How to check the logs if the house is sheathed with a board. We buy a finished wooden house: the nuances that you need to pay attention to. Introduction to planning

The desire to live or relax in nature is clear to every modern city dweller, but not everyone can afford the construction of a modern cottage. Many are willing to buy wooden house boo. The Russian climate is harsh and, depending on how long the house stood before the sale, various, invisible at first glance, changes may occur in its design. Before making a transaction, it is necessary to visit the object of sale. After all, these are not apartments in Montenegro from Adriatic Stroyinvest, which you need to get to by plane, so it’s better to go and look at the house several times.

Buyers wooden houses You should listen to the advice of realtors. For buildings made of wood, there are some subtleties that many do not even know about. First you need to evaluate the house visually, the first impression is sometimes the most correct. The buyer usually immediately feels whether he likes the area where the house is located. Almost all future owners of wooden houses are interested in the proximity of the reservoir and the forest, the condition of the roads. If the house is not located in a modern cottage village, then a very important point is the presence of a well nearby. Buying a house in Russia is not at all the same as buying a villa in Montenegro.

If we assume that the buyer is satisfied with the location of the house and the infrastructure, then the next stage of getting acquainted with the object of purchase is an assessment of the condition of the house itself. First of all, the walls of the house are subject to inspection. If this is a log cabin, then it is necessary to carefully examine it for cracks in the logs. Timber houses are studied in a similar way. Large defects in logs or timber should alert the buyer, only experts will be able to give full advice on whether to buy such a house. Russian realtors are well aware of all the pitfalls hidden behind the beautiful facades of wooden houses. Just like houses in Montenegro from Aleksey Smirnov, foreign real estate manager, it is better to buy wooden houses in Russia accompanied by a professional.

If microcracks are found on logs or beams, experts can recommend the purchase of such a house, since these defects are easily eliminated. Log walls should be free of fungus or mold. It is difficult to deal with such damage to wood. The corners of the house should not differ in color from the main surface of the walls, otherwise, it can be determined that the building freezes in winter, and when heat sets in, individual zones thaw and begin to rot. Inside the house, you should pay attention to the condition of the floor - the boards should not swing. It is also necessary to check the logs on which the floor is attached. The nails with which the floor boards are nailed should not have a rusty coating, such a phenomenon is evidence high humidity.

If the house has a basement, then you can examine the foundation, take a closer look at whether there are chips, cracks on the concrete surface, and whether moisture is collecting in the basement. There is an opinion that an underground garage in the Russian climate does more harm than good. If such convenience is provided for in the house, then it must be examined with special predilection. Next, pay attention to the ceiling. It should be even over the entire surface and not have deflections and sagging.

The frames are checked with the windows open; you can verify the strength of the window block by shaking the window sashes. Next, you should examine the condition of the joints and junctions, there should be no draft in the house. In the attic area, you need to inspect the rafters and their fastenings, the roof ridge should not sag, the roofing and insulation should not have flaws. If a wooden house is equipped with a wood-burning stove or fireplace, then their functions should be checked. The house, for the construction of which larch wood was used, is considered the most reliable and strong.

If you decide not to build, but to purchase a ready-made wooden house and made a mistake with the purchase, there will be no one to complain about. Neither return nor exchange of such a "goods" will work. As the saying goes, "they swam the eyes that they bathed." Let's talk about what you need to pay attention to when choosing a house, so that you don't have to regret it later

Since most of us are not connoisseurs in the construction industry and can evaluate a vending house mainly on the principle of “like it or not”, and, of course, by location, it would be wise to resort to the help of a professional and invite him to inspect the object. Specialists of companies involved in construction expertise identify shortcomings in the design and assembly of wooden houses, structural defects, consequences of technology violations, etc. In general, they evaluate the building according to more than fifty quality criteria! Of course, it is impossible to touch on each of them within the framework of one article, so we will only touch on the main ones. So, let's try to look at the subject of a possible purchase through the eyes of a construction expert.

External examination

First of all, look at how far from the neighboring cottage, as well as from other buildings on the site, the house is located. According to regulations fire safety, it should be at least 15 m. The same standards dictate that the building has a lightning protection system, the creation of which builders often "neglect".

If the house is on a strip foundation or has wooden floors, make sure that there is an underground space under the building, and there are air ducts in the basement for ventilation. Otherwise, dampness and decay of the lower part of the walls and floor elements is inevitable.

It is important how high the lower crowns of the walls are located from the ground. Imagine that there is a lot of snow around the house. In this case, will the wooden structures get wet when the snowdrifts melt, or will they remain inaccessible to water?

A necessary element of the junction of the foundation and walls is a layer of cut-off (surface) waterproofing. In its absence, the lower crowns of the log house very soon begin to collapse from the penetration of capillary moisture into them from the concrete base. The same danger will threaten them even when the wrong material is used for such insulation - in particular, hydrostekloizol, which is not very durable.

A serious mistake made when assembling a log house is the loose support of the first (collar) crown on the foundation: the gap between them will be blown, water may flow there, the load on the wall elements will be uneven.

Check if the plinth lining does not fall off when lightly tapped. After all, it serves not only decorative, but also protective purposes, protecting this part of the building from adverse effects.

To prevent rain and melt water from washing away the walls of the foundation, a blind area of ​​sufficient width with a drainage system must be arranged along the perimeter of the house, and the roof is equipped with directional drains. If all this is not present, the construction cannot be considered completed.

Particular attention should be paid to the walls. Most often, one may encounter poor-quality antiseptic treatment of wood, the presence of signs of biodamages on it, with a discrepancy between the dimensions of structures and their sections with those indicated in the project; with incorrectly made connections of wall elements and other installation errors.

Attach a 2-meter level to the walls of the house: vertical deviations should not exceed 3 mm / m

When buying a log house, inspect it for deep gaps in the logs - both longitudinal and transverse. Both of these can adversely affect the physical and technical properties of the structure, as well as make the wood more vulnerable to moisture and pathogens. The logs must be selected and stacked so that there are no “gaps” and through gaps between them; the lock joints in the corners are neatly hewn, and the joints along the length are made at the cuts. Check how well the intervention gaps are sealed.

Definitely, you should not buy a freshly built log house - not settled under a temporary roof and without openings, but immediately prepared for settlement. Deformation of window and door frames, uneven settlement and other unpleasant consequences are provided for him. Also, experts do not recommend buying a house that has stood the winter without heating, because many defects in it can be revealed precisely after the first warm “wintering”.

In the case of buildings made of glued or profiled timber, the section of the wall material plays an important role. For example, a house made of timber 150 × 150 mm can only be considered as a summer home. To use it year-round, it will have to be insulated from the outside with a layer of insulation at least 100 mm thick, otherwise the heat loss through the building envelope will be such that no heating will be enough.

When inspecting the walls, take a closer look at the window and doorways. A gross violation is an incorrectly executed (in particular, with non-compliance with the size of the compensation gaps) or a pigtail missing in them - a casing designed to protect windows and doors from deformation during the settlement of a wooden building.

Well, when entering the house for an internal inspection, it's time to pay attention to whether there is a canopy over the porch. If there is none, the steps will be filled with rain and ice in winter.

In accordance with fire safety requirements, stoves and fireplaces must be located at a distance of at least 30 cm from any wooden structures and surfaces. So that in the event of a fire, residents can urgently evacuate, it is recommended to provide two exits in the houses, not to arrange complex passages and narrow corridors between the premises, and to equip all floors of the building with opening windows.

Inside view

First of all, compare the existing layout with the one proposed by the project. For example, in fact there may not be an entrance vestibule, and right from the threshold you get into the living room, which is bad both in terms of the thermal protection of the building and in terms of the lack of space for arranging the hallway.

Assess the condition of floors, walls, ceilings (there should be no gaps in the coatings), doors and windows. To access the underground, where communications are usually laid, a hatch of sufficient size is required. By the way, if the underground space is littered with construction waste, all these “abandoned and forgotten” stumps and sawdust will rot and mold, spreading the smell of mustiness into the premises.

Do not lose sight of the device overlap. Beams with a section of 200 × 100 mm should go into bearing wall by 100 mm and be cut in whole or with an oblique cut in a quarter. A half-tree undercut is unacceptable, as it can lead to cracking of the beam and a serious weakening of the ceiling structure.

Go under the roof and make sure the elements truss system treated with fire and bioprotective preparations (this will be immediately clear if compositions with a tinting effect were used). Cold attic must have dormer windows, and if the room is heated, check whether air circulation is ensured in roof space to remove condensate.

It is important to evaluate the reliability, safety and ease of use of the stairs. You need to focus on the following design parameters: steepness - no more than 45 °, march width - from 80 cm, passage height (distance from any step to the ceiling or a higher plane) - 1.9-2.0 m, step width (tread) - not less than 25-30 cm, the height of the step (riser) - 15-20 cm.

If there is an opening under the stairs in the house, but there is no staircase itself, and the developer assures that later you can install such a model as you like, this is a reason to be wary. It is very likely that the seller, to put it mildly, is disingenuous: it may happen that the ladder cannot be built into the place designated for it at all

One of the conditions for well-executed electrical wiring in the house is the presence in the electrical cabinet of an RCD that protects against sparking and fire during small circuits in the network, as well as devices that protect against surge voltage caused by a lightning strike and power surges. If the wiring in the house is hidden, be sure to ask the seller for its scheme, in the future this will save you from playing Russian roulette whenever you are about to hammer a nail into the wall.

19 Common House Building Mistakes

Question:
Hello, dear Russian carpenters! My husband and I are going to buy a wooden house in the village - years and health are not the same to live in the city. Let's breathe clean air from spring to autumn. We have no experience of such purchases, and we understand construction poorly. Buy a plot and build new house there is no possibility on it, so we will buy already ready, albeit old. What we would like to find out - can you help us with the assessment and selection good home, perhaps - with the prospect of eliminating the shortcomings by your forces? Several options have already been selected, we are waiting for your answer.

Ekaterina Ivanovna, Moscow.

Answer:
Good day, Ekaterina Ivanovna.

I fully and completely approve of your initiative, a good deed was conceived. A house in the village is a special housing, you will like it with its own philosophy and approach to life. As for the questions asked, such a service has not yet been put on stream, but judging by the number of requests, it's long overdue.

Actually, buying wooden houses, especially old ones, is somewhat akin to buying a used car. In the latter case, buyers often resort to the help of experts, make paid diagnostics from official (and not only) dealers. So why not use the same approach to assess the condition of residential buildings? The only difference is that independent builders should be involved as consultants (for wooden houses, carpenters will be needed, for brick houses, masons, etc.).

A normal option, especially since you can kill two birds with one stone - and choose a good house, and, if you find some removable shortcomings: firstly, bargain with the owner (your expert will announce the price for repairs), and secondly, there is already a specialist for their elimination.

Where to look and what to look for in old wooden houses.

I'll try to be a little more detailed. In general, if you use the services of a good builder to find possible problems at the purchased building, everything that will be written below, you do not need to know, but you should have a general idea.

First of all, a general visual assessment of the building is necessary - for its possible distortions, subsidence, etc. Roughly speaking, we move away at some distance from the house, and evaluate it from all sides. In case of doubt, we check our eyes with bubble and water levels, this is not difficult.

Assessment of the state of the foundation.

Then we move on to checking the condition of the foundation of the house. This is the main load-bearing element of the structure; here one cannot make mistakes and turn a blind eye to violations of its integrity, geometry, etc. Facts of non-compliance with the construction technology or incorrect calculations of the bearing capacity of the foundation of the house, lack of ventilation and waterproofing of the foundations should alert you. Look also for the presence of a blind area around the house and for the correctness of its device. It would also be nice to check the depth of the foundation in the ground (if the owner of the house allows it, it’s easy to dig a hole closely and look), it often happens that the visible part of the strip foundation is, in principle, everything that is - then just soil.

Walls of a wooden house.

This is very important, I have met houses that look strong many times, and we begin to prepare the walls for sheathing - and it turns out that the log house has simply rotted away, and there is simply nothing to fix the beacons, sadness. For log cabins - be sure to check the condition of the lower rims, do not hesitate to insist on this. Often, rotten crowns are masked (high tides are mounted around the perimeter, covered with bricks), look carefully, repairing them will subsequently hit your pocket. It is also necessary to evaluate locks and cuts - strong wood there, or already dust. I also recommend carefully reviewing all the windows and doors in old log cabins - from experience, usually immediately after purchase they are changed to plastic ones that are now popular. You dismantle the old window along with the casing - and there the entire lower and lateral sides of the opening are rotten - there is nothing to even attach to. The same approach when evaluating the walls inside - under the windows, in the corners, do not lose sight of anything.

Basement, basement and floors.

In most cases, in wooden houses there are hatches in the floor, allowing you to assess the state of this space. We evaluate the condition of the lower rims inside the house, the degree of deterioration of the floor translations, the presence or absence of traces of decay, the humidity of the basement. Is the draft floor made, is the floor insulated in principle, how well is it done. What is the distance from the ground to the transfers, are there traces of water leaks into the underground - everything is important. From above, we carefully look - but in general the floors are even or there are dips and distortions, you definitely need to walk around and jump on them - is there a trampoline effect (it can signal problems with translations - rotted, or insufficient number or section). If there is a second floor, we check the interfloor overlap in the same way. Also pay attention to traces of local wall insulation (it often happens that there are such drafts in the house that it just blows off your feet - then polyurethane foam, rags - tuck them in these places, seal the seams, etc.).

Roof and roof inspection.

The roof of any house is the last line of defense against precipitation, ultraviolet radiation, wind loads, etc. If we abstract from the fact that we are considering the possibility of buying a specific instance of a wooden structure in the complex, then it is roofing work that is rightfully considered the most difficult and expensive in overhaul houses. Hence the conclusion - evaluate the roof and the general condition of the roof carefully and meticulously, otherwise, if necessary, the repair will hurt your pocket, it's checked.

In fact, the assessment of the state roofing first carried out visually, from the ground. Then it would be nice to climb directly to the roof (stairs to help) and evaluate the coverage in the approximation. Special attention pay problem areas- junctions of slopes to walls, fractures and mutual tie-ins of roof slopes, bypassing chimneys and ventilation pipes, presence and condition drainage system, horizontal and general condition of the ridge, valleys, etc. If the roof is covered with ferrous metal (a popular seam roof on village houses twenty years ago was made from it and then painted), traces of recent painting should alert you - it is very likely that the metal is already very worn out, and paint is an attempt hide the defect.

Then, if possible, we move to the attic. We will be interested there in the state of the truss system, ceiling transfers, battens. Inspection will show everything, the main thing is not to rush (grab a flashlight). We evaluate - the material, its integrity and the absence of damage by insects. We pay attention to the pitch of the rafters and battens, slopes and braces, the general literacy of the roof assembly, the presence or absence of waterproofing, and possible traces of leaks. If you take a lace with you, it is easy to check the deflection of the rafter legs. Also, all the shortcomings of the roofing are clearly visible from the inside to the light. We look at the insulation of the ceiling, and the organization of ventilation of the roof.

In addition to all of the above, do not forget to evaluate the communications of the house - water supply, heating, sewerage, electricity. In the end, armed with such information, you will already be able to decide for yourself whether it is worth buying this particular house, or it is better to look for another option.

We were sure that at such a price it was simply impossible to build our house from glued laminated timber. Firm Russian Estates very pleasantly surprised us by realizing our dream at a price an order of magnitude lower than we were considered on average in the city.

Maria

Unlike other firms I have dealt with in the past, CEO Anton Alekseev quickly found a common approach and mutual understanding. A team of two people did an excellent job with the construction: Sergey and Alik showed a high class of carpentry skills, they worked hard, but "driven" not quantity, but quality. They worked creatively, more than once made convincing adjustments to the original project. They were approachable, accessible, friendly. In the end, very pleased with the result. If I had to build more, I would definitely choose Russian Estates again.

Victor

Thank you, Russian Estates, for our new summer kitchen! For me, the details of the project, which I made after the start of construction, were important, and the company met me halfway, bravo! Separately, I express my gratitude to the construction team, consisting of experienced and serious professionals who treated their duties with full responsibility. The house turned out just great. Bravo and bravo again! I will definitely recommend their services to my friends who decide to build something!