Mezhventsovy heater for a bar: the technology of caulking a log house

No state-of-the-art building materials can oust natural wood from the market. Houses from a bar of various types are still very popular among developers. They are used for erecting both residential buildings and outbuildings, baths, saunas, etc. The technology of construction of log cabins provides for the mandatory use of inter-block heaters. Due to their use, it is possible to improve the operational characteristics of wooden structures.

1. Significantly increased heat saving indicators. This is a very important indicator given the high current fuel prices. In some cases, it allows you to do without the use of external heaters for the walls of wooden houses, which significantly reduces the estimated cost of construction.
2. The service life of wooden buildings is increased. Cold and moist air penetrates into the gaps between the crowns, moisture condenses on the surfaces of the timber.

   The drying process is long, as a result - accelerated destruction of wood. It is affected by rot and mold, the strength of the tree is noticeably reduced, in advanced cases, critical deformations of wooden houses can occur. You have to make complex and expensive repairs, and even then in some cases they are ineffective.

   

   Mezhventsovy insulation allows you to extend the life of a wooden house

3. Modern mezhventsovy heaters compensate for the annual fluctuations in the linear dimensions of the timber. They have ductility, in the case of an increase in the gaps, they expand and eliminate heat losses.

4. Premises in the house are better protected from the penetration of street noise. Noise damping performance is directly related to thermal conductivity.

   

   Mezhventsovy heater for timber improves the sound absorption of walls

and by physical properties and linear parameters. This variety simplifies the choice of a specific type of insulation. But to make the best decision, you should briefly familiarize yourself with the types and characteristics of materials.

Varieties and performance indicators of mezhventsovy heaters

All materials are divided into two large groups: natural and artificial. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

When choosing a specific insulation, it should be borne in mind that, in addition to moss and synthetic insulation, they are all wound around a drill while drilling holes in the frame for the dowels.

This is a very unpleasant property that greatly complicates the process of assembling buildings. Irresponsible builders do not pay attention to the problem; during drilling, the drill pulls out the insulation. As a result, cold bridges appear, moisture condenses under the lining of the inner walls of the log house. Prolonged contact with moisture negatively affects all timber structures.

Despite the recommendations of manufacturers of artificial heaters, use them for thermal insulation of residential premises not worth it.

All of them release chemical compounds into the air. True, in amounts that are safe for health. But the permissible norms are regulated by state acts, and they do not always meet the requirements of consumers. Quite often, state regulatory bodies make concessions to manufacturers and increase the permissible evaporation rates of chemical compounds.

A common disadvantage of artificial insulation is their inability to let air through.

As a result, the crowns stop "breathing" at the points of contact, the tree does not dry out. The accumulated moisture has a negative effect on the strength and durability of operation. It is true that such heaters can be used for many years, manufacturers do not cheat. But they do not indicate that the frame itself with such insulation will not be healthy for a long time.

To increase the number of sales, synthetic heaters are masked as natural ones, they hardly differ in color and thickness of fibers .

.. You can check the material of manufacture by burning it.Synthetic smoke has a black, strong unpleasant odor. Natural ones, when burned, emit much less harmful chemical compounds into the air.

The only place where it is recommended to use synthetic insulation is baths. Due to the high humidity, the use of natural ones is impractical, they absorb a lot of moisture, the place where the crowns fit constantly has high humidity.

Prices for inter-crown insulation

Mezhventsovy heater

General requirements for mezhventsovy heaters

Regardless of the material of manufacture, mezhventsovy heaters must meet standard operational requirements.

1. The elasticity and density of the insulation. The material must compensate for changes in the size of the cracks, not lose its original properties for the entire period of operation of the structure.

   The absence of natural shrinkage is an additional benefit.

2. Low thermal conductivity. Values ​​cannot exceed these parameters for the tree.
3. The ability to breathe. Insulation should not separate the crowns hermetically, the tree breathes, gives off and absorbs moisture.

   The process cannot be interrupted after warming the space between the crowns.

4. Resistance to external influences. The insulation should not rot, various insects should not live in it. The highest quality materials have an insect repellent effect.
5. Security for residents.

   For all environmental characteristics, it must comply with sanitary requirements.

The most used heaters

We will not consider individual manufacturers, we will give a comparative table of the most common mezhventsovy heaters.

Step-by-step instructions for laying insulation

As an example, we will take the most complex version of the house - manual assembly from a bar of natural moisture. Insulation is done with roll insulation, there are no differences in laying technology between natural and artificial materials.

Step 1.

Buy a heater, before that, calculate the required amount and decide with dimensions. To calculate the amount of insulation, you need to know the dimensions of the outer walls and the number of rows of the log house. Add up all running meters and increase the amount by about 5-8%. The surplus will be needed for reliable thermal insulation of the corners of the log house. The width of the insulation should be 5-10 cm greater than the width of the groove of the beams, the thickness is from five millimeters.

The protruding part is caulked or immediately bent during the assembly of the frame.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of technologies?

1. Caulking heater. Performed after complete shrinkage of the structure. Advantages: better insulation, minimizes the risk of cold bridges formation. Disadvantages: the amount of manual work increases, some types of insulation are taken away by birds, during the rainy season, hanging insulation absorbs a lot of moisture.

   And this can cause rotting of the timber in the places of contact.

2. Fold the insulation during assembly. The wide edges of the fabric are folded over and stapled in this position. The fold is made flush with the edges of the selection of logs. Benefits: faster home assembly.

   Disadvantages: during the shrinkage of the logs, the insulation may be damaged; to eliminate the problems, you will need a finishing caulk with a jute rope.

There is no consensus among professional builders which method is better. Each of them works according to their usual scheme. We will consider both options for laying insulation.

Step 2.

Tilt the timber with the groove up.

Important. If the width of the jute does not reach the edges, then buy the material wider or lay the narrow insulation in two rows with overlapping each other. The width of the material should protrude about five centimeters on each side of the log.

Staple the jute with a staple distance of about ten centimeters.

Make sure that the insulation does not sag or fall off during the turning of the masonry beam into the frame.

Step 3. If you are going to caulk, then the edges are left protruding. But you need to keep in mind the disadvantages of this method, we talked about them above. In addition, the protruding jute does not allow you to control the build quality of the house, it closes the junctions, and the builders' defects are revealed during caulking.

The second option is to immediately bend the protruding insulation and fix the bend with a stapler. Try to make the bend even, it should look neat after assembling at home. The doubled thickness of the insulation in the drop points significantly improves the quality of the crown sealing.

Step 4. From the ends of the log, remove the ends protruding to the street by the length is about 5 cm.

If they hang down, then moisture gets into the places where the logs fit and the tree begins to rot. At the end of the assembly of the house, the ends will be caulked separately in good dry weather. It takes a little time and is technologically quite justified.

Step 5. Carefully insulate the bowl.

Jute needs to be fixed on all adjacent surfaces; to improve the quality in these places, it is better to lay two layers of insulator. There is no need to be afraid that the crowns will sag, the inter-crown insulation is easily compressed. Always remember that corners are considered the most problematic element of wooden houses, pay great attention to them.

If, during assembly, the insulation hesitated or came off, then you need not be lazy, remove the log and repeat everything from the beginning.

How to caulk an inter-crown insulation

To perform caulking, you need to have a hammer, a chisel 20 mm wide, a spatula 40 mm wide, a rubber or wooden mallet.

The tools must not be sharp, otherwise they may cut through the insulation.

Important. Caulking is allowed only after the insulation tape has completely dried. The blockhouse must stand and shrink, this takes about a year after the completion of the assembly of the structure. It is necessary to bend the seal from top to bottom and push it into the gap between the bars with light taps.

As a result, an even tight bend should be obtained, all cracks should be hermetically closed. If the groove of the log has not completely sat down in its place, then you do not need to caulk much. The final compaction is done after shrinkage, at the first stage the jute is only slightly tucked and fixed in the gap. Driving is done later.

Caulking should be started from the lowest row, further work is done around the log house, after finishing caulking around the perimeter of one crown, you can start working with the second.

Important. Never caulk just one wall at a time. Such actions can cause distortion of the entire structure.

It is not necessary to hammer the sealant into the upper rows, they sit down last after several years of building operation. Carefully trim the corners, do not allow water to enter between adjacent crowns.

If the house was assembled by careless builders, then the insulation of the bowl is problematic. They laid the tape only in the middle of the bowl, there is no protrusion along the edges. We have already mentioned that the insulation in the bowls must be laid in two layers. If the ends of the building are insulated in violation of the optimal technology, then before caulking, you will first have to push the tape into the empty space, and then caulk it. The quality of insulation will suffer a little, but this is the only way to correct deviations from technology when assembling a wooden building.

To improve the appearance of the facade walls, the seams can be wrapped with jute rope. The work should be done only after painting the walls, the rope is nailed with nails. To improve the design, you can cover it with a colorless varnish or change the natural color of the rope.

Prices for jute rope

Jute rope

Video - Rules for laying inter-wedge insulation