Chalet-style houses: features, foundation arrangement, insulation, interior design, photo gallery

Chalet-style houses already take their origin from the houses of the Norman peasants who lived in northern France in Normandy around the 14th-15th centuries. Usually, when a project is being drawn up, a chalet house is designed as a one-story house, however, building a chalet-style house can also involve the presence of two or even more floors. Purely wooden chalet-style houses are rare, but usually they are combined: the lower parts of the house are wooden, the upper ones are stone.

Chalet style features

The main features that chalet-style houses have can be defined as follows:

From a bar in chalet houses, the second floor is usually built or the attic part, if the house is one-story

Features of brick and wood chalet houses

It has already been stipulated above that the project of a chalet house usually involves the use of a stone bottom and a wooden top. But it is best to use brick for the lower part of the house.

What will be the advantages of such a house:

Typically, such houses require a large terrace.

Brick is an absolutely non-combustible material. That is why in the described houses it is most preferable to use it. Has anyone thought about why there are such houses at ski resorts? The fact is that on the ground floor there is always a stone or stove installed. If we are talking specifically about permanent housing, then the fireplace will not help much: a boiler is needed here. So, in the case when the project of a chalet house with a garage implied a first floor made of bricks, then on the first floor the fire may well be open, without the need for additional protection. The material is brick, and wooden houses do not allow anyone to use an open flame in them on the ground floors;
Durability. Completely wooden houses assume that their crown will be in direct contact with the ground: fungus, mold, rot, moisture, of course, will be present too. In a chalet, this a priori cannot be: the tree is in contact only with the stone, that is, directly with the second part of the house, and not with the ground. Therefore, mold and other unpleasant consequences can simply be forgotten.

When building chalet houses, you can abandon expensive high foundations, as is the case with wooden houses: brick and other types of similar building materials retain moisture perfectly.

Theoretically, if we take into account the cost of building materials (without associated costs), then the advantage of a brick and wood chalet can also be called economy. Why?

An example of a ground floor plan for a chalet style house

Just a completely brick house, of course, will cost much more than a combined one. In addition, in the chalet you can make a real terrace (without it, this style cannot be such at all).

But the cost of building a roof and roofing will already be significant - this must be admitted. By the way, in the Alps, either traditional tiles (real, not from profiled sheets) or shingles are usually used as roofing material. Both of these materials are quite heavy, so the supporting part of the roof in any case will have to be further strengthened.

Detailed design of a one-story residential building in the style of a chalet

Foundation arrangement

The construction of the described house involves the following steps:

It is not worth completely disassembling each stage of construction: any combined house will be built in exactly the same way as the most ordinary one. The most important thing that concerns exclusively the style of the chalet: here special attention should be paid to the foundation and insulation. This is what is worth talking about in more detail.

For the described houses, two types of foundation are used:

tape;
tiled.

Considering the climatic conditions of Russia, it is better to give preference to the strip foundation, since it is corny more durable. A strip monolithic foundation is usually used.

An example of a strip foundation device

It is not necessary to make it reinforced: the house is only half made of stone, the second part is much lighter.

Drains to the chalet house are almost never provided for when projects are drawn up: given that the roof is gable, has a removal, the water will simply drain from it without getting on the house itself and without destroying it from the inside.

The only thing to consider when building a foundation is that it must be deepened. According to Russian engineering standards (which almost completely correspond to the old Soviet ones), the depth of the foundation for a residential building should be at least 0.5 meters.

Drawing of modern chalet with interior interior

In the case of combined houses, the depth of occurrence should be at least 1.5 meters. This is a mandatory condition, which should never be ignored.

House insulation

Wall insulation is almost always carried out using the so-called "ventilated facade" technology. What you need to know when insulating brickwork:

Facade near the house - ventilated

If desired, facing bricks can be used instead of sheathing. It should be said right away that the facing brick should be at least a quarter (maximum - a third) thicker than the main brick that was used in the construction. Such cladding will make the insulation of the house even more effective.

In combined houses, it is necessary to use a ventilated facade: any stone structure must "breathe", otherwise the presence of fungi, mold and other unpleasant "surprises" will be provided after 3-4 months after the start of operation of the house.

If the building is one-story (for example, there is a garage in the basement, and the residential part is only on the second floor), then facing bricks can be omitted: a simple decorative sheathing with the simplest finishing materials will be enough.

In the chalet houses, water vapor is not allowed to enter the insulation

In general, with regard to the insulation of such a house, here it is necessary to take into account what technology was used to build the second floor and what materials for its construction the technical project assumed:

Beam - the best option for a chalet

Frame technology projects. It is usually used in Western Europe, as such houses are energy efficient and heat-saving. The main thing here is that the insulation is completely isolated from water vapor;
Uncut beam. Its main advantage is that the exterior finish can be virtually any. And as a heater, the “ventilated facade” already described above is ideal;
Round logs. For Alpine chalets, their use is uncharacteristic, but for Russian architecture, yes. Only logs need to be very well caulked. In terms of energy efficiency, such houses are not very good. But it's beautiful!;
Glued beam. The most elite, expensive option. It is also possible to insulate the second floor from glued laminated timber using the technology of a ventilated facade.

Home interior design

The main feature of the interior of houses in a similar style is naturalness and naturalness. For example, all wooden beams, parts of the house remain the same as they were during construction.

The interior in the chalet should emphasize naturalness and comfort.

The only thing: they can be painted with varnish or stain of any color. In the interior, it is customary to use decoration elements made of natural or natural stone.

What is a classic chalet interior? On the ground floor, a rug in the form of an animal skin is usually placed in the center (or even better if this skin is real). In the corner is hung, like a real hunter, the head of a deer or other animal.

In the fireplace part, a kind of stone panel is made. The main thing is that there should be no "gypsy". In fact, the interior should look like a kind of hunting lodge, lost somewhere near the southern slope of Mont Blanc. No bright colors should be categorically. Otherwise, the whole point of building such a house will be reduced to zero.

Bright colors can only be used for furniture upholstery

Furniture is usually upholstered with unpainted textiles. The ideal option would be a slightly rough, baggy cloth (if someone remembers Crime and Punishment, then one of the heroines used a dreaded shawl there - that's just the kind of fabric like dreaded dam and would be ideal for upholstery).

To diversify the interior in terms of color, you can use muted brown, maroon colors, purple is also quite acceptable. As for furniture, there are no particularly strict rules on this matter: you can use anything, even the most unusual and bright furniture from modern designers.