The technology of construction of rapidly erected buildings is very popular. This topic is constantly discussed on construction forums and causes a lot of controversy. The pros and cons of frame houses will help to form a general idea of the method, to get acquainted with the stages of construction of objects.
Based on the experience of European countries, there is no doubt that soon frame-panel houses will become leaders in low-rise construction. Compared to traditional building systems, the technology has its advantages, the main of which is economy. The financial aspect is one of the stimulating factors for acquiring your own housing. The cost of 1 sq. m less than one and a half times foam concrete blocks, 2.4 times less than brick walls, 1.4 times less than timber.
The frame-panel constructor is assembled by the efforts of 4 people in 1.5 months. According to this principle, it is permissible to build an object of any complexity up to 3 floors. In addition, building a frame house with your own hands will save on the foundation, equipment, and a team of workers.
The disadvantages include:
- Moisture absorption.
- Risk of fire.
- Bad ventilation.
- Sensitivity to vibration.
- fragility.
There was an erroneous opinion that only brick, panel or wooden walls hold heat well. However, according to the current thermal protection standards, modern buildings in some regions do not meet standard requirements. Canadian houses with walls of 150 mm in terms of thermal protection coefficient are equivalent to double block masonry and are quite suitable for habitation. In the cold, when the heating is turned off, the normal temperature is kept in the rooms for a long time.
Temporary or permanent residence determines the thickness of the frame house. If housing is planned for a seasonal stay, there is no need to purchase expensive insulation. Accordingly, the thickness of the walls will be somewhat less. For a comfortable microclimate, a substrate of 10-15 cm is enough. If we are talking about permanent housing, the material is laid in a thick layer - more than 15 cm. In the end, the wall is 20 cm without taking into account the outer and inner skins.
How to correctly calculate the thickness of the frame house
For this purpose, there is a special table with indicators for each region. Insert into the formula:
- insulation thickness parameters;
- thermal conductivity coefficient of the material;
- calculate the parameter.
You can make calculations yourself using our construction calculators.
When ordering a house kit at the factory, calculations are performed on the spot, and plates with an increased margin of safety are offered to the customer. Many people think that if they are thick, the insulation does not need to be laid. This is a misconception - without a quality substrate, the cost of a heating resource increases significantly. The walls of the frame building should resemble a layer cake. Thanks to the air cushion between them, even in cold weather, the house remains warm.
Do-it-yourself frame house is built using Finnish or Canadian technologies. The process algorithm is the same, and consists of several stages:
- Purchases of materials.
- Foundation pours.
- The lower binding of the foundation.
- Building walls, roofs.
- Installation of windows and doors.
- Wall cladding and insulation.
- Interior decoration.
In order to avoid heat loss and ensure good ventilation, it is important to adhere to an adapted technology during the construction of the facility.
How to build a frame house: pouring the foundation
The prefabricated structure is light, so it makes no sense to build a powerful base. Depending on the type of soil and the number of storeys of the building, choose between:
- columnar;
How to make harness and lags
Next, mount the transverse logs. Boards with a section of 150 x 50 mm, turned on their sides, with a step of 40 cm with oblique nails of 9 cm, are nailed to the end and lower beam on the left and right. If they are long, but a transverse beam is laid, jumpers 45 cm long are stuffed on top.
flooring
After the installation of the crate between the cells, a waterproofing film is laid, and a heater is placed on it. The budget option is expanded polystyrene from 15 kg / m3 with a thickness of 150 mm. The insulation is cut with a hacksaw, laid in 2 layers. The material is distributed so that the edges of the canvases of the second row do not coincide with the first, otherwise the sheets will move. To fix the foam at the bottom of the lattice around the perimeter, a cutting beam of 50 x 50 mm is stuffed. The seams are blown with mounting foam.
The material is covered with a vapor barrier membrane, then the flooring is constructed. For the subfloor choose plywood, grooved boards or cheap OSB-3 boards. Cloths are covered across the lattice. For reliability, the sheets are placed in a checkerboard pattern or perpendicular to the lags.
The flooring is fixed to the logs with 50 mm self-tapping screws or nailed nails. First, glue is applied to the back of the sheets, then they are nailed every 15 cm along the edge and in 30 cm increments in the middle. Between the segments on all sides leave a gap of 3 mm.
Now for the construction of walls you need a frame: wooden or steel. A popular solution is oak timber, larch or other wood with a dense structure. Such designs are cheaper than metal counterparts by a third. Prior to installation, they are planed, treated with impregnations from fire, decay, and pests.
Installation of vertical racks
How to build a frame house in order to live in it for a long time without repair? Follow the sequence of stages and take into account all construction nuances. First of all, it concerns the fastening of parts. When erecting the skeleton, corner posts are first installed. If dowels are selected for the connection, they recede from the edges up to 10 cm, holes are made at the end 1 cm longer than the dowel length, and the beam is vertically fixed.
Now choose the method of fastening the intermediate longitudinal racks. The first is fixation to the harness with a partial or full cut, or connection with galvanized corners. The second method is simpler and more reliable, although it increases the cost of the project.
The principle of installing the upper bars is similar to the installation of the lower trim. Horizontal structures are joined in the corners with vertical posts, connected with 2 nails and corners.
How to build walls
How to make a frame house: first assemble the spans on the ground, then raise it up or assemble it on the spot? Usually they are ready-made attached to the lower base. The first span is nailed to the floor and supported with jibs, the second is connected to the post of the first, and so on along the perimeter.
Regardless of the principle of connecting the racks, they are strengthened with temporary braces. This strengthens the lower trim until the installation of permanent supports, which give the frame rigidity and resistance to wind loads. After installation of all structures:
- the backbone is measured with a plumb line and level;
- temporary supports are removed;
- 2 strips are screwed to each support at the top and bottom.
Windows, doors
Door and window openings are installed in places according to the project. First, racks are fixed on the sides of the niches, then jumpers at the top and bottom. Internal partitions are mounted in the same way as the frame, tied with boards for rigidity.
Ceiling
The process consists of several stages:
- Grooves for beams are cut in the beam.
- Transverse structures are inserted into the openings, nailed, steel corners are screwed.
- Inside, supports are installed along the partitions, connected to the upper and lower bars.
- A ceiling shield is laid from tongue-and-groove boards.
- A vapor barrier layer is laid, a heater and a waterproofing membrane are laid on top.
- Build a rough floor.
Roof
For the device, choose: a mansard, multi-gable, single-pitched or multi-pitched roof with a slope of 10 °. To calculate the rafters and step lathing, construction tables or ours are used.
- The rafters are assembled from the bottom of the timber. To do this, 2 boards are spliced together at the top at an angle, then lifted into place.
- First, rafter pairs are installed on gables with an overhang of 400-500 mm.
- The slope of the ramp is adjusted, the structures are mounted to the upper harness.
- The remaining parts of the system are installed in increments of 700 mm.
- Then they are integrated with a ridge bar, which serves as a support for the upper rafters, and the paws are fixed to the floor.
- They build a solid or rare crate with a section of 25 x 30 cm, fix it on the rafters with side counters. The step of the bars is the same as that of the rafters.
A vapor barrier membrane is fastened to the inside of the rafter legs with a stapler. The joints are sealed with adhesive tape, the space between the bars is filled with heat-insulating plates, then with a diffuse film. At the final stage, the roof is laid. The process algorithm is clearly shown in the picture.
Wall insulation
Choose a protective material with a thickness of 50 mm: expanded polystyrene, mineral wool or polystyrene.
- Lay mats between the vertical racks of the skeleton. With double flooring, the joints of the canvases should not coincide. To protect against moisture from the outside, waterproofing is laid.
- Then a crate is stuffed from thin laths corresponding to the thickness of the insulation. This will ensure air movement.
- From the side of the rooms, the vapor barrier is stretched, fixed with a stapler. The walls are lined with thick plywood, gypsum fiber sheets or clapboard. The base for finishing with drywall is ready.
- Outside, the walls are sheathed with finishing material: block house, siding, eurolining.
It remains to ennoble the house inside and celebrate the housewarming. There are a lot of nuances in the construction of prefabricated frame-panel houses. Experience and knowledge will come along the way.
Full video how to build a frame house
A section of a frame house on the example of the KD-29 project, a diagram and technology for the construction of a frame house are given. Almost all projects have this design. This scheme has established itself as reliable, but simple and easy to assemble. The entire weight of the roof is borne by the central and side non-frontal walls, which stand on the foundation. The second floor is assembled from the floor of the second floor. Visually, you can familiarize yourself with the stages of construction by downloading frame building instructions.
Foundation assembly plans and drawings
A set of working diagrams and units for the project, contains: a complete drawing with the dimensions of the installation sites for anchors, working fittings and clamps, the volume of concrete and the amount of reinforcement. Technology and method of economical assembly of formwork for its subsequent use for frame racks and strapping. With a pile foundation, the project also includes a description and a pile field with all dimensions of the installation of piles d108mm and tying with a channel for guaranteed reliability of the piles. If desired, in place it is possible to tie the piles with a beam or a board on an edge along the heads. 
Frame house wall
A set of working diagrams and components for the project, includes: dimensions before the start of the posts on both sides in cm, including verification dimensions between the posts, installation locations for braces, dimensions of the window / door opening and its reinforcement, sequence plans and installation locations for OSB sheets (OSB) outside, also all plans, where necessary, contain a picking list, comments and technology for connecting racks in the corners, according to the warm corner technology, and a diagram of the junction of internal walls. Please note that we specifically abandoned the Gost design of the drawings in order to remove unnecessary headers and captions, and make the drawings full page. Also, they are made in color and in centimeters, for the convenience of work during construction. 
Front of a frame house
A set of working diagrams and components for the project, includes: dimensions before the start of the pillars in cm and roof battens, the height of the pillars, including verification dimensions between them, window installation locations, window dimensions and its reinforcement, sequence plans and installation locations for OSB sheets (OSB) outside, also, all plans contain comments and technology for laying out the Ondulin fastening, lathing, overhangs and steam-wind-protection devices (roofing cake). 
Comparison: Conventional drawing and our drawings
For the convenience and speed of work, we did not, as everyone else does, make a separate picking list for the whole house, since it is extremely inconvenient to work on it. Imagine how to assemble a house, if in order to assemble a partition only a meter or two long, you have to look for its completeness in a book of almost a hundred! sheets. So that you don’t have such problems, we, all the necessary materials and their exact dimensions, indicated directly on the page where the object that you will collect at the moment is drawn, you don’t have to spend a lot of time to find and calculate what you you need, everything is indicated on the diagram - simple and convenient. In any case, there is an additional estimate for the project. 
Knots: Schemes of fastening and marking
Each of our projects comes not only with drawings and diagrams, descriptions and explanations, but of course also nodes, this greatly facilitates and speeds up the process of proper construction. Below, the first page of nodes and layout scheme from the cd-1 project. Since this is a project of a small house, the nodes fit on two pages. First, these are the main nodes and the wall assembly scheme with an explanation of the markup. The second page in the project is the nodes of the internal partitions, the scheme and method of sawing the jibs, the scheme and the method of quick marking. And also, the second page shows the method and method of insulating the ceiling between floors, the floor of the first floor, etc.
Network engineering
A set of working diagrams and assemblies for the project, contains: a laying diagram and the number of electrical terminal devices (socket, switches, circuit breakers, etc., etc.), a schematic diagram and an option for installing plumbing for the first / second floor, as well as a variant of a drainage and ventilation device with natural impulse with a description of the minimum desired device in accordance with the rules and regulations for single-family houses.
You can read more about knots using KarkasDom technology in the article All nodes of the frame house.
All our projects have many advantages:
1. Projects are designed to the size of materials from the store, so that you have to cut as little as possible and there are no scraps left.
2. Also, even at the stage of the preliminary design, OSB boards were selected, taking into account the most popular sizes, which are most often in the warehouse of the building base.
3. The roof is the simplest in execution - gable. And this means that you do not have to cut Ondulin or metal tiles to form valleys. There are no additional roofing elements that will increase the cost of the roof, and also, there are no potentially dangerous places that could leak.
4. All projects are made according to zoning: Zone 2, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, which is suitable for their construction in terms of snow and wind load in most of Russia.
5. Usually a rectangular house. It is the most energy efficient and comfortable form of the house.
6. All houses are quite simple in construction, due to the absence of unnecessary protrusions of the walls.
7. All dimensions are in centimeters and have the original design of drawings and diagrams.
8. In the projects of houses there is not a single expensive glued or I-beam.
9. Dimensions of the house are selected for maximum savings in building materials.
10. Risers are usually assembled in one place with ventilation.
11. Comfortable stairs.
Since we cannot place all the drawings and plans on one page, then by going to the section, Our offer we can offer you free estimates for calculating how much a house will cost you at the prices of your region, all plans, drawings and technologies with a detailed description of what is being done and why. A total of more than 100 pages of color drawings, descriptions and comments for convenience, speed and quality of work.
Frame houses are very reliable and durable. At the same time, their construction requires a minimum of materials and effort. Therefore, it is quite possible to build a frame house with your own hands. At the heart of the house is a light wooden frame, for the exterior decoration of which different materials are used. Despite the ease of construction of this type of house, there are some features and rules of construction.
At the heart of the frame house is a light wooden frame, for the exterior of which various materials are used.
Do-it-yourself frame house 6x8: step by step instructions
To build this type of house, a non-damp place is required, preferably with a good drainage system. The design of the house should be drawn up based on how you plan to use the house: all year or only seasonally. The space between the panels, which is filled with insulation, allows you to live comfortably in the house in winter.
For work, prepare all the necessary materials and tools:
- insulation (mineral wool or expanded polystyrene);
- roofing material (ondulin, slate, tiles);
- concrete;
- material for waterproofing;
- wood preservative;
- lining or siding for exterior decoration;
- board 40x100 mm for the frame of walls, rafters and gables;
- fittings, channel, pipes, corner, nails;
- self-tapping screws;
- edged boards;
- jigsaw;
- circular saw;
- big ticks,
- building level,
- screwdriver;
- a hammer;
- nail puller;
- roulette;
- hacksaw;
- axe;
- concrete mixer.
The frame of the house is usually made of wood. Mostly oak or larch is used. Corner joints are mounted using the tongue-and-groove technology. It is necessary to adjust building materials as carefully as possible, avoiding gaps. Since wood is susceptible to decay, metal fasteners should not be used. Otherwise, the house will be shattered. The best option for fasteners is dowels made of wood.
Outside, the frame must be sheathed with boards, which are set at an angle to give the structure strength and rigidity. It is not worth nailing the sheathing “tightly”, because in the first year the tree will swell from moisture or shrink in the heat.
Foundation construction
The construction of a house begins with the construction of the foundation. In this case, columnar, prefabricated or shallow tape is suitable. Having chosen the type of foundation, you need to decide on its parameters, which depend on the following factors:
- type of soil and level of its freezing;
- groundwater level;
- weight of the future home.
When digging a pit, keep in mind that its depth should be 15-20 cm lower than the freezing depth of the soil. To calculate the approximate weight, for example, a 1-storey house 6x8, the perimeter (28 m) is multiplied by 1.7, it turns out 47.6. For a 2-storey building - 47.6 * 2, the total is 95.2.
Before erecting the foundation, decide what elements it will consist of, their dimensions, the method of reinforcement, the composition of the concrete solution.
If a columnar foundation is chosen, its main elements are pillars and a grillage. The pillars are placed in increments of 1.5 m. The composition of the concrete is determined by factors such as air temperature and groundwater level.
At temperatures above + 5 ° C, concrete B15-B25 is used, in which the main components, sand and cement, are mixed in a 3: 1 ratio, plus crushed stone is added as a filler. Water is added until a homogeneous plastic consistency is formed. If the foundation is being built at a temperature below +5 ° C and a concrete mixer is used in the manufacture of the mortar, then an antifreeze additive is added to the composition.
After completing the concrete work, wait at least 7 days. After removing the formwork, make sure that there are no defects in the foundation. If found, they must be corrected. Before building a house, perform waterproofing work. For this, as a rule, 2 layers of roofing material are laid and the frame is assembled.
The first stage of construction: strapping and floors
Work on building a house begins with strapping. The first row of beams is laid on the foundation, along the perimeter of the building and in the places of load-bearing walls. Previously, the tree is treated with an antiseptic. The lower trim is attached to the foundation in this way:
- For pins with a diameter of 10 mm. They are embedded when pouring into the corners of the base or corner piles. A hole is drilled in the beam and fastened to the pin with a nut.
- Anchor bolts with a diameter of 16 mm, which are hammered into the frozen foundation by at least 100 mm. The bars are fixed to each other with nails 150 mm.
After tying, you need to lay the logs for the floor and install the vertical racks of the frame. For a log, you need to use boards 50 x 150 mm, observing a step of 60 cm. 2 holes are made in the boards for the log and the logs are attached to the strapping on 26 cm dowels. After that, a draft floor is mounted, for this, take an unedged board. Lay the bars on the floor. In the resulting squares, you need to lay a heat-insulating material (polystyrene). Cover the floor with planed boards 40x150 mm. They should be sealed with staples and wedges, then pinned to the logs. Try to make the floor completely flat. Even small irregularities will lead to a distortion of the entire house.
The second stage - the construction of walls
This stage involves assembling the walls of the future house:
- First, the lower harness is made of bars with grooves, between which a distance of approximately 50 cm must be observed. This figure depends on the width of the heat-insulating material that will be laid in the frame. The length of the groove should be equal to the width of the board fixed in it. You will need 2 sets of such bars for the upper trim.
- Next, you need to prepare the boards, the length of which corresponds to the height of the ceiling. This is approximately 2.4-2.7 m. The boards are fixed in the grooves and fastened with temporary jibs, this will add rigidity to the frame. To do this, use 2 short jibs for each rack or 1 long one for several. After completing the assembly of the frame boards, proceed to install the boards on the interior partitions.
- Using bars with grooves, we assemble the upper trim. It is attached to each post with 2 nails, which must enter at least 10 cm deep.
- After that, the frame must be strengthened with permanent jibs, the old ones are dismantled. There should be 2 at the top and at the bottom. They give the structure more strength.
The next step in construction is fixing the ceiling beams. To do this, take a bar 50 × 15. They are fixed by combining with vertical racks. Work is carried out inside the house. The beams are fixed with steel brackets, steel corners, using the technology of cutting grooves and strengthening them with nails.
Door and window openings need to be prepared immediately.
In the future, depending on when the house will be used, single frames or double-glazed windows with double or triple glazing are installed.
The final stage - the construction of the roof of the house
For convenience and safety, you can mount a temporary floor using thick plywood. The rafters are erected first. To do this, take the bars 50 x 150, their edges are joined by an end connection at an angle of 50 °. Next, you need to make the roof sheathing. Ondulin, professional sheet, etc. are suitable as roofing.
Do-it-yourself frame house is built quite easily. However, all rules must be followed. Despite the fact that this type of house is being built quickly, do not rush. It is better to think over each stage of work in advance.
Despite the fact that the general construction season is ending, some developers continue to build houses. How can this be, after all, with the advent of cold weather, construction usually freezes, unfinished is mothballed and waits for the next season? All this is true when it comes to brick, stone or block buildings. However, frame houses can be built year-round. Therefore, if you have not had time to get your own house this year, do not despair - find out how to build a frame house in one season!
What is the essence of frame buildings?
First, let's deal with frame technologies. What does "frame house" mean? These are, as a rule, wooden buildings, which are based on a frame. The frame can be made from dry solid or glued laminated timber. It is installed on the foundation, fixed to it with the help of strapping. All work can be done with your own hands, since working with wood does not require any special skills that the average man does not have. How to properly assemble the frame - we will consider later.
The next step is insulation and waterproofing. We insulate the frame so that the wall looks like a multilayer cake. Insulation is fixed on the frame, most often mineral wool. It is overlapped and glued. You can use rolled, mats, liquid alluvial, polystyrene foam and other types of insulation. Outside, the house can be additionally insulated with foam boards, producing wind protection and sound insulation.
Waterproofing is carried out with films and membranes. They protect the walls from moisture ingress.
Vapor barrier in a frame house is an important element of the wall. Without it, the wall is covered with condensate, and in addition, moisture accumulates at the dew point, which falls on the center of the insulation. As a result, the insulation quickly becomes unusable, and the walls become covered with fungus and mold. A good vapor barrier acts as ventilation gaps, but this applies to modern membranes, not films. Films are much cheaper, but not as functional. A properly assembled wall cake guarantees the warmth of the house and reduces its energy loss.
At the next stage, we sheathe the filling of the wall with OSB-3 sheets. It is desirable to foam the joints, ensuring the absence of cold bridges.
Next, we carry out interior and exterior decoration. The inner wall is most often covered with wallpaper, and the outer side is painted. However, you can also use siding, block house, stone trim, “brick-like”, “beam-like” and any other.
You can read about Finnish houses built using frame technology. And about Canadian frame houses -.
The foundation for the house - the basis of the basics
Despite the fact that there is a huge selection of foundations for a frame house, experts recommend stopping at a tape one. The strip foundation has undeniable advantages:
- can be done by hand
- inexpensive
- reliable
- make it easy enough
So, if you decide to make a strip foundation with your own hands, you will first have to work with the site. Determine where your house will be located, taking into account neighbors, a fence, a septic tank, the location of a well, etc. It is necessary to take into account all the nuances, check whether it will be convenient for transport to enter, whether there is enough space for other buildings if you want to build a garage or bath later . It is desirable to have a flat area, you may have to use a technique to level it by removing the top layer.
When the site is prepared, we begin marking. You should already have a ready-made project or plan with the dimensions of the house. Based on these parameters, using a rope and pegs, we mark all the load-bearing walls.
Further, if we decide to do everything ourselves, we must either take a shovel or hire equipment. We dig a trench under the foundation, about 40 centimeters wide. Next, we install the formwork, which you can buy, rent or mount with your own hands from the boards. The formwork should rise about half a meter above the ground - a high foundation looks more beautiful, and protects less durable walls from snow.
The finished formwork, if it was made by hand, must be covered with a film from the inside, fixing it to the formwork. This is necessary so that liquid cement does not seep into the gaps between the boards, while it will be easier to remove the formwork - the cement will not stick to rough wood. Under the weight of cement, an independent formwork can disperse, and the film will hold the cement mortar.
If you have clay soil, add 20 centimeters of ASG to the bottom of the trench. Pour cement over the sand to the edge of the formwork. This must be done quickly, as the cement hardens. Most likely, you will not be able to do it alone, and you will have to call for help from two or three people.
We give the foundation to harden, this will take at least a week. If it is raining according to the forecast, we cover the surface with a film. We leave the foundation for the frame house for about a month, and only then can we do the strapping.
A strong frame is the key to a strong home
As the name implies, frame houses are houses based on a frame. Thus, the frame is the main element of the entire building, so it must be mounted correctly.
How to make a harness - read here. When the strapping is ready, we proceed to the construction of the future wall. You can mount the wall using the following elements from the timber:
- racks
- braces
- inserts
- crossbars
All these are elements of the wall. Racks are a vertically placed beam, which is located between two strappings - the lower and upper. The upper trim refers to floor beams.
The braces are a bar placed at an angle between the uprights. They are also fixed in the upper and lower trim (not to the posts, as some mistakenly assume).
Inserts are small pieces of timber used to add extra strength to the frame.
Crossbars - this is a beam laid strictly horizontally between vertical racks. They are fixed on the racks.
Racks should be knocked down with nails 80 mm, at a distance of 450 mm from each other. They are nailed to the harness with 2 nails 120 mm on top and 2 of the same on the bottom. Using metal corners, the structure can be made stronger. All materials used in construction must be treated with a septic tank.
Particular attention must be paid to the corners. Here, the mandatory strengthening of the racks with jibs is performed.
Do not forget to check the geometry of the house after each stage - all horizontal bars should lie strictly horizontally, and vertical ones should be exactly up. The strapping must be laid evenly, and for this the foundation surface must be even around the entire perimeter - an error of 1 cm is allowed. The upper strapping is also checked with a level. If there are errors on the foundation, it is topped up with cement, leveling. If the level shows slight irregularities, we use parts of the timber, having previously processed the septic tank, and level the surface. We check the evenness of the walls with a plumb line.
All components of the frame roof
The roof is the most important element, and in a frame house the roof can be mounted with some experience with your own hands. However, before putting the roof on, it is necessary to make the upper trim of the walls and check its level. How the overlap lies depends on the evenness of the strapping. If there are small irregularities, we eliminate them with our own hands by lining wood chips under the understated part.
You can install the truss system in two ways:
- in a layered way
- hanging
Both types of truss system are used in frame construction, however, with a hanging truss system, the beams are based on the Mauerlat. Mauerlat is made by hand, it is a timber beam with a cross section of 10.0 × 10.0 cm, which is arranged along the perimeter of the building and fixed to the surface of the load-bearing walls on the top row of strapping. From the upper side, the rafter legs are attached to each other using a ridge beam.
An inclined structure is made by hand in a different way; it is not fastened with rafters between themselves in the upper part. The rafters abut in the upper part on the longitudinal central wall or specially provided supporting columns.
Which truss system to choose in your case, the dimensions of your building will tell you. Hanging roofing system is suitable for small buildings, the distance between the bearing walls of which is no more than 6 meters.
First you need to assemble the rafter legs in the amount of 2 pieces. Ties are needed to connect the first rafter legs in their lower part, they are attached with anchor bolts to the rafter legs. The legs are attached to the Mauerlat and fixed with sawn grooves. We cut the grooves of the correct shape with our own hands. Rafters are installed in the grooves, the distance between which depends on the size of your roof. The approximate step is about 1 meter.
If your roof is higher than three meters, look for rafters with a vertical direction.
Thus, the frame of your roof will consist of:
- rafters
- support board
- ridge beam
- racks
- attic floor beams that are overlapped over an internal load-bearing wall
- run
- rafter leg
- lying down
- contractions
When the roof frame is assembled, it is necessary to produce a crate. This is the most important element of the roof, so when doing it yourself, be careful and careful: the crate is not only necessary for fixing the roofing material, but also for linking all the structural parts of the roof frame together. The crate ensures the stability of the frame, therefore, before its installation, it is necessary to organize a temporary strapping from the underside. The crate can be:
- solid
- intermediate
The choice of the type of lathing primarily depends on the material with which the roof will be covered. A solid crate is performed for a soft roof, which is best suited for a frame house. Metal tile or slate can be laid on an intermediate crate.
Basic rules for frame construction
Frame house is the best choice
In order not to get a frame house of poor quality, you must follow some rules:
- Only quality materials. If you choose wooden construction, use either glued laminated timber or technical drying timber, or do not undertake construction at all. The timber sold at sawmills is raw - after 3 years of operation, 90% of the timber will crack, and the remaining 10 will twist so that the screws are torn out.
- If you don’t know how to do it yourself, trust the professionals. Do not experiment in complex construction work - entrust something to specialists. This is especially true for work at height, electrical wiring and other complex narrow-profile work.
- Don't skimp on the little things. You won’t save much on trifles, but you can significantly damage your future home. This primarily applies to impregnation for wood. Make two layers, and choose European fire protection.
- Down with Chinese materials. Do not buy Chinese heaters and insulation, they are not only of poor quality, but also emit harmful substances. European materials have a confirmed certification and safety class.
Among all prefabricated structures, frame houses are the most popular. Such buildings have many advantages. They are quite light, so they do not need a strong foundation. Due to its good thermal insulation qualities, such a house can be used not only as a summer cottage, but also for permanent residence. In addition, frame buildings are easy to build with your own hands, which is why many developers choose this option. In our article, we will describe in detail and step by step how to build a frame house.
Technology
Do-it-yourself frame house construction can be carried out using Finnish or Canadian technology. But the basic principles of building frame houses for both technologies are the same. Regardless of the choice of technology, we build a frame house, adhering to the following sequence:
- Choice of materials. The basis of such buildings is the frame. It can be made of wood or steel elements. More often, private developers prefer to build a frame house with their own hands using a wooden frame made of timber. Such buildings are economical, environmentally friendly and quick to install. If you decide to build your house on a steel frame, then its price will be 1/3 more. However, these structures are slightly lighter, which allows for a lightweight foundation. Also on a steel frame, you can safely use steel fasteners.
- After the installation of the foundation, they begin to manufacture the floor of the future house. How to make a floor, we will describe in detail in a step-by-step guide.
- After the installation of the floor, they begin to erect the frame of the walls, ceilings and roof.
- Further, the frame made is sheathed with wood sheet materials. The built house is insulated. Window and door openings are being installed.
- Now you can start laying engineering communications and performing exterior and interior wall decoration.
As you can see, the construction technology is quite simple, but to build a frame house with your own hands, you need a construction scheme and drawings. Detailed schemes, according to which it is easy to build a house on your own, can be found on the net, but it is much easier to work on a specially designed project, so do not be lazy and order it. When you have a blueprint or diagram in your hands, figuring out how to build a house will not be difficult with our step-by-step guide.
Preparatory work
When building a frame house with your own hands, work begins with the preparation and marking of the site for construction. Preparatory work includes the following steps:
- First you need to clear the construction site of debris, stones, unnecessary green spaces.
- If there are irregularities or a slight slope in the territory, then the site must be leveled. That is, all the hills should be cut off, and soil should be poured into the recesses.
- Next, you need to mark up the future building on the site. In order to transfer the data from the project documentation to the site, you need to mark the axes and dimensions of the building with the help of pegs and a cord, it is also worth breaking down the internal load-bearing walls. If we are building a frame house with our own hands, then it is very important that all angles are strictly 90 degrees.
Foundation
If you want to know how to properly build a frame house, then first you should familiarize yourself with the foundation sequence. Since the walls of such a building are quite light, there is no need to equip a massive capital foundation. In this case, we build a house on one of the following grounds:
- shallow-depth monolithic or prefabricated strip foundation;
- columnar base structure;
- pile screw bases.
The easiest way is to build a columnar base under a frame house. The pillars must necessarily be located at the corners of the future house, at the intersection of the walls and with a certain step under the external and internal load-bearing walls. Usually the pitch of the pillars is taken equal to 2 m. The installation of the base is carried out in the following order:
- Under each post, dig holes of the required depth. To do this, you can use a shovel or motor drill.
- At the bottom of the pits, a sand cushion 100-150 mm high is made. Wet sand is carefully compacted.
- After that, a wooden formwork is installed. It should rise above ground level by at least 30 cm.
- The inner surface of the formwork is lined with roofing material, which will act as a waterproofing and facilitate the dismantling of the formwork.
- Concrete is poured into the formwork to a height of 5 cm.
- After the concrete mixture has hardened, a reinforcement frame is installed. At the same time, it should not approach the formwork closer than 50 mm. On top of the frame, it is necessary to leave reinforcement outlets 15 cm long, which will make it possible to tie together the structure of the pillars with the grillage.
- Concrete is being poured.
Important: in addition to reinforced concrete, poles can be made from ready-made concrete blocks, bricks, steel or asbestos pipes with concrete poured inside.
For the manufacture of the grillage frame, rods with a cross section of 12 mm connected with wire are used. Formwork for grillage is made from boards. After installing the reinforcing cage, it is associated with the release of reinforcement from the pillars. After pouring and tamping the concrete mix, 300-500 mm long studs are inserted into the grillage. They will then attach the frame of the house.
Base binding
After setting the mortar and dismantling the formwork, horizontal waterproofing of the base is performed. To do this, lay two layers of roofing material on bituminous mastic. Usually, a beam with sides of 15 cm is used to perform the strapping.
Attention: the cross section of the strapping beam is directly related to the pitch of the posts. The larger it is, the larger the cross section of the beam is needed to avoid sagging.
If you build frame houses with your own hands, the step-by-step instructions for installing the strapping will definitely come in handy for you:
- The bar is mounted on a foundation base along its perimeter. At the same time, they strictly control the length of the walls and constantly check the data with the project. Docking of the beam is allowed if its length is not enough. The joints should be directly above the posts. In the corners and at the docking point, the bars are connected into a “half-tree”, fixed with nails and corners.
- The beam is attached to the base with bolts and studs. To do this, holes are drilled in the timber and foundation heads. Fasteners, if possible, should be deepened into the material.
Floor
To know how to build a frame house correctly, you need to understand the process of making the floor of the future structure. For a log, it is worth taking a beam with a section of 100x200 mm. The lag step is selected based on the width of the insulation boards. Usually it is taken equal to 60-70 cm. The logs are attached to the strapping beam with the help of corners and nails.
After that, the installation of the floor is carried out in the following sequence:
- We attach cranial bars to the installed lags, and we lay rough roll boards on them.
- Then the surface of the log and roll is covered with a waterproofing membrane.
- Thermal insulation material is laid on top of the membrane.
- From above, the entire structure is closed with a vapor barrier membrane.
- Next, the floor is covered with OSB or moisture-resistant plywood.
Walls and ceiling
We continue to make frame houses with our own hands - step-by-step instructions for mounting walls:
- For the manufacture of the frame, you can use a beam of coniferous wood. To begin with, it is necessary to assemble the span of the wall at the construction site, and then install the assembled structure on the strapping.
- The distance between the racks of the frame is usually determined taking into account the width of the insulation boards that will be laid between them. If mineral wool is used for insulation, then the pitch of the racks should be 1-2 cm less than the width of the heat insulator for its snug fit.
- The frame posts are fixed with nails to the lower and upper horizontal element. For additional fixation, you can use mounting brackets.
- To increase the rigidity of the frame, jumpers are mounted between the vertical posts. They are staggered.
- Window and door openings are arranged in the places specified in the project. To do this, racks are mounted along the edges of the opening, jumpers are mounted above and below the window opening.
After assembling all the spans, they are mounted on the strapping frame in this order:
- The first span is attached to the floor and fixed with props.
- Next, a second span is installed. It is attached to the floor and the side post of the first span.
- All subsequent spans are connected to each other by means of nails.
- For the installation of spans in a strictly vertical position, jibs are used - diagonal struts, which are fixed at the corners.
Installation of internal partitions is carried out similarly to the installation of the external frame. After that, the whole structure is tied on top with a board to give additional rigidity. Then the walls from the outside are sewn up with oriented strand boards.
The ceiling is mounted on the upper trim:
- To do this, grooves are made in the beam into which the beams are inserted.
- They are additionally fixed with nails and steel corners.
- Support bars are mounted along the internal partitions. They are connected to the top and bottom trim.
- Then the ceiling shield is nailed. It is better to make it from grooved boards.
- After that, a vapor barrier layer is laid. The material should also be wound on the ceiling beams.
- Now the insulating material is laid out.
- The thermal insulation layer is covered with a waterproofing film.
- The draft floor is laid from the boards.
Roof
To know how to build a frame house yourself, you need to understand the sequence of arranging the roof:
- Rafter pairs are assembled on the ground into a structure, like a truss, and rise up to be installed on the upper strapping bar. The overhang of the rafters should be within 350-500 mm. The first to mount the rafter pairs on the gables.
- All subsequent rafter pairs are installed between them in increments of 700 mm from each other.
- The rafters are connected by a ridge beam, which is attached to the "paw floor".
- Next, a solid or thinned crate is made, which is laid on a waterproofing membrane fixed on the rafters with a counter-rail.
- Now you can lay the selected roofing.
- At this stage, you can announce to your family members and acquaintances about the completion of the installation of the housing box.
Wall insulation
For insulation of the house, expanded polystyrene, mineral wool or polystyrene are used. The thermal insulation layer must be at least 50 mm thick. Insulation and decoration of the walls of the house are carried out in the following order:
- Thermal insulation material is laid between the racks of the frame. If two layers of material are used, then the joints of the plates in the layers should not coincide.
- From the inside, the walls are covered with a layer of membrane vapor barrier, which is attached over the insulation to the frame racks with a stapler.
- Then the walls from the inside of the house are sewn up with OSB, moisture-resistant plywood or clapboard.
- From the outside, the walls of the house must be protected from moisture. For this, a waterproofing membrane is attached to them.
- Then a crate of slats is stuffed onto the walls, which will allow ventilation of the walls of the frame building.
- The selected finishing material is sewn over the rails. For exterior decoration of the facade of a house built using frame technology, you can use vinyl siding, lining, etc.
How to build a frame house with your own hands - video lesson:
