At the design stage of your own home, it is important to choose the material of the walls. The appearance of the building, its weight (which affects the requirements for the foundations), the final cost of construction depends on what external building envelopes will be used. Increasingly, when building their own home, people give preference to the creation of wooden cottages, one of the options of which are houses made of glued beams.
Material Features
This technology allows the production of wooden elements of large sections and lengths than is possible with a solid material. In this case, the overall structural strength increases. Material production takes place in the following sequence:
- drying in the steam chambers of coniferous wood boards to a standard humidity of 8-12%;
- sorting the resulting material, cutting defects;
- giving boards a strict geometric shape by planing on four sides;
- bonding elements together under a high-power hydraulic press;
- cutting a profile into parts of the required size;
- drilling holes for pins in parts.
Compared with the classic edged beam, the glued material has a number of features:
- length up to 18 m (against 6 m);
- minimal deformation and shrinkage (1-2% against 9-10%);
- the possibility of manufacturing elements of large cross-section (thickness up to 50 cm, height up to 90 cm);
- high strength (the frame is significantly stiffer);
- increased resistance to negative environmental influences (deep cracks do not form);
- the absence of drafts between the crowns due to the profiled section.
This technology allows you to get a unique material on the characteristics, but, unfortunately, quite expensive. It is because of the cost that modern houses made of glued material are the choice of people with fairly high financial capabilities.
Pros and cons
In the construction market, there has been a steady consensus on the advantages of glued-beam houses:
- Ability to operate immediately after assembly. This is due to the fact that the shrinkage of the house is minimal and does not exceed 0.5%. When using an ordinary bar or log, before finishing, it is necessary to wait at least 1, and preferably 2 years, so that the walls dry out and shrink.
- High thermal insulation performance. But it is important to note here that such a thermal conductivity can be provided by an ordinary beam or log, which cost much less.
- Attractive appearance. The surface of the elements is perfectly flat, which eliminates the need for additional home decoration from the inside or outside. In addition, due to the unique properties of the material, attractiveness will remain for a long time. The service life is increased due to resistance to such troubles as mold, rot or fungus.
- Low flammability. The main problem of wooden cottages is their instability to the effects of fire. A special production technology solves this issue. At the manufacturing stage, all elements are treated with flame retardants - substances that increase the fire resistance limit. In addition, in the manufacture of profiled material, cracks and voids are eliminated, it acquires a high density. Such a monolithic structure better resists fire. Even in conditions of fire, the walls will continue to carry out the supporting function and will not create a threat of destruction during the time necessary for the safe evacuation of people.
- Possibility to realize bold architectural solutions. Creation of large spans, complex geometric shapes. Such advantages are justified by the high strength of the material and the simplicity of machining. The technology allows producing not only standard products, but also bent glued beams.
The advantages are quite significant, so even when building houses from other materials, sometimes such elements are included in the construct.
Also, houses from glued beams have disadvantages. They must be known at the design stage in order to avoid serious problems in the process of construction and operation. The disadvantages can be identified as follows:
- Use for gluing profiled timber of synthetic compounds. There are three options for production: polyurethane, melamine, and isoacitic adhesives. The most environmentally friendly option will be the last group. In Europe and Russia, the technology of using the first two is the most widespread.
- About melanin glue. It is important to know that it contains formaldehyde - a toxic substance that can lead to the onset or exacerbation of bronchial asthma. Also, isocytes can cause this disease. Despite the fact that the service life of the house increases, its strength characteristics increase, if there is a predisposition to such diseases, it is worth abandoning the idea of using glued profiled material for construction, since it is dangerous to health.
- The likelihood of small cracks. Manufacturers prefer to keep silent about this. Although shrinkage is minimal (1-2%), it is not zero either. Therefore, if you plan to carry out additional finishing inside (for example, drywall on the walls or ceiling), then in the first year after construction you will have to wait a while.
- Increased cost. The estimate for the house from glued beams will be such that with this money it would be possible to build a brick house of about the same size. Although what is better - a wooden or stone house - is rather a philosophical question, personal beliefs and preferences play an important role here.
- If the beam is thin - additional insulation is necessary. Even due to the low thermal conductivity in severe northern winters, houses from profiled timber are not able to provide full protection from the cold. These disadvantages are removable, just apply an effective mineral wool insulation. But warming a wooden house involves an increase in costs and labor.
The use of foam for additional thermal insulation is not recommended, because its service life and strength leave much to be desired. In addition, polystyrene foam negates the ability of a wooden house to “breathe”.
If not everyone pays attention to the composition of the glue or thermal protection characteristics, then even a person who is far from construction will notice an increase in cost (sometimes several times). The service life of a building and its energy efficiency are not so high as to talk about cost recovery.
Owner reviews
Glued laminated timber has been used in Russia for more than 15 years. Over this period, the technology has undergone many changes in the direction of improving consumer characteristics and adapting to the conditions of the continental climate. Owners of houses built at least 3 years ago can objectively judge their house in general and the features of technology in particular.
Actual construction dates
Construction organizations claim that the construction of an average house of 150 sq.m. takes 1-1.5 months. This is partly true - the assembly of a standard box, which builders are not building for the first time, really does not take so much time.
But the owners of such houses report the following:
“Do not forget about the foundation. Depending on the number of floors and geological conditions, a simple pile-screw screw (mounted in 3-7 days) or a more labor-intensive tape one (14-21 days, including concrete hardening period) may suit you. ”
Also, many reviews report an increase in terms for engineering systems:
“After the construction of the frame, communications are installed, including at least an electrician, heating, water supply and sewage. This is another 3-4 weeks of continuous work. Installation of windows and doors, if it is not included in the main types of work - 1-2 weeks. And the interior decoration, depending on the nuances of the design project, can stretch for 2-3, and sometimes 9 months of dense work. ”
Conclusion: according to reviews, the actual construction time is not 1-1.5 months, but at least 2-3. And taking into account the finish, it can stretch for a period of 4 to 12 months.
Actual shrinkage
Manufacturers claim that due to low shrinkage and natural beauty, the interior decoration of the house can not be done at all.
“In reality, a little shrinkage is still present, and in some places a year later small cracks appeared on the walls inside and outside, especially at the ends. For us, this is not critical, since the heat efficiency of the house was not affected, no through-gaps appeared. But the precipitate remained, because we were promised the complete absence of any defects during the drying process. In addition, even glued wood is a living material, and cracking can be accepted as some kind of noble natural patina of time. ”
Thus, a slight adjustment of the geometric dimensions of the walls is still present. Therefore, this fact should not be neglected during the interior decoration.
Actual fire treatment
In production, before sending a batch of timber on a flight, it is treated with special fire-retardants. During transportation, during loading / unloading, the material gets dirty, its appearance deteriorates.
“We decided to polish the facade in several places to remove dirt. Accordingly, ugly whitish spots appeared, and we had to completely clean one facade, and then re-cover it with a flame retardant. As a result, the deadlines and figures in the estimate have shifted. Do not repeat my mistake - be present at the reception of the material and make sure that it does not have such dark spots here. ”
As for fire resistance, fireman Alexander from the profile forum spoke best of all about it:
“A wooden house, no matter how and whatever you process it, remains combustible. Yes, flame retardants increase the degree of fire resistance, the period and temperature of flammability increases, but will not give the material a group of NG (non-combustible). Therefore, if there is a fire, processing will give you an additional 2-3 minutes to evacuate. By the way, the situation is not better in stone houses: a fire occurs from the inside, and there is a combustible finish, furniture, curtains, etc. As a result, we have the same evacuation time as in a timber house. ”
Conclusion: processing is important, because for fire safety, such a house comes close to a stone one. Closely monitor its presence and absence of dirty spots during acceptance.
Design and construction
There are many proposals for the construction of turnkey houses on the market. Most often, these firms themselves produce the material and assemble. To build a house from glued beams, you will need to choose a standard one or develop an individual project. Beams are made according to the project, and the factory will be asked for their geometric dimensions and all the necessary drawings. It is important to have a complete project here, just a sketch of a house is suitable only at the initial stage.
Ordering a finished project is an additional investment. You can use specialized programs such as ArchiCAD or AutoCAD to create a sketch project yourself. To perform the work yourself, you will need to study material on working with these programs. For one use, you can not purchase a licensed version (the cost of which is very high), but use the demo version.
Construction is not critically different from other wooden materials. Foundations for a timber house are selected in the same way as for ordinary timber and log houses. Laying crowns and floor elements is not difficult. Fixation of elements is performed by nails or bolts, holes for which are provided even at the manufacturing stage.
Having carefully studied all the advantages and disadvantages, characteristics of strength, durability, heat-shielding ability, you can safely make an independent informed choice.