Half-timbered house with their own hands - how to make + photo

The technology of building half-timbered houses came to us from the Middle Ages. Although the first buildings of this type appeared in the 12th century AD, they were most prevalent in Germany in the 15th century, and then became popular throughout northern Europe. Until now, many countries have used this technology when building buildings. She passed the test of time for several centuries. If you decide to build a half-timbered house with your own hands, then in this article we will describe many of the nuances that you need to know before making a final decision.

Features

Old half-timbered house

The German word Fachwerk translates as "carcass , lattice design ", which already gives an idea of ​​the design features of this structure. The technology of building such a house is the construction of a frame of wooden beams, which is the supporting structure. Vertical and horizontal racks are combined beams at different angles, which gives the structure rigidity and strength. Monolithic walls are not erected, as such they are obtained by filling the space between the beams with different materials. During the Middle Ages, adobe, clay were used for this, later - stone, brick.

Bearing beams of such buildings are not hidden, they go to the facade and look like a decorative element, which gives the half-timbered houses their unique and recognizable individuality. Intentionally highlighted with color frame elements create a fancy ornament on the facade of the building.

Modern reading

Modern house

Reliability and durability confirms the fact that that preserved buildings, which are already about five hundred years. Interest in this style began to revive at the end of the last century, especially since modern technologies helped to reinterpret classical designs of such buildings.

The use of laminated veneer lumber instead of ordinary wood for the manufacture of the frame provides many advantages. Its superior tree strength, high resistance, higher ignition temperature, resistance to mold and fungi make it possible to get rid of the disadvantages inherent in wooden houses.

Modern technologies allowed to create, while respecting all the advantages of the half-timbered construction, a "glass house", when the planes between the frame elements are filled with particularly durable double-glazed windows.

Advantages of the technology

• The aesthetic appeal of such houses is undoubtedly aesthetic - they are original, unlike the buildings we are used to.
• Such buildings do not require a strong foundation, which leads to a reduction in construction time and cost.
• The buildings have very little shrinkage, which is due to the low weight of the frame. This allows you to proceed to the exterior and interior immediately after its installation.
• Since the main vertical load is carried by the building frame, the layout of the interior is not constrained by the need to build load-bearing walls.
• The construction time is several times higher compared to buildings constructed in traditional ways.

Nuances of building a house

It may seem that you can easily and quickly build a half-timbered house, but this is not so. It is often possible to hear an advertisement that such construction is carried out by one person in a short time, but do not flatter yourself with this half-truth, since the rapid construction of such a house is possible only if a team of specialists took over. And they are assembling the frame from the parts prepared in advance at the factory. In this case, indeed, your house can be built in just 2 weeks.

But if you take up the independent implementation of this work, then it is important to realize the limits of your capabilities in order to bring the work begun to the end. To do the job correctly, you need not only to be able to handle the tool, you must have it. In addition, you will need to competently perform numerous calculations. Necessary qualities such as accuracy and thoroughness, because then the redo will not work, and the flaws will not be able to cover the panels. The mood has not changed, and are you ready to build on your own? Then study the list of work performed.

Work execution sequence

House layout in detail

• B Depending on the climatic and landscape conditions of the area in which the house will be built, a project is being developed.
• As in the case of any other building, a foundation should be made for a half-timbered house. Considering the small mass of the house, we will stop at a shallowly recessed strip foundation 50 cm wide by doing the calculations on our online calculator. You can also make a different type of foundation, as for an ordinary frame house.
• For the manufacture of load-bearing structures we will use a laminated timber, the size of which should be specified in the project. Presently to get such building material will not make problems. You can also use the usual, only guaranteed dry timber, the same size. 39 .

The prepared parts are assembled according to the project documentation

• A layer of waterproofing is laid on the foundation , and on top of it fit the lower trim bars.
• Metal anchors are used to fasten the bars to the foundation.

All parts must fit tightly into each other

• When assembling the frame It is important to ensure that the parts are fully inserted into the slots. The joints of the frame parts, which will have a large load, must be further strengthened, for which metal plates, angles or brackets can be used.
• In the part of the building where the walls will be deaf, care must be taken to ensure that the depths of the frames of the framework are sufficient for insulation made from cellulose fibers.

Frame

• Interroom partitions are assembled from a smaller bar, about 50 * 50 mm. For their attachment to the floor are used frame dowels.
• On the vertical bars, longitudinal runs are installed, to which the floor boards will need to be attached.
• If provided for by the project, then installation of bolts is performed above the interfloor binding.
• The frame of the house in the corners is strengthened by bracing, which can be both closed and open.
• Now you can start making the roof.

We briefly described the steps involved in assembling the frame so that you can imagine what to do. Why is a list of work performed, rather than step by step instructions? Because constructively each house will have its differences, and there are several assembly technologies. To learn more about the construction, we suggest watching the video.

Video: construction of a half-timbered house

As you can see, the process of assembling a house cannot be called simple, and it will not work to build such a structure alone.

Another distinctive feature is the extensive glazing, so the structure differs in its appearance from its predecessors, built a century ago. Often, speaking of buildings built on half-timbered technology, people call them glass houses.

Video: more details about glass houses

Glazing of a house is a separate topic, but due to the design features a special technology has been developed, which is described in the next storyline.

Video: glazing of fakwerk

So, we can conclude that the construction of a modern glass house can only be carried out qualitatively by a team of specialists.

Roof

Typical half-timbered house

If this is a small village house with small windows, then the rigidity of the structure will be provided by numerous struts, and the openings are sealed with improvised materials - exactly as our great-grandfathers did.