What fasteners are needed for a frame house. The main nodes and connections of the frame house. Types of nails and their functional purpose
Fasteners in a frame house- enough simple theme, but it is important to think over everything in advance so as not to run to stores and not buy one kilogram of nails, but to immediately purchase 150 kilograms (usually it takes so much for an average house) of the necessary fasteners at the base at a big discount.
I did so, but it still wasn’t enough, I had already gone several times for new boxes of nails.
But of course, there are very few extra nails and self-tapping screws left. a large number of. Therefore, I want to make it as easy as possible for my readers.
I want to note right away that in a frame house forbidden use screws or self-tapping screws, since the load everywhere goes to the cut, and not to the tension, and neither self-tapping screws nor screws work on the cut, so there is nothing to discuss here. Some builders are still sure that self-tapping screws can be used and will persuade you. Don't give in.
But great for cutting. nails work They are incredibly difficult to cut. We are talking, of course, about the bearing part of the house, and not about finishing.
And I want to say about corners. Corners are not used by professionals in frame construction(not counting the temporary attachment of trusses to the harness). use them can, only unprofitable in time and money, decide for yourself. Again, be wary of builders who will recommend their use.
Foundation fixture
For pile foundation the following fixture is used:
if you have a screw foundation, then you need anchor steel bolts.
if you have a bored foundation, then you need studs m10 and washers with M10 nuts (if you do it like me, pouring the studs in the fill) or anchor bolts
for concrete.
if you have slab foundation or tape, then you will need again anchor bolts for concrete.
Fasteners for the frame of a frame house
All boards in the frame box are pounded with ordinary building smooth nails diameters 3.1-3.5 mm and length 80-90mm(usually 90 mm if the board is 50 mm thick and 80 mm if the boards are 40 mm thick).
An exception may be the crate on the walls or floor, where it is better to use screw or ruff nails.
Fasteners for sheathing a frame house
Fasteners for floor covering.
60 mm nails- better ruffed or screw + glue (or self-tapping screws of the same length).
Such nails help to hold the floor firmly so that it does not creak and is not "alive".
Fasteners for wall cladding outside.
50 mm nails- better ruffled or screw.
This applies to both OSB-3 boards and plywood, as well as inches (which I will use for sheathing frame house I).
Fasteners for wall cladding from the inside.
If the lining from the inside is drywall, then you will need special self-tapping screws for drywall length 25 mm(rarely 35mm) length. Do not forget only about the correct tightening of the screws:
If you have a lining inside, then it can be fastened with nails 50-70 mm.
Metal tile fasteners
For the installation of metal tiles, special roofing is used. self-tapping screws dimensions dimensions 4.8x20 and 4.8x38 millimeters (metal-metal, metal-wood).
Window fasteners
There are several methods for fixing windows in a frame house.
- on anchor
- On plates
Accordingly, in each of the cases you will need the appropriate fasteners. I will tell you more about the installation of windows in due time, when I fix them myself.
Siding fasteners
Galvanized self-tapping screws with wide hat(not less than 8mm) long not less than 15 mm or galvanized nails with a wide hat (rarely) no less than 40 mm.
Fasteners for a wooden facade
Galvanized nails 50-70 mm(preferably galvanized, since zinc coating is done by electrolysis, and not by the usual "hot" method).
Terrace fixings
For the terrace, it is better to use self-tapping screws made of stainless or galvanized steel. There is a special fixture for terraces, but for the price it comes out as half a terrace.
It is also recommended to fasten the terrace boards to the hidden "snake" fasteners. 
In this video, you can look at almost every fastener visually in more detail:
So fasteners are very important element a frame house that you should pay close attention to if you don’t want it to fall apart over time or just burst at the seams. Do not give in to the persuasion of builders who want to build you a house using screws, self-tapping screws and other inappropriate things.
Read reviews from real residents frame houses on the forum or in my article and gain experience so that no one deceives you.
When creating a modern frame structure, they use self-tapping screws, nails or screws. This is enough convenient option fasteners. And in ancient times, such wooden structures were created without a single nail or screw. The craftsmen knew how to create a hidden tenon-groove. This mount was very strong. Created several centuries ago, Western European half-timbered houses still live today, because the tenon-groove that the carpenters of that time used is a skill without which it was impossible to build a frame house. Most likely, there were already nails and various staples, but they were not used at that time, due to their extremely high cost. The tenon-groove fastening justifies itself in many ways, because with it the tree is connected to the tree, and this is considered more appropriate than fastening wood to tree with screws or nails. And yet today screws and nails - popular type hardware, and today there are almost no craftsmen who master the skill of an accurate and reliable device of the “oblique tooth”, “dovetail” type. Although such alternative compounds are quite acceptable and even preferred in our time.
Strength frame structure and its rigidity depends not only on the quality of the connections and the quality of the material itself, but also on the method of fastening, and correctly distributed loads at the design stage. If the connections are made incorrect or overloaded, then soon they will manifest themselves as singing sounds and squeaks. To prevent the structure from loosening, it is necessary to strictly observe the assembly technology and monitor the assembly quality of the frame elements. To prevent corrosion, self-tapping screws must be galvanized or otherwise treated against corrosion. You can additionally dip them in drying oil, primer or some other protective compound during screwing or work well after, although this will be less effective.
In fact, nails are successfully replaced with self-tapping screws. various types. Because they have a wide range of benefits. The main advantage is that they securely fix all the elements. Unlike a nail, a self-tapping screw has a thread. This allows it to be screwed into any material: be it wood, plastic, drywall, plywood or metal. For metal use special self-tapping screws, with a stronger structure and smaller threads. In addition, self-tapping screws, with the same length as a nail, have improved qualities in terms of holding strength for pulling out or stretching. Even a small self-tapping screw will hold any material firmly, and most likely will not loosen over time, as a nail can when assembling furniture. This allows you to successfully use self-tapping screws where nails can ruin appearance. And more importantly, self-tapping screws can be easily removed if necessary, as they have a thread and a slot for unscrewing.
A few tips and tricks when using self-tapping screws and nails in construction
The number of nails used does not yet guarantee the strength of the structure.
You need to arrange nails “wisely”. It is advisable not to hit them on the edge of the board, so as not to split. It is better to hammer nails “at an angle” - this way they hold more securely.
If you need to hammer a nail in a certain place, but there is a risk of splitting the board, first blunt the point, the nail will not push the fibers apart and split the board, but will crush them.
It is desirable to select the length of the nail in such a way that it does not slightly go out of the material to which we nail. Too thin a nail will not hold well. Long - to score for a long time, but it will not be stronger if it comes out or even splits the board.
Where the design "works to tear", instead of nails, it is better to use self-tapping screws of the required diameter. It's more reliable.
Self-tapping screws are also preferable where any vibrations are transmitted to the structure, for example: doors, windows; and also where we carry out wood paneling with any other material: fiberboard, chipboard, plywood, plastic, etc., as well as when attaching to wooden structures, for example: metal wire hangers, flagpoles, etc. In such places, the nails “crawl out” over time, and they have to be finished off, which does not add strength. It is better to immediately replace such a “live” nail with a self-tapping screw or screw.
Self-tapping screws are also used in places that will probably have to be disassembled later, this will facilitate disassembly and will not damage the material being disassembled.
To prevent the self-tapping screw from splitting the wood when screwing, you can pre-drill a hole of the same or smaller diameter.
It is much easier to tighten a self-tapping screw if it is lubricated with soap or dipped in oil.
A drill will help you quickly wrap a lot of self-tapping screws, in the chuck of which a bit or a screwdriver is installed. If possible, use a special screwdriver. Of course, it will be more convenient for them to work. In this case, the assembly speed on self-tapping screws will be the same as on nails.
In chapter, Download documents, instructions, programs there is a document: Connections on nails, screws and screws. Selection of fasteners for wooden housing construction, requirements and test methods.
The standard was prepared by the Association of Wooden Housing Construction within the framework of the adopted program “The General Program of Work on the Regulatory and Technical Support of Production and Application wooden structures". A very detailed document with explanations: what and where to use fasteners, their type and size.
And now another fact: what happened to the self-tapping screws in just a few rainy days.
In 2013, in the summer, the porch of my house was painted. Before painting in the middle of summer, all the boards were removed (fortunately, everything was held on galvanized self-tapping screws). The boards were lightly sanded with a manual electric planer so that burrs did not stick out and the paint lay more evenly. Since the boards had completely dried up in a couple of years and were trimmed, they had to be screwed to new places close to each other, but without much fanaticism. Everything was done quickly without gaps and painted with a covering antiseptic "Vinha", which is used to paint the whole house. What was my surprise when, having arrived at the dacha in the fall (autumn turned out to be extremely rainy), I found that where the boards below were screwed onto one whole beam of the porch frame, the boards were torn off and went beyond the porch by almost 5 cm! Taking into account the fact that only boards are no more than 1.8 m wide, and they were not subjected to direct precipitation (maximum rare slanting rains on a well-painted surface).
Since it was already quite cold, he did not do anything, leaving next year. The first photo below shows what happened to the 4x40 mm galvanized screws: the screws in the six outer boards (out of a total of twenty) were broken into 3 parts. The first part - the head and body 0.8-1 cm was in the board outside, part of the body about 1-1.5 cm stuck out of the board inside, and about 2 cm remained in the beam of the porch frame, of which only a few pieces turned out, and most failed to catch. Therefore, I had to fasten the boards with self-tapping screws at a slight angle so as not to get into the debris remaining in the timber, Fig. 2.
There are no trifles in a high-quality frame house, and such, at first glance, an insignificant thing as fasteners, in terms of significance, generally takes on one of the main roles. Without reliable and properly selected fasteners, there will be no reliable and durable home.
It is important to use the correct fasteners not only for the frame of the house, but also for fixing the inner and outer skin.
Many future homeowners will not even think about such a “little thing”, asking themselves the question of what is better than self-tapping screws or nails, which is quite understandable. The cost of purchasing fasteners and mounting materials make up a small part of the total estimate for the construction of a frame house. It is much worse when the right fasteners are forgotten, or the builders themselves simply do not know. The reverse side of the coin in this matter is the regime of total savings on materials. With this approach, hardware falls under the reduction. In this case, the estimate will most likely include the most economical option, such as black self-tapping screws and conventional construction nails. By by and large there is nothing wrong with such fastener options, but only if it is used strictly for its intended purpose, and not wherever possible. For example, black self-tapping screws are indispensable as temporary fasteners, they are also great for inner lining walls board materials(drywall, QuickDeck) in preparation for fine finish. The main rule is to observe the purpose of fasteners during the construction of a frame house, apply it where it is needed and cope with its main task. For a correct assessment of the need to use certain hardware in the frame, it is necessary to correctly assess what loads act in one or another node of the frame house.
To a popular question: what is better nails or screws you can absolutely unequivocally give the answer that each fastener must be used for its intended purpose.
See what happens to an ordinary hardened self-tapping screw when it takes the load on the cut. The self-tapping screw breaks in its weakest point and its head flies off, therefore it is strictly contraindicated to use this type of fastener as a fastening of beam supports. But in this place of attachment, special galvanized anchor nails with an annular notch and a cone head feel great. Such a nail has a diameter of 4.2 mm, and the cone head is wedged in the holes of the perforated fasteners, due to which it is virtually impossible to cut off the head with such a nail, of course, provided that such nails are hammered in sufficient quantities.
Be sure to consider the environment in which the fasteners will be located.
When choosing options for the use of fasteners, it is necessary to take into account the environment in which it will be located. In places unprotected from precipitation, as well as in places where condensation is likely to occur, fasteners with a special protective coating protecting against corrosion. For example, we as fasteners exterior finish from wood choose hot galvanized nails, resistance to external factors which showed itself with the best side. We bring such fasteners only from Finland, since Russian analogues with similar processing and similar in characteristics do not satisfy us in terms of quality.
| Fastener location | Fastener type | a photo |
| Fastening the strapping board to a monolithic base | Expanding anchor |  |
| Fastening terrace board to wooden lags | Structural self-tapping torx screw |  |
| Fastening the racks of the frame | Smooth nails under nailer |  |
| Stitched (double, triple) frame racks | Ruffed / Screw nail under nailer |  |
| Stitched (double, triple) outdoor poles | Ruffed / Helical galvanized or galvanized nail |  |
| Fastening lag supports, beam supports | Galvanized nail with cone head and ring notch |  |
| Lathing, rail | Galvanized self-tapping screw, ruffed or screw nail |  |
| Soft roof, Isoplaat | Galvanized roofing nail |  |
| The outer cladding of the house is an imitation of a wooden beam. | Ruffed galvanized nail under the nailer with galvanization. |  |
| Sheathing the house with windproof MDF boards. | Galvanized roofing nail, galvanized staples 50-60 mm. |  |
| Fastening structural beams, rafters, crossbars, puffs | Zinc-plated stud, zinc-plated washers and nuts. |  |
Returning to the economic aspect of our article, I would like to mention that the price of special fasteners can reach up to 20 rubles. per piece, which is more than 60 times more expensive than the price of a regular black self-tapping screw 3.8 * 51 mm. On the scale of the entire construction site, where the total number of hardware goes to tens of thousands of pieces, the amount is significant.
The cost of highly specialized fasteners can be several times higher than the cost of conventional nails or self-tapping screws.
There is one more unpleasant nuance that can “emerge” from dishonest developers, and which allows you to reduce the estimate for the total cost of fastening materials - this is the amount of fasteners used in one or another node of the frame house. Less spent fasteners - more benefits for the company, and in the absence of proper control, "extra" nails, corners and self-tapping screws can go to meet the construction needs of a dishonest builder. With this approach, in some nodes of the frame house there is a risk of a very strong shortage in their reliability.
There are regulations that govern required amount fasteners in each frame node, plus there are recommendations from manufacturers building materials according to the required type and quantity of fasteners for fastening materials. In our work, we try to focus on American and Scandinavian building codes, which are often tougher than Russian ones. normative documents. For example, in Europe, if such standards are not observed, the house simply will not pass the inspection by the responsible authorities. For us, compliance with such standards is a guarantee of confidence in the maximum reliability of all our homes.
The importance of a competent choice of fasteners in the construction of a frame building is beyond doubt. However, when connecting different elements and parts of the building, the type of hardware suitable for a particular situation should be used. Of course, in most buildings erected according to frame technology, the main type of fasteners are nails.
Types of fasteners used in frame housing construction
In today's frame housing construction, the following types of fasteners are used:
- Nails. Traditional option devices of various nodes wooden houses. It is a wedge driven into wood. They are used to connect almost all elements and parts of a frame house, with rare exceptions;
- Self-tapping screws. They are immersed in the material by screwing, which is accessible due to the presence of a screw thread. The main place of use is the crate and sheathing;
- Staples. Partially driven into wood or other materials. They are mainly used when sheathing a frame house;
- Hairpins. Represent bolted connection. They are made of galvanized steel and are used for fastening beams, rafters and other most massive and critical load-bearing structures.
The above list shows that only nails are used at any stage of the construction of a frame house. This is due to the presence of a number of significant advantages of this type of fastener.
Advantages of nails over self-tapping screws
The main advantages of nails in comparison with self-tapping screws of similar parameters are as follows:
- Stable position of the nail inside the wood, which is achieved by pressure exerted on the fastener from all sides;
- The ability to withstand constant temperature and humidity deformations characteristic of wood, destroying the screw thread of self-tapping screws and making their position in the material unstable;
- The ability to withstand severe lateral loads, characteristic of the hinged joints of frame houses and easily breaking self-tapping screws made of red-hot iron.
As a result, it is advisable to use self-tapping screws in frame housing construction only in nodes where the main load is the impact on separation, for example, when installing a crate, fastening mineral wool, chipboard or siding.
Types of nails and their functional purpose
The nails that are used in today's frame construction are high-tech hardware of several types. The most commonly used:
- Galvanized ordinary and screw (another name - ruffled, ring). The use of this type of fastener is a mandatory requirement for the construction of external building structures. Screw, ring or ruff nails are equipped with a special notch various shapes, which increases friction in the nodes and, as a result, the rigidity of the frame;
- Black ordinary and screw. They are used to connect individual elements and structures located inside the building. The use of non-galvanized nails is a way to save money during construction, however, not all professional builders use this option in practice;
- Nails under nailer. They are a special hardware that is immersed in wood with the help of special tool without impact load;
- Roofing nails, black and galvanized. Have small size and are used for sheathing with various plates or fastening rolled insulating materials.
The number of types of nails used in frame construction is not limited to the above list. Furthermore, modern manufacturers regularly introduce various improvements to this seemingly simple and common fastener.
Over the past decade, screws and self-tapping screws have become so popular that we practically don’t remember about nails. At the same time, in the West, for the most part, only nails are used in frame construction. So which is better, nails or screws?
We did a little test to show one of the main disadvantages of screws, which many people forget about.
So that self-tapping screws or screws made of a metal alloy do not bend when screwing, they are hardened during the manufacturing process. After it, the metal becomes hard, but brittle. This is the main disadvantage of screws and self-tapping screws. But to be precise, only galvanized self-tapping screws (white, yellow) are hardened. Black self-tapping screws are usually made from oxidized C1022 steel, although this is also relatively brittle.
The nails are not hardened, so they hold heavy loads better. If the load is excessively increased, the nail will bend but not break, as opposed to screws or self-tapping screws. That is why they are still used in construction when assembling frames in areas with increased loads. Screws, often, are assigned the role of fastening finishing materials.
Another advantage of nails is that with special nail guns, the process of assembling structures is accelerated at times.
Now a little test. For comparison, we took two screws 6x90 and 4.5x70, two self-tapping screws 4.8x110 and 3.5x55, as well as a small 3x75 nail.
A short video will help you see the difference between them.
It can be seen that hardened self-tapping screws are the most fragile and break almost immediately. Black steel self-tapping screws are more durable, but also do not withstand several bends. But to break a nail, you need to make a couple of dozen sharp bending movements.
This test does not mean that we are campaigning for the use of nails. We just want to show that the choice of fasteners should be treated with due attention. And, of course, there are a lot of places where self-tapping screws will give odds to any nails.