What is a carriage used in construction?

The vast majority of our compatriots are confident that there is only one carriage - a structure used for mounting artillery pieces. But the Norwegians do not agree with this statement, and call the beams processed using a special technology, which are used specifically for the construction of buildings and structures, as a carriage. The second meaning of the word carriage seems to us more pleasant and correct.

Lafet - what is it?

Log or timber?

The carriage is logs hewn on two opposite sides, which are, in fact, huge boards, which were the first to be used by the inhabitants of Scandinavia for the construction of houses, but the Norwegians were especially successful in this, becoming the authors of a special locking connection that ensures not only maximum structural strength, but and high thermal insulation qualities.

Houses built from gun carriages do not need additional insulation, although the wall thickness is no more than 20–24 cm.

In the domestic tradition, the carriage is sometimes called a gable or double-edged beam. But often we mean a log, that is, a log sawn in a special way (and, as a rule, even without the bark removed from both sides), which is laid in a horizontal plane and is mainly used as a load-bearing structure, for example, a floor joist.

If we talk about the carriage as a modern building material for the construction of houses, then it should be noted that this material is closer to a rounded log, which had two parallel sides cut off. Although, some builders, on the contrary, see it as a beam with two rounded sides, which seem to have been forgotten to remove.

Characteristics and production of material

Experts refer to the carriage as logs hewn on both sides with a size usually of 240x400 millimeters. Pine is most often used as the starting material. The name "softwood" in relation to it does not mean that the wood is weak. In fact, softwood species, including fir, are known for their structural strength and flexibility in construction. Pine and spruce are among the most economical types of wood. For construction using this method, you can use any type of construction wood that meets the classification of high-quality wood, class “A” and “B”. The log trunk must have a uniform structure; the permissible moisture content of the logs is allowed in the range from 12.0 to 15.0%.

Wood for log houses is divided into three classes:

“A” – “extra”, the material of this class must be ideal, with one or two knots.
“B” - “standard” allows for a number of knots and small defects in the form of small tears.
“C” - “economy”, may have knots, cracks, “resin pockets” and other defects.

Compliance with the quality limit is not always strictly adhered to by some manufacturers. At large woodworking factories, where they value their reputation, quality requirements are met quite accurately. In small-scale production, class “B” often corresponds to “C” in reality. Therefore, when buying timber for the construction of a bathhouse, you need to be sure that it complies with the quality certificate. It is better to make purchases from reputable trading companies, in regional centers or Moscow.

If only class “A” and “B” wood is suitable for building a house, then for a bathhouse it is possible to use class “C”, cost savings of up to 30%, especially since not all defects are dangerous for the structure of the bathhouse. They are divided into several types:

They are not critical, they do not interfere with the appearance of the finish coating and are used without any restrictions.
Removable defects that can be easily repaired, such as knot holes, are quickly and easily sealed.
Uncorrectable defects. Logs with such defects are easily discarded and used in the construction of other elements of the bathhouse. For example, floors and walls, where a shorter product length is needed.

The highlight of the design is the shape of the locking connection, which creates a structure with a high level of thermal insulation and strength characteristics. With a relatively small wall thickness, only 200-240 mm, this technology does not require thermal insulation, and in terms of its energy-efficient properties, a 200 mm wall made of canopy is comparable to a 400 mm wall made of brick. Such a structure can withstand the harshest northern winters.

Complex cutting performs a number of tasks that fully justify the money spent:

Mechanical reliability.
Large contact area, increasing the friction force between parts, which prevents them from moving.
Creation of optimal load distribution in your pair.
Fastening crown joints.
Neutralization of areas with excess stress.

Carriage: what is it?

A carriage is a semi-oval log with two parallel and two rounded edges. There is a rounded notch on the underside of the lumber. Standard size is 240×400 mm. The Norwegian cutting technology "carriage" is very similar to double-edged timber.

Fire monitor logs are suitable for the construction of cottages, country houses, baths. For objects up to 150 m2, lumber up to 210 mm is used, for houses from 150 m2 - 250 mm. Various lengths of logs are allowed due to the effect of Scandinavian felling. For construction work, chamber-dried lumber with natural humidity is used. The slab left over from the carriage is used for installing partitions and subfloors.

What is a carriage

According to a long-standing Russian tradition, it is customary to build houses from sanded round timber, in which the sapwood, or sapwood, was preserved - the layer of logs located directly under the bark. At the corners of the building, round logs were processed in such a way as to form a lock - a reliable fastening of the logs. The layers of round timber, or crowns, are connected to each other by spikes about 12 cm long.

Log house from carriage

Log houses made from carriages are wooden houses made of logs that are processed in a slightly different way. The carriage is obtained by sawing or chopping with an ax 2 opposite slabs (rounded parts of the log). The resulting flat surfaces are then processed until smooth using a plane. The result is a half-beam.

In our country, a carriage is called one of the types of Norwegian cutting technology. It really does not use a round log, but a log with two hewn sides. The so-called Norwegian lock is used to fasten the benches at the corners. Here, not bowls are cut into the logs, but wedge-shaped recesses with a groove into which spikes hidden from view fit. Thus, the connection is more durable.

Our houses are built from gun carriages using Norwegian technologies. Therefore, a Russian dwelling made from gun carriages has characteristics characteristic of a northern house. This includes the appropriate layout of the premises, the presence of some structural and decorative elements (for example, support pillars outside and inside the building), and the type of roof.

Subtleties of technology

For centuries, when manually chopping houses in the Scandinavian countries, the Norwegian bowl style was practiced, which makes it possible to obtain a reliable, warm and windproof castle. The use of a perfect cutting method and the use of a carriage that combines the qualities of timber and logs creates a high-quality, warm and durable housing that is not afraid of temperature changes and has good soundproofing properties.

Norwegian castle Source elitdrevdom.ru

The time-tested method is used everywhere in modern suburban construction; a turnkey house made from gun carriages is made taking into account the features of the technology:

Method of connecting corners . The corner joints of the logs are formed using a bowl with a notch; Each log has a tenon and a groove for the tenon. When laying, the tenon of the upper log fits into the groove of the lower one. The logs are securely fixed, which prevents individual elements from moving or rotating.
Material . The method involves the use of large diameter logs in construction. During the drying process, the own weight of the logs jams them in the bowls.
Insulation . Thermal insulation is carried out once, during assembly. The logs fit tightly together; re-caulking is not required. Thanks to the structural properties of the Norwegian log, the walls of the log house have the same thickness throughout their entire height. In a Russian log house (made of classic, round-shaped logs), the wall thickness at the junction of adjacent logs is minimal, which reduces the thermal efficiency of the housing.

Construction of a log house using Norwegian technology Source elitdrevdom.ru
See also: The most popular designs of carriage houses.

Design features of a house made of gun carriages

A log frame made from a carriage is a classic version of Scandinavian wood construction. The main difference from structures built from rounded logs is the flat surfaces, which ensures a tighter fit of the wood and increases the thermal protection of the house.

The elements of the log house are connected to each other, the so-called Norwegian castle. It is almost impossible to visually assess the reliability of the binding on a finished building, but during the installation process you can see a complex-shaped notch, which is done manually by an experienced carpenter. The complexity of preparing the material for construction explains the high price of the carriage.

Careful processing of logs for work and design of the cut provide the building with the following advantages:

• a large number of nested corner elements gives strength to the entire structure and prevents the formation of deformations under mechanical influence;

• the load is evenly distributed throughout the load-bearing walls, and this despite the fact that there are no metal fastenings;

• the increased contact area between two logs increases the friction force in the pair.

The time spent on preparing the material is more than compensated by the wear resistance of the structure and a long period of trouble-free operation.

The main stages of assembling a Scandinavian log house

First, a log house design

. The drawings mark the places where pipes and electrical wires will be laid, taking into account loads and structural components. Be sure to perform 3D modeling of the log house on the selected type of foundation.

The carriage is prepared for assembly in two main stages:

bowls and grooves are cut out;
drill holes for dowels.

Bowls

Initially, they are marked “roughly”, that is, the imperfect workpiece is cut out with a chainsaw. In this case, marking is carried out with the obligatory use of a hydraulic level. The roughing cup corresponds to the profile of the lower transverse rim. Before finishing marking and cutting the finishing bowl, the crowns are adjusted and marked.

The grooves are selected manually using an adze or a straight axe. To make the task easier, longitudinal cuts are made with a chainsaw before doing this.

A drill with a diameter of 30 mm is used for drilling. The holes for the dowels should be staggered. The dowel extends into the body of the lower crown (carriage) a maximum of 150 mm. The pitch between dowels is up to two meters.

The log house must first be assembled without dowels, all defects are checked and corrected. Only after this is the capital assembly of the log crowns on the foundation. The first crown should lie on antiseptic embedded boards up to 6 cm thick. It is more convenient to assemble heavy crowns using a truck crane. The adjustment of the upper crowns is carried out by installing scaffolding. Openings for windows and doors are cut out immediately during the assembly process (immediately with trimming).

Pediments

They are also assembled from a gun carriage. The technology is identical to the assembly of log walls. The ridge beams and slabs are secured into the cut-out gables with a notch (it is in the pediment logs that the bowls are cut for laying the ridge and the ends of the slabs, otherwise proper strength will not be ensured). The last stage of work is filing the ends of the gables according to the selected roof slope. The roof itself can be anything, insulated options are preferable.

It is extremely important to use expansion joints for all vertical elements of the frame. These elements will not allow the geometry of the building to be disrupted. It is recommended to install windows and doors some time after construction

This measure is associated with the uneven shrinkage of wood under the influence of solar (IR) rays and the need for high-quality ventilation of interior spaces

Windows and doors

It is recommended to install some time after construction. This measure is associated with the uneven shrinkage of wood under the influence of solar (IR) rays and the need for high-quality ventilation of interior spaces.

The finishing of the floors and ceiling can be chosen at the discretion of the owner. After completion of construction, the walls are thoroughly sanded and then covered with beeswax impregnations.

Here it is important not to rush into painting or varnishing, since most manufacturers indicate that the wood can be wet at a maximum of 12-14% before processing. A higher moisture content in wood will lead to a change in the properties and shade of the composition applied to the walls.

In restrooms where the walls are expected to be tiled, moisture-resistant plasterboard sheets are initially installed. The sheets are mounted on a frame with movable brackets to which the guides are fixed.

The outside of the walls can be coated with a composition containing linseed oil. There is no need to caulk or putty cracks in the log house.

All communications

in Scandinavian log houses they are laid in accordance with the rules for arranging wooden houses.

Radiators are hung on brackets driven into the walls. Pipe connections are made through interfloor slabs and vertical ducts.
The wiring of water and sewer pipes is similarly laid out in boxes located in the bathrooms or restrooms of the house/bathhouse.
Electrical wires are pulled in such a way that the network can be repaired at any time. The wires are insulated with metal hoses, metal pipes or plastic pipes (low-current networks).
For hidden wiring, shallow grooves are made in the thickness of the walls. For distribution boxes and sockets, holes of the required size are drilled in the wood. You can lay wires behind baseboards and in grooves behind door frames. If the entire volume of wires does not fit behind the baseboard, then it is permissible to groove a horizontal channel at the crown of the log house (maximum groove depth is five centimeters).
The wiring to the ceiling lamps is pulled along the interfloor ceilings.

Norwegian castles will be difficult to make for a beginner. It will take much longer to prepare the material and cut it than to build a Russian log house. Just laying the crowns requires at least two weeks, so it’s worth assessing your strength and the amount of time allotted for construction in advance.

Advantages and disadvantages

Today, the carriage is not used everywhere in construction work. This is not due to its low quality, but to the low awareness of people building houses or summer cottages. Today, not every person is aware of what features the gun carriage has and how to work with it. However, those who have turned to the operation of such structures are mostly satisfied with them. Let's take a closer look at the advantages of the carriage.

In terms of its physical qualities, the carriage is in many ways similar to a standard rounded log. The material in question is made from both dry and wet lumber.

It almost never cracks

The carriage is considered a practical, reliable design. The fact is that during its production, a side cut of the log remains, which also has a use (meaning a slab board). Quite often, good fences, partition walls or subfloors are made from slabs.

In this case, there is practically no useless waste left.

The material in question is universal, since it can be used for the construction of summer cottages and private houses of absolutely any degree of complexity. The carriage is also used in the construction of bathhouses in local areas.

A perfectly even profile gives such buildings a very attractive, neat appearance.

The carriage is a very pliable material that is easy to work with. Logs can be shaped into a variety of shapes without much difficulty.

If a house is built using a carriage, the owners will be able to save a lot on heating it in the future. Thus, brick buildings cool down very quickly, and heating them after cooling takes a lot of time and energy costs. It is not recommended to leave such buildings even for a short period.

If the construction was built using a carriage, you can forget about such problems.

Houses using gun carriages turn out to be more economical in comparison with the same brick options. Even the walls in a building made of gun carriage can be made thinner than those made of brick, which cannot boast of good heat-saving properties.

It is impossible not to note the environmental safety of buildings erected using gun carriages. The designs in question are non-toxic, made from natural materials, and do not emit strong chemical odors.

Such elements cannot harm the health of people and pets.

The carriage has excellent decorative qualities. The buildings that were made from gun carriages have a very beautiful appearance, look rich, and attract a lot of attention.

Houses built from gun carriages are considered stronger and more wear-resistant than other wooden buildings. This is the feature that attracts many homeowners to a gun carriage.

The carriage itself does not have raised or rounded parts, so it does not restrict the living space. Logs with a round cross-section cannot boast of the same quality.

Houses built using a carriage do not require mandatory external and internal finishing. The buildings are already very attractive and cozy.

Owners can save on the purchase of additional finishing materials.

According to experts, fire monitor buildings are of the light type , so there is no need to prepare deeply buried foundations for them.

Due to this, the overall cost of construction work is noticeably reduced.

In buildings built from carriages , the installation of utilities turns out to be simpler and faster, and does not create great difficulties.

The carriage, like any other material, has not only advantages, but also certain disadvantages. The latter must be taken into account when planning to build a house or cottage.

The Norwegian lock, which is used in the design of the carriage, has a very complex structure. Because of this, installation work requires a person to have great skill and experience in such matters. Owners most often have to turn to a team of specialists, and this is an extra expense.

The carriage, like many other types of timber, turns out to be more susceptible to rotting and mold formation (like a log). The whole point is that a layer of sapwood is cut off from the ends of the carriage, which protects the material from these negative consequences. For this reason, the structures in question require especially careful and regular care in the form of special protective treatments.

Despite the fact that, in comparison with the same brick, a carriage often turns out to be more affordable , such material is still expensive if a person wants to build a large and solid house. Often consumers refuse to use the designs in question because of their price.

The preparatory stage regarding the carriage is very lengthy. It often takes several years. Users have to adapt to such features of the material.

Projects of houses that are planned to be built in accordance with Norwegian technology must be developed only by experienced specialists and on an individual order. True, some people use ready-made projects.

The main thing is not to take on such matters on your own if you do not have the appropriate experience and knowledge.

A high-quality house made from gun carriages can last a very long time , but it will still have to be additionally treated with protective solutions. Without an antiseptic, even the most reliable and good-quality tree will soon begin to lose its former attractiveness and deteriorate to one degree or another.

Any wooden buildings are a fire hazard. This also applies to buildings made from gun carriages. Such structures are highly flammable and can actively support combustion.

This is a serious drawback that must be taken into account before starting construction work.

As you can see, the carriage has quite a few pros and cons, although there are more of the former. Each person decides for himself whether it is worth turning to such material or choosing something simpler and more accessible.

Step-by-step instructions for building a house

In Norway, such houses are classified as prestigious; wealthy people live in them. The technology is becoming increasingly popular in our country. Builders call the carriage a gable beam; it is made mostly using a semi-mechanized method, which increases the cost and reduces the quality of the materials.

Step 1 . At the sawmill, saw off two side parts of the round logs so that the width of the remaining part is 24 cm. Use an electric plane to remove the bark and level the surfaces. This is quite difficult work; the master must constantly hold a heavy tool in his hands. The quality of surfaces directly depends on the professionalism of the performer, but even the most experienced carpenter will not be able to make the surfaces absolutely identical.

Use a plane to remove all the bark and sapwood from the log

Step 2 . Soak the carriages with combined solutions. They must protect lumber from rot and fire at the same time. This is a very important operation, dry houses quickly ignite.

Using a sprayer, apply a protective composition to the wood

Step 3 . Under the first crown, cut down one semicircular side of the carriage, this row will be the base, it should lie stably on the foundation.

The carriage for the lower crown should be flat at the bottom

Step 4 . Start chopping the remaining crowns. We will describe in detail how locks are made in this article a little lower. Please note that all joints are wedge-shaped; as the house shrinks, the tightness of the fit increases, the crowns go deeper into the locks. Due to this, heat losses at the joints are reduced and the stability of the structure is increased.

Making a gun carriage lock

Step 5 . To reduce the likelihood of cracks, treat the ends of the frame with acrylic sealant. The fact is that it is through the ends that moisture quickly escapes, and this process causes the appearance of a large number of deep cracks. This is a violation of the wood drying process. If you are building a house from dry lumber, then there is no point in sealing the ends.

Treatment of ends with acrylic sealant

Dowels are installed only when the house has two or more floors. Single-story ones are firmly held by original locks; they resist wind and snow loads without any problems, and are not afraid of static and dynamic multidirectional forces.

Practical advice. From small sections you can build various small architectural forms: tables and benches, swings, benches, etc. Do not throw them away, do not use them for firewood.

Leftover wood can be used for decoration and making furniture

If you order a house from a construction organization, they do not immediately erect the building on site. All work is done in the industrial zone of the enterprise, this is how the quality of the assembly is checked. Everything is normal - every detail is numbered and the house is disassembled. Ready-made parts are assembled for the customer at the site. But this method greatly increases the cost of construction. In addition, there is no way to constantly monitor the quality of work performed. Only very wealthy developers can use the described method of building a log house, and the order must be carried out by the most responsible companies.

When dismantling a log house, each carriage is numbered

Features of the material

A carriage is a log prepared in a special way. During processing, it acquires a semi-oval shape, after which it is also called a double-edged (or gable) beam. The sides of the log (which then form the surface of the walls) are made flat and parallel to each other. The other two sides (top and bottom) are left with a rounded shape, characteristic of a log. A rounded notch is made in the bottom side. The Norwegian carriage has the following features:

Wood . The log used is predominantly coniferous with a diameter of 40 cm or more.
Thickness _ The parameter is determined by the distance between the flat sides. The thickness is selected depending on the nature of the future construction. For houses with an area of up to 150 m2, it is recommended to use material with a thickness of 210 mm, with a larger area - 250 mm. Height may vary due to the natural slope (change in diameter from top to bottom) of the log. This allows you to get the effect of an authentic Scandinavian building.

Prepared fire monitors Source furufrue.blogspot.com

Humidity . Both wet and dry lumber is used for construction. It practically does not give deep cracks, and its physical characteristics are similar to rounded logs.
Practicality . During the production of the carriage, the side cut of the log (slab board) remains. It can also be used (sub-floors, partition walls or fences), waste is minimal.
Usage . The carriage is used for the construction of country houses of any complexity, as well as baths. The even profile gives such buildings a recognizable stylish look.

Design stages

– “Linking the house to the site” – Creating an internal layout – Drawing facades – “Sections” of the building along the axes – Obtaining a building permit

We always start designing by “linking” the house to the site and do this taking into account all existing and future communications, requirements for room illumination depending on the cardinal directions, further arrangement of the site and possible wishes for the landscape. The next stage is the creation of an internal layout, as much as possible satisfying your needs, at this stage several layout options are developed. Drawing of facades is necessary to give the entire project external proportionality and individuality.

After approval of the layouts and facades, “sections” of the building are made along the axes for the final check of the resulting window and door openings, the available possibilities for installing stairs and fireplaces.

There is always the opportunity to go “inside” the house and bring the “disputed” points to full compliance, after which the Architectural Project is certified with a license and submitted to the relevant government authorities to obtain a construction permit.

How to make a carriage

Creating a gable beam is a labor-intensive procedure. It involves a lot of manual labor, equipment and qualified work of specialists and organizers. You can’t handle such a log house “on your own” - usually the site is organized at a special training ground. Let's consider step by step how and with what a carriage is created.

Operation: Delivery of logs to the landfill.

What you need: Freight transport, lifting equipment (forklift).

Operation: Removing the edges of the log.

What you need: A moving band saw on rollers and a frame and experienced operators.

First, the end is marked - how much excess wood needs to be removed. Then the saw comes into play - it moves along the log, removing a layer of wood (30–50 mm). Along the way, you get an unedged board and a slab.

Operation: Debarking (bark removal).

What you need: A pair of powerful hand planes and physically strong workers.

The remaining part of the curves is processed with a plane - the bark and irregularities are removed. Then the entire forest is antiseptic.

In order to carry out the actions described above, you need a prepared site, equipment and personnel. But these are only blanks, or, as carpenters say, “blanks” for a log house - they are called a carriage. But in order to become a full-fledged element of a log house, such a log needs to go through two of the most difficult stages - cutting and fitting.

Is it profitable to make a carriage with your own hands or not?

Making your own carriage from logs will save you a significant amount, but this will require free time and a little skill. If there is a desire, then the short order of work looks like this:

Removing bark from logs. For this, a regular ax or staple is enough. You need to work carefully so as not to damage the barrel.
Cutting down slabs. A standard chainsaw with a 75 cm bar is suitable for the procedure. The teeth of the bar should be sharpened for longitudinal cutting.
Processing logs on a sawmill. It is important that the characteristics of the sawmill allow it to process logs of a certain size. The supporting part of the future carriage is being formed.
Use a plane to grind off the remaining irregularities from the surface.

After preparing the carriage, the corners of the desired shape and dimensions are cut. Next, all workpieces are treated with an antiseptic and fire retardant. Allow to dry. Then you can start assembling.

Houses made from gun carriages using Norwegian technology: advantages and disadvantages

In our article we will talk about the Norwegian technology of constructing houses from rounded wooden trunks. We will tell you what a gun carriage is, what and how it is made from, and we will look at the design features of the walls. You will also learn what are the advantages and disadvantages of houses made from gun carriages.

Houses built from solid logs are considered to be the hallmark of the Russian village. Skilled craftsmen in wooded areas, using primitive tools, created real masterpieces of wooden architecture. True, as it turned out, not only in Russia they knew how to build houses from long logs. Norwegian carpenters also knew a lot about wooden joints and highly reliable structures; they have long built houses from logs processed in a special way, which were called carriages.

Design aspects – individual projects

Choosing a project according to which you will build your country house can be quite a difficult task, given the specifics of the offer in the existing market for the construction of wooden houses.

A number of companies offer standard projects, arguing that these projects are universal and have been tested for more than one customer. These arguments not only fundamentally deprive your home of its external individuality, in addition, they leave your requests for the interior space unsatisfied. This formulation of the question demonstrates the low level of capabilities of these companies. And, for example, such a company will not be able to carry out individual projects of cedar houses with high quality. In other cases, when discussing the possibility of building a full-fledged wooden house, a number of significant design limitations will be identified.

Forest selection

Fire monitor lumber is made from pine, cedar, larch, and spruce.

When choosing, it is worth considering the features of raw materials:

Pine is a practical lumber with a dense structure that is easy to process.
Cedar is a durable, heat-intensive wood with a beautiful texture and is easy to process. The cedar trunk contains resin with natural antiseptics, so it does not grow mold or be undermined by insects.
Larch is a durable, moisture-resistant tree that is resistant to temperature fluctuations. It has excellent thermal insulation and antiseptic properties.

For construction, it is better to choose logs without cracks at the ends, without traces of blue stains, pests or damage.

Log houses from a gun carriage with a Norwegian castle.

Shrinkage phenomena for houses made of carriages are not a problem, but, on the contrary, a blessing.

The reason for this is the special design of the locking joint, which becomes compacted over time and does not lead to twisting of the logs, as well as the formation of cracks between the crowns.

At the same time, it is quite acceptable to build from either material with natural moisture or freshly sawn material. The characteristic cracks are not a problem, since they never appear through them, but are, most likely, a distinctive feature of this material.

In this, unloading vertical cuts performed in the upper and lower parts of the carriage play a role, which are not an obstacle to the formation of cracks on the side parts of the material, but significantly limit their sizes. Although, with the development of industry and further improvement in construction from gun carriages , for the construction of houses, material with a humidity of 12–15%, which has undergone special drying, is used.

But it is the use of material with natural humidity (20–26%) that allows all the advantages of the Norwegian castle, which is sometimes also called the Norwegian cross, Norwegian cabin or bowl, . This connection is not only one of the warmest, but also the most reliable and durable. And, in addition, during the natural process of shrinkage, under the own weight of the log house, this locking connection self-jams.

And at the same time, a characteristic feature is that the more the house shrinks and the material shrinks, the stronger and tighter the interlocking joint will be.

The locking connection itself is a fairly wide bowl, into which, before placing the carriage of the next crown, a fairly large layer of insulation is laid. A characteristic feature of such a bowl is its rather complex trapezoidal design with a special wedge-shaped “saddle”.

External and internal finishing of a wooden house. – there is more useful information here.

The additional use of a hidden tenon also contributes to the structural rigidity of a log frame made from a carriage , and in addition, has a positive effect on the thermal insulation qualities of such a connection.

Norwegian-style chalet house, video:

The history of the appearance of the gun carriage and its characteristic features

There is a theory that the Scandinavian poor first began to use the carriage for the construction of their homes, since in this case, from the round timber, in addition to the building material itself, a slab was obtained for constructing a roof or floor, as well as other lumber that found its use.

Subsequently, the Norwegian carriage, which showed unique thermal insulation characteristics, became a kind of standard of Scandinavian architecture.

For the production of carriages, mainly coniferous wood of pine or larch with a trunk diameter of 40 centimeters or more is used.

As a result, after cutting down the opposite slabs, a material is obtained whose thickness is only 20–24 cm, and whose height reaches 35 cm or more, which is very rational when constructing a log house. In this case, you can limit yourself to a smaller number of crowns, which, accordingly, will lead to the formation of a smaller number of thermal locks, and as a result, will affect the thermal insulation characteristics.

Initially, of course, all the work was carried out by hand, but today, when a house, cottage or bathhouse is being built from a gun carriage , it is quite possible to purchase prepared and sized products, including those with ready-made bowls for a Norwegian castle .

Basically, construction from a carriage is carried out using a connection “with the remainder”. For the construction of external walls, as a rule, a material with a thickness of 20–24 cm is used, and for internal partitions, which are connected to the load-bearing ones also with a connection “with the remainder” - only 15 cm.

To impart rigidity to the structure, provided by the special self-jamming design of the locking connection, wooden dowels are used, thanks to which longitudinal displacement is completely eliminated.

The nuances of mounting a carriage

A house project using Norwegian technology can be developed according to an individual order or a ready-made option can be used, while saving part of the construction budget.

Construction begins with the preparation of logs. For this, high-quality specimens with a diameter of 28 to 36 cm are selected. After trimming the two sides, the diameter is reduced to 21-22 cm. Trimming is carried out using high-precision equipment. After marking is applied to the workpieces, the crowns (Norwegian bowl) are cut out. The strength and reliability of the connection depends on the accuracy of this work, so it should be entrusted to an experienced carpenter.

The process of preparing building material includes the following steps:

• cutting out the bowl and grooves (the complex multi-stage shape of the lock is performed in two stages - rough and finishing);

• making holes for dowels in a checkerboard pattern at intervals of no more than 2 meters (a drill with a cross-section of 3 cm is used).

A house built from a gun carriage is a real pride of the owners. The special technology used to connect the crowns represents the best architectural and engineering solution, which is now highly valued not only by Europeans.

Specifics of house installation

The first step is to install the foundation. For this type of building, it can be piled or pile-screw, although the construction of a standard strip foundation is also allowed.

Next, all components of the structure are prepared, the dimensions of the logs are checked, and markings are applied. Manufacturers must do a trial assembly and only then transport the house to the site. Usually the construction process lasts for 1.5-2 months, after which the house will be completely ready for living.

Buildings made from gun carriages are an excellent solution for those who value warmth, home comfort and make a choice in favor of practicality and environmental friendliness.

Advantages of the carriage as a building material

So, we figured out the concept of carriage. We found out what it is, and also studied the technology of its manufacture. Now we can consider the immediate advantages of this material in construction.

In general, the carriage has quite positive reviews. Let's take a closer look at all the advantages of this building material.

One of the main advantages of houses made from gun carriages is the level of their thermal insulation. A house wall 20 centimeters thick will protect you from the cold no worse than a 30-centimeter round log house. Accordingly, this house will be warm and cozy, and the most dense and durable connection of logs will provide reliable protection against cracks.

Since the walls of a house built from a gun carriage are smooth and flat, you do not have to additionally cover them from the inside with clapboard or other material, which significantly saves time and money required for construction.

Living space

Providing spaciousness and immediate living space is a significant factor influencing the choice of material. What are the advantages of the carriage in this case? Due to the fact that the walls of such a house are flat, the usable area of the house increases significantly compared to round logs. At the same time, such walls make it possible to lay wiring, sewerage, water supply, gas, and so on without much effort.

Reliability

In practice, it has been proven that houses made from gun carriages are practically not susceptible to deformation, since a special fixation system connects the logs virtually tightly.

What is important for a residential building is its beauty. Simplicity combined with picturesqueness and charm will not leave true connoisseurs of beauty indifferent.

Environmental friendliness

If you really decide to immerse yourself completely in nature, breathe fresh air and surround yourself and your family with only the purest and most natural materials, a carriage house is perfect for you. After all, wood is a natural material that can provide comfort. The walls of such a house will not cause allergic or other negative reactions.

Review of design options

Norwegian technology does not involve the construction of houses from gun carriages with three or more floors. Usually these are one or two-story buildings, with a terrace and balconies, with different roof shapes and types of roofing. The foundation is selected according to the type of soil and terrain.

Often a carriage is used, sawn off on one side only. Then the inside of the house has smooth walls, and from the outside it looks like a log house made of round logs.

Country house project

Large country houses are no longer in trend. For a small family, a two-story house made of gun carriages is suitable, having everything necessary for a comfortable stay.

The first floor is where the whole family gathers. There is a kitchen combined with a dining room and access to the living room. The second floor is a recreation area in two bedrooms. Comfort and functionality are ensured by hygienic premises and a small porch. The total area of such a house is up to 116 m2. Price 632,500 rubles.

A country house with an attic floor is spacious enough for the whole family to relax. Source zlatoust.tiu.ru

Project of a residential building with an attic

A two-story house with a balcony is a simple and cost-effective option for a summer house or country residence.

The total area of 115 m2, allocated 4 living rooms, the presence of all communications will allow a family of 3-4 people to easily accommodate. The decoration of the house is the porch. From the balcony you can admire the scenery or spend time drinking tea.

The house for this project costs 1,140,000 rubles with a minimum configuration.

Carriage house with attic and balconySource omsk.tiu.ru

Project of a classic house in Scandinavian style

Lovers of tradition and luxurious classics will enjoy a one-story house made of pine carriages in the Finnish style. For the convenience of the owners, the project is made on an all-inclusive basis:

residential and technical premises;
kitchen;
attic with living rooms and access to the balcony;
spacious terrace with open and glazed part;
bath-sauna;
boiler room.

Scandinavian two-story house with a closed veranda and terraceSource docplayer.me

Bathhouse project

Practicality is the main advantage of a bathhouse

Fans of country holidays and owners of a small plot should pay attention to this project. The design allows you to equip a sauna on the ground floor, and equip the attic as living quarters

Moreover, the development will occupy only 49 m2.

Bathhouse of a complex design made of fire monitors with an attic floorSource spb.lesstroy.net

The project provides a porch for a pleasant stay in nature and all this costs from 570,000 rubles.

Project of a one-story country house

The one-story house will be of interest to those who live outside the city all year round. The spacious terrace (veranda) is specially designed to connect the space of the house and the surrounding landscape. In a spacious house with an area of 121 m2, both owners and guests will feel comfortable. In addition to standard technical premises, there is provision for a dressing room, a second bathroom, a vestibule connecting the veranda and the hall, and an additional entrance. The price of such a house starts from 1,112,000 rubles.

One-story house with two exits: front and backyard exitSource moskva.best-stroy.ru

Project of a house with a veranda and a balcony

A private house is valued primarily for its functionality and unique design. The following project meets these requirements. The classic Norwegian technology of building a two-story house from a carriage made it possible to place three bedrooms, an office, two sanitary rooms, technical services, a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room on an area of 133 m2. In addition, there is a spacious hall that opens into a cozy veranda. And an additional separate entrance makes the interior spaces more functional. The house is in the price segment from 1,005,400 rubles.

A cottage made from a gun carriage with a veranda and a balcony has everything you need for a comfortable stay. Source lestnitsygid.ru

All prices given are indicative in nature and may vary depending on the wood used, type of foundation, and roof covering material.

Features of modern gun carriage projects

In the private housing construction market, there are construction companies with extensive experience in the construction of wooden houses, offering the design and construction of cottages from gun carriages. Many organizations use their own lumber, which allows them to maintain the optimal cost of turnkey work.

Technology has great potential for creating modern housing that is practical and multifunctional. Future owners are offered designs of houses made from gun carriages in a variety of architectural designs, both standard and individual. The price of construction is affected by:

Cost of building materials . It determines 60-75% of the final price. The most commonly used wood is pine, spruce, larch and cedar.
Project parameters . The area of the house and the thickness of the log walls; number of cuts per unit area of walls.
Project development . The cost is affected by the complexity of the layout (number of floors, extensions, presence of a terrace, balcony, porch, columns or attic).
Features of the foundation . If the site has complex topography, additional costs may apply.

House made of gun carriages with a green roof Source heatylab.com

Shape and area of the roof . The cost depends on the design, type of roofing material chosen, the presence of gables or overhangs, as well as additional insulation.
Selection of finishing and engineering works.

Forest selection

Traditionally, the Norwegian carriage for house projects was made from tree species common on the Scandinavian Peninsula - pine, cedar and larch. Russian country cottages do not break tradition - they are built from the same materials:

House made of pine carriage . Pine is a common and rapidly renewable resource. Such a house will be the most practical due to the low cost of the material. Pine has a smooth and dense structure, has a small number of knots and is easy to process.
House made of cedar carriage . Cedar wood is strong, but malleable enough to process. It is valued for its beautiful texture and high heat capacity (30% higher than pine wood). Cedar resin contains natural antiseptics that protect wood from biological pests.

About the review of the house from the gun carriage in the following video:

House made of larch carriage . Durable wood, maximally protected from moisture thanks to the resin that impregnates it. The advantages of larch wood include its hardness, resistance to temperature changes, high thermal insulation qualities and excellent antiseptic properties that suppress the proliferation of pests and putrefactive mold.

Any wood must meet quality requirements. For construction, logs are selected that are free from cracks at the ends, traces of blue stains, bark beetles, mold and mechanical damage.

Carriage selection

Modern technology for constructing housing in the Norwegian style allows the use of a carriage with both natural humidity (35-55%) and chamber drying (18-22%). Houses built from natural moisture carriages undergo a long process of drying and shrinking. Dry carriage is the optimal material and has important advantages:

Shrinkage . The process of natural shrinkage in a building made from a dry carriage is 3 times faster than that of a material with natural moisture.

Project from a carriage in the style of a chalet Source lesopilka.pro

Wood protection . The optimal temperature regime in the drying chamber destroys mold and pests.
Wood quality . Surface cracking is not as severe as with green logs.

The only factor that clouds the picture is the price of a dry gun carriage - it is 30% higher.

Choosing the type of felling

When choosing house designs from gun carriages for construction, construction prices will vary over a fairly wide range. For example, many customers mistakenly believe that only Norwegian cutting is used for a house made of gun carriages. In fact, there are many ways to connect logs, from which the most suitable one is selected. If you want to create, for example, a house in a Scandinavian style, you should opt for cutting into a Norwegian bowl, which has its own advantages:

The structure is durable and warm . The connection is sealed during operation, the joints are sealed, and heat loss is minimized.
Construction is becoming cheaper . The Norwegian lock reliably fixes the monitor logs from displacement and deformation, which makes it possible to use cheaper material with natural moisture.

About houses from gun carriages in Northern Norway in the following video:

Log frame from a gun carriage: installation features

The construction of a country house from a gun carriage has its own specific features:

Making a log house . At the first stage, all structural elements are prepared. The dimensions are checked and each log is marked. Sometimes a trial assembly is carried out: the logs are placed in a log house, then dismantled and transported to the site.
Production time . The cutting time is affected by the size of the project. It will take approximately 1.5 months to cut a house with an area of 150 m2; 8-9 crowns are designed for one floor (less than for a building made of timber or rounded logs).
Installation . The foundation for a fire monitor house is selected and prepared as for any wooden building. The final assembly of the log house on the prepared foundation takes approximately 2 weeks.

Project of a country cottage with double light Source tiu.ru

Origins of technology

Carriage is the name for the hand-cutting style that has developed in Norway. The construction of housing using fire monitor technology is widespread throughout the Scandinavian region. Houses made from gun carriages owe their shape to the practicality of ancient builders. Once they realized that hewn logs do not affect the height of the crown and do not particularly reduce the thermal conductivity of the structure, but they supply additional high-quality lumber. The carriage proved to be a more economical option than round timber, and today the characteristic buildings are found throughout not only Norway, but also Sweden and Finland. Characteristic features of a modern Norwegian house are:

Form . The houses are mostly one-story, squat, with a flat roof. The combination of low population density and large territory does not limit the size of the building; convenient organization of the internal space comes to the fore.
Appearance . Houses made from gun carriages look impressive due to the high height of the crown, due to the choice of large-sized logs. Windows are made small to save heat. If the living room project has a panoramic window, then this room is oriented to the south.

Classic Norwegian housing Source samstroy.com

Layout . The rooms look spacious due to the fact that in a classic Norwegian house there is no ceiling; its role is played by the open under-roof space. Usually the house combines a living room and a kitchen, and the bedrooms are kept small (this way they warm up faster in the winter).
Roofing _ It has large extensions (especially in mountainous areas), which serves as additional protection for the house during winter snowfalls. They try to use natural roofing materials: slate, shingles or ceramic tiles. The know-how of Norwegian houses is green roofing, which improves the heat-saving qualities of the building.
Construction . A log house made from a carriage does not look boring; the building is decorated with a balcony, terrace or veranda (often covered). Carved columns and fences are used for decoration.
Color . They prefer to leave the houses made from gun carriages in their natural color, covering them with a protective compound and varnish. Sometimes walls are painted in calm shades that match natural wood. Small parts of the house (window and door frames, overhangs, trim and doors) are sometimes coated with white or other bright paint in contrast.

Interior of a Norwegian house Source pinterest.com

How to calculate the quantity?

Before moving on to construction work, you need to purchase all the necessary building materials. The master must correctly calculate the number of components to assemble a strong and high-quality structure. It should be taken into account that 1 cube can contain different amounts of materials, depending on their dimensional parameters (there are different-sized boards with a length of, for example, 5-6 meters, a thickness of 25-50 mm). The cubic capacity is always calculated based on height, length and width.

The most convenient way to calculate the amount of carriage is using online electronic calculators. Similar applications can be found on many construction websites. Having made all the necessary calculations, you can purchase the ideal amount of carriage.

It is not recommended to neglect this stage, so as not to run into a shortage of necessary materials.

Expenses

When deciding to build a wooden house, you always need to take into account several important nuances. For those who prefer to entrust the work to specialists, the best option is to order a ready-made carriage.

This will cost approximately 9.5 thousand rubles per cubic meter (depending on the type of wood and the cost of work). But for those who are used to doing the work on their own, there is a great opportunity to save money: buy a round log house and make a carriage with your own hands. This will save from 3 to 5 thousand rubles per cubic meter, which is, of course, an important argument. You will, of course, spend more time, but later you can be proud that you did everything yourself. Speaking of overall costs, in comparison with other standard materials, the carriage is undoubtedly a leader in convenience and savings, and is also not inferior in terms of external data.

Pros and cons of carriage houses

Often, for the manufacture of a carriage, logs with normal or high moisture content are required, which significantly reduces its cost relative to other profile beams. During the process of significant drying, cracks spread across the surface of the cut.

Such cracks are typical for houses whose walls are made of timber with a natural level of moisture or rounded logs. The presence of such cracks disfigures the appearance of the log house.

Often, the concept of a carriage combines types of timber with different levels of humidity in the presence of grooves for the Norwegian connection, although this is not entirely correct.

A freshly made carriage is not resistant to the formation of putrefactive and mold lesions, when compared with a log: this is due to the cutting of the bark and sapwood layer, which prevent the negative effects of external factors.

For this reason, the fire monitor requires quite serious processing to perform its protective function. However, its advantage in the form of the Norwegian compound, which intensifies as the wood dries out, outweighs the disadvantages in the form of the need for additional aseptic impregnation.

The combination of characteristics has made monitor logs extremely popular, and the complexity of cutting out Norwegian grooves , which require great professionalism from the master, is not an obstacle to this.

Carriage houses do not require additional dowel reinforcement, which distinguishes them favorably from buildings made from other woodworking materials.