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Lietuvių Timber houses
The timber is the detail of the outside interior and the internal interior and it does not require the additional finishing.
The wood, which is used for building of timber houses or other building, is selected from such tree growth regions where the wood quality is the best.
The timbers are processed to form the cylindrical shape (16-24 cm in diameter) using modern technologies and equipment. The round shape, which allows to achieve the maximum clinging, is a great advantage of the turned timber.
According to European standards, the diameter of the turned (cylindrically shaped) timber cannot differ by more than 3 mm over its entire length. Required slots and grooves in the carved timber have mathematically precise forms and they are produced with specific calculation and precision. Only minimal breaks are left in the coronas of the timbers due to this precise work. Insulation measures are placed between the timbers during building of the timber house. The natural linen fibre, which eliminates the mentioned minimal breaks, that form in the coronas of the timbers, can be used for this.
The timber house is a high quality, healthy and durable product, living in it is nice and comfortable. All advantages of the timber house reveal in the best way in such house: the house's walls breathe and naturally ventilate rooms, constant relative humidity is maintained, static charges do not form. Solid wood as the natural building material does not emit chemicals into the living environment.
Foundation of the timber house
The timber house is not heavy comparing to the multi-storey brick house, so bored pile foundations are built. It is not a big problem for the timber house, if foundations slightly deform unlike other types of houses. The walls descend 10 cm or more, so the additional centimetre from the foundation will not have the significant impact to the house. Pile foundations are less complex comparing them to pier foundations and they are cheaper.
These nuances must be considered before you start planning the foundation:
Relief of the site. If the house is in the lower part of the site, comparing with the remaining part, the foundations have to be raised upwards slightly. The minimum foundation level above the ground is 30 cm. It is also important if the site is even or it is with a slope.
The depth of pile drilling depends on the soil. The frost depth in the gravel soil, sand or black earth is 1.2m. 2 m and deeper piles are drilled in clay.
The foundation width depends on the thickness of timbers. It is not necessary to build thicker foundations than the thickness of the timber.
Foundations must be a few centimetres smaller than the outer wall. In this case, the rainwater runs down the wall on the ground and it does not accumulate between the foundation and the first timber.
It is important that the foundations would be even horizontally, because over time the lower part takes the form of the foundation and the appeared openings spread throughout the wall.
Timbered balks
Timbered balks form the main part of the timber house. The appearance, price and characteristics of Your house will depend on the thickness, the form and the cutting of the timbers to a large extent.
Processing methods
The timbers, from which the balks are made, are divided to 2 main groups:
1. Manual processing. The timbers are processed and cut using mostly manual labour. The houses of such type are built similarly as hundreds of years ago, the balks look naturally. Every timber has its form. Popular methods of hewing, such as the Norwegian method or the swallow tail method are carried out manually in most cases.
2. Machining process. All the work is done with special machines. The main advantages of the machining process are speed and architecture. The houses built using the machining process look more modern than the houses built using manual work, because all logs are of the same dimensions.
Each timber is cut in accordance with the same dimensions, then timbers are planed and milled using machines. Locks are cut using special machines. If you want a timber house, but you do not like traditional archaic architecture (the “rural cottage”), then we offer you to choose this type of processing and hewing of logs. The houses from milled logs are the most popular houses in Lithuania.
Each processing type has its own characteristics, the specific image and price. There is no the general rule that will suit everyone, so anyone, who wants to live in a log house, has to find the most acceptable type of the timber house.
The recommended thickness
The bath and the summer house: Rectangular timbers - 16 cm, round timbers - 18 cm.
Residential houses: Rectangular timbers - 20 cm, round timbers - 23 cm, spec. deepened (timbers are entered more deeply into one another, in order to reduce the thinnest place of the connection).
Dried solid timbers
Lithuanian wood is used for the production of solid timbers in most cases. The timbers are dried in special convection dryers using the “soft” mode to minimize the cracks.
- the rectangular profile from 120 to 220 mm;
- the round profile from 160 to 240 mm.
Connection of the corners of the logs can be traditional, with halvings
or the wall can be without “overhangs”.
Also, the wall of double girders is produced from dried solid timbers (90 mm).
Air space is filled with the waterproofing layer. Thus, the house wall resistance is 8 m2W/K and more.
Hand-processed timber houses
The highest quality wood, which is selected according to the specific requirements, is used for the balks which are processed manually. Thus the possibilities of twist and cracking of wood are reduced. Each timber is selected, processed, dried and applied individually during the process of the construction of the house.
The houses' balks, which are processed manually, preserve natural beauty of nature and uniqueness of each timber. The timbers of the same thickness are used during building and assembling of the house, but the height of each timber remains natural, framing it precisely to the details that are located above it and under it, so it fits only in that place.
The houses from manually processed timbers are built from 150-200 mm timbers, the completeness of them creates the large solid wood.
The building of your house starts from selection of the highest quality wood - the mature forest is used (70-100 years, trees are cut according to FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certificate and each timber is carefully selected. The timbers are hewed from two sides manually in order that the walls would be of the same thickness - from 150 mm to 200 mm and they are peeled. The timbers, which are hewed in such way, preserve their uniqueness - only the sides are aligned, but the height of each log is left as it was created by nature.
Then the timbers are dried in dryers to an average 18 percent moisture. The drying process is strictly controlled. The timbers are planed, polished and prepared for house building in the factory. The house is built at the factory. Each timber is individually matched to the adjacent timbers, so that the details of the house would fit perfectly in their places. We can cut out all the necessary technological openings for electricity, pipelines and other installations according to the coordinated project during the production of the timber houses. Finishing details - windows, doors, porches, terraces can be ordered here too.
Glued timbers
Glued timbers are produced in the factory from the selected wood, the production processes are automated, especially high quality of the product is guaranteed.
The houses from glued timbers are suitable for the town or the village, for countryside villas or saunas.
Dimensions of the timbers: 88 mm; 114 mm; 136 mm; 202 mm; 220 mm; 240 mm.
The especially popular variant is the wall from double timbers – 88 mm timber - 100-250mm environmentally friendly insulation - and the second 88 mm timber (88-space-88).
Timber houses: round turned, milled (rectangular) and handmade Norwegian type. We can specialize to the needs of each customer.
About glued beams houses
Gluing of wood was started approximately in 1842. The glued beam appeared approximately 30 years ago and it quickly became popular in the timber market. The major part of the houses of such type were built in Finland, Japan, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
The timber house from glued beams practically has not imperfections, differently from the conventional log house from solid wood, Humidity of well-dried wood is about 10% +/- 1%, so possible geometric changes are less probable, comparing to the conventional timber house. Descending of the timber house from glued beams does not exceed 1% and this enables very fast production, building, it is possible to settle and use the timber house straight off. It is not necessary to wait until the house descends.
Additional internal and external decoration is not needed in such houses, because during mounting the beams they are laid evenly, are compressed tightly and fixed neatly and become similar to the monolith.
Durable
Although the technology of timber houses made of glued beams is the relatively new technology, the scientific researches show, that such house is stronger than solid wood. Wooden houses are very durable, just it is necessary to take care of the house:
- UV rays and changing weather conditions make the greatest damage to the house's exterior. It is necessary to repaint the house when the time comes.
- the roof is one of the most important components of the house. The roof should always be in good condition.
The maintained house will stand for hundreds of years! The houses that stand for centuries are known nowadays.
Resistant to fire
For most people, construction of the timber house is associated with the possible fire. ALL buildings burn. Reinforced concrete, masonry and steel - traditional building materials suffer from sudden temperature changes. Steel becomes plastic and constructions break, concrete and masonry crack. Meanwhile the wood burns slowly - 0,65 mm/min (e. g. 180mm thickness beam burns approximately for 4.5 hours). Only the surface of the wood burns, so the cross-section remains undamaged and it keeps constructions longer than conventional building materials.
Ecological
Wooden houses are undeniably environmentally friendly houses, because they are made of constantly renewed materials. Adhesives, that are used in the production, are ecological and comply with strict EU standards. During production of the wooden house the energy is saved and during production of the houses from traditional building materials such as masonry or steel, the energy is used.
Warm houses
Wooden houses are built in cold climates for many centuries and it cannot be denied. Wood keeps the heat inside the house much better, than conventional building materials. Glued beam wooden houses have several advantages comparing them to timber houses: the walls of glued beams are fitted one on the other perfectly and there are no spaces, which occur in all timber houses. High quality hewing corners, which suppress wind and prevent the heat from leaving the house, are made using modern woodworking machines, on the contrary, spacing occurs in the walls of the timber houses, so the heat is lost.
Machine processed timber houses
If during the manual processing of timber we attempt to preserve the uniqueness of each log, the purpose of machining process is to hew the logs evenly and uniformly. In this way the totally different effect is obtained: the timber house looks very neat, “civilized”, more suitable for modern interiors.
A wide range of insulation solutions
The thickness of machine processed logs is up to 140 mm, so when the residential houses are built, it is recommended to insulate them additionally. We offer different technical solutions for wall structures. You can select the insulation variant that meets your needs in the best way according to the purpose of the timber house.
What makes the production of machine processed timber houses exceptional?
Only the highest quality mature tree (cut according to CEF standards) is used during production of these houses. Pine logs are hewed from two sides using machines and the building material of the required thickness is obtained - from 40 mm to 140 mm. Then the timber are dried outdoors and when they reach the optimum moisture content, they are used in construction of the houses. The amount of the timber cracks decreases due to smaller dimensions. We use advanced technologies and equipment during the production of machine processed timber houses so each detail is cut precisely.