For materials that are used in the construction of wooden baths from a bar and a log and have similar technical parameters, constant comparison is a common thing. It is impossible in principle to determine their best examples. But you will learn about their features and advantages from our article. Content:
- Materials for building a bath
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Using logs for a bath
- Design
- Advantages and disadvantages
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The use of a bar for a bath
- Bath design
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Bath cost
- Comparative characteristics
Logs, which are also called round timber, are obtained by stripping cut trees from branches, twigs, bark and dividing the trunks in the transverse direction into pieces of the desired length. If you cut or saw a log lengthwise from its four or two sides, you get a bar with a section in the form of a square or rectangle and an aspect ratio of less than 1: 2. As a rule, the thickness of the timber is taken at least 100 mm. Typical projects of baths from a bar and from a log for acquaintance with the materials can be found on the Internet.
Materials for building a bath
The choice of materials for the bath depends on the purpose of the building and the construction budget, the location of the bath and its size. But the main thing that you need to pay attention to is the quality of the material for the purchase. The operational characteristics of a wooden bathhouse will depend on how and where the timber was harvested, stored, processed and even transported.
For the construction of the walls of a wooden bath, blanks from logs are used, which are given one form or another during processing. There are several types of them: hand-chopped logs, rounded logs, edged beams, profiled beams, glued beams. You can see the differences between a timber or a bath log by analyzing the features of their use in construction.
Consider the technological features of materials for building a bath:
- Hand-chopped log … This material has long been used by craftsmen for the construction of baths and wooden houses. They carefully carry out the entire harvesting process, from the selection of trees to their processing. At the same time, technical devices are not used, the result of the work is provided only by manual felling. Dense layers of wood are not disturbed: only branches, bark and sapwood of trunks are subject to removal. Construction from such material has two segments: elite and budget. The elite segment uses logs with diameters exceeding 28-30 cm. Timber is supplied for it from the northern and northeastern regions of Russia - Altai, Arkhangelsk, Kirov, Vologda regions and others. The budget segment uses forest with a trunk diameter of 22-26 cm, growing in the regions adjacent to the Central Region - Smolensk, Tver, Yaroslavl, Pskov and Vladimir.
- Rounded log … This is a more modern material for the assembly of log cabins. By processing on a special machine, the log is given an ideal cylindrical shape. Then the logs are trimmed, the crown cups, grooves are made in them, followed by the impregnation of the blanks with fire retardants and antiseptics. Such material is convenient when laying walls, has a more aesthetic appearance than a hand-cut log, but is inferior to it in terms of operation due to damage during the processing of the trunk of the upper layers of wood.
- Edged timber … These are standardized six-meter rectangular blanks from processed trunks of various trees - pine, larch, spruce and other species. For construction, beams of the following transverse dimensions are used: 300x300, 300x200, 300x150, 300x100, 200x200, 200x150, 150x150, 100x200, 100x150 and 100x100 mm. The most popular timber thickness is from 100 to 200 mm. Edged timber is made from undried logs, therefore a large percentage of moisture in their wood contributes to the deformation and cracking of the workpieces when they dry out. The resulting irregularities in the cuts of the logs require additional insulation and decoration for the walls erected from edged beams.
- Profiled timber … It is more practical in work, but its cost is higher than the price of a cut piece. Accurate joining of the frame crowns with each other is achieved by giving the timber a special profile with ridges and recesses, due to which tight connections of wall elements arise. The use of this high-tech material greatly simplifies the assembly of the bathhouse and saves the time required for its shrinkage before finishing work.
- Glued laminated timber … It is a finished beam that does not differ in shape from a profiled element. Such a beam is the most expensive and durable type of timber. For its manufacture, boards obtained from logs sawn along are used. The boards are carefully selected, dried and glued under the press into a solid bar, which is then profiled with the necessary details. This technology gives the output material of maximum strength and any profile. The walls of a log house made of laminated veneer lumber are not subject to deformation during the shrinkage of the structure, so that it can be operated immediately after the end of the main work.
When buying wood for a bath, you need to pay attention to the presence of blue spots in the cut of the blanks, which are a sign of internal rottenness of the wood, the shade of the core of the product should be dark and even.
Using logs to build a bath
If you cannot decide which bath is better - from a bar or a log, you should stop at the traditional "log" version of the construction. Let's find out what properties, advantages and disadvantages this material has.
The construction of a bath from logs
Log buildings are characterized by good thermal insulation properties and high strength. The connection of their wall elements into a log house is carried out by means of special crown cups and grooves, which, when they are made of high quality, minimize the gaps between the logs.
In our time, the adjustment of chopped blanks is carried out not only in the old fashioned way with the help of an ax, but also with the use of modern devices. For example, grooves in logs for connecting crowns are always made with a chainsaw to give them a triangular shape, which is then refined with an ax to obtain indentations in the form of regular ovals.
This feature of processing logs excludes the use of insulation with a fixed thickness, such as linen jute or batting, since it will not close the gaps in a groove with a non-standard depth. More "plump" insulation in sufficient quantities, such as "cuckoo flax" moss and other types of it, will do. In this case, the tightness of the fit of the logs on the outside and inside of the walls is ensured.
Smooth shapes of rounded logs allow to achieve their better fit and exclude wall decoration of the interior of the bath due to the decent appearance of the material. The workpieces have standard “locks” made in a mechanized way, which allows using any insulation when assembling a log house.
Pros and cons of a log bath
Log buildings have undoubted advantages:
- Due to the high precision in the manufacture of a set of elements, the assembly of a log house saves time and money on the remuneration of specialists.
- Installation of the walls of the bath can be done independently with an experienced mentor, in extreme cases - detailed instructions.
- The connection of the rims of the log cabin with each other ensures a good tightness of the building. Effective sealing materials can significantly reduce the heat transfer of walls.
- The attractiveness of the appearance of the walls casts doubt on the need for additional finishing.
The disadvantages of a log house are:
- Substantial shrinkage. A log is a natural material that naturally deforms from the effects of climatic conditions. Therefore, a bathhouse made of logs must stand for at least a year before the start of its finishing.
- Uneven surface of the walls for fastening the battens for facing materials.
- Flammability of the building material. The fire hazard is partially removed by impregnating the wood with a fire retardant, but it does not disappear completely.
- The log, especially its end part, is highly susceptible to external influences. Therefore, if we neglect the protective treatment, over time, the log house will lose its attractive appearance.
The use of timber for the construction of a bath
In the construction of wooden baths, various technologies for joining workpieces are used.
The construction of a bath from a bar
A more advantageous position is occupied by profiled material, since it ensures maximum tightness of the joining of the rims of the log house to each other. Their connection is carried out using metal pins or wooden spikes - pins. The second method is preferable, since the metal in the wood can oxidize and disrupt its structure, creating "cold bridges". As with the construction of log walls, a sealant is placed between the crowns of a log house from a bar. Due to the presence of locks and the flat connection of the beams, the seams between them are practically not blown through.
Edged non-profiled timber is also used for the assembly of log cabins. The thickness of their walls corresponds by default to the smaller sectional dimension of the timber. That is, when laying a crown made of blanks with a section of 100x150 mm, the wall thickness will be 100 mm. Since the center of the edged bar often does not coincide with the center of the log, the edged piece is prone to twisting and cracking due to the different density of the wood on its sides. Such a rectangular bar gives cracks only on the larger side of the section. Therefore, to build a high-quality wall, the edged beam should be laid flat in the crown of the log house. With careful caulking of the joints and their treatment with wood sealants, a bath from such a bar will not yield in its parameters to a structure made of hand-cut logs. Summing up, we can say that the edged beam is not bad, but good, but with the right approach to its installation.
Glued laminated timber is superior to solid timber in strength and stability. But for the construction of a bath, it is better not to use it, since when heated, the glue is capable of releasing substances that are not always predictable.
Advantages and disadvantages of timber
The popularity of timber in construction is due to its advantages:
- Simple technology for assembling log cabins, which does not require special costs.
- Billets of square and rectangular cross-section are easily processed, from which parts of any shape are made.
- The result of the work is a log house with smooth walls, which, if desired, can be easily finished in a variety of ways.
The disadvantages of timber buildings include:
- Using elements with natural moisture can change the geometric shape of the wall. This is due to the uneven shrinkage of such a material.
- When installing walls made of edged, non-profiled elements, blown-through slots appear between the crowns of the log house, the sealing of which requires additional work and masking them behind the cladding of the enclosing structures.
- Glued profiled beams are devoid of such disadvantages, but their high cost limits the use of the material.
As you can see, there are no ideal products for log cabins. All materials have advantages and disadvantages, so the main task is to choose the lesser of two evils - a joke, of course.
The cost of a bath from a bar and logs
The cost of small buildings, which include wooden baths made of logs and beams, do not differ much in the type of materials used. For the most part, they depend on the specific project. But in general, baths made of hand-cut logs are slightly more expensive than baths made of rounded elements, the cost of which, in turn, is higher than the price of buildings made of timber.
Hence, we can conclude: baths from a bar are a more economical type of log cabins compared to its log counterpart. At the same time, the heat-conducting and healing properties of wood are preserved.
In addition, the cost of log cabins depends on the availability of woodworking industries in the corresponding regions, where they are not nearby - there the price of timber is higher than that of logs, due to the cost of delivery of materials.
Comparison of logs and timber when used for a bath
Below is a comparison of timber and logs, which will help you make a choice in favor of one or another material for building a bath:
- The core of the logs is protected from the weather by the trunk shell, while the timber has no such protection.
- The annual shrinkage of a log frame is 10-12 cm, and a log frame - 6-10 cm.
- The technology of assembling a log house from a bar is simpler than a log house from logs.
What material to choose for the walls of the bath - watch the video:
It is unlikely that someone will unequivocally answer that it is better - a bath from a bar or a log. When choosing a material, one should take into account their technical characteristics, environmental friendliness and the healing effect of natural materials, as well as the purpose and location of the bath.
