People love to live and work in warmth and space, and modern house construction technologies take these needs into account without fail. In this regard, Finnish technology is close to ideal and our compatriots are happy to order such houses, especially since our countries have the same northern wind rose, soil properties and air humidity. This means that construction can be carried out without adaptation to the climate. Additional advantages of Finnish houses that attract buyers are their efficiency, speed of construction and aesthetic appearance. Read more about the Finnish technology of building frame houses and a description of the construction sequence in this article.
Classic Finnish house Source tula.stroimdom.com
Peculiarities
What is a Finnish frame house? Its technology is distinguished by its simplicity and structural reliability. The frame is erected from wooden boards or beams, the distance between which is from 20 centimeters to a meter. When installation and interior finishing begin, the space between them is covered with transverse boards and sheets that do not bear load. It is safe and free to change the internal layout of rooms and the material of walls and ceilings using Finnish technology: install new doors, cut windows, change electrical wiring lines and combine rooms.
At the core, every part of a Finnish house is made of wood, a material that is economical and pleasant to the touch and smell. Wood does not evaporate harmful substances, breathes easily, slowly corrodes and deforms by 0.5-1%. This is an environmentally friendly material that does not cause allergic reactions.
Do-it-yourself frame: step-by-step instructions. Electrical and heating
Now is the time to connect electricity from the pole to your electrical panel (it is better to design and assemble it in advance, and before that get permission to connect a specific amount of kW).
After the house is insulated, but before the finishing stage, it’s time to also start heating. We start with choosing heating fuel (wood, gas, electric, gasoline), a boiler, and then the material for the heating pipes. Recently, heated floors are increasingly being chosen for frame houses instead of heating radiators.
A Canadian wooden house is very warm; it needs to be well insulated once, and then it can even be heated with electricity. Of course, the cost of electric heating will be 3 times more expensive than gas heating, but still less than what you pay in an apartment.
Advantages and disadvantages of technology
Today, every fifth standing house in Russia is frame. The rest is occupied by obsolete brick houses of Soviet construction or block cottages.
Frame technology is a universal solution that is used for the construction of both an ultra-modern cottage and a cozy country house.
An example of a Finnish country house project Source kitchencafe.tk
The cost-effectiveness of the technology also makes it attractive for the construction of industrial premises and simple small domestic buildings.
In general, the following advantages of Finnish houses are distinguished:
- Price . To build a house with an area of 130 square meters will cost 960-990 thousand rubles. This is 120 thousand rubles less than the market value of wooden country houses of comparable size, which will be left for decor and amenities. At the same time, the house will remain without the stamp of an already designed one, with a strict internal layout.
- Comfortable microclimate . The house using Finnish technology is not afraid of sudden changes in temperature, humidity above 50% and wind. Wooden beams are durable, not subject to cracks, moisture-proof and heat-resistant. Warmth and dryness are maintained around the clock, and the installation of ventilation and air conditioning creates an internal microclimate.
- Ease of construction . Construction will not require a separate entrance for heavy construction equipment, installation of special lifting tools and installation of materials.
- No seasonal restrictions . Construction concrete is not used in the construction of the foundation for the house. Instead, solid bricks or rubble concrete are laid, which are not limited by cold frosts and floods.
Construction can only be changed by a strong storm or rain; the rest of the time, in winter and summer, work goes on as usual Source proftula.ru
- Safety and reliability . The frame materials are not afraid of open fire, resistant to seismic activity and strong winds. Flexibility and a large cross-section of materials save when brick and ordinary non-Finnish wooden frame structures are deformed and destroyed.
The technology also has disadvantages, but they are quite easy to deal with:
- Noise insulation . Thin and natural wooden partitions allow sound from neighboring rooms and outdoor areas to pass through, which is inconvenient in large settlements and communities. The solution is to double the insulation layer between the layers of the wall and build a separate soundproofing sheet.
- Natural pests . Small insects and other living creatures can inhabit the space between the upholstery slabs of houses that are filled with sealant. Mice and ants often take advantage of this chance to settle, but it is enough for them to simply block the road if you ensure that there are no microcracks and that construction technology is followed. This problem is mostly far-fetched, since we heard about mice in the house long before the advent of new construction technologies.
Any tree can be attacked by insects.
To avoid these troubles, all wooden components of the house are processed at the factory. Source kostromaterem.ru See also: Catalog of frame house projects presented at the “Low-Rise Country” exhibition.
Types of prefabricated panel structures
First of all, let's consider the main types of frame buildings:
- modular buildings, which are delivered to the installation site in assembled form - all that remains is to install them on the foundation, secure the roof and finish the internal and external (if desired) surfaces;
- kits with a high degree of readiness, when builders only need to install ready-made blocks, erect interior partitions, install ceilings, mount the roof and connect communications;
- Pre-Cut package, which involves the delivery of completely finished houses to the assembly site, but in disassembled form. All elements of the future structure are numbered, and the installation resembles the assembly of a construction set.
When starting to install a house, you must first decide whether you will live in it permanently or plan to use it for temporary residence.
The wall pie for seasonal living has fewer layers, since the need for serious insulation is eliminated . An external protective film is attached to the frame made of timber and boards to prevent moisture from entering.
Experts do not recommend using thin polyethylene film for waterproofing, as it quickly fails with all the ensuing consequences.
Construction materials
The simplicity of the cottage design using Finnish technology lies in established and similar materials. The frame is constructed from glued beams, the service life of which reaches several centuries. Their cross-section is 2.5 centimeters larger than the standard, which gives a margin of safety, the cost is low, and flammability and tendency to rot and loss of strength over the years are excluded.
After the construction of the frame, the supporting structure, the stage of creating walls and horizontal floors begins. The subfloor is laid out with sheets of OSB or plywood on the ceilings, after which it becomes the first layer of flooring on the second floor. The cross frame is designed to support the load and maintain a ventilation gap, which prevents the finished floorboards from rotting in high humidity conditions.
For thermal insulation, sheets of plasterboard and mineral wool are installed between the wooden wall slabs. In this case, the cracks and gaps are covered with mounting foam to avoid backlash and drafts.
Insulating walls with mineral wool Source pilasebastovce.sk
The roof is mounted on a rafter system, the elements of which are fixed with nails. For strength, the structure is fastened with boards. After this, the rafter legs are laid on the base of the wall, they are fixed and the roof is installed. Most often this is metal tiles.
Interior decoration: step-by-step instructions
The walls and ceiling in a frame house are usually finished with gypsum board (plasterboard), and then it is painted or wallpaper is glued to it. GCR is good because it does not burn well. In Canada, it is generally prohibited to build frames without gypsum boards due to fire safety requirements. And more and more often we have lining or imitation timber nailed onto the ceiling and painted (I especially like the white color in this place).
After finishing the walls and ceiling, you can pour a concrete screed, finish the floor with tiles or laminate, and then install interior doors. Finnish interior doors are especially good; many people praise them, but their prices are now exorbitant.
Foundation
The main dilemma is choosing the right foundation for the right building. Houses built using Finnish technology are structurally light - but people are free to make the structure heavier as needed.
An area of less than 200 square meters and the absence of additional massive structures in the house (stone stove) will most likely lead to the choice of a pile-grillage foundation . In this case, holes for piles are drilled in the ground, and formwork is installed above them for a shallow strip foundation. Everything is poured with concrete and as a result the piles stand at the level of soil freezing, and the grillage transfers the load from the house to them.
Due to the relative lightness of the entire structure, the foundation can be chosen based not only on the quality of the soil Source remontik.org
Weight, multi-story structure, constant air flow and soil susceptibility to erosion are all prerequisites for installing a strip foundation . This is a massive and reliable reinforced concrete strip laid in a monolithic layer under each load-bearing wall of the house. This is more expensive than the previous option, but stronger and suitable for houses of all sizes.
Life time
Who doesn’t want a house built with their own hands to be passed down from generation to generation? Unfortunately, not every technology can boast of durability, which cannot be said about Scandinavian houses.
Opinions regarding the service life of frame houses are different - some say that after 30 years they become unsuitable for living, others, on the contrary, are sure that grandchildren and even great-grandchildren will live happily in a Finnish house.
Instead of guessing “from the tea leaves,” let’s turn to Russian state standards, and according to Gosstroy documents, frame buildings are given a service life of 75 years.
Calculations and project
When a person plans his own home, he describes the necessary qualities of the house. To work, you need a personal office, a family with several children will need (number of children + 1-2) rooms, the head of the family will get a room on the second floor with a private window and a balcony. Design in our case is determining the location of the rooms, how they will connect and correlate with each other, what materials will be needed.
The layout of a house for a family with more than one child might look something like this Source elbrus-house.ru
Pay attention to what will surround the house and how to prepare for it:
- Climatic features of the region.
The amount of rainfall will affect the quality and type of roof surface. Composite tiles, a steel sheet with an aluminum-zinc coating, will be needed in case of constant rainfall, so that water reaches the drainage paths and does not wash out the blocks. Cheap and cheerful corrugated sheets will be better in calm environments.
The thermal insulation material depends on the wind rose. Cellulose wool, foam glass for the chilly Nordic winds, polystyrene foam and chipboard for warmth and comfort.
- Terrain
Uneven surfaces will be a prerequisite for the installation of a pile-grillage foundation, which varies in depth of penetration and angle of entry into the ground rocks. The inclination and flatness of the surface will affect the type of frame assembled, the amount of materials required and methods of fastening.
- Composition and type of soil, number of floors of the house
It will affect the type of foundation used and the location of the vertical beams from each other.
If the terrain and soil characteristics allow, a Finnish house may also have a basement. Source krovmart.ru
What is the difference between housing for seasonal and permanent residence in winter?
The main difference between summer houses is a less serious approach to the issue of thermal insulation than in the case of houses intended for year-round use.
For example, it is quite enough to use 50 mm thick stone wool as insulation. The cross-section of the support beam used for wall installation is 90-140 mm.
As for interior partitions, they are made of the same materials, only without insulation. On the inside, insulation of the walls is not required - a layer of vapor barrier is sufficient. The total thickness of the walls of the summer house thus does not exceed 150 mm.
For the construction of high-quality buildings intended for permanent residence, timber with a cross-section of 140x140 mm or more is used as supports.
It is worth noting that the thickness of the timber must correspond to the thickness of the insulation .
If the insulation is thinner, a layer of air may form, which will lead to the formation of cold bridges; if the insulation is thicker, it may become deformed.
The average thickness of the frame pie in a permanent residence is therefore 250 mm, and this is without finishing.
Stages of building a house using Finnish technology
- Personal Preposition and Design . Determination of the number and size of rooms, floors, type of materials used and expected load on the skeleton and frame.
- Construction of the foundation . Allow at least two days to build the foundation to gain the necessary strength and stabilize it on the soil cushion.
- Beginning of construction of the zero tier of the frame . Wooden beams must be treated with an antiseptic and laid on a waterproofing layer on top of the foundation. At the corners of the house and at the intersection of walls, the timber is joined groove to groove and reinforced with self-tapping screws and studs for increased reliability.
- Erection of frame walls on the ground and lifting them using a winch. Fastening using grooves and corners, installing beams between walls. Laying out the subfloor, installing joists along the surface and sealing the insulation between them. Wood cladding and tiles will be installed last, in the final part of construction.
Installation speed
The choice in favor of the Finnish technology of frame house construction is made, first of all, because of the high speed of installation . For comparison, let’s take a log house, the construction of which takes an average of 1.5 years.
Approximately the same amount, taking into account the expectation of shrinkage and the peculiarities of wall laying, is spent on building a brick house.
As for Finnish houses, their installation will take 3-4 months, which means that construction started in the spring can be completed in the coming fall.
Some delays may occur if complex designs are used. It is also important that construction can be carried out in winter .
Video description
We wanted to show you another inexpensive and very interesting project of a frame house with a sauna inside the house:
- Erection of the roof and installation of external wooden slabs, future external walls of the building. Installation of insulation and future electrical wiring cables. Elimination of cracks and holes with polyurethane foam.
Recommendations for choosing heat-insulating material. Mineral wool insulation is reliable, its service life is about 25 years - at a competitive cost of the material, it is durable and does not require constant updating.
Expanded polystyrene decomposes over time, and at the same time polymer compounds are formed that poison the environment and residents.
In construction using Finnish technology, sandwich panels with mineral wool are more often used; it is universal and simple.
- Finishing external and internal works . Wall covering, from budget drywall to the personal preferences of future residents.
What the finished house will look like will depend on the owner’s imagination Source skywebpro.ru
Pie wall device
A classic Scandinavian frame house pie consists of the following elements:
- Interior finishing - a good option for the base layer is plasterboard; OSB boards are also used for this. Drywall is used in narrow or regular thickness - from 9.5 to 1 9 mm. A good solution is to use 9.5 mm thick vapor barrier plasterboard. If we talk about OSB, then most often OSB-3 is used for finishing inside a frame house.
- An additional layer of insulation is mineral wool 50 mm thick, but this layer is not mandatory, since it is mainly used for sound insulation.
- Vapor barrier - it is better to use a vapor barrier membrane.
- Insulation - it is better to use mineral wool 150 mm thick, which fills the entire space between the racks.
- The frame elements are load-bearing posts with a cross-section of 100x150 mm, and if the wall is not load-bearing, you can use timber with a cross-section of 50x150 mm.
- OSB board - OSB-3 and OSB-4 boards have sufficient strength required for external cladding of the facade.
- Waterproofing, and the best solution would be to use a diffusion membrane.
- Exterior finishing - if desired, this can be: siding with an air gap, block house, facade brick, tiles, vertical board cladding, decorative plaster and other materials.
It remains to learn about the features of the Scandinavian construction option, evaluate its advantages and talk about its disadvantages.
Scandinavian windows
Windows made of metal-plastic profiles, popular in Germany and here, have not taken root in Scandinavia.
Basically, the following window design is used here
Scandinavian windows
The window is double glazed, the internal frame is wooden, with a single glazed unit. External, can be either wooden or metal, with one glass (in more energy-efficient options, also a wooden frame and double-glazed windows). The design of the windows itself is such that both sashes open inward at the same time, for which a special connector with a sliding mechanism is responsible.
This is probably the most “hard to replicate” part of a Scandinavian home. Original windows in Russia are, to put it mildly, obscenely expensive. There are many options for “analogues”, but again, either the price is significantly higher than the usual metal-plastic or the quality is lame, and on both legs.
Is it possible to build in winter?
When using traditional building materials and technologies, there is often no need to talk about construction work in winter.
Meanwhile, this does not apply to Finnish houses, for which there are no restrictions on air temperature.
Moreover, it is even cheaper to build frame houses in winter, since significant discounts on lumber are offered during this period .
It is also worth noting that during severe frosts there is no precipitation, which means minimal humidity, which harms lumber. If in summer the average monthly precipitation is 735 mm, then in winter it is usually no more than 200 mm.
Another advantage of building in winter is the absence of shrinkage, although this does not threaten frame houses, in principle.
As for the disadvantages of winter construction, they also exist . In particular, the construction process is difficult due to the fact that builders are simply freezing, so their physical activity is significantly reduced.
But the cost of work in the autumn-winter period is significantly reduced due to a shortage of orders, and this is also a significant saving.
Natural supply ventilation
- It is best to carry out installation before finishing the premises, right during construction. If the valve is located behind the heating radiator, it must be temporarily removed and the location of future ventilation must be marked with a marker.
- A hole is made for the ventilation duct.
- A ventilation pipe with insulation is installed into the resulting channel.
- The valve body should not touch the pipe, so it can be attached using foam. The body, like the pipe, can be insulated or a sound absorber can be put on.
- A protective grille is placed on the outside of the ventilation pipe, and a special cover on the inside.
If, when choosing a project for your future home, you chose Finnish frame houses, the construction will be durable and reliable, and with the right choice of materials it will save a significant part of the budget.
