How the wall structure of a timber frame house is arranged: Step by step + Video

Frame house building has a solid list of advantages. Due to the peculiarities of the walls of frame houses, the construction of an object consumes 2 times less wood than for timber or log structures. To ensure the same thermal characteristics, the required thickness of the walls of a frame house is much less in comparison with walls made using any other technology.

Having a smaller wall thickness, with the same building area, an additional usable area is obtained at the exit from the house.

The advantages of frame walls

The lightness of frame walls can significantly reduce the cost of arranging the foundation.

The modern materials used ensure high thermal insulation properties of the house. With the same wall thickness, the thermal insulation of a frame house is two times better than that of a brick house, and more than 3 times better than that of walls made of foam concrete.

All the listed advantages, as well as the speed of construction and the affordable price of a frame house, make it in demand among the consumer. But when developing a project, one must remember the main functions of any home: to be warm and soundproof. It doesn't matter whether the house will be built with your own hands or with the involvement of specialists, it will not be superfluous to know what the correct construction of the wall of a house built using frame technology looks like.

What does the wall of a frame house consist of?

The structure of the wall of a frame structure includes several mandatory nodes:

• rigid connected frame of horizontal straps (lower and upper), additional elements and vertical racks;
• internal filler of frame cells, performing the functions of heat and noise insulation;
• sheathing along the internal and external areas, fixing the frame circuit.

1. Sheathing of the house with imitation of timber
2. Lathing at home
3. Breathable membrane
4. Wood board or chipboard
5. Wall frame - timber or board
6. Thermal insulation boards
7. Sound insulation
8. Internal lathing
9. Soundproofing material
10. Plywood or wood board
11. Plasterboard or external finishing

Such a wall structure of a frame wooden house received from specialists the name "cake". Let's look at what kind of cake is the right one, "delicious".

According to the technology, the construction of the walls of a wooden house should be made of high-quality dry wood. The consequence of the use of not dried wood will certainly be cracks, since due to the natural drying of lumber over time, the width of the edged board decreases.

If you take a damp board 150 mm wide, then, in the process of natural release of moisture, its width will become 145-147 mm.

This will not only lead to the formation of cracks in the walls, drafts, blowing, but also to a decrease in the fastening characteristics. Therefore, in order not to resort to warming the corners in a year or two, it is necessary to observe the technology during the construction process and use dried lumber for the frame. Most often, the construction of the walls of a wooden house is made from the most common sizes of edged boards - 50 * 150 mm or 50 * 200 mm. The size in width is selected taking into account the estimated thickness of the thermal insulation layer required for a given climatic region.

Insulation of the frame wall

Various heat-insulating materials are used as insulation in the cake: mineral wool, foam insulation, ecowool and others. Their choice in the modern market is quite large. The main thing is that the heat-insulating material in the wall is stable in the vertical plane - it does not settle and does not gather like an accordion in the lower part of the structure, leading to the appearance of uncovered upper sections (cold bridges). To do this, use plate thermal insulation, expanded polystyrene or foam fixation.

When using foam as a heat insulator, it is required to seal the gaps along the contour with polyurethane foam to ensure tightness along the perimeter of the junction.

Considering the cost of polyurethane foam, the use of cheap insulation does not always lead to cost savings.

To prevent the insulation inside the walls from picking up moisture (which not only reduces its thermal insulation properties, but also can lead to an unpleasant odor in the rooms over time), a vapor barrier film is used. A vapor barrier is installed along the inner surface of the wall, always from bottom to top with an overlap. The overlap line is usually marked on the film roll. To ensure the tightness of the vapor barrier, the joints are sealed with self-adhesive tape.

Important! the use of a vapor barrier film leads to the formation of closed air in the interior of the house. Therefore, in frame houses, a correctly calculated and effective ventilation system is very important.

The outer side of the frame is sewn up depending on preferences: oriented strand board (OSB), cement-bonded strand board (OSB), moisture-resistant plywood, or the like. These materials not only play a tightening role, provide structural strength, but also protect thermal insulation from external influences.

The structure of the walls of a private house in engineering solutions

Technologically, the frame structure of the walls of a private house can be performed in two different ways:

• Assembling the frame structure at the building site.

  Cutting of lumber and installation of walls takes place directly on the construction site.

• Assembling a house from shields or panels prepared in the production. They are delivered to the construction site, made in size according to the project documentation. The construction team does not cut piece parts, but only performs assembly work. On the one hand, this method reduces the time for the production of work, the contour of the house is assembled in a very short time.

  On the other hand, the mass of the elements of the house can be quite significant and for the production of work it is necessary to use either a large brigade or lifting mechanisms (truck crane).

The wall structure of a panel house is produced in several versions.

• Shields sewn on one side.

With this technology, the walls are insulated only after the assembly of the power kit (box) is completed. In the future, you can start trimming the second side.

• Double-sided shields (SIP panels). The panel consists of a dense layer of expanded polystyrene, with oriented strand boards glued to it under pressure on both sides. This type of shield is much stronger than the usual frame one.

Installation of frame walls

Structurally, the frame house has the following nodes: upper and lower strapping, height posts, fastening slopes, overlaps , strapping of door and window openings, rafter system. The order of installation of these units is determined by the selected technical and technological solutions.

• Most often, the installation of the frame structure is used on the rough floors of the basement. This method is called platform-based. With this method of assembling a house, parts of the walls in the form of connected frames are mounted on the surface of the platform and attached to the basement over the subfloors. In the same way, the walls of the second, attic or one and a half floors are assembled. That is, first they equip the floors between the floors, after which the walls are mounted.

The advantages of such an engineering solution in a simpler production of work. A level layout area provides more accurate cutting, facilitates the work of builders, and ultimately increases the speed and quality of work.

The disadvantage is that it is necessary to have a considerable amount of covering material in case of rainy weather in order to prevent the materials of the subfloor from getting wet (usually plywood, OSB, DSP are the material of such floors).

But the main disadvantage of installation work in this way is that the frame structure for repairing the walls of a house or floors during operation will serve as an obstacle. After all, the main wall is located directly on the floor beams.

If over time the replacement of beams is required, this will lead to significant labor costs.

Of course, if the floor beams are properly treated with antiseptic and protective compounds, the operating conditions will exclude the effects of high humidity, then this drawback will not be significant. But in the basement, where the aggressive effect of the environment is usually higher, it is preferable to provide for the possibility of periodic checking of the floor elements.

• You can, of course, lay the beams and sub-floors of the basement after installing the frame blocks of the first floor. However, this option complicates the process of assembling frame frames due to the lack of a flat surface.

  In addition, it becomes difficult to fit the subfloor and thermal insulation at the junction of the floors with the wall surface.

• Another solution is to overlap the base as an independent boxes inside the wall perimeter. True, for the application of such an engineering solution, the width of the foundation is required, which allows placing a frame wall and floor beams on it. This solution allows you to first make a basement platform, then assemble the frames of the frame wall on it. On the one hand, this option increases the cost of the foundation, on the other hand, the construction time is reduced, and as a result, the cost.

For frame houses, it is possible to use virtually any type of foundation. The most inexpensive - point and pile without grillage. For strapping a point foundation, a thick beam or metal profile is used.

Important: the foundation must be waterproofed from wooden structures.

Having considered the different wall designs of a wooden house, construction using frame technology, we focus on the fact that a frame for a veranda, an extension to a house or a superstructure over existing floors is the most profitable and technically correct solution.

The frame structure is also convenient for repairing the walls of the house and updating the facades.

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