Swarms are a must in a wooden house. Why do we need jambs in door and window openings? Roofs made of metal or wood
A house made of timber, according to the customer, should by default be incredibly warm and cozy. Knowledgeable person he understands that he still needs to try for this. They know this firsthand experienced builders, professionals in their field. What should be done to make a house made of timber really warm? Let's talk about this and what dangers may await good, naive customers on the way to the dream of a country, cozy home.
Warm corner: significance, technology and tricks of builders
A warm corner is a method of fastening beams during construction wooden house. Its advantages:
- Eliminates the possibility of cracks appearing;
- Does not blow and lets cold into the room;
- Easy to perform and takes no more time than other methods.
In addition to this method, “butt-to-butt”, half-tree and dovetail are also practiced. In terms of their advantages, the warm corner wins in all respects and any normal customer will choose this one for their home. And now the fun begins. No, resourceful builders will not dissuade you from this choice. They will do better (for themselves) - they will give you a tidy sum. But what if you want to make your house truly warm? Refuse such well-wishers! Conscientious builders They will never charge you extra for this - this is already their job and you will definitely have time to pay for it. True, in fairness and unnecessary overpayments.
Nageli: making the house even stronger
Pins are special pins that make the timber “sit in place” even after shrinking. What is the principle of working with dowels? In order for the result of their use to be positive, you need to adhere to the order - the pins are installed perpendicularly every two crowns, drilling holes in the beam in advance. That is, they laid it down, secured it with dowels every 1.5 - 2 meters and again 2 crowns. The pins are made from wood, mostly hardwood. Some save money and use improvised means instead of ready-made dowels: fittings, pipes or rolled metal. It is undesirable to allow this to happen - it is impossible to predict the consequences 100%.
Today you can often hear that dowels are an outdated technology and completely irrelevant. But the fact remains that this method of connecting logs or beams remains the most reliable. Moreover, it is time-tested.
Royki: we work with window and door openings
Another important stage in construction – work with swarms. Usually these are bars measuring 50x50 mm. A groove is cut into the wall, namely, in the opening. This is where the swarms are inserted. They will help maintain the stability of the wall. In order for the shrinkage process, even with swarms, to proceed without consequences, it is imperative to leave about 2 centimeters above the block. window opening, and 5 – in the door. This space is enough for the bars to fall into place. If you do not leave space, one of the logs or beams will hang and thereby cause a gap to appear. Which one warm house what if there are gaps in it?
But this technology should not be neglected. If the brackets are not installed, deformation of the wall at the opening is inevitable.
Builders' mistakes: real and possible
In order not to learn from your mistakes and the mistakes that will be made during the construction of your house, look at others. Quite a real picture: they installed it in the window opening wooden block as a swarm. Shrinkage occurred, and the wall curved and became convex. What's wrong? The fact is that the wooden frame collapsed and simply stopped fulfilling its purpose - to strengthen the opening. To avoid such an unpleasant situation, give preference to metal shanks. It is especially important to use them when strengthening doorways– the load there is much greater.
It could also be this: greedy workers offer you to install swarms for a certain amount. Of course, out of ignorance, you will refuse. Why pay extra money? After all, “it’ll stay just fine.” This is absolutely not allowed! Maybe nothing will happen to the walls in the first year. But a house is not built for a year, not for 5, or even for 10 years! Think about the future and play it safe - install swarms. Just not for a fee. Now we'll tell you why.
Forewarned is forearmed
Be careful with offers to make high-quality beams for money or for a “symbolic” fee to use not a “dovetail” or “butt-to-butt” when laying beams, but a “warm corner”. This work is done by default and you don’t have to pay for it!
Conscientious and responsible builders from serious companies that value their name will do everything in at its best. You won't even hear questions about whether you need swarms or a warm corner - they will simply do it. Of course, there are cases when customers themselves refuse to strengthen window and door openings. Construction company has the right to issue a receipt where the customer indicates that he refuses this work. Thus, the developer relieves himself of responsibility for further consequences, and the future owner of the house risks encountering problematic shrinkage of the timber.
And your home will be cozy, strong and durable, because now you know exactly what dowels, sockets are needed for and what a “warm corner” is.
- wood is too wet
- the type of wood does not meet building standards
- seasonality of construction and climatic conditions;
- violation of technological and construction processes
- acceleration
In order to avoid negative aspects during the shrinkage process at home, you must adhere to the following rules
- First, use exclusively quality material(the timber must be processed and subjected to special additional drying)
- Secondly, in construction work use hammers (these are wooden stumps in the form square section, which are used at the end of window openings and doors, as an installation element).
What does installing swarms give?
Installation of swivels provides protection against openings being damaged. If they are not used, due to shrinkage, the opening will become inappropriately sized.
Window frames
After they are done in the wall, the beam will form an edge that is not supported by anything to parts of the building. After installing the window frame, the process of shrinkage of the structure will begin, while the beam weakens and the frame sag on the fasteners. By using swarms on window openings, it is possible to minimize this negative process as much as possible
Door frames
When installing doors, the importance of the doors is no less great. After all, doors are exposed even more high blood pressure due to its size and may be deformed. The use of a swarm can reduce the effect of shrinkage to a minimum. When installing frames in doors, it is necessary to especially take into account the gap between the wall space and the frame in order to avoid curvature. We must fix the lower part of the door end-to-end, and set a gap at the top for the shrinkage process.
Constructive nuances;
When making swarms, it is necessary to take into account the following nuances
- Natural shrinkage is usually 1/20 of the original space; dimensional value
- The width of the swivels should correspond to the space left for shrinkage, and the length should be slightly less than the opening itself
Installation of swarms
- At the ends of the opening cut for windows and doors, longitudinal sawing is done
- Slats are installed in the prepared cuts, with the condition that they will allow the house to sit naturally
- The remaining gaps are filled
It's no secret that profiled timber is a natural, living material. This is the main reason for the special love of private developers for it. Timber houses have a lot of advantages and few disadvantages. The main ones are susceptibility to shrinkage, drying out and cracking. This happens because solid timber Over time, it loses natural moisture and dries out. The process is invisible to the naked eye, but building structures react to shrinkage processes. Openings for windows, doors, and gates turned out to be especially sensitive to building settlement.
Finished projects of houses made of timber, or made individually, must include protective measures in order to avoid distortion of openings during operation. As an option, use thoroughly dried timber when building a house. It gives less shrinkage. More effective method- install frames for window and door openings. It’s great when the developer has the opportunity to use both methods in combination.
What are swarms?
Roofs are called timber, usually of square cross-section. It is installed in specially cut, vertically located slots in the end parts of a window or door opening. Installation of the slab in timber house what it gives:
- strength and stability of the configuration of the opening for a window or door block;
- eliminating the possibility of the box “sagging” after probable shrinkage of the building;
- trouble-free installation of a wooden, metal or plastic block.
Any construction product must be manufactured in compliance with certain rules, including swarming. So, what are swarms in a log house, and how to do them correctly?
- To make this essentially tenon, only completely dry wood is used.
- The cross-section of the cutting must completely coincide with the geometric dimensions of the cut into which it will be inserted.
- The length of the tenon is made smaller than the height of the opening by 60-120 mm.
- The difference in the height of the opening should be visible only in the upper part.
It would seem that we are talking about a primitive piece of timber, but its functionality is significant. It reliably protects the window or doorway from bending. If you ignore the installation of the swarm, sagging of the blocks will be inevitable and irreversible.
Opening device
To the question: what are swarms, the answer has been received. Now you need to figure out how to install them correctly. It is necessary to strictly follow the sequence of actions in order to obtain the expected result. You cannot rush to fill the openings with blocks without preparing them properly. Installation of frames in window and door openings is carried out as follows:
- A vertical cut is made on the sides of the hole for the window or door, exactly in the middle. Its cross section should be even and smooth. The resulting groove should be thoroughly cleaned.
- The depth of the cut should be equal to the thickness of the cutting, and the length should be 60-120 mm greater than the size of the prepared block.
- All openings are processed in a similar way.
- The swarms are placed in nests prepared for them. They should fit very tightly. From below, the block fits into the groove without a gap. And the difference in height between the roof and the opening remains free from above. The resulting space is called shrinkage space. It is filled with special insulation to avoid the formation of a “cold bridge”.
Now you can safely install windows and doors in full confidence that no shrinkage will affect their normal operation. Swarms under metal doors or gates are usually also made from a metal profile.
