Wooden house in winter. What time of year is better to build a house from a bar in summer or winter

When is the best time to build in Russia? This sacramental question worries marketers and analysts more than the builders themselves. For them, the question is how to build in a country where more than 60% of the territory is located in the permafrost zone, 70% of the territory has the official status of the Far North and equivalent areas with harsh climatic conditions, and the average annual temperature in the country was -5.5 °С, has a simple and unambiguous answer: You can build at any time. The builders, like the lyricists, have the principle: "Nature has no bad weather."

One of the strongest arguments for construction in winter period for the developer, in our opinion, is a matter of price. To eliminate seasonal fluctuations in demand in winter, builders offer substantial discounts.

Everyone has it climatic season has both its pros and cons. Knowledge of physical and chemical properties and features of building materials and technologies, allows you to most rationally plan future construction, taking into account precisely the interests of the developer, and not weather conditions, stock quotes, dollar exchange rate.

If we talk about the features of wooden low-rise housing construction in our climatic conditions, we can recommend the following: an ideal schedule for the construction wooden houses is the schema:

    conducting foundation works- autumn;

    installation of the power unit and technical roof - in winter;

    engineering - in the summer;

    the main finishing works - in the fall of next year;

    delivery of the object - in the spring.

I.e, full cycle from the foundation to the commissioning of the object is 18 months.

To substantiate my position, I would like to at least briefly dwell on the features of wood. A fairly indisputable fact is the fact that wood harvested in winter has significant advantages compared to summer wood, since the tree dumps excess moisture for the winter through root system. Wood harvesting low temperatures, contributes to greater protection from damage by biological factors. Keeps wood longer natural look and less prone to infection by fungi and insects. However, it is practically impossible for a non-specialist (and a specialist too) to distinguish the wood of winter felling from summer felling - there are no markings of wood on a seasonal basis. Bare logic suggests that even a large lumberjack runs out of all the stocks made earlier by the middle of winter, and when ordering material for your house in winter, you can be sure with 100% certainty that you are dealing with a winter forest.

The advantages of wood harvested in the winter, although important, are not decisive in choosing the time of construction. Availability of modern antiseptic, environmentally preserving safe means, easily solves the problem of combating wood diseases, and allows you to extend the operation wooden house for periods that our ancestors never dreamed of.

A more significant circumstance that allows us to recommend building a house in winter, is that due to the intensive shrinkage of the power unit in a wooden house in the summer, internal stresses arise, which can lead to the formation of cracks, warping of the crowns. In winter, these phenomena are minimized.

Another advantage of mounting in winter time, is that the foundation, erected in winter and under load by the power part of the structure, will be less susceptible to heaving of the soil. Consequently, the risks of deformations are significantly reduced. building structures.

With the availability of modern technology, foundations can be made year-round. Skeptics as classic example, give a sad example of the Vorobyovy Gory metro bridge. Thus, the entire slope of the Sparrow Hills is classified as an extremely dangerous category of geological risk, and the landslide slopes of the Sparrow Hills are characterized by the most difficult conditions for construction, since they are dynamically unstable and the activation of landslide processes can occur at any time. It can be stated with a sufficient degree of certainty that the reason for the premature wear of the metro bridge was not the use of anti-frost additives as such, but errors in design and violation of technologies.

Skeptics can also be objected that no less than frost, concrete is susceptible to heat. In hot weather, water evaporates rapidly from concrete and concrete hardening stops, and at temperatures above 35 ° C, some cements decompose.

Frost is dangerous to freshly laid concrete. At sub-zero temperatures, concrete begins to freeze, and the free water it contains also freezes. At the same time, it increases in volume by 9%. The pressure growing in the pores of the concrete destroys the structures of the concrete that has not yet hardened. This process is most dangerous during the cement setting period. But if the hardening has already begun, then when the concrete thaws, the frozen free water turns into a liquid, and the hardening of the concrete resumes.

In Russia, developed and put into practice various ways winter concreting. The most effective, but, unfortunately, costly methods are thermos, steam heating and electric heating. In the first case, the property of cement to release heat during hardening is used. As a rule, this amount of heat is sufficient for the concrete to acquire the necessary strength during cooling. The task of a qualified builder is to conserve this heat. If the required strength of concrete cannot be achieved within the established time limits using the thermos method, artificial concrete heating is used. electric shock. Electric heating consists in the fact that freshly laid concrete is introduced with metal electrodes, through which an electric current is passed.

The least expensive and, accordingly, the most common is the use of anti-frost additives. They lower the freezing point of water and accelerate the decomposition of the minerals that make up the cement. Thanks to the action of these additives, the maturation of concrete is accelerated. When using chemical concrete hardening accelerators, neither water nor aggregates need to be heated. Such concretes harden and acquire strength at low temperatures. However, there are a number of restrictions on the use of such additives. For example, the use of additives in structures operating under dynamic loads (foundations for hammers, pile drivers, etc.) is prohibited - remember the metro bridge.

It would be unfair to describe the advantages of working in winter without dwelling on the existing winter building problems.

  • Firstly, if the air temperature is very low (below -25°C), then the sawing and installation of building elements becomes much more difficult - the tree becomes brittle and simply cracks. However, this applies not only to wood, but also to cast iron and some other materials.
  • Secondly, since the daylight hours are shorter in winter, the builders have less working hours, which lengthens the time of work.

We do not recommend carrying out certain types of work during the winter period, such as installation soft roof or antiseptic of hidden surfaces. You can perform these works in winter, but they require additional equipment, more careful control, and, accordingly, more costly.

We do not recommend turnkey construction in winter frame structures, from wooden components harvested outside the factory, that is, built by private teams. The source material for such houses is purchased by false builders in the markets, has high humidity. In winter, such wood is unlikely to be qualitatively antiseptic, which means that with the onset of heat, overlaps and hidden under the skin wooden elements buildings begin to rot and rot.

We believe that build wooden houses in winter possible and necessary. The process of building wooden houses, like any other, is long. When designing and building country houses, including wood, seasonality must be taken into account in order to make appropriate changes to the technology of work and to the list of materials.

Here you can see examples of completed projects. The Lesograd company will implement your project or design a house from scratch. We build wooden houses all year round, winter and summer.

Even ten years ago, to the question: “Is it possible to build in the winter?”, There was an unequivocal answer - no. Such a stereotype has developed because the construction was mainly carried out from concrete and brick, and from these building materials in frosts quality house you won't build. With the return of the era wooden construction, the opinion about the impossibility of winter construction also spread to houses made of timber. Is it true that it is better to build a house from a bar in winter - let's figure it out.

Construction technology

It is important when the tree is cut down. In summer, moisture moves along the core of the tree trunk. A tree cut down during this period has a moisture content of 60-70%, which, when high temperatures starts to evaporate. As a result - deep cracks along the trunk due to uneven and too fast drying. In winter, sap flow does not occur, humidity is minimal, and at negative temperatures, moisture freezes out, and shrinkage occurs evenly. Therefore, a bar made from a “winter” tree does not crack and is of a higher quality.

In addition to moisture, wooden building materials influenced by the temperature difference. Often in summer, the difference in humidity and temperature between the coolness of the night and the daytime sunshine is significant. During the day, the house is heated unevenly under the sun, and at night it is saturated with moisture, which leads to deformation. wooden structures especially in the corners. In winter, the temperature and humidity are more stable, so the process of shrinkage and shrinkage is more uniform, and the laying of the timber is of better quality.

From a technology point of view, the most correct way to do this is:

  • lay the foundation in the fall. Even if the installation will take place during a frost period of 10-15 degrees, modern technologies make it possible to add special additives to the solution that “warm” the concrete until it hardens. Three days later, the foundation of the house is ready and it is not afraid of frost. And in two weeks, construction can begin. Another version of the foundation for a house made of timber is a pile-screw;
  • in winter, build walls, ceilings, rafters, cover the roof;
  • wait for shrinkage in the spring. This time is successfully used to accumulate funds for further construction work;
  • in the summer to complete the finishing work and move in.

The shrinkage process for a log house from a bar is mandatory, and if it is erected in November-February, then finishing can begin by the beginning of summer. Delivered in the summer, the log house is ready for finishing no earlier than January.

Biological disruptors

Mold, fungus, insects, bark beetles and other pests spoil the tree especially actively in spring. summer period. At summer version construction, the impregnation of timber with antiseptics should be very deep and thorough. In winter, a quickly debarked forest is immediately freed from pests that live under the bark, and at this time they also sleep.

Financial side

Having decided to build a house from a bar in the above sequence, the developer seriously reduces the estimate.

  • First, if the materials are not purchased in the fall, then in the spring inflation will certainly increase their cost.
  • Secondly, the active phase of construction freezes for the autumn-winter period, so the prices for all building materials and work fall by 10-15 percent.
  • Thirdly, construction teams, which are in great demand in the summer and are in a hurry to move to the next object as soon as possible, are in no hurry to do this in the winter. In winter, they are more accommodating in price and the issue of remoteness. construction site from the city.

What is not worth and cannot be saved on is waterproofing and insulation work. In summer and winter, the gaps between the crowns and the seams are caulked with flax fiber, and under lower crown roofing material is laid on the base.

Supply question

During the construction process, materials need to be transported quickly. During the summer, logistics construction companies can be overloaded and deliveries have to wait for quite a long time (sometimes up to a month), which leads to downtime. In winter, the hype goes away and delivery times are met. In addition, the frost will help improve the access roads to the site for the “mixer” and long vehicles, no matter what condition they are in.

Of course, winter construction has its own problematic moments. So, if a tree cut down in winter is not debarked, processed and used for a long time, then it gains moisture and becomes unsuitable for construction. At temperatures below 25 degrees, the tree may crack. A construction team may refuse to work at low temperatures, and short daylight hours will further delay construction. Therefore, winter construction requires a device additional lighting and warm accommodation for builders.

The number of people who decide to purchase is growing every year. Which is not surprising: every city dweller wants to be able to take a break from the hustle and bustle and poisoned air of the metropolis, spending several days or even weeks in ecologically clean areas.

With , many prefer . And it is no coincidence, because the use of this material allows you to get an elegant, warm, cozy and relatively inexpensive house. But often potential home owners have a question: is it possible to build such a house in the cold season?

There are a lot of speculations about building a house from a bar in winter. Some of them argue that it is winter that is best suited for construction, while others strongly discourage taking such a rash step. That is why it will be useful to analyze in detail each stage of construction in order to unambiguously answer this question.

There are many different opinions when it is better to build a wooden house. Many people prefer to build in the winter, because at this time the price of construction is much cheaper, and someone builds a house in the summer, so that a little later they can solve all the issues related to finishing the building and moving. Naturally, frost, wind and snow can greatly complicate the process of many finishing works, but still, if the climatic conditions allow you to start building a house in winter, then it is better not to postpone the matter until later.

Pros and cons of building a wooden house in winter


As mentioned above, each season has its own specific advantages and disadvantages. For more rational planning of future construction, it is required to clearly know the chemical and physical properties, as well as features construction technologies at one time or another of the year.

When building a low-rise wooden house, you can use the following scheme of work:

  • Autumn - foundation work;
  • Winter - installation of a technical roof and a power unit;
  • Summer - engineering;
  • Spring - final finishing work.

One of important points during the winter construction of a wooden house is the occurrence of active shrinkage of the power unit wooden structure during the summer season. This process causes internal stresses, which lead to warping of the crowns and the appearance of cracks. In winter, this almost never happens.

Building a house from a bar

If the construction of a house begins in the winter season, then work should be done with high quality and painstakingly, since excessive haste can only harm. The construction of a wooden house must be carried out in compliance with all the rules and maximum measurement accuracy.

In this video you can see how the construction of a wooden house from a bar took place in the winter season.

It has been scientifically proven that a tree does not grow in winter, so it does not need to receive nutrients and the movement of juices naturally stops. With summer wood, the situation is exactly the opposite, which is why it has a high level of moisture. As a result high humidity a favorable atmosphere is created for the development of all kinds of bacteria, rot, tears and cracks.

Accordingly, a tree that was cut down in winter has best quality, and the frame gives a more uniform shrinkage.

Procurement, transportation, storage and processing winter forest carried out in vivo, which allows you to keep its resistance to rot, bugs and bacteria as long as possible. Wood is known for its poor resistance to decay in conditions of high humidity, heat and oxygen, but subzero temperature allows you to minimize such annoyances. In winter, you can safely engage in construction without worrying about carrying out unnecessary work to protect the material.


but for a long time so the material is still better not to store near the house

When choosing a material for construction, you should pay attention Special attention on its quality. Quality wood comes from healthy forests and is free from wormholes and rot. In addition, the material must be carefully processed and thoroughly dried.

Many builders in spring and summer are faced with the problem of transporting building materials to the site (since the road often becomes a real mud lane at this time). winter soil, in turn, freezes perfectly, becomes more solid and covered with a layer of snow, which rolls into the most short time, allowing you to easily deliver building materials to the place. Snow drifts can be the only trouble, although they are easy to clear with a tractor.


in winter, you can always clear the road and drive up to your site, unlike a very rainy spring or summer - in this case, the construction site may suddenly stall ...

Accordingly, we can say that the most acceptable time for late autumn and winter. In autumn, the construction of the foundation is carried out, and in winter - the construction of rafters, walls and roofs.

Foundation pouring

The first stage of any construction is pouring the foundation. Many people immediately decide: it is simply impossible to dig a suitable foundation pit for construction in the ground frozen as stone. However, in reality this is not the case. Indeed, in most cases, a strip foundation is used.


An example of a strip foundation

It is relatively inexpensive, allows and at the same time provides a sufficient level of reliability for the entire structure. Of course, its construction takes much less time than pouring a monolithic foundation.

The foundation, which was erected in winter and is under the load of the power part of the building, is subjected to heaving of the soil to the least extent. Due to this, the risks of deformation of building structures can be minimized.
This is how the foundation is built at the beginning of winter.

Digging a pit, or rather, a trench, is quite easy in the cold season, especially when using specialized equipment.

If the temperature does not drop below -20 degrees Celsius for a long time, then the earth freezes no more than 20 cm.

Below this level, the soil does not freeze through, and digging it is not at all as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Typically, the depth of the trench for the foundation of wooden houses has a depth of 70 to 90 cm. When the trench is dug, formwork is installed in it.
The filling itself takes place in exactly the same way as in the warm season. Ready concrete is poured into the trench, after which it is left for several days until it hardens.

If the temperature these days does not drop below -10 ... -15 degrees Celsius, then it is enough to leave the foundation for 2-3 days so that it grabs. After 10-15 days, you can start building. In cases where the air temperature is below -15 degrees, special additives are used in the manufacture of concrete, which make it possible to obtain a high-quality foundation at low temperatures. Therefore, building a foundation in winter will definitely not give you any extra trouble.

An additional plus of construction in the cold season is minimal damage to the site.

If heavy equipment (tractor, excavator, truck) drives through the ground in summer or, especially in autumn or spring, deep furrows remain on the wet and soft ground. It will take a lot of time and effort to eliminate them. In winter, when upper layer the soil turns into a stone-hard crust, heavy equipment does not leave the slightest trace. And, therefore, you do not have to waste your time on eliminating the consequences.

How to get high quality building material

Starting, each owner seriously thinks about the quality of the main building material. Still, the quality of the wood depends on how comfortable life in the house will be and how many years it will be able to serve its owners. So, in the cold season you can get the most quality wood. Why? It's easy to explain.

The use of wet wood in construction is not possible. This increases the risk of mold and rotting of the material.

In addition, when drying, wood can change shape: it “leads”, which is why the entire structure of the house is in danger - it may well warp door and window openings, and it will be simply impossible to open a door or window.

Therefore, the wood has to be dried. In the warm season, this causes a lot of problems. The air temperature is quite high, which is why the top layer of wood quickly loses moisture, decreasing in volume.


Forced drying of logs in an oven

The core does not have time to dry, retaining its volume. As a result of such a difference, the log may simply crack along its entire length. This not only reduces the external attractiveness of the material, but also worsens its thermal insulation qualities. If you harvest wood in winter and immediately use it in construction, there will be much less problems.

To begin with, the moisture content of wood is much less in winter than in summer. Indeed, in the cold season, the tree does not draw moisture from the ground to nourish the leaves. Because of this, the moisture content of the wood is minimal. Therefore, there is no need to waste time on additional drying using wood natural humidity. An additional plus is the absence of various bacteria and fungi in winter that can reduce the quality of wood.

The house is built from timber, which will dry extremely slowly as the air temperature rises. Therefore, the likelihood that the wood will become covered with cracks is completely excluded.

If during the construction process the humidity of the air was minimal, then the shrinkage of the house will be minimal. The possibility of distortions of door and window openings. Many homeowners like that winter wood has more light shade than summer. But this can be called more of an additional plus than the main one.

To summarize all of the above, we can say the following: starting construction in December-January, by May-June you get a log house that has completely shrunk and is suitable for basic finishing work. So by the middle or end of summer you will be able to move into a new home - warm, cozy and reliable.

If you start construction in the summer, then you can only start finishing in the winter (this is undesirable due to the nature of many finishing materials).

As a result, you lose a whole year.


Construction log house winter

By the way, it is worth noting that it is also much easier to deliver material to the construction site in the cold season. After all, wood is often transported along unreliable dirt roads, which can become limp in the warm season, because of which a truck with a trailer can simply get stuck, thereby disrupting delivery times, and, therefore, the entire construction. In winter, this is guaranteed not to happen.

The experience of traditional construction suggests that it is better to build private houses in the summer. But if you combine scientific approach and centuries folk traditions, it turns out that it is more profitable in winter than in summer.

Our ancestors noticed that wood harvested in winter is stronger and more durable than summer wood. Therefore, for centuries they built houses from the "winter" tree.

Why do we build in winter?

Specialists of the company "Aldmistroy" based on years of experience found out that the winter construction of wooden houses significantly reduces the time of work and at the same time improves performance characteristics Houses. There are at least three main reasons for this.

wood quality

Our builders build from "winter" wood. The fact is that summer wood contains more nutrients, and less resin and essential oils, which can lead to the following problems:

Nutrients in summer wood form a favorable environment for the development of microorganisms that damage the tree: fungi, mold, and also attract insect pests.

The increased content of resins and essential oils in winter wood makes it more durable. Under the same conditions, the durability of a tree cut in winter is approximately twice that of a summer tree.

A tree cut down in summer contains a large number of moisture and requires a long drying time. exposed to sunlight and warm air wood dries faster on the outside and slower on the inside. This leads to deformation and cracking of the logs.

These shortcomings are not present in a tree harvested in the winter. Due to the low relative humidity of air and soil in winter, the amount of moisture in wood is less, and in frost it evaporates more evenly.

As a result, logs harvested in winter:

1. Less warped and cracked when dried.
2. Less damaged by insects, mold and wood rot.
3. Have greater density due to narrowing of the growth rings.
4. More durable.

Sturdy and reliable frame

During the winter construction of wooden houses, the low moisture content in the logs allows them to be laid immediately in a log house, and not to be dried in piles beforehand. The plasticity of freshly cut logs makes it possible to better fit them to each other, and the rigid fixation of the log house will not allow the beam to warp during shrinkage.

Thus, the drying of the logs and the shrinkage of the log house are combined, as a result of which each log finds its place, the number of gaps is reduced, providing maximum thermal insulation.

Minimum foundation deformation

In the spring, after thawing the soil, it rises a little - it swells. Because of this, no load bearing walls the foundation may warp. Building a wooden house in winter removes this problem.

Therefore, the benefits of winter construction are obvious:

Reduces the duration of work, and hence the costs;
. winter logs are stronger and more durable;
. simultaneous shrinkage and shrinkage of the log house reduces its deformation;
. the house is stronger and warmer.

If you are seriously thinking about building your own country wooden house, hurry up - now is the most right time. We are waiting for your applications!

Winter construction of a wooden house has its own characteristics, which must be taken into account when changing weather conditions. We all know the saying that you need to prepare a cart in winter, and a sleigh in summer. Most of developers operate on this principle. But, of course, there are exceptions to every rule. This also applies to wooden housing construction.

There is an opinion among the clients of construction companies that are engaged in the construction of wooden houses that it is necessary to build a house only in the summer. This opinion is fully justified, but it is worth saying that the winter construction of a wooden house has undeniable advantages.

Features of building wooden houses

First, it concerns the wood itself. Many developers have already noticed that logs harvested in winter are less prone to cracking. This can be explained by the fact that sap flow in cold weather is almost completely stopped. As a consequence of this, the moisture content of lumber is minimal. In winter, the moisture contained in the tree trunk in a minimum amount does not evaporate, but freezes out. In lumber, the freezing process cannot provoke the appearance of cracks. Therefore, we can say with confidence that the wood for wooden houses in winter is drier and of higher quality than in summer.

Secondly, it is necessary to take into account the fact that mostly wooden houses are built on suburban areas. If build wooden house summer, you can forget about the summer season. Work teams, construction equipment, ongoing work - this does not contribute to gardening and horticulture. In winter, there is no such problem. Builders doing their job will not interfere with you and your neighbors.

During the winter construction of a wooden house, you can be sure that various pest bugs do not settle in the walls and mold forms, since positive air temperature is necessary for their appearance.

Cons of building a house in winter

Despite the advantages of wooden winter housing construction, it is worth considering the features that may affect the quality of the future home. First of all, it concerns the fragility of wood during severe frosts. Construction Materials should also be handled with care.

But, perhaps, the main disadvantage of winter construction is that in severe frosts it is not possible to pour the foundation. Although thanks to modern technologies you can erect an awning over the site and heat it with heat guns inner space. Sometimes it is sufficient to use special types concrete with additives, which hardens at the required speed even in severe frosts.

In winter, it is necessary to provide for the presence of a warm change house for workers. It is worth noting that during winter construction, some types of roofing will have to be abandoned. For example, bitumen-based roofing can only be erected at positive air temperatures. It is quite possible to use metal tiles during winter construction and variety of options metal roofing.

As you can see, the construction of wooden houses in the winter, despite a number of difficulties, has its advantages, and the problems that arise can be completely solved.

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