Everyone answers these questions themselves when choosing a wooden house for housing or recreation. Of course, wood as a building material has its own characteristics, which means that the construction of a building, its operation and maintenance will have different requirements than those imposed, for example, on a brick building. But the following facts speak in favor of a wooden house:
1. The weight of wooden structures and the house as a whole is 4-6 times less than similar ones made of brick or stone, so the construction of a wooden house does not require the construction of a massive foundation and the use of heavy construction equipment. Thus, a house made of wood is on average 1.3-1.5 times cheaper than a brick house.
2. Log walls and walls made of timber meet sanitary and hygienic requirements and have good thermal insulation properties, since wood has low thermal conductivity. A layer of wood 15 cm thick has the same thermal insulation ability as a layer of brickwork 60 cm. Thanks to this, a wooden house is warm in winter and cool in summer.
The thickness of the walls of houses depends on the material used, the design and the estimated winter temperature characteristic of the area where the house is being built. As a rule, the average temperature of the coldest five-day period during the year is taken as the design temperature for massive walls.
3. The inner surface of a wooden wall always has a temperature very close to the air temperature in the room, which is very important in winter for a feeling of thermal comfort. The walls, the floor between floors and the roof can be additionally insulated with environmentally friendly insulation, similar in structure to wood, but superior to wood in thermal insulation ability. The thickness of the insulation is calculated based on climatic conditions and expected heating costs.
In a wooden house it is easy to maintain normal heat and humidity conditions. A wooden house is heated in a few hours, even if it has not been heated all winter (unlike a brick or stone house, which must be periodically heated and ventilated). Such low thermal conductivity allows you to get by with not very thick (20-28 cm) walls.
4. Wood does not accumulate electrostatic potential, which is harmful as a source of electromagnetic radiation and contributes to the accumulation of dust. In addition, wood maintains an optimal level of air humidity. Wooden houses do not require the installation of air conditioning, as they “breathe” on their own.
5. Wood has excellent color and texture; the interior surfaces of the house practically do not require expensive finishing.
6. A wooden house fits organically into the surrounding landscape and “merges” with nature.
7. Wood is a fairly durable material; a properly built and weatherproofed house will last more than two hundred years.
The main disadvantages of wood are low fire and biological resistance, but impregnation of logs and timber with special compounds allows you to protect them from adverse influences and increase the life of a wooden house several times
Most often, the cause of wood destruction is its high humidity, and, as a consequence, the formation of blue stains, mold and fungi. But their existence can be made difficult or impossible if they are deprived of a nutrient medium. The main thing here is to remove excess moisture from the wood. Do not forget about the drainage system - drains for water and melted snow do not allow moisture to penetrate the wood. Cross sections between wooden parts must be sealed.
But the most reliable protection is treating the surface with antiseptic agents. Nowadays, there are many high-tech wood protection products.
You need to take care of your home, and today you can purchase various durable protective materials, paints and antiseptics. Keeping any home in good condition is not a difficult task, but it does require the owner to be attentive and methodical.
What type of wood to choose for construction? The modern market offers a wide selection of materials: larch, cedar, pine, hardwood. Oak, for example, is famous for its durability, but it is one of the most expensive materials. And larch almost does not rot. For the most optimal balance of cost and quality, the first few crowns of the log house can be laid from larch, and the rest from pine. More details on our website: http://spec-stroy.com/doma-i-bani-iz-brusa/
It should also be noted that a house made of dry material is practically not subject to shrinkage, and interior work can be carried out in it immediately after assembly, while a house made of raw wood must “stand” for a year and a half for the natural shrinkage of the walls.
Today, wooden houses look elegant and modern thanks to new design solutions and the layout of the adjacent space, except in cases where the owner deliberately wants to stylize his log house as antique.
Wood is easy to process and can be used to make various structural elements. The “signature” features of modern wooden houses are complex floors with open rafters, multi-level interiors, galleries and terraces, open internal staircases, lighting of living rooms with “second light” through pediment window openings and much more.
The interiors of wooden houses combine modern convenience and traditional comfort. The most impressive are combinations of materials: wood and stone, wood and metal, wood and ceramics. The use of large glazed surfaces, the construction of winter gardens, galleries and courtyards are also in fashion.
Traditional logs, from which our ancestors built houses for dozens of centuries, are gradually becoming a thing of the past. Nowadays, in the construction of wooden houses, rounded logs or profiled timber (solid or glued) are mainly used. But our company specializes in construction from hewn (chopped) logs, namely by hand. Handmade has always been valued and continues to be valued today, in the age of high technology. Especially if it is performed by a real master. Professional tools and craftsmanship allow you to save your money. Go to the website http://www.spec-stroy.com in the standard projects section - you will be surprised at our prices.
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Interest Ask!
It's simple - building from wood was more economical, faster and easier. In harsh winter conditions it is also warmer. But such an answer will seem too short, are you interested in knowing the reasons for the reasons?
1. Wood was almost everywhere in Kievan Rus, while stone was more difficult to find. There are many types of stone - diabase, granite, limestone and sandstone, tuff and so on. They are sedimentary (sandstone, shell rock - on the surface), igneous (lava poured out and solidified) and metamorphic (lava lay for a long time and was pressed, these are slates, marble and other stones with stains)
But some rocks are either too hard, others are too crumbly. The funny thing is that Kyiv, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov and other cities are located on plains. Where do fractures in the earth's crust and hard rocks come from? There are also no volcanoes and, accordingly, “beautiful” rocks with stains.
Even the only type of limestone (white stone) used in the construction of temples was saved. They made two rows of white stone, and the space between them was filled with rubble - ordinary stone mixed with clay and sand.
2. Cold. Yes, it’s simply cold in a stone house without an appropriate heating system. Wood has lower thermal conductivity. In general, the more porous and fibrous the material, the “warmer” it is. In order not to freeze in winter, you need either a wall made of logs 40 cm in diameter, or a 2-meter thick stone wall. (very rude)
What is more economical - felling a couple of trees and cutting down a house in one summer, or cutting out stone and laying thick walls over several years? I think this is obvious.
3. Development of technology and social life.
Many people don't want to believe it, but we were outsiders during the 10th to 17th centuries. The first universities appeared in Italy and France in the 11th century. Trade routes to China and America were established by Portugal and Spain in the 16th century. Buildings of gigantic height and power were also built in the west already in the 13th and 14th centuries.
The development of stone house-building and architecture in Rus' in general was greatly slowed down by civil strife (11-12 centuries), then invasions and capture by the Ig (12-15). then there were foreign interventions during the Time of Troubles (16). Out of the frying pan into the fire. There were no schools - God forbid, there were no universities. The skill was passed down strictly by word of mouth and by inheritance.
Even the war with Napoleon. The turning point came due to harsh weather conditions and a couple of tricky moves! The army of little France was better organized and almost captured almost all of Europe at that time! So our troops bravely left Moscow to burn. To be fair, it was rebuilt according to the new regulations “on stone house construction” and was greatly improved. Maybe it's good that it burned down.
4. Traditions. It’s like asking the Japanese: “why is it that your house is made of wood and paper”? The feasibility of wooden buildings outweighed the disadvantages at that time. And the mastery of wooden buildings accumulated.
What I don’t understand is why we didn’t build with brick. An obvious solution in the face of a shortage of natural stone. A lot of brick was built in Northern Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Even in the Middle Ages. Maybe it was bad to poke around in the clay in winter? I don’t understand when they missed this moment? The Church of Sophia in Kyiv was built from brick. And then they went back to the stone and tree.
The first person to think about brick was “Aleviz the Old”, invited from Italy - aka Aloisio da Caresano (or Aloisio - Milanese). He organized the production of bricks in Moscow, from which the walls of the new Kremlin were built. Because it is easier than cutting blocks and transporting them from afar, and the strength of the masonry is not inferior to natural stone. Now we are very proud of Red Square, and this is Italian architecture.
Overall, what can I say. Building with wood was cheaper, faster and warmer. The social structure was not sufficiently developed for a city hall or chambers of commerce at that time. The elders gathered in the fortress or traded in the market.
Both the house and the chapel are all made of wood.
Rus' has long been considered a country of wood: there were plenty of vast, mighty forests around. The Russians, as historians note, lived for centuries in the “wooden age.” Frames and residential buildings, bathhouses and barns, bridges and fences, gates and wells were built from wood. And the most common name for a Russian settlement - village - indicated that the houses and buildings here were wooden. Almost universal availability, simplicity and ease of processing, relative cheapness, strength, good thermal properties, as well as the rich artistic and expressive capabilities of wood have brought this natural material to the forefront in the construction of residential buildings. Not the least important role was played here by the fact that wooden buildings could be erected in a fairly short time. High-speed construction from wood in Rus' was generally highly developed, which indicates a high level of organization of carpentry. It is known, for example, that even churches, the largest buildings in Russian villages, were sometimes erected “in one day,” which is why they were called ordinary.
In addition, log houses could be easily dismantled, transported over a considerable distance and re-installed in a new location. In the cities there were even special markets where prefabricated log houses and entire wooden houses with all the interior decoration were sold “for export.” In winter, such houses were shipped straight off the sleigh in disassembled form, and assembly and caulking took no more than two days. By the way, all the necessary building elements and parts of log houses were sold right there; on the market here you could buy pine logs for a residential log house (the so-called “mansion”), and beams hewn into four edges, and good-quality roofing boards, and various boards." dining rooms”, “bench”, for lining the “inside” of the hut, as well as “crossbars”, piles, door blocks. There were also household items on the market, which usually filled the interior of a peasant hut: simple rustic furniture, tubs, boxes, small “wood chips” down to the smallest wooden spoon.
However, despite all the positive qualities of wood, one of its very serious drawbacks - susceptibility to rotting - made wooden structures relatively short-lived. Together with fires, a real scourge of wooden buildings, it significantly shortened the life of a log house - a rare hut stood for more than a hundred years. That is why the greatest use in housing construction has been found in coniferous species: pine and spruce, whose resinousness and density of wood provide the necessary resistance to decay. At the same time, in the North, larch was also used to build a house, and in a number of regions of Siberia, a frame was assembled from durable and dense larch, while all interior decoration was made from Siberian cedar.
And yet, the most common material for housing construction was pine, especially boreal pine or, as it was also called, “condovya.” The log made from it is heavy, straight, almost without knots and, according to the assurances of master carpenters, “does not hold dampness.” In one of the contracts for the construction of housing, concluded in the old days between the owner-customer and the carpenters (and the word “order” comes from the ancient Russian “row” agreement), it was quite definitely emphasized: “... to carve the forest with pine, kind, vigorous , smooth, not knotty..."
Construction timber was usually harvested in winter or early spring, while “the tree is sleeping and excess water has gone into the ground,” while the logs can still be removed by sleigh. It is interesting that even now experts recommend logging for log houses in winter, when the wood is less susceptible to drying out, rotting and warping. The material for housing construction was prepared either by the future owners themselves, or by hired master carpenters in accordance with the necessary need “as much as needed,” as noted in one of the orders. In the case of “self-procurement,” this was done with the involvement of relatives and neighbors. This custom, which has existed in Russian villages since ancient times, was called “help” (“toloka”). The whole village usually gathered for the cleanup. This is reflected in the proverb: “Whoever called for help, go yourself.”
They selected the trees very carefully, in a row, indiscriminately, did not cut them down, and took care of the forest. There was even such a sign: if you didn’t like the three trees you came to the forest with, don’t cut them at all that day. There were also specific prohibitions on logging associated with folk beliefs that were strictly observed. For example, cutting down trees in “sacred” groves, usually associated with a church or cemetery, was considered a sin; It was impossible to cut down old trees either - they had to die their own, natural death. In addition, trees grown by humans were not suitable for construction; a tree that fell during felling “at midnight”, that is, to the north, or hung in the crowns of other trees could not be used - it was believed that in such a house the residents would face serious troubles and illnesses and even death.
Logs for the construction of a log house were usually selected with a thickness of about eight vershoks in diameter (35 cm), and for the lower crowns of a log house - even thicker ones, up to ten vershoks (44 cm). Often the agreement stated: “not to set less than seven vershoks.” Let us note in passing that today the recommended diameter of a log for a chopped wall is 22 cm. The logs were taken to the village and placed in “fires”, where they lay until spring, after which the trunks were sanded, that is, they were removed, the thawed bark was scraped off using a plow or a long scraper, which was an arched blade with two handles.
Tools of Russian carpenters:
1 - woodcutter ax,
2 - sweat,
3 - carpenter's axe.
Various types of axes were used when processing construction timber. Thus, when cutting down trees, a special wood-cutting ax with a narrow blade was used; in further work, a carpenter’s ax with a wide oval blade and the so-called “potes” were used. In general, owning an ax was mandatory for every peasant. “The ax is the head of the whole thing,” people said. Without the ax, wonderful monuments of folk architecture would not have been created: wooden churches, bell towers, mills, huts. Without this simple and universal tool, many peasant labor tools, details of rural life, and familiar household items would not have appeared. The ability to carpenter (that is, to “unite” logs in a building) from a ubiquitous and necessary craft in Rus' turned into a true art - carpentry.
In Russian chronicles we find unusual combinations - “cut down a church”, “cut down mansions”. And carpenters were often called “cutters.” But the point here is that in the old days they didn’t build houses, but “cut them down” without a saw or nails. Although the saw has been known in Rus' since ancient times, it was not usually used in the construction of a house - sawn logs and boards absorb moisture much more quickly and easily than chopped and hewn ones. The master builders did not saw off, but cut off the ends of the logs with an ax, since sawn logs are “blown by the wind” - they crack, which means they collapse faster. In addition, when processed with an ax, the ends of the log seem to be “clogged” and rot less. The boards were made by hand from logs - notches were marked at the end of the log and along its entire length, wedges were driven into them and split into two halves, from which wide boards were hewn out - “tesnitsy”. For this purpose, a special ax with a wide blade and a one-sided cut was used - “potes”. In general, carpentry tools were quite extensive - along with axes and staples, there were special “adzes” for selecting grooves, chisels and clearings for punching holes in logs and beams, and “lines” for drawing parallel lines.
When hiring carpenters to build a house, the owners stipulated in detail the most important requirements for the future construction, which were scrupulously noted in the contract. First of all, the necessary qualities of the scaffolding, its diameter, processing methods, as well as the timing of the start of construction were recorded here. Then a detailed description of the house that was to be built was given, the space-planning structure of the dwelling was highlighted, and the dimensions of the main premises were regulated. “Build me a new hut,” it is written in the old row, four fathoms without an elbow and with corners” - that is, about six and a quarter meters, chopped “in the oblo”, with the rest. Since no drawings were made during the construction of the house, in the construction contracts the vertical dimensions of the dwelling and its individual parts were determined by the number of log crowns placed in the frame - “and there are twenty-three rows up to the hens.” The horizontal dimensions were regulated by the most commonly used long log - usually it was about three fathoms "between the corners" - about six and a half meters. Often the orders even provided information about individual architectural and structural elements and details: “to make doors on the jambs and windows on the jambs, as many as the owner orders to be made.” Sometimes samples, analogues, examples from the immediate surroundings were directly named, focusing on which the craftsmen had to do their work: “.. and make those upper rooms and the canopy, and the porch, like Ivan Olferev’s small upper rooms were made at the gate.” The entire document often ended with a disciplinary recommendation, instructing the craftsmen not to abandon the work until it is completely completed, not to postpone or delay the construction that had begun: “And not to leave until finishing that mansion.”
The beginning of the construction of a dwelling in Rus' was associated with certain deadlines regulated by special rules. It was considered best to begin building a house during Lent (early spring) and so that the construction process would include the Trinity holiday; remember the proverb: “Without the Trinity, a house is not built.” It was impossible to start construction on the so-called “hard days” - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and also on Sunday. The time “when the month is full” after the new moon was considered favorable for starting construction.
The construction of the house was preceded by special and rather solemnly formalized rituals, in which the most important, earthly and celestial phenomena that were most significant for the peasant were reflected, in which the forces of nature acted in a symbolic form, and various “local” deities were present. According to an ancient custom, when laying a house, money was placed in the corners “to live richly,” and inside the log house, in the middle or in the “red” corner, they placed a freshly cut tree (birch, mountain ash or fir-tree) and often hung an icon on it. This tree personified the “world tree”, known to almost all nations and ritually marking the “center of the world”, symbolizing the idea of growth, development, connection between the past (roots), present (trunk) and future (crown). It remained in the log house until the construction was completed. Another interesting custom is associated with the designation of the corners of the future home: in the evening the owner poured four piles of grain into the supposed four corners of the hut, and if the next morning the grain turned out to be untouched, the place chosen for the construction of the house was considered good. If someone disturbed the grain, then they were usually careful not to build on such a “dubious” place.
Throughout the construction of the house, another custom, very ruinous for the future owners, was strictly observed, which, unfortunately, has not become a thing of the past and today quite frequent and plentiful “treats” for the master carpenters building the house, with the aim of “appeasing” them. The construction process was repeatedly interrupted by “hand-made”, “filling”, “matika”, “rafter” and other feasts. Otherwise, the carpenters could be offended and do something wrong, or even just “play a trick” - lay out the log house in such a way that “there will be a buzzing in the walls.”
The structural basis of the log house was a log frame with a quadrangular plan, consisting of logs laid horizontally on top of each other - “crowns”. An important feature of this design is that with its natural shrinkage and subsequent settlement, the gaps between the crowns disappeared, the wall became more dense and monolithic. To ensure the horizontality of the crowns of the log house, the logs were laid so that the butt ends alternated with the top ends, that is, thicker ones with thinner ones. To ensure that the crowns fit well together, a longitudinal groove was selected in each of the adjacent logs. In the old days, the groove was made in the lower log, on its upper side, but since with this solution water got into the recess and the log quickly rotted, they began to make the groove on the lower side of the log. This technique has survived to this day.
a - “in the oblo” with cups in the lower logs
b - “in the oblo” with cups in the upper logs
At the corners the log house was tied together with special notches, a kind of log “locks”. Experts say that there are several dozen types and variants of cuttings in Russian wooden architecture. The most commonly used were cuttings “in the cloud” and “in the paw”. When cutting “into the edge” (that is, roundly) or “into a simple corner,” the logs were connected in such a way that their ends protruded outward, beyond the boundaries of the frame, forming the so-called “remnant,” which is why this technique was also called cutting with the remainder. The protruding ends well protected the corners of the hut from freezing. This method, one of the most ancient, was also called cutting “into a bowl”, or “into a cup”, since special “cup” recesses were selected in them to fasten the logs together. In the old days, cups, like longitudinal grooves in logs, were cut out in the underlying log - this is the so-called “cutting into the lining”, but later they began to use a more rational method with cutting in the upper log “into the lining”, or “into the shell”, which is not allowed moisture to linger in the “castle” of the log house. Each cup was adjusted to the exact shape of the log with which it came into contact. This was necessary to ensure the tightness of the most important and most vulnerable to water and cold components of the log house - its corners.
Another common method of cutting “in the paw”, without leaving a trace, made it possible to increase the horizontal dimensions of the log house, and with them the area of the hut, compared to cutting “in the clear”, since here the “lock” holding the crowns together was made at the very end of the log . However, it was more complex to perform, required highly qualified carpenters, and therefore was more expensive than traditional cutting with the release of the ends of the logs at the corners. For this reason, and also because felling “in oblo” took less time, the vast majority of peasant houses in Russia were felled in this way.
The lower, “framed” crown was often placed directly on the ground. In order for this initial crown - the "lower" - to be less susceptible to rotting, and also in order to create a strong and reliable foundation for the house, thicker and more resinous logs were selected for it. For example, in Siberia, larch was used for the lower crowns - a very dense and fairly durable wood material.
Often, large stones-boulders were placed under the corners and middles of the mortgage crowns or cuttings of thick logs were dug into the ground - “chairs”, which were treated with resin or burned to protect them from rotting. Sometimes thick blocks or “paws” were used for this purpose - uprooted stumps placed down with their roots. When building a residential hut, they tried to lay the “flat” logs so that the lower crown was tightly adjacent to the ground, often “for warmth” it was even lightly sprinkled with earth. After completing the “hut frame” - laying the first crown, they began assembling the house “on moss”, in which the grooves of the log house, for greater tightness, were laid with “mokrishnik”, torn from the lowlands and dried with swamp moss - this was called “mossing” the log house. It happened that for greater strength, the moss was “twisted” with tows - combed out flax and hemp fibers. But since the moss still crumbled when it dried, at a later time they began to use tow for this purpose. And even now experts recommend caulking the seams between the logs of a log house with tow for the first time during the construction process and then again, after a year and a half, when the final shrinkage of the log house occurs.
Under the residential part of the house, they built either a low underground, or a so-called “basement” or “podzbitsa” - a basement that differed from the underground in that it was quite high, was not, as a rule, buried in the ground and had direct access to the outside through a low door. By placing the hut on the basement, the owner protected it from the cold coming from the ground, protected the living part and the entrance to the house from snow drifts in winter and floods in spring, and created additional utility and utility rooms directly under the housing. A storage room was usually located in the basement; it often served as a cellar. Other utility rooms were also equipped in the basement, for example, in areas where handicrafts were developed, a small workshop could be located in the basement. Small livestock or poultry were also kept in the basement. Sometimes the podyzbitsa was also used for housing. There were even two-story, or “two-living” huts with two “livings.” But still, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the basement was a non-residential, utility floor, and people lived in a dry and warm “upper”, raised above the cold, damp ground. This technique of placing the residential part of a house on a high basement became most widespread in the northern regions, where very harsh climatic conditions required additional insulation of living quarters and reliable insulation from the frozen ground; in the middle zone, a low underground, convenient for storing food, was more often installed.
Having completed the equipment of the basement or underground, work began on installing the floor of the hut. To do this, first of all, they cut “crossbars” into the walls of the house - quite powerful beams on which the floor rested. As a rule, they were made in four or less often three, placing two huts parallel to the main facade, two near the walls and two or one in the middle. To keep the floor warm and not drafty, it was made double. The so-called “black” floor was laid directly on the crossbars, assembled from a thick slab with humps up, or a log roll, and covered “for warmth” with a layer of earth. A clean floor made of wide boards was laid on top.
Moreover, such a double, insulated floor was made, as a rule, above a cold basement-basement, under a hut, while a regular, single floor was installed above the underground, which facilitated the penetration of heat from the living space into the underground, where vegetables and various products were stored. The boards of the upper, “clean” floor were tightly fitted to each other. 
Male roof design:
1 - ohlupen (shelom)
2 - towel (anemone)
3 - prichelina
4 - headband
5 - red window
6 - fiberglass window
7 - flow
8 - chicken
9 - slightly
10 – tes
Typically, floorboards were laid along the line of the window entrance, from the entrance door to the living space to the main facade of the hut, explaining that with this arrangement, the floorboards are less destroyed, less chipped at the edges and last longer than with a different layout. In addition, according to the peasants, such sex is more convenient than revenge.
The number of interfloor ceilings - “bridges” in the house being built was determined in detail: “... and in the same rooms, three bridges should be laid inside.” The laying of the walls of the hut was completed by installing a “skull” or “pressure” crown at the height where they were going to make the ceiling, into which the ceiling beam - “matitsa” - was cut in. Its location was also often noted in regular notes: “and put that hut on the seventeenth matitsa.”
The strength and reliability of the base matrix - the base of the ceiling - was given great importance. People even said: “A thin uterus for everything means a collapse of the house.” The installation of the matrix was a very important point in the process of building a house; it completed the assembly of the log house, after which the construction entered the final phase of laying the floors and installing the roof. That is why the laying of the matitsa was accompanied by special rituals and another “matitsa” treat for the carpenters. Often the carpenters themselves reminded the “forgetful” owners of this: when installing the motherboard, they shouted: “the motherboard is cracking, it won’t go,” and the owners were forced to organize a feast. Sometimes, when raising the mother, they tied a pie baked for the occasion to it.
Matitsa was a powerful tetrahedral beam, on which thick boards or “humpbacks” were placed “ceiling”, placed flat down. In order to prevent the matrix from bending under the weight, its lower side was often cut along a curve. It is curious that this technique is still used today in the construction of log houses - this is called "hew out the building rise." Having finished laying the ceiling - the “ceiling”, they tied the frame under the roof, laying “shallow” or “shallow” logs on top of the skull crown, with which the ceilings were secured.
In Russian folk housing, functional, practical and artistic issues were closely interconnected, one complemented and followed from the other. The fusion of “usefulness” and “beauty” in the house, the inseparability of constructive and architectural and artistic solutions were especially evident in the organization of the completion of the hut. By the way, it was in the completion of the house that folk craftsmen saw the main and fundamental beauty of the entire building. The design and decorative design of the roof of a peasant house still amazes today with the unity of practical and aesthetic aspects.
The design of the so-called nailless male roof is surprisingly simple, logical and artistically expressive - one of the most ancient, most widely used in the northern regions of Russia. It was supported by the log gables of the end walls of the house - “zalobniki”. After the top, “shallow” crown of the log house, the logs of the main and rear facades of the hut were gradually shortened, rising to the very top of the ridge. These logs were called “males” because they stood “by themselves.” Long log beams were cut into the triangles of the opposite gables of the house, which served as the base of the “lattice” roof. The tops of the gables were connected by the main, “prince’s” beam, which represented the completion of the entire structure of the gable roof.
Natural hooks - “hens” - uprooted and trimmed trunks of young spruce trees were attached to the lower legs. They were called “chickens” because the craftsmen gave their bent ends the shape of bird heads. The chickens supported special gutters for draining water - “streams”, or “water tanks” - logs hollowed out along the entire length. The roof ridges rested against them, which were laid on laths. Usually the roof was double, with a layer of birch bark - “rock”, which protected well from moisture penetration.
At the ridge of the roof, a massive trough-shaped log was “capped” onto the upper ends of the roofing timbers, the end of which faced the main facade, crowning the entire building. This heavy log, also called “okhlupny” (from the ancient name of the roof “okhlup”), clamped the gaps, keeping them from being blown away by the wind. The front, butt end of the ohlupnya was usually designed in the form of the head of a horse (hence the “horse”) or, less commonly, a bird. In the northernmost regions, the shelom was sometimes given the shape of a deer's head, often placing genuine deer antlers on it. Thanks to their developed plasticity, these sculptural images were clearly “readable” against the sky and were visible from afar.
To maintain the wide overhang of the roof on the side of the main facade of the hut, an interesting and ingenious design technique was used - successive lengthening of the ends of the logs of the upper crowns extending beyond the frame. This produced powerful brackets on which the front part of the roof rested. Protruding far forward from the log wall of the house, such a roof reliably protected the crowns of the log house from rain and snow. The brackets that supported the roof were called "releases", "helps" or "falls". Usually, a porch was built on the same brackets, walk-through galleries were laid, and balconies were equipped. Powerful log projections, decorated with laconic carvings, enriched the austere appearance of the peasant house and gave it even greater monumentality.
In the new, later type of Russian peasant dwelling, which became widespread mainly in the regions of the middle zone, the roof already had a covering on the rafters, and the log gable with males was replaced by plank filling. With this solution, the sharp transition from the plastically saturated, rough-textured surface of the log frame to the flat and smooth plank pediment, while tectonically completely justified, nevertheless did not look compositionally inexpressive, and the master carpenters decided to cover it with a rather wide frontal board, richly decorated with carved ornaments. Subsequently, from this board a frieze developed that went around the entire building. It should be noted, however, that even in this type of peasant house, some brackets-outlets made from earlier buildings, decorated with simple carvings, and carved piers with “towels” were preserved for quite a long time. This determined mainly the repetition of the traditional distribution pattern of carved decorative decoration on the main facade of the dwelling.
While erecting a log house, creating a traditional hut, Russian master carpenters for centuries discovered, mastered and improved specific techniques for processing wood, gradually developing strong, reliable and artistically expressive architectural and structural components, original and unique details. At the same time, they fully used the positive qualities of wood, skillfully identifying and revealing its unique capabilities in their buildings, emphasizing its natural origin in every possible way. This further contributed to the consistent integration of buildings into the natural environment, the harmonious fusion of man-made structures with pristine, untouched nature.
The main elements of the Russian hut are surprisingly simple and organic, their shape is logical and beautifully drawn, they accurately and fully express the “work” of a wooden log, log house, and roof of a house. Benefit and beauty merge here into a single and indivisible whole. The expediency and practical necessity of any were clearly expressed in their strict plasticity, laconic decor, and in the general structural completeness of the entire building.
The general constructive solution of a peasant house is simple and truthful - a powerful and reliable log wall; large, solid cuts in the corners; small windows decorated with platbands and shutters; a wide roof with an intricate ridge and carved piers, and a porch and a balcony, it would seem, and that’s all. But how much hidden tension is in this simple structure, how much strength is in the tight joints of the logs, how tightly they “hold” each other! Over the centuries, this ordered simplicity has been isolated and crystallized, this only possible structure is reliable and captivating with the skeptical purity of lines and forms, harmonious and close to the surrounding nature.
Quiet confidence emanates from simple Russian huts; they have settled soundly and thoroughly in their native land. When looking at the buildings of old Russian villages, darkened by time, one cannot leave the feeling that they, once created by man and for man, at the same time live some kind of their own, separate life, closely connected with the life of the nature surrounding them - so they became akin to that place where they were born. The living warmth of their walls, laconic silhouette, strict monumentality of proportional relationships, some kind of “non-artificiality” of their entire appearance make these buildings an integral and organic part of the surrounding forests and fields, of all that we call Russia.
Alexander Nikolaevich, wood is an original Russian construction material; our country has rich traditions of wooden architecture and the largest reserves of timber. And yet Russia cannot boast of a large number of high-quality wooden houses. What is the reason for this: has the tradition been stopped or is there a lack of demand?
It is more expensive to use wood that grows in Russia in construction than imported wood - we do not yet have a full cycle of harvesting “commercial” wood in sufficient volumes. And if European forests were not subject to such customs duties, we could compete in prices with affordable housing programs.
Let's debunk the myths that the tree is often associated with. For example, today many people still consider wood to be a fire hazardous material. There is also an opinion that wood requires a long period of shrinkage - up to 3 years. Is it so?
Regarding the shrinkage of wooden houses. For example, laminated veneer lumber technology: glued together from well-dried and sorted parts (lamellas), laminated veneer lumber has high strength and durability. Houses made of laminated timber do not shrink at all and cracks will not appear in it in the future. This happens because all parts of the structure shrink in different directions.
Regarding fire hazards, we are located in Russia, where there are certain rules and regulations related to fire safety regulations, the operation of electrical equipment, etc. As a company that operates in Russia, we comply with all the necessary rules and regulations. In particular, our designs have passed all the necessary certifications from state regulatory authorities.
By the way, about myths. Wooden houses are no more fire hazardous than buildings made of other materials. Moreover, a wooden house burns slower than any other. It is known from building codes that long-span structures in non-wooden buildings are still made of wood. The burning speed of a wooden beam is longer than the burning speed of a metal beam, which bursts immediately and leads to the collapse of the house. A wooden beam burns longer and allows people to be saved.
What advantages and disadvantages does wood have over stone and brick?
The advantages are, undoubtedly, the environmental friendliness of the tree. After all, even at the production stage, the smallest amount of CO2 is generated, compared to the production of other construction materials. And during further operation, the wooden house “breathes”, it maintains oxygen balance and optimal air humidity.
Another point is energy saving in wooden houses. Technologies used in construction make it possible to keep the room warm for as long as possible in the winter and cool in the summer.
Wooden houses, in my opinion, are the most organic for comfortable country living; they logically fit into the surrounding landscape. In general, I believe that the future lies with wooden houses.
As for the disadvantages, here I can only name a person’s personal preferences. If for some reason a family likes a brick house, then a wooden one will certainly not suit them.
In an interview with our publication, architect Totan Kuzembaev said that in order for a wooden house to last for centuries, all technologies must be strictly followed. What technologies are these? Does the amount of impregnation of wood impair its environmental qualities? Is it possible to build a wooden house yourself?
A home should be environmentally friendly, just like food should be delicious. Still, we must include a number of combined factors as environmental factors - the location of a given house, its fundamental engineering solutions. This makes the house environmentally friendly. And not the presence of glue or impregnations, which are present in any other materials as well.
The company has a number of patents for its original solutions in the field of wooden construction. It was the first manufacturer of wooden houses in the world to receive the right to put the CE mark on its products, confirming compliance with European quality standards.
Fortunately, almost all of the world's largest manufacturers have in their assortment compositions based on natural and safe ingredients and dyes. Typically, these are water-based or alkyd-based compositions, sometimes based on natural oil. Such compositions have fairly high protective properties, and at the same time preserve the natural texture of the wood and do not violate its natural properties. The secret is that the composition used should not form a hard protective film on the surface of the wood, but create a vapor-permeable “breathable” coating. These are the compositions that HONKA uses.
The only drawback of such compositions is their shorter service life, that is, after several years of operation of the house, the issue of painting will have to be returned.
But what won’t you do for yourself and your family? By the way, HONKA does not use materials such as nitro varnishes, epoxy and polyurethane varnishes and enamels in its homes, despite their exceptional durability.
Glued laminated timber of various sizes is often used as a wall material in the construction of houses in elite villages. In particular, we actively use interior timber, consisting of six glued parts, an ideal material for the construction of high-rise wooden buildings. Our own development - laminated laminated logs with a diameter of 230 mm and 260 mm, combining the appearance of a traditional log and the technical qualities of salon timber. There are practically no cracks on laminated logs, and its diameter and density make it possible to build well-insulated, large buildings. All these types of building materials are distinguished by high strength, aesthetic appearance, and low settlement coefficient. Houses in classical and country styles are often built from round log models. Whereas laminated veneer lumber is excellent for buildings of a more modern look, architecture that is not traditional for wooden houses - with large glazing areas, pitched roofs, etc. When constructing large-scale objects, it is most effective to use materials with a large diameter.
In general, an environmentally friendly wooden house, like the kind we build, is built from natural, natural, certified materials. Environmentally friendly materials most often mean wood, because... It is precisely this that has a “breathing” effect, allowing air to pass through itself and thereby ensuring constant air exchange, infiltration, in the premises. In addition, one of the most important characteristics of an “eco-house” is its energy efficiency, that is, the utmost reduction in heat loss, and wood, as is known, is an excellent heat insulator. To this we can also add the unique disinfecting qualities of coniferous trees, which secrete phytoncides, which, as scientists have proven, increase the biological activity of oxygen and neutralize pathogens. And large areas of glazing in such wooden houses allow maximum use of natural light, which reduces energy consumption.
Is it possible to build a high-quality wooden house yourself?
Before starting any work on the design and construction of a house, everyone decides for themselves the following questions: what place on the site will be the best for placing a house on it? How to optimally position the house according to the cardinal directions and neighboring buildings (if there are any nearby)? And finally, what architectural and spatial solution for the house will best suit the client’s wishes and the characteristics of his site (lighting, topography, trees on the site, viewpoints, access roads, etc.)?
The questions are not easy, so many customers prefer to turn to specialists at this stage. If a client comes to our company with such questions, then an architect is immediately sent to his site, often together with a landscape architect. When talking with the customer on his own site, you can pay attention to many features of future design and construction, which will allow you to correctly begin the process of designing a house and profitably use the features of the site, including its possible shortcomings.
In which regions of the Russian Federation are you building?
HONKA – as an international concern, has representative offices in 30 countries, and HONKA houses are supplied to more than 50 countries. In Russia, the concern ranks first in the import of Finnish wooden houses. The first HONKA representative office opened in Russia in 1995 in St. Petersburg, then in 1998 the Moscow representative office opened and in 2007 the Perm representative office opened.
In total, during this time, more than 1,500 objects were built on the territory of the Russian Federation, and about 700 in the Moscow region.
The suburban housing market in the Leningrad region is actively developing and there are several villages on it, built in accordance with the principles of eco-development, which we adhere to. We can name the cottage villages “Honka Park”, “Russian Switzerland”, “Copper Lake”, “Honka Family Club”, etc.
This fall marks the 3rd anniversary of the HONKA representative office in Perm. If we talk about the results of work in the Urals, then over these years the construction of the cottage village Demidkovo Village has been completely completed. The total development area is more than 10 hectares. The HONKA representative office acted as a single contractor. The village has 23 individual premium class houses ranging from 367 to 507 sq. m. m. By the way, it should be noted that the architectural projects were developed by our specialists specifically for the Ural region, taking into account climatic conditions.
During its operation, the company has achieved a leading position in terms of construction volume in the market of wooden housing construction in organized high-level cottage villages. The geography of HONKA's presence in the Urals is expanding. In addition to Perm, orders for construction have been received in Yekaterinburg and other cities of the Sverdlovsk region. The volume of private orders is constantly growing.
What volume of wooden house construction relative to other materials exists today in the Moscow region and in other regions in which you build? Where is it more, where is it less? What changes have occurred over the past 5-10 years?
In the Russian low-rise construction market, wooden houses today occupy a share of about 40%. Almost half of the low-rise buildings are made of wood - these are both cottage villages and private buildings. All of them, of course, are of different levels and quality, but in any case, this vector is present: many companies produce wooden houses in Russia; The distribution of Western timber houses is also growing. However, I don’t think this percentage will grow much; I think now we are seeing its most correct meaning.
However, for example, in Perm the volume of private orders in 2010 increased 3 times relative to the same period last year. It should only be noted that we are talking about high-level villages located in picturesque places.
In general, it is impossible to name figures characterizing the volume of construction services and production accompanying wooden house construction for the Russian market. Any expert assessments here will be taken from the ceiling.
In the wooden house-building market today there is a serious differentiation of manufacturers, participants in the construction and real estate markets. At the level of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, measures are being developed to limit the export of raw materials abroad, aimed at creating a comfortable subsidy and tax climate for potential investments in the wood processing industry. However, we, as experts with extensive experience, see that this situation will most likely lead to the stimulation of the pulp and paper complex, the emergence of factories, primarily primary processing, and the construction of factories for the production of building materials, but not to the growth of high-quality production of wooden houses. Including for reasons of the biological characteristics of Russian forests and for reasons of logging logistics. Today, the market for high-quality wooden house construction has a pronounced import character in terms of production and a colossal difference between the service and range of services of well-known Finnish manufacturers and Russian companies.
What is the percentage of wooden construction in European countries and what is HONKA's share in it?
As for the situation abroad, it is similar in proportion in number and differs in proportion in regional distribution. Northern and Central Europe build more houses from wood than the European south.
Today, HONKA is the leader in terms of turnover, both in the domestic market in Finland and in the export of supply kits for the construction of houses made of dense-fiber pine. Currently, in terms of import volume, Russia shares first place with Germany, followed by Japan, America and the domestic Finnish market.
What area of houses, in what architectural style and what layout are most in demand in Russia today?
In our cottage village HONKA No. 1 we offer houses in the style of “polite” Scandinavian architecture. The area of houses in the village varies from 330 to 510 sq.m. These are HONKA wooden houses of adequate size in an ecologically clean and picturesque place in the Moscow region. Each house has a maximum number of bedrooms and bathrooms. We do not offer palaces of 1500 sq.m.
Another HONKA project is the cottage community “Dachi HONKA” - a country complex in Istrinskaya Dolina,” a joint project with the company “Vector Investments”. The project provides for 4 types of houses ranging from 280 to 350 sq.m.
Of course, the change in the financial situation in the country also affected the structure of demand. An analysis of consumer preferences of potential clients showed that the vector of demand has shifted towards smaller houses, 250-400 sq.m. The share of houses with similar adequate areas in high-level cottage villages is steadily growing compared to the pre-crisis period.
This format has replaced the most active and popular segment of the pre-crisis period “500+”.
What is the cost of a turnkey wooden house depending on the square footage?
For example, in the cottage village “Dachi HONKA”, where we acted not only as a construction company, but also carry out a full cycle of development, we created an offer that was optimal from a price-quality point of view. This project features a completely different approach to pricing than in other HONKA villages. The cost of a land plot with utilities and a HONKA wooden house with an area of 280-350 sq.m will be at the level of 30,000,000 rubles. The project partner is Vector Investments.
Interviewed by Irina FILCHENKOVA
Traditions and modernity of Russian wooden architecture
Rus' has long been considered a country of wood - there were plenty of vast, mighty forests around. Russian life was such that almost everything in Rus' was built from wood. From powerful pines, spruces and larches, Russians of all classes - from peasants to sovereigns - built temples and huts, bathhouses and barns, bridges and fences, gates and wells. As historians note, Russians lived for centuries in the wooden age. And the most common name for a Russian settlement - village - indicated that the buildings here were wooden.
Wood is one of the most ancient, traditional and beloved building materials by the Russian people. Why not a stone? After all, we also had a stone!
D. Fletcher answered this question back in the 16th century in his book “On the Russian State”:
“A wooden building is more convenient for Russians than a stone or brick one, because there is a lot of dampness in them, and they are colder than wooden houses, which is important in the harsh climate of Rus'; houses made from dry pine forests provide the most warmth" ...
Since ancient times, trees have been revered in Rus'. They turned to him as if he were alive on a variety of occasions: “Holy tree, help.” And the tree, heeding the request and prayer, helped. The great power of the earth and sky is concentrated in the trees. And our ancestors felt this with their pure hearts and therefore the trees huts-mansions built: “as beauty and peace say”, so they loved.
The spirit of the tree continued to live in the logs of the log house, in the floor and ceiling boards, in the tabletops polished to a shine and in the benches. Therefore, the peasant considered the hut itself, his home, as a part of nature, its spiritual continuation.
Entering such a house, you understand that its space is filled with the measured noise of the forest and streams of fresh air; this space breathes peace and serenity. The house always has a subtle “forest” aroma of Siberian pine or larch, cedar, and spruce. The sun reigns here from morning to evening, soft pastel colors look natural, resin flows down the logs like a sunny tear, and from the dark icon the bright face of the Mother of God looks with an all-penetrating gaze...
The house looks truly majestic, like nature itself. It seems that this house has taken root, “taken root” in the environment, and has become an integral part of the surrounding forests and fields, of everything that we call Russia.
Home is a unique place on earth where a person feels confident and calm, where he feels like a full owner. From here he counts all his movements in time and space, he returns here, here his family hearth awaits him, here he raises and educates his children, here his life flows. “Home is where your heart is,” wrote the Roman scholar and historian Pliny the Elder.
When creating a home for himself and his family, our ancestor entered into very close and very complex connections and relationships with the environment. Skillfully using its features, he strove to get used to nature, to merge harmoniously and consistently with it, to fit into its living and easily vulnerable structure. Existing next to and together with nature, developing in constant contact with it, he achieved, at times, amazing results in the most complex and responsible task of creating a full-fledged home, practical and expressive.
Natural observation, the experience of his ancestors, traditions developed over centuries, the ability to perceive and objectively evaluate the features of the natural landscape awakened in the Russian an amazing “sense” - he settled down, settled down in the truly best place, where it was not only convenient, but also beautiful - the beauty of the surrounding nature had for him It has a very great and sometimes decisive significance. It elevated the soul, gave a feeling of freedom and spaciousness.
Russian hut... It envelops you with the wise goodness of children's fairy tales, dissolving you into peace in your heart. For a Russian person, an ordinary village hut is a kind of original monument of his existence; the beginning of the Fatherland is associated with it - the root basis of his life.
Quiet confidence emanates from simple Russian huts; they have settled soundly and thoroughly in their native land. When looking at the buildings of old Russian villages, darkened by time, one cannot leave the feeling that they, once convened by man and for man, at the same time live some kind of their own, separate life, closely connected with the life of the nature surrounding them - so they became akin to that place where they were born.
Ancient North Russian huts tell us about how our ancestors lived during the times of Novgorod the Great and Moscow Rus'. What our ancestor did is practically what he said. Every hut is a story.
| In the old days they built freely, on a daring Russian scale. There was a lot of land, forest at hand, and not enough workers: there was no honor for idle people in Rus', and they simply would not have survived in the harsh northern regions. The huts were built large, well built and comfortable. Sometimes on one floor, more often on two with a light above it, with a large covered courtyard. The volume of some huts is impressive - up to two and a half thousand cubic meters.
The basis of each building is a log frame - always powerful, regardless of its size, plastic, rich in chiaroscuro, playing with many tones and shades of natural wood. The natural beauty of a log house - unique in its beauty and practicality - appears before us in every work of truly folk wooden architecture.
The house served as protection, protected. Its ornaments and details are requests and wishes addressed to the forces of nature and symbolizing the unity of man with it. “A horse on the roof is quieter in a hut,” says a popular proverb. The horse is an allegorical reminder of the endless movement of human life, of the need to choose the righteous path in it. Where the spirit of moral strength reigns, wisdom and silence settle - this is the semantic basis of the proverb.
In the protective and incantatory ornamentation of the Russian hut, a large role was played by the symbolic image of the sun, which was shown three times: rising, at the zenith and receding - at the points of contact of the roof with the log house on (the piers) and at the top under the junction of the roof slopes and piers.
I Carved towels, on which symbolic suns were usually carved, personified the purity of human thoughts, inextricably linked with the sunny joy of existence, with the victory of light over darkness.
The same symbolic meaning of illumination and illumination was given to the arrangement of a red (beautiful, sunny) corner inside the hut, where icons were placed. The ceiling in the hut represented the firmament, and the wide beam supporting it represented the mother of the Milky Way. “Everything is not accidental in life,” popular wisdom said, you just need to look attentively, as if reading what you see, calling for a deep understanding of this seemingly simple, but endless truth in knowledge. I To understand the architecture of the northern village, we need to take another step towards understanding the nature and essence of ancient Russian wooden architecture, concentrated in its original principle - in the unity of constructive-technical and architectural-artistic forms.
This principle, known in the ancient architecture of many nations, was expressed in the wooden architecture of Russia with the greatest completeness, if not to say with the absolute and utmost possible.
I think it’s worth taking a closer look at the priceless wealth that was intuitively found by the collective people’s mind, which is stored in the memory of the people. Stop, look around to see, remember, consider and understand how our ancestors solved the problems of communication with the outside world, with nature, which were most important for our very existence.
Preference is given to coniferous species due to their beautiful texture, strength and high resistance to the rather difficult conditions of Siberia. Pine, due to its low thermal conductivity, creates a microclimate inside the house, so in the summer a house built of pine is cool and warm in the winter. A wall built from wood allows you to reduce the load on the foundation by 7 times compared to a wall made of brick, which means that the house can be placed on a lighter foundation, and thereby reduce foundation costs to a minimum.
At the same time, in the North, larch was used to build houses. Larch is a sound breed. The kernel is reddish-brown in color, the sapwood is light and narrow. Its wood has small, few resin ducts, is highly resistant to decay and fungal diseases, and is therefore especially valued in hydraulic structures. An example of this is Venice, which has stood for more than a thousand years on larch stilts. Possessing high hardness and strength, larch is approximately 30% superior in quality to pine. In a number of regions of Siberia, a frame was assembled from durable and dense larch, while all interior decoration was made from Siberian cedar.
And yet, the most common material for housing construction was pine, especially boreal pine or, as it was also called, “condovya”. The log made from it is heavy, straight, almost without knots and, according to the master carpenters, “does not hold dampness.” In one of the contract records for the construction of housing, concluded in the old days between the owner and the carpenters (and the word “decent” comes from the ancient Russian “ryad” - agreement), it was quite definitely emphasized: “... to carve a forest of pine, kind, vigorous, smooth, not bitchy"...
There are ore pine, which grows on deep loose sandstones and light loamy soils, in elevated places, has fine-grained dense wood, narrow sapwood, and resin. Another variety of pine - myandova - grows on low-lying clay soils, has less dense spring wood, wide-grained, less resinous than ore pine.
Construction timber was usually harvested in winter or early spring, while “the tree is sleeping and excess water has gone into the ground,” while the logs can still be removed by sleigh. Then the wood is less susceptible to drying out, rotting and warping. Logs for building a house were usually selected with a thickness of about eight vershoks in diameter (35 cm), and for the lower crowns of a log house - thicker ones up to ten vershoks (44 cm). Often the agreement stated: “not to set less than seven vershoks.” The age of such a beauty is 100-200 years, height is up to 20 meters.
A wooden house made from large diameter logs is now very expensive. But the pleasure of living in it is incomparable to anything. The owners of such a house emphasize that the warmth emanating from real large logs is incomparable. It is unusually easy to breathe here, irritation goes away and the eternal bustle of city life leaves: in such a house, health will remain until old age, and thoughts and feelings will be bright. Wood is a pliable material, pure and responsive to beauty. Its warm shine, pattern, color and aroma are unique. As a material it gives extraordinary scope for creativity. It is quite durable, can retain heat for a long time, and can be processed well. And, once in the hands of a master, it seems to acquire a soul and come to life. Let us note in passing that today the recommended diameter of a log for a chopped wall is 22 cm... The logs were taken to the village and placed in “fires”, where they lay until spring.
The beginning of the construction of a dwelling in Rus' was associated with certain deadlines regulated by special rules. It was considered best to start building a house during the Great Prst (early spring) and so that the construction process included the Trinity holiday in terms of timing - “Without the Trinity, a house is not built.” It was impossible to start construction on the so-called “hard days” - on Monday, Wednesday , Friday, and also on Sunday. The time “when the month is full” was considered favorable for starting construction - after the new moon...
Not the least important role was played by the fact that wooden buildings could be erected in a fairly short time. High-speed construction from wood in Rus' was generally widely developed, which indicates a high level of organization of carpentry. It is known that even churches - the largest buildings in Russian villages - were sometimes erected “in one day,” which is why they were called “ordinary.”
In addition, log houses could be easily dismantled, transported over a considerable distance and re-installed in a new location. In the cities there were special markets where prefabricated log houses and entire wooden houses with all the interior decoration were sold “for export.” In winter, such houses were shipped straight off the sleigh in disassembled form, and their assembly and caulking took no more than two days.
The desire of our distant ancestors to decorate their homes and surround themselves with beautiful utensils is an ancient tradition, formed at the call of the inner nature of the Russian person, his genetic desire for beauty and harmony.
Decorative carvings on ancient Russian buildings, preserved in the Russian North, the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia, have always attracted the attention of travelers, researchers, and artists with their mesmerizing beauty, craftsmanship and figurative expressiveness.
Nowadays, modern methods of wood processing make it possible to ensure ideal fit of logs and absolute density of joints. Wood meets all the requirements for comfort level, and also fits perfectly into the “ecological” concept of interior space, so popular in the last decade.
For many centuries, master carpenters have resorted to primordial natural components to “preserve” wood. The use of these components preserved the environmental purity and natural beauty of the tree. Since wood is an element of living nature, its decorative processing was carried out with natural materials, based on natural oils, wax, various plant extracts, capable of leaving the pores open, despite the deep processing of the wood. Thus, the wood “breathes”, excess moisture evaporates from it, and wear resistance increases significantly.
Natural glaze, which gives the wood a light silky shine, preserves and emphasizes the natural beauty and texture of the wood, provides protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation, insects, moisture and wind. The walls of the house - estate at the same time retain the natural tone of pine and always look fresh.
Centuries-old searches and experiments of folk craftsmen of the past had a huge impact on the appearance of the current wooden house. ! A comfortable, warm, cozy and beautiful manor house is able to provide its inhabitants with a high level of comfort, ensure the harmonious development of all life processes, and create the necessary amenities for housekeeping. It is a manor house that can fully and organically connect a person with the surrounding nature, with the landscape, with the earth.
Numerous projects and buildings based on wood in Russia and abroad indisputably prove its modernity and unconditional prospects for use in today's practice of estate construction.
Wooden houses in Europe are very expensive and are considered elite.
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