequences:

• Deformation. You can buy a perfectly smooth, beautiful beam, but after a while, amazing metamorphoses will begin to occur with it: it can bend or even turn out like a “helicopter”;
• Cracks. This is the most common defect that worsens not only the appearance of the material, but also its performance properties;

• Rot, blue, mold. If raw timber is stored in improper conditions - in poorly ventilated rooms or in stacks close to each other, such manifestations are inevitable;
• Shrinkage. When building a house with your own hands, it is important to remember that over time the timber will dry out and its geometric dimensions will decrease. As a result, the entire structure will shrink, which depends on the initial moisture content of the material and the surrounding conditions.

Note. If it were only about the loss of a few centimeters in height, this trouble could not be paid attention to.
But as a result of shrinkage, window and door openings can be deformed, the exterior and interior wall decoration can be damaged.
Therefore, the log house must be allowed to settle for several months, preferably under the roof, before continuing construction.

• Slits. Ordinary planed timber often suffers from inaccurate dimensions, so when building walls it is difficult to avoid gaps between the crowns. They also increase as the wood dries. They must be sealed: lay sealing materials between the crowns, caulk the walls to prevent the penetration of cold and moisture.

The planed timber itself does not differ in the ideal shape and surface, and when the described defects are superimposed, it loses outwardly profiled and glued at all. Therefore, it needs additional external finishing.

Profiled timber

You can avoid the appearance of some of these problems if you purchase a profiled beam. It differs from the planed one in the shape of the section: its front sides are smooth, and in the workers a selection of the tongue-and-groove or comb type is made.

Which lumber profile to choose depends not so much on personal preferences as on the moisture content of the material.

• The thorn-groove connection involves the use of a heater laid between the crowns in the grooves. Even if the timber, when dried, shrinks with the formation of gaps, it will prevent blowing.

• The protrusions of the "comb" profile fit very precisely to each other and do not require the use of insulation. But when the moisture content of the wood changes, the parameters of the comb may change. Therefore, when choosing such a profile, you need to be sure that the beam is dry and will not give much shrinkage.

For reference. The advantage is that the wood is dried until it reaches a moisture content of no more than 22%, otherwise the quality of processing will be low.
Therefore, it shrinks less than planed.

Many woodworking enterprises produce profiled timber according to the customer's design, immediately cutting “cups” for joints and corner joints in it. You no longer have to think about how to choose a groove in a beam - the log house is assembled according to the type of children's designer.

But this material, nevertheless, is not without such shortcomings as the appearance of cracks and shrinkage, which requires a technological break in construction.

Glued laminated timber

This type of timber has the best performance characteristics, but also the highest cost. Its main advantage is low humidity and, accordingly, the absence of all those negative aspects that arise during the shrinkage of the material and the shrinkage of the finished log house. You can build a house out of it in one season, without waiting for natural shrinkage.

You will learn about how glued laminated timber is made from other articles in this resource. We note that the technology of its manufacture makes it possible to obtain a high-quality product at the output, practically devoid of the shortcomings of raw wood, but possessing all its useful natural qualities. In addition, it has an impregnation against rotting and fire, and does not need additional finishing.

As in the case of profiled timber, glued timber can be made to order in accordance with the selected house project. And some manufacturers offer ready-made kits that come with assembly instructions.

Note. Not so long ago, a novelty appeared on the market - a D-shaped glued beam, the convex front surface of which imitates a rounded log.

How to save on timber construction

The budget deficit for building a house does not always allow choosing expensive and high-quality materials. But, if you know how to choose the right timber - ordinary, not subjected to special processing, and how to prepare it for work, you can save a lot and get a solid and beautiful structure. Our tips will help you with this.

So, what to look for when buying?

• Beam evenness. Determined visually and practically. The product must be placed on a flat surface alternately with all faces and make sure that it is not bent or twisted by a “propeller”.
• The distances between the annual rings, visible at the end of the timber, must be the same. If they narrow or expand on one side, this indicates that over time the beam will “lead” and it will bend.
• The surface of the wood must be of a uniform, uniform color everywhere. A visually noticeable color contrast at the ends or side faces indicates the presence of layers with different internal stresses, which will also lead to deformation.

It is much more difficult to determine the moisture content of the material. But even if you see that the timber is completely fresh, but of good quality, you can bring it to the desired condition yourself. True, this will take time.