Currently, wooden houses are a rarity in Poland. Hearing about a wooden house, most people will probably think about ancient times. Meanwhile, also today building materials such as wood are used.
Advantages of wooden houses
Wooden house in the middle of a lush garden is a dream for many of us. This solution is popular especially in the Scandinavian countries, Canada and the United States. Modern wooden architecture is slowly entering Poland as well.
A wooden house has a unique atmosphere and consists of natural materials that are neutral to health. The ecological character of the materials used will gain in importance as more and more attention is paid to environmental protection. Wood for the house is such an eye-catching material that many elements can be left in their natural state.
The construction time is much shorter than in the case of houses built in traditional brick technology. This is because the wood for the house is transformed into the necessary components in the factory. The house will therefore consist of ready-made semi-finished products, and the structure of a wooden house is much lighter than a brick one. This translates into lower costs.
A rarely mentioned advantage of wooden houses is less damage within the construction site . This limited nature of infringements is important, for example, when establishing a garden.
Wood for the house – sources and types
The wood for the house first has the form of the so-called round wood, i.e. it is part of the tree trunk. Lumber (logs, boards) is obtained from round timber in sawmills. The most important features to look for in wood for a house are: resistance to moisture and damage, high level of insulation and economic profitability. We want the wood used to retain its original condition and appearance over the years. For this purpose, wood preservatives (impregnants) should be used.
A variety of tree species are used as a source of wood for the home . The most popular are pine and spruce. Higher-quality wood is obtained, for example, from larch or cedar. These are respectively more expensive options. Good, solid and properly dried wood is the most important factor that contributes to the uninterrupted use of the house for many decades. It is not without significance that some types of wood are widely available, in the case of others, we must take into account the limited availability of building materials.
A wooden frame house and a log house
If we want a wooden house, we have two most important options: a frame house and a log house. In both cases, a house needs a solid, brick foundation. Only after laying the foundations does the actual wood work for the house begin . Only the laying of the foundations depends on the season, and further work on the construction site can be carried out even in winter.
A frame house is a building that is based on a structure made of wood for a house , called a frame. The skeleton is filled with walls made of special boards. Such a house can be built in a typical way, that is, from scratch on a construction site. A wooden house can also be manufactured in a factory, or more precisely, individual components are made in the factory, which are then delivered to site and put together. Prefabricated houses are built the fastest. Frame houses, compared to log houses, heat up and cool down faster.
In log houses, the walls are made entirely of wooden logs . In the case of these houses, the wood for the house is used as follows: first, vertical poles are erected, and then horizontal logs are placed between them. Thermal insulation is made in such houses from the inside. Log houses have so-called large heat capacity, which means that they heat up and cool down relatively slowly.
Fire safety issues
In the case of wooden buildings, the most important issue is their resistance to fire. It is worth knowing that different materials are assigned different fire resistance classes depending on how easily they burn. Unprotected wood for a house has fire resistance class D, while completely non-combustible materials have fire resistance class A1. That is why it is so important to properly protect wooden houses against fire. The building must be protected against fire from inside by plasterboards.
To build wooden houses, you need skilled workers who have adequate experience in wooden technologies and know how to handle wood for a house . Finding a professional team can be a challenge – due to the fact that the technologies of building houses from wood are not used as widely as traditional technologies. The cost of building a brick house and a wooden house is similar.
In conclusion, apart from the general social habituation to brick technologies, there are no significant factors against wooden houses. Popularization of this solution requires only a change of mentality, and it will be beneficial for both home residents and nature.
