What are carriage houses, their pros and cons
Wooden log cabins are traditional for Russia. Not only houses were built from wood, but also kremlins, temples and even bridges. But the houses from the gun carriage are new to us. They were built not so long ago. But this method of building housing from wood has already gained popularity. Experts say that all wooden buildings in the area of the Gulf of Finland were built using this technology.
What is a carriage
According to a long-standing Russian tradition, it is customary to build houses from sanded round timber, in which sapwood, or sapwood, was preserved - a layer of logs located directly under the bark. At the corners of the building, round logs were processed in such a way as to form a lock - a reliable fastening of logs. Layers of round timber, or crowns, are interconnected with spikes about 12 cm long.
Carriage log cabins are wooden houses made of logs that are processed in a slightly different way. The carriage is obtained by sawing or chipping with an ax 2 opposite slabs (rounded parts of a log). Then the resulting flat surfaces are processed to smoothness with a planer. The result is a semi-beam.
In our country, a carriage is called one of the types of Norwegian felling technology. It really does not use a round log, but a bed with two hewn sides. The so-called Norwegian lock is used to fasten the beds at the corners. Here, not bowls are cut in the logs, but wedge-shaped recesses with a groove, into which spikes hidden from the eyes enter. Thus, the connection comes out stronger.
Our houses are built from gun carriages using Norwegian technologies. Therefore, the Russian dwelling from the gun carriage has the characteristics characteristic of the northern house. This includes the appropriate layout of the premises, the presence of some structural and decorative elements (for example, support pillars outside and inside the building), and the type of roof.
Advantages and disadvantages of half-timber houses
Carriage houses, like any other structures made of wood or other materials, have their pros and cons.
The advantages of such structures include the following points:
- Due to the way the logs are processed and laid, the carriage house has a large useful area in comparison with the construction of similar external dimensions from rounded logs. After all, the walls of such houses are thinner than in log houses.
- Both the outer and inner walls in the "northern house" have an almost perfectly flat surface. This not only makes the carriage building more beautiful in appearance. Smooth interior walls do not require significant finishing. On them, without much hassle, you can place hanging furniture, it is easier to lay various communications. Some people make speculative conclusions that a carriage house is colder than an ordinary log house made of round timber. Experts say that this opinion is wrong. Despite the smaller thickness of the walls, the carriage house is very warm. This is facilitated by dense masonry and methods of connecting crowns from a half-beam to each other.
- The statement that such houses are warm is argued by the fact that inhabitants of cold countries have been living in them for a long time. In addition, they are located on the shores of the northern seas blown by wet winds. Another advantage is that the "Norwegian lock" prevents the gun carriage from "turning and turning" as it dries and shrinks. Crowns over time become more and more closely adjacent to each other. In addition, it will take much less effort, materials and money to caulk the joints of the beds in the crowns. Also, due to the flat shape of the gun carriage for openings for windows and doors, there is no need to specially trim the log. Thus, the "northern house" can be considered more economical than an ordinary log house.
However, "Viking houses", along with undoubted advantages, have certain disadvantages:
- These include, for example, the fact that, due to the processing method, the half-beam is more susceptible to decay than the rounded round timber. Indeed, when creating a carriage, the sapwood of a round log is cramped. And on the log during its rounding, it remains and prevents, to a certain extent, damage to the material. But, on the other hand, today's technologies of wooden housing construction require the mandatory treatment of wood with antiseptics. So you have to spend money on impregnation anyway.
- Often, the treatment procedure with antiseptic and flame retardant impregnations is carried out already at the stage of production of wood building material - whether it is a rounded log or carriage.
- The carriage is made mainly of wood of natural moisture. Therefore, in the process of shrinkage and shrinkage, the half-beam can crack on the surface. But the manufacturers of this material claim that cracking occurs only on the surface, without touching the inner layers of wood. Thus, cracks do not harm the integrity and warmth of the house. They can only slightly spoil the appearance of its walls. But even in these "craquelures" you can find a certain zest.
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