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Typology of log cabins: in the paw and in the bowl

We are engaged in the construction of wooden houses by many companies that have combined the efforts of many professionals for this purpose. Each of them is ready to provide a whole catalog of log houses of any type, cut down even “into a bowl”, even “into a paw”, and it will cost quite inexpensively.

After all, we don’t have America or Western Europe here, where an ordinary pine log is almost worth its weight in gold. We have a forest and a very good forest, they still make firewood …

As mentioned above, the projects of log houses are of two types: houses cut down «into a bowl» and «into a paw». A house chopped into a paw turns out to be more spacious and less material is needed for it.

However, if we take into account such a factor as labor costs, savings do not work, because a carpenter of a higher qualification is needed to process this very “paw”.

Log cabins «in the paw»

At the same time, it is preferable that the material for construction (logs) be calibrated, but calibrated logs are quite expensive. Therefore, it will be necessary to simply ensure that all the logs embedded in the wall match not only in length, but also in diameter, and the diameter of the log at its different ends should not differ noticeably, which is not too easy to do.

A log is nothing more than a cut of a tree trunk, and a tree is a natural material, not brought to the absolute standard of a cylinder.

Bringing it to a single standard is carried out by the method of calibration, when a rounded log is made from an ordinary log. Calibrated logs are usually used for standard log cabin sizes.

It is necessary to build cheap log cabins of houses from not calibrated logs. If the construction of a house chopped “in the paw” is supposed to be according to your own project using your own materials, then the exact calibration of the logs is not required.

It is enough, just to pick up logs of approximately the same diameter, and in order to level the difference in diameters of the two ends of one log, it is enough, when assembling the log house, to put them with a butt to the top.

The houses cut down «in the paw» have one significant drawback. Their corners begin to rot faster, because water easily gets into unprotected grooves.

Log cabins «into a bowl»

The house, chopped into a bowl, is much more in line with our idea of ​​a traditional Russian dwelling. The Russian hut, like any log building, appears to us in the form of a log house with the ends of the logs protruding beyond the boundaries of the catch.

To ensure high structural strength, almost at the very ends of the logs, a bowl-shaped recess is cut down, into which the logs of the walls are laid and fixed, forming a right angle with those logs in which the bowl is cut down.

Cutting into a bowl allows you to build more durable, albeit less spacious structures. By the way, the bowl can be turned both up and down. A house built with the bowls down will certainly be more durable, since precipitation will not linger in the grooves of the bowls, and the corners of the house will rot less intensively.

Preparation for the construction of the log house

The process of building a log house is quite a long story. If for this purpose not a calibrated log made at a woodworking plant somewhere in Finland is used, but our domestic one, made from a single whip in an artisanal way, then it will cost much less, but it will also take a lot of time.

Before starting cutting, the logs need to be debarked, that is, the bark must be cut off from them. After the bark is removed from the logs, you can start cutting «in the paw» or «in the bowl», depending on your preferences. Regardless of the felling method, the logs in the log house should lie in the butt-to-top position. With this arrangement, they will fit snugly against each other, leaving no large gaps between them.

For a better articulation of the rows, it is advisable to make a recess at the bottom of each log, into which the upper part of the lower log will freely enter. Such a recess is called a lunar groove, because it looks like a crescent.

After the log house is folded, each log, its component, should be numbered in order to avoid confusion and a lot of loss of time during further construction.

When folded, finished log cabins of houses should be kept for at least six months, and preferably a year. They must stand in such a position that in the future, during the drying process, the logs are not deformed.

Swamp moss as the best log house insulation

While the log house is standing, you can do other equally important things. First of all, you need to take care of the insulation, which will lay all the grooves between the logs. Tow or glass wool can be used as a material for insulation.

However, many developers, when building their own wooden house, prefer to use natural materials, primarily moss growing in swamps. It is with its use as a heater that the best log houses are built.

Swamp moss does not need to be bought, besides, it has antiseptic properties and prevents the development of decay processes in the grooves between the logs. After the allotted time has passed: from six to twelve months, you can start building a wooden house.

If a place for construction has already been chosen, then the first thing to do is to lay the foundation of the future home. Usually, a concrete tape that has already become traditional is used as a foundation.

Foundation construction

Under the tape it is necessary to dig a trench of sufficient depth, the depth of the trench should be greater than the depth of soil freezing. After that, a sand-cement mixture is poured into the bottom of the trench and compacted. Then it is necessary to install the formwork of the future foundation in the trench.

Reinforcement is installed in the formwork and cement is poured. After two or three days, when the cement tape hardens and dries, the formwork can be removed. Log cabins that have stood for the prescribed period are disassembled and transported to the place of construction of the house, where the foundation has already been laid.

Assembling a log house on the foundation

Now that both the log house and the foundation are ready, another question arises: — How to build a house from a log house? The logs are laid on the foundation in strict accordance with the numbers affixed to them. If the stacking of logs is carried out with a violation of the numbering, then they most likely will not coincide with each other.

Since the logs are not calibrated, they all have different thicknesses. When they were laid in the original frame, they were adjusted to each other. If in a new log house they will lie in strict accordance with this fit, then their coincidence with each other will be the maximum possible.

After the first row of logs is laid, on top of them, in a thick enough layer, a heater is laid: tow, glass wool or moss. The insulation is laid in such a way that after applying the top row of logs to it, its ends would hang down at least to half of the previous log. Upon completion of the laying of the log house and the erection of the roof, the grooves between the logs should be caulked.

Caulking process

The caulking process consists in plugging the insulation hanging on them into the grooves between the logs. If everything is done correctly, the house will be warm enough even in the coldest winters. After that, the floor is laid in the house, windows are inserted and doors are hung.

In order to make the house look more beautiful from the outside, it is sheathed with boards and painted. Painting is necessary, as well as for the house to stand as long as possible.

Photo of log houses