Construction of Finnish houses

Finnish house building technology has several advantages:

• wood is an ecological and grateful material that evokes a unique feeling of comfort;
• the walls are laid with a layer of insulation, which, in combination with natural wood, perfectly insulates from noise and even at critically low temperatures the room is dry and warm;
• the construction of such a house takes much less time than a brick one, you obviously save on construction and interior decoration;
• for the construction of Finnish houses, high-quality timber is used, precisely rounded or fitted to each other, and the building looks neat and aesthetically pleasing.

Design stages

In pursuit of profit and in the fight against competitors, domestic designers embark on the development of Scandinavian-style dwellings, but, unfortunately, they end up with a low-quality wooden house, overloaded with details and far from the given architectural direction.

It is advisable to apply directly to Finnish offices with many years of experience, since they have been successfully cooperating with Russian-speaking customers for a long time. The manufacturer you have chosen must specialize in residential wooden houses, and not in garden verandas and summer cottages. It is desirable that the enterprise provides a full cycle, and does not purchase the missing parts from different factories: the more diverse the set, the more difficult it is to fit and dock the elements. Don't chase the low price. You are building a house in which, perhaps, several generations of your family will live.

The right foundation

Theoretically, a house can be built on any foundation, which was done before. In the process of evolution, concrete and stone options disappeared, leaving two leaders: UShP (insulated Swedish slab) and UFF (insulated Finnish foundation). With the right execution at the final stage of foundation construction, you get a finished floor of the first floor with built-in communications, a drainage system, electrical wiring and underfloor heating.

A decent contractor often comes from Finland himself to make sure that your foundation meets the requirements of the project and only after that starts delivery for construction.

wall material

The main thing: the forest should be only winter harvesting. Cut down at another time, it is subjected to chemical treatment and the durability of such a log is in doubt. The world's highest quality raw materials for the design of a Finnish log house – it is the highest grade "A" wood from central Finland. The ideal option is when the lamellas are glued from homogeneous rocks. Snow-white spruce is considered the most reliable, but capricious material in processing. Its thermal conductivity is higher than other breeds. For example, glued spruce timber 20 cm thick will provide the same thermal insulation as brickwork 2 m thick. Pine houses are called second-rate houses - over time it darkens, and the knots separate from the wood pulp. They also use larch and cedar.

Insulation for Finnish houses

Throughout Europe, including the Finns, Rockwool basalt mineral wool is used for this purpose, which has proven itself well. Basalt is a volcanic rock that is absolutely non-combustible and even prevents the spread of fire. In addition, it is strong, durable, noise-absorbing and thermally insulating, it is not afraid of temperature changes.

To insulate horizontal joints, Illbruck vapor-permeable tape is laid along the entire length of the crowns. It shrinks under the weight of the upper layer and, expanding, fills all the free space.

According to Finnish building codes, houses made of glued laminated timber with a thickness of at least 180 cm do not need to be insulated even in harsh weather conditions. The fact is that the quality of the assembly and the joining of the corners rather than the thickness of the walls is responsible for maintaining the temperature.

Natural heat loss goes up through the roof, so special attention should be paid to its design and insulation. The European climate is milder than the Russian one, but it is customary to lay insulation 400 mm thick there, in Russia for some reason it is 150-200 mm.

Windows preferably have electric heating, as Hatrick does.

Exterior and interior of Finnish houses

A typical Scandinavian dwelling is distinguished by conciseness, its refined simplicity is combined with impeccable execution. Logged, devoid of decor and unnecessary details, one and a half to two floors, it has a gable roof so that snow does not stagnate. On the first floor, there is usually a terrace in front of the front door, and above it there is a balcony with large windows.

Typical colors of the exterior finish of the facade are white, light gray, beige, all natural shades of wood. Eaves and platbands stand out separately.

The house, as a rule, has two entrances, each with a separate vestibule - a functional element of heat retention. Entering, we find ourselves in a spacious hall that leads to the kitchen, guest room, office. In the tradition of the Finns - to have a large kitchen with a dining table in the middle. On the second floor, under the slopes of the roof, there is a bedroom. Often there is a sauna in the house. We offer you to admire the photo of the interior of the Finnish house.

Varieties of construction

Solid timber house

After sawing, the tree is sent to dry to prevent shrinkage in the future. Then it is profiled and the surface is treated until the lining is smooth. Logs can be square or rectangular in cross-section, with or without a profile-lock.

The advantages of the beam:

• all elements are already pre-cut according to calculations and do not require fitting on the spot, which facilitates and speeds up assembly;
• of all types, this is the most environmentally friendly method - there are no glues and resins;
• relatively low cost due to less costly production;
• in the case of profiled timber, the walls do not need additional interior decoration.

Flaws:

• shrinkage, cracking;
• congenital defects of wood - fungus, cavities, pests living inside;
• the need for insulation of seams;
• it is technologically difficult to expel a stable wall from an unprofiled beam, which means that additional supports are needed;
• house shrinkage is 3-4 cm per meter of wall.

Finnish house made of glued laminated timber

This technology is based on turning logs from natural wood to ideal geometric dimensions. By processing on special equipment, the bars are built up with a mini-thorn and glued up to 13 meters in length. There is also a D-shaped cut, when the inner surface seems to be made of beams, and the outer surface is made of rounded logs. The profile lock is designed so that its spikes fit perfectly into the grooves, preventing moisture from getting there and making the wall extremely durable. Today, this method of building a house is recognized as optimal in Scandinavia and is recommended for the cold Russian climate. Conscientious manufacturers try to use only first-class glue, for example, the Finnish company Kilto, which does not contain harmful substances.

Advantages:

• the possibility of deformation and shrinkage is excluded;
• the density of the glue joint is higher than the density of wood, and this allows you to freely plan floors of any length and large-scale premises;
• at the end of the work, the house is ready for commissioning, almost no time for shrinkage is required.

Flaws:

• higher price - about one and a half times more expensive than a solid bar;
• because of the glue, the natural air balance of wood is disturbed, which can lead to changes in the microclimate in the room.

Frame Finnish house

There are no clearly established standards for the implementation of the skeleton design, which means that it is individual for each company. There are only general requirements for the material - it should be a dry planed board; wooden beams are rarely used. This principle of construction is the most easily erected and popular all over the world for more than five hundred years.

Home kits are:

1. Block-modular. For this method, a frame is not required, the house is assembled as if from cubes. The elements are assembled at the factory and brought to the construction site. Such a kit already has a finished facade, and sometimes interior decoration. Its only drawback is that the large dimensions of the fragments make their delivery very difficult.
2. Panels with a high degree of detail. Prepared sandwich panels with wooden lamellas, insulation, vapor barrier, doors and windows are delivered to the construction site. On site, all this is assembled on a pre-built frame, partitions are placed, ceilings and a roof are laid.
3. Basic panels only. The level of readiness is only the outer skin of the wall. Everything else is set in place.
4. Pre-cut kit. All parts of the building have already been sawn in advance at the factory and numbered according to the project. Materials such as insulation and boards are brought in a purchased form. The "plus" of this method is that the house can be built as a constructor with minimal involvement of special equipment.

Construction technology

The technology of building a frame house allows you to build it with your own hands. If the project has already been approved, then proceed to the foundation. Depending on the weight of the structure and the characteristics of the soil, posts or screw piles are most often used.

If you have a small house for an average family, then a columnar foundation will be enough:

1. Prepare 120 - 150 columns.
2. At a distance of 80 cm from each other, holes with a depth of 1 m and a diameter of 20 cm are made with an ordinary drill.
3. Purchased pipes are inserted into the resulting recesses, and the space around them is filled with crushed stone and gravel.
4. Using a funnel, cement is poured into the holes.

The screw principle is also very popular precisely because the use of manual labor is valuable in it. This allows you to strictly monitor the level of drilling. It is important to remember that unscrewing the pile is strictly prohibited, as the natural compaction of the soil is violated.

Stages of building a Finnish house

Draft floor for a Finnish house

1. Roofing material is laid on the base of the coating; around the perimeter, a stroke is made from a bar, which is the basis for the subfloor.
2. In increments of about 40 cm, logs of unhewn wood with a section of 245 x 100 mm are laid, and insulation and vapor barrier are inserted between them.
3. On top lay sheets of plywood 18 mm thick. The draft floor is ready.

Finnish house walls

1. The cross section of the board is a rectangle 150 x 50 mm. For the reliability of the connections, locks are implanted in the bars and fixed with self-tapping screws. The design must be movable, since at first the house shrinks.
2. The frame of each wall is mounted separately on the most even surface. On each side, you need to make jibs that support the frame frame.
3. After installation in place, the walls are upholstered with boards or, in the case of a frame-panel construction, they are sewn up with sheets of non-combustible windproof material 25 mm thick.
4. At this stage, all the walls are firmly joined to the lower beam with the help of studs and the corner boards are bolted together.

Second floor of a Finnish house

1. The overlap is made similar to the first, however, it experiences less loads and it is allowed to take beams 50 mm high.
2. The rough floor is covered with bars in increments of 35 cm, insulated, a vapor barrier is laid and sewn up with plywood sheets.
3. The walls of the second level are assembled in the same way as the first.

Finnish house roof

1. Rafters 150 x 50 mm are attached to the upper bars of the walls of the second floor.
2. On the inside, the beams are covered with plywood, and on the outside - with a wooden crate.
3. The cavities between the lags are covered with insulation and waterproofing material.
4. Roofing material, for example, ceramic tiles, is placed on the rafters.

At this stage, it is too early to say that the frame house has been built. Now it needs to be carefully insulated inside and out, windows and doors should be inserted, communications and interior decoration should be carried out.

External insulation option

1. A crate is made along the perimeter of the walls and mineral wool is laid in the gaps.
2. The second layer is foam.
3. The gaps between the foam sheets are filled with mounting foam.
4. The next layer is vapor barrier.
5. From the inside, from the outside, 25 mm gaps must be left between the final coating and the insulation layer for natural air circulation.

Small but cozy home

The Nordic character is calm and loves refined simplicity. At home, many Scandinavians have long gravitated towards one-story buildings. Small cottages are another type of Finnish houses. Here are the facts that speak in their favor:

1. With the same area, such housing is much cheaper and its construction will be completed in a shorter time.
2. Finishing or repair work is easier and faster.
3. It has been proven that life at the “zero” level brings people closer to nature and seems to unite the household.
4. Ideal for a young family or, conversely, an elderly couple whose children live separately.

A typical one-story Finnish house project includes everything you need: a small living room, one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a storage room. On average, the total area of ​​such a cottage is up to 60 m².