Log cabin caulk, step by step instructions from professionals. How to caulk a log house - about a difficult task in simple words

Wooden log cabins are characterized by plasticity, a tendency to multiple changes in configuration and volume during the period of shrinkage and operation. The state of the log house is also affected by weather conditions, features of operation, the time of construction of the building and features of wood protection. In this regard, the standards provide for primary, as well as repeated caulking.

Features and causes

Caulking is the process of sealing joints and cracks between logs in a log house or log house. The main purpose of this process is to increase the thermal efficiency of the building. It is carried out by filling the gaps with special seals.

You can caulk after all construction (including roofing) work is completed, or during the assembly of walls.

Caulker allows you to solve a number of the following tasks:

• warming the room and (as a result) reducing the cost of heating the building from the inside;
• elimination of gaps and cracks that appeared on the walls as a result of deformation and shrinkage of wood;
• prevention of condensation on the walls as a result of the difference between the temperatures outside and inside the building;
• protection of wood from decay.

The first caulk is carried out immediately after completion roofing works, the second - after the primary shrinkage of the building, after 6-12 months. After 3-5 years, re-caulking is carried out, since it is during this time period that the wood shrinks completely.

Work needs to be done in warm time of the year. Winter is not suitable for this because the process will become even more laborious, besides, the tree almost does not shrink during this period.

Houses and baths must be insulated from both sides, outbuildings can only be compacted from the outside.

materials

All materials for interventional insulation are divided into 2 categories. They are natural and artificial.

natural

There are different natural materials, and all of them have certain advantages. Let's take a closer look at their features.

Tow

It is one of the cheapest materials, which, unfortunately, cannot boast of efficiency. The thing is that the tow absorbs moisture, as a result of which the heat loss of the building increases.

The basis of the material is linen fibers. Depending on their quality, the insulation can be bale or roll. The latter has short and stiff fibers, which complicates styling. Bale tow is softer and more elastic, so it is easier to work with it. The material is difficult to work with: it is not easy to lay it in the slots, to replace the damaged area. After warming, the seam needs to be decorated, because it looks unaesthetic. Various microorganisms, moths can start in the tow.

Moss

It is an environmentally friendly and easy-to-use material for caulking, has antibacterial properties and high thermal insulation qualities. However, such material attracts the attention of birds, which pull out insulation for their nests.

Usually red or white moss is used. When self-collecting, it is better to do such work late autumn, immediately sorting through the raw materials after collection (you need to remove the earth, rubbish, insects). Then the moss is dried, but not too much, otherwise it will become very fragile.

Felt

This material is based on sheep wool, is he long time was considered one of the best interventional heaters. It's all about its low thermal conductivity, combined with high vapor permeability, sound insulation qualities, environmental friendliness, and the ability to keep moisture out. Long elastic fibers are easy to lay even in small gaps.

Among the shortcomings - exposure to moths, rotting. The addition of synthetic components to the felt makes it possible to level these shortcomings, but increases the cost of an already expensive material.

Lnovatin

Material based on recycled flax fibers, characterized by high operational qualities and non-hygroscopic. It provides a favorable microclimate in the room, because when the humidity level rises, it absorbs excess moisture, and when it drops, it gives it away. In addition, this feature allows you to protect the wood from decay.

Due to the composition of the material is absolutely safe.

Jute

The material is made on the basis of wood fibers exotic tree- jute. Due to the high content of resins in the material, it literally repels water, and also provides antibacterial protection not only to the interventional gaps, but also to adjacent logs. However, the high resin content is also a disadvantage. Under their influence, the material quickly becomes rigid, dries out, which leads to the appearance of cracks. This phenomenon can be avoided by mixing jute with linen.

artificial

Among the materials of artificial origin, several options also stand out:

• Heaters based on polyester fiber. They are characterized by biostability, non-hygroscopicity and vapor permeability. Available in the form of ribbons. Among the most well-known manufacturers are Politerm (Finland) and Avaterm (Russia).

• PSUL(pre-compressed sealing tape). A material with low thermal conductivity, a feature of which is the ability to contract and expand following deformations and changes in the geometry of wood.

• Sealants. Sealants on silicone, polyurethane or acrylic base are also used for caulking a log house, but they are not independent seals. Their purpose is to seal cracks directly in the logs, as well as to apply over artificial seals. hallmark is the ability of sealants to expand and contract in response to the expansion or contraction of wood.

Requirements

The main requirement for insulation for interventional seams is a low coefficient of thermal conductivity. In addition, the material must be moisture resistant, since there are no other waterproofing and vapor-permeable layers for caulking. Since the insulation is in contact with environment, it must be resistant to winds, high and low temperatures and their abrupt change, as well as to UV rays.

If we are talking about warming the inside of the log house, then you should choose environmentally friendly seals. They must be non-toxic, not emit hazardous compounds under the influence of high temperatures.

The biostability of the material is also an important quality associated with its durability. It is good if the seal does not attract birds, insects, does not become a home and food for rodents and microorganisms.

Given the complexity and high cost, it can be noted that this material should be characterized by durability. The heat efficiency of the sealant should be maintained for 15-20 years.

There are several options for insulation, as already mentioned. If we talk about the methods of laying the sealant, then it can be laid in the process of erecting a log house or at the end of construction work.

At internal insulation thermal insulation of interventional gaps can be combined with the organization of insulation according to the principle of a ventilated frame. In this case, after the first and repeated sealing of the interventional seams, the surface of the log house is stuffed with wooden crate, the step of which should be 1-2 cm less than the width of the insulation.

Then, between the lags of the frame, a heater is attached, on top of it - sheets of drywall. Between the insulation and the finish is preserved air gap in 30-50 mm. Drywall sheets are plastered and decorated.

Before attaching the crate, the surface of the log house is covered with an antiseptic. Similar actions are done in relation to the surfaces of the lags.

Choice

The specific insulation technique depends on the type of structure and climatic features. It is believed that a new, properly built log house needs only interventional insulation. Additional thermal insulation from the inside will disturb the microclimate in the room and hide the aesthetic log walls. Baths do not need insulation from the inside either, since an additional layer of insulation will get wet, which will lead to freezing of the wall.

Primary caulking, embedding not large cracks are carried out by "stretching", while re-insulation or elimination of wide gaps - by the "set-up" method.

Tools

To carry out the procedure for warming interventional seams, the following materials and tools will be required:

• caulking- a tool that looks like a chisel, with which you can insulate gaps of various widths (from 2 to 10 cm);
• caulk- is a thick narrow wedge for expanding excessively narrow gaps, allowing them to be filled easier and with better quality;
• flat chisel, having a blade 50-60 mm wide, up to 5 mm thick - serves for laying a sealant in the corners, rounded parts of the log house;

• mallet- is a hammer made of wood, serves to clog the seal;
• road builder- a kind of caulking for the formation of even rollers from a twisted heat insulator;
• hammer- they hit the mallet, driving the sealant into the interventional space;
• insulation.

The power tool, the puncher loses to the described tools, since they do not allow the formation of a dense roller from the material, but only drive it into the slot.

Methods and technology

There are two technologies for the caulking process:

• "Stretch". It is usually used for primary sealing of seams and involves maximum stretching of the material along the entire length of the log house. First, the first strand of insulation is laid, and on top of it - a twisted second strand. The fibers of the insulation are perpendicular to the direction of the logs, and the ends are folded into a flat roller, which is hammered into the seam.

• "Vnabor". The method is used for re-caulking when the house has shrunk. This method involves driving a small amount of insulation, the strand of which is formed into a loop. Then, with the help of a mallet or caulk, it is hammered into the slot, and the insulation fibers take a position perpendicular to the wood.

The process ends with a final seal. For this, a special tool is used - a road builder.

If you decide to caulk a house or a bath with your own hands, you should focus on the instructions. The step by step process looks like this:

• Cleaning the interventional gap from dust and debris. It is convenient to use a vacuum cleaner for this.
• Insulation preparation: roll material should be dissolved over the entire length of the log house, with a small (about 20 cm) margin. It is necessary, because in some areas the material can lie in a wave, and it should be enough for one tier.
• One of the ends of the insulation tape is driven into the slot with a mallet.
• Then the material is hammered into the slot with a mallet and caulk. It is important to ensure that the seam is tight, there are no distortions.
• If used synthetic insulation, a sealant is applied over it.

When the insulation is laid during the assembly of logs, it must be placed immediately on the first row, leaving the overhanging ends of the material on both sides. Then a second crown is placed, on top of it - a heater. So the work is carried out until the very last log cabin. When all work is completed, and the roof is installed, the hanging ends of the sealant are hammered into the gaps with the help of a caulk. It is necessary to correctly collect the hanging ends to the center of the crown.

When laying insulation (primarily for moss), it is important to ensure that it evenly lays down on the surface of the logs. It is unacceptable to see them through the insulation, otherwise log house will be cold. If tape insulation is used, then it is rolled out along the crown and fixed with brackets. If the tape is over, then the next roll begins to overlap (about 5 cm) to prevent the formation of gaps.

To get rid of the gaps between the crowns and close the cracks formed during the shrinkage of the log house, caulking is carried out: this is the only way heat will be retained inside the log house. For work, you can use various materials, but the technology is the same. How to properly caulk a log house? What is better to use for this?

What is the best way to caulk a log house? The work can be done using both natural and artificial materials. The latter are much more convenient to use, and the process takes very little time, but they have several significant drawbacks.

natural

These include moss, tow, jute, lnovatin, hemp and others.

Moss

Caulking a log house with moss has been performed for a long time, and even with the advent of modern materials he was not abandoned. This is explained by his unique properties: it not only retains heat well, tolerates sudden temperature changes, removes excess moisture without rotting, but also has antimicrobial and even healing properties.

Tow

Technology using tow is considered one of the most difficult. In the process of drying the log house, the material will become damp, which will begin to rot over time. Therefore, after shrinkage at home or bath old tow cleaned, and then perform the caulking of the log house again.

Jute

Moisture-resistant, environmentally friendly and durable material that retains heat well. Due to its ability to absorb moisture, it has a rather short service life (about 3 years). Worn-out jute is not easy to remove from the gaps between the crowns, so it is rarely used.

There are several types of material:

1. Jute tow. In the production of this type of insulation, the fibers are combed to give them the desired direction. The tow obtained in this way retains all the properties of jute, however finished material not too comfortable for work: tough, and not too tight. The process of caulking when using the material becomes more complicated - it is necessary to carry out work in several stages (during the initial laying, the desired degree of density cannot be achieved).
2. Linen jute. Mixed material consisting of an equal amount of linen and jute fibers. It is popular among builders, but needs protection from insects: before use, it is treated with moth and rotting agents.
3. Jute felt. Composed of 90% jute and the remaining 10% flax fiber, the material has the right density for the job, but at the same time retains flexibility. The ease of use of felt makes it the best choice. When buying a material, you should choose one whose fibers are longer than 2 cm - it is more elastic and flexible. The only drawback is that moths can damage it, so the felt is treated with a special protective impregnation before laying.

Lnovatin

Insect repellent material is processed chemicals Therefore, it cannot be called environmentally friendly. The service life of the insulation is up to 3 years, it is attached to the log house with the help of a construction stapler.

Synthetic

The use of ready-made compounds - sealants - will cost significantly more than if you caulk a log house with tow. However, they are much easier to work with. Usually, in order to reduce the consumption of a synthetic agent, it is used together with a natural one (for example, a cord). First, the cord is closed in the gap, and a sealant is applied on top, leveling the layer with a scalpel blade.

Among the disadvantages of sealants:

1. Row synthetic means is destroyed by the action of sunlight - over time, it begins to crumble and falls out. To protect the substance from deterioration, strips are installed on the seams that protect the sealant from ultraviolet radiation.
2. After drying, some compounds harden into a dense solid mass, due to which the wood that contracts and expands depending on humidity and air temperature begins to collapse. It is recommended to use only elastic sealants.

Methods for caulking the walls of a house or bath

Caulking and insulation of the log house can be done in two ways:

1. In a set. Suitable for wide gaps. For work, they take jute, tow or hemp. The selected material is divided into strands, wound into a ball.
2. In stretch. Wherein thermal insulation material divided into tapes, hammer it into the slots.

General rules

Primary caulking of a house from a bar is carried out approximately 6 months after assembly. During this period, most of the moisture contained in the beam will disappear, cracks will appear on the tree, and cracks will appear in the structure itself.

The next time the work will need to be carried out another year later. At this point, the building will finally sit down, and it will be necessary to eliminate the cracks and crevices that have arisen over the past months.

If everything is done correctly, the third time will be needed only after 5 years. However, if the technologies are not followed, the need to eliminate gaps may occur annually. In order for the caulking of a house from a bar to be done correctly, it is worth watching a video with the advice of experienced craftsmen.

1. Work starts from the bottom. The lower crown is sequentially caulked around the entire perimeter from the outside, after that - inside the log house. After that, they move on to the next, acting in the same way.
2. Usually the most large cracks are formed at the corners, so in these places it is necessary to caulk especially carefully.
3. First, the material is fixed in a slot in a section of about 1 m, then the hanging parts are folded in and tucked in. Using a mallet, the insulation is tightly hammered into the slot until the material begins to spring. When everything is done, move on to the next section.

Caulker with moss

For work you will need:

• pre-dried moss;
• water;
• soap;
• vegetable oil.

Work order:

1. 200 g of soap and 0.5 l of oil are added to a bucket of water. Mix thoroughly.
2. Dry moss is placed in the prepared liquid. Wet fibers will become elastic.
3. They take a strand of material, twist it into a roller, insert it into the slot. Well tamped.
4. Using a spatula and a mallet, the insulation is tightly hammered into the gap.

For the primary caulking of a log house from a bar with the help of moss, it is recommended to use the “stretching” method, all subsequent ones - the “set-up” method.

The use of tow

In the insulation of this type, insects can start over time, and in order to protect it, the tow should be treated with a disinfectant.

Need to prepare:

• tow;
• formalin (it will act as an antiseptic);
• water.

Caulking a house from profiled timber using tow takes place in 4 stages:

1. Formalin is diluted with water to obtain a disinfectant solution.
2. All prepared tow is placed in it and left for half an hour.
3. After removing and squeezing the material, they drive in the tow divided into ribbons using the “stretching” method. The insulation is rammed with a spatula and a mallet to achieve maximum packing density.

Caulking jute

This material is laid using the “set-up” method.

Depending on which type of material is selected, you will need:

• jute itself;
• bitumen or resin (for felt jute);
• formalin (for jute tow).

Work order:

1. Tow is soaked in formalin solution.
2. The material is folded into strands, gaps are filled with it lower crown.
3. Using the tool, push the hanging edges.
4. Using a groove, align the position of the insulation layer.

Important! When processing the area around the chimney pipe, about 3 cm of the surface must be left untouched.

Caulking with sealant

caulk log house using sealant is the fastest. To work, you will need synthetic material, a cord for filling gaps, a special spatula for leveling seams (you can take a narrow spatula), a mounting gun.

In order to get a perfectly warm frame for permanent residence, it is not enough to properly mount it. It is also necessary to fill all the gaps between the logs with high quality, so that heat losses overcome the house as little as possible. Not everyone knows how to properly caulk a log house, and therefore the performance of insulation work sometimes leads to a warp of the house (in the worst case) or simply to rotting of wood and insulation (in the best case).

About how to properly caulk log cabins from moss video and general recommendations for other types of insulation in our material below.

Materials for caulking a log house

Caulk wooden frame can various materials. Good construction market today offers a wide range of them from natural to synthetic and semi-synthetic. The most popular are the following types:

• building moss. May be called "sphagnum" or "cuckoo flax". This type of insulation was used by architects back in ancient Rus'. The qualities of moss as a heater are priceless and undeniable. Sphagnum is highly resistant to moisture. It seems to shrink with the tree in case of waterlogging of the latter and simply takes all the moisture into itself. In addition, moss is of no interest to birds, moths and other insects. And this means that all the material for the caulking will remain in the place that the master determines for him. Moss "sphagnum" and "cuckoo flax" does not burn, does not rot and is an excellent natural antiseptic for wood for many years.

Important: you can buy building moss in any volume at specialized points of sale.

• Construction tow. This type of material also works well in tandem with wood when caulking walls. Produce tow from the remnants of flax and hemp grass. Tow is also a natural material that protects wood from moisture and cold.
• jute fiber in the form of a tape - advanced natural-type materials for caulking walls. Jute is made from a shrub that belongs to the linden family. And linden, as you know, copes well with cold and moisture. Jute is able to somewhat moisten the log when it dries out excessively, but it does not take moisture from the tree when the humidity in the house is 80%. It is convenient to lay a jute tape between the crowns, and also stuff it into the cracks when re-insulating the house.
• Lnovatin. They produce insulation from flax fiber in the form of a wide tape. By their own technical specifications lnovatin is similar to jute. It is convenient in laying between the crowns and when caulking "in a stretch".
• Felt. Unsuccessful type of insulation for wooden house. Felt is prone to rotting between logs, and if excessive moisture gets on the walls, the felt will not only lose its insulating qualities, but also spoil the tree from the inside.

Tool to get the job done

To properly caulk a chopped house, you must use special tools. Otherwise, the insulation will lie superficially in the cracks, which will lead to the formation of cold bridges. Most professionals use special caulks made of steel or metal. The first one is better. You can also make wooden caulks from dense woods - beech, walnut, oak. At the same time, it is desirable that the tool has a rubberized handle for ease of work.

Important: the caulking tool should not have a sharp blade, otherwise the insulation may be damaged during caulking. For the same reason, you should avoid notches on the surface of the tool. The insulation in this case clings to the teeth and breaks.

The main type of tools for caulking:

• Stacked caulk. It is a flat kind of chisel with a blade width of 10x0.6 cm. It is used for stuffing seams between logs with insulation.
• Crooked caulk. The same chisel, but curved. It is used for caulking the corners of the house and rounded cracks. The width of the blade in this case is half that of a type-setting caulk.
• Caulker "Roader". It has a fork-shaped shape and is used for caulking cracks using the “stretching” method. The blade here has parameters of 170x15 mm. Depending on the width of the gap, you can use a wide, medium or narrow caulk.
• The caulk is broken. It has a wedge-shaped blade 30-35 mm wide. Such a tool is used to expand narrow gaps and fill them with insulation.
• A mallet is used to help all types of tools. With the help of such a rubber hammer, the seal is pushed into the slots.

Work performance technology

In order for a log house to be insulated with high quality, the insulation must be laid in several stages. First roll insulation or construction moss is laid out between the crowns in such a way that it protrudes 5-6 cm beyond the edges of the log. In this case, a tape insulation such as jute or flax fiber is fixed to the tree with a construction stapler. By the way, you can do the same with moss.

After the house settles and sits down, new cracks form. It is through them that heat loss will occur. In addition, the heat leaving the house, in contact with wood and low temperatures on the street will form perspiration (moisture). That, in turn, is transformed into frost, which will destroy the log. That is why additional caulking of new slots and packing of a peeking seal between the crowns is required.

The third caulk can be done after 2-3 years, when the house is completely seated and all possible cracks will be open to the master.

Caulking methods

Warming "stretching"

This method involves filling narrow cracks and gaps. It is good for caulking houses from rounded logs, since the gaps here are minimal. At the same time, you should be careful with the caulk of such a log house. There is a risk of overfilling the slots, which will lead to distortion of the crowns, and, accordingly, the walls.

So, stretching insulation is performed in this way:

• As soon as the edge of the insulation 5 cm long remains, a new bundle of insulation is taken and its edge is woven with the remaining end.
• The resulting plexus is hammered into the slot and in this way they continue to caulk all the gaps.

Important: the quality of the caulk can be checked by pulling on the remaining end of the insulation. If the material comes out freely from the gap, the job has not been done correctly. If the insulation remains in the gap, then everything is done soundly.

Caulker "in a set"

This method is used to fill large gaps. Here it is necessary to wind the insulation into a skein. Then, loops are made from the resulting fiber and the slots are stuffed with them. Moreover, first they caulk the upper part of the gap with a stuffing tool, and then hammer the loops into lower part clearance using the road builder tool. It is worth knowing that the thickness of the insulation loop must correspond to the thickness of the existing gap in the log house.

Important: when working with a mallet, it is worth remembering that there should be one hammer blow per blade width. Do not be too zealous, otherwise there is a risk of overfilling the cracks, which will lead to a warp of the house.

There is also a number general requirements, which should be observed when caulking a log house. By following them, it will be possible to avoid gross errors in the work:

• So, you need to start re-caulking at home from the lower rims, because when you stuff the insulation in the crack, the house will rise by 5-15 cm.
• It is necessary to fill the gaps alternately from the outside and from the inside of the house. That is, first they fill the slot of the lower crown from the outside, and then they go inside the log house and fill the gaps of the same crown from the inside. This technology will help maintain the evenness of the walls of the house.
• It is best to use natural heaters for caulking. Synthetics blocks the breath of the tree.
• If moss is used for caulking, then it should be treated with a special solution of soap and oil in a ratio of 200:500, mixed with a bucket of water.
• Warming of the house must be carried out in dry weather at a temperature of + 10- + 20 degrees Celsius.
• In addition, a lack of insulation is just as bad as its bust. It is necessary to strictly monitor the amount of fiber in the loops so that their width matches the width of the gaps.

Remember, properly done work is a guarantee of warm and cozy home even in severe frosts.

Caulker with moss

In a caulk of moss, the main thing is no longer compliance technological subtleties- in this respect, it is much simpler than caulking with fibrous materials - and the preparation of material. Or rather, a purchase. Forest and swamp building moss goes on sale, but self-harvesting of tree moss is possible only in certain places very remote from civilization, and self-harvesting of swamp moss in most developed countries is prohibited and prosecuted by law: in recent decades, only important role swamps as accumulators of moisture and regulators of natural processes. In addition, mosses actively accumulate a lot of both useful and harmful microelements; swamp moss is a natural filter of radionuclides. Caulking with moss collected on your own, you risk not only infecting the log house with rot, mold and pests, but also yourself and your loved ones are no better.

The best moss for caulking is swamp sphagnum, or cuckoo flax, pos. 1 in rice: it never wakes up in buildings and releases substances that protect wood from damage. But it is impossible to caulk with bright green fresh sphagnum (pos. 2) - by overheating, on the contrary, it will ruin the log house. You need to caulk with moss (both marsh and forest), dried to wilting without charm, pos. 3. This moss is sold in bags (pos. 4). In them, it must be stored until use, not allowing complete drying: moss, still a little alive, is suitable for caulking. Overdried gray or brown building moss (pos. 5) is not caulked, but insulation material. By the way, very good.

Note: it is impossible to caulk with rocky and ground moss - particles of the substrate with germs of wood pests will definitely remain in it.

The order of caulking with moss

Moss is caulked before winter. In the spring, when the heat comes, but dryness has not yet come, they check the hanging scallops (see below) and pluck out the green ones. Then the scallops are knocked into the grooves. At the same time, it is very important to prevent the caulking from drying out: if the moss began to crumble under the caulking tool, the entire caulking will never be whole, and once every 2-5 years you will have to make repeated caulking, and the whole log house will not stand idle as long as it can. A year later, the building is checked and, if it is split, a secondary caulk is carried out with the same (!) Moss.

Moss-sphagnum is laid out in grooves when assembling a log house with a mountain (pos. 1 in the figure below), because. it shrinks under pressure. Swamp moss scallops should hang abundantly from the grooves, pos. 2. Immediately after assembling the log house, moss is added to the remaining slots (shown by arrows in pos. 2), knocking down with an oblique wooden caulk. Quite easily reviving tree moss, on the contrary, is laid out sparingly, but tightly so that there are no empty slots, pos. 3. Its scallops should protrude from the grooves of the assembled frame approx. half a palm, but do not hang down, pos. 4. Hanging (shown by the arrow in pos. 4) are cut off.

instead of moss

In coastal areas, you can find durable log buildings, caulked instead of moss with kamka - sea grass thrown ashore by storms or eelgrass. Kamka also good insulation and in this capacity it now goes on sale dried, but it can only be caulked with wet fresh damask. But caulking with damask turns out to be excellent: it releases salts into the tree, making it unsuitable for pest settlement, and iodine into the air of the room. Which, as you know, among others useful properties, contributes to the excretion of cumulative poisons and radionuclides from the body. Caulked with damask like moss, with some differences: it is disassembled into flat strands and laid out in the grooves of the log house with a herringbone without gaps so that the ends hang down half a log. Upon completion of the assembly of the log house, the ends are knocked into the grooves with a wooden caulk.

Synthetics and sealants

Synthetic caulks are used in combination with a black jute ribbon, or, for "aesthetics", with a twisted white jute cord. The rough tape is placed in the grooves of the log house for caulking with sealants without wings flush with the edges of the groove. If the logs have a Finnish groove, then the edges of the tape must exactly lie on the longitudinal cuts in the log under the edge protrusions of the groove of the upper log.

Sealants for wood are produced chemically neutral polyurethane: silicone for mechanical and physical and chemical properties it is worse matched with wood (in particular, in terms of the coefficient of thermal expansion of TKR), and under the action of even very weak acids it is destroyed. In turn, the silicone solvent - acetic acid - spoils the wood, so do not try to replace special wood sealants with ordinary building ones. Synthetics are mainly used for caulking log cabins made of glued logs and timber - their estimated service life is the same as that of glue joints of re-glued lumber.

Caulking with sealants is carried out quickly and simply: the initial composition is squeezed out of the tube into the groove, pos. 1 in Fig .. When it seizes, the seams are puttied over with a finishing compound to match the wood, pos. 2.:

There is also an “ultra-modern” way of caulking log cabins, folded without any rough caulking: cuts are made along the seams, bundles of self-expanding polyethylene foam are put into them and sealed with sealant under a tree, pos. 3. In essence, this is no longer a caulk, because. this method is suitable for structures made of lumber without shaped grooves, assembled on dowels and impregnated with water repellents (water-repellent impregnations). In addition, it is suitable only for selected materials. chamber drying completely shrunken and shrunken. And what will happen later with warping from moisture during operation - let's wait and see: in practice, "caulking-free caulking" has so far been used for no more than 10-12 years.

Let's get back to caulking, which is still caulking, albeit synthetic. The finishing compositions darken when dried, so that they are selected to match the tree according to trial smears on the container. But in the light, the finishing synthetic caulk burns out and the walls of the log house take on the form shown in pos. 4. Someone, since such a “decoration” cannot be avoided, orders gluing or clogging caulk seams with a white twisted cord. How much this adds to the structure of "aesthetics and respect" is a matter of taste of the owner. And they don't argue about tastes. Especially - about the tastes of people who believe that natural wood needs additional "ennoblement".

Much more practical application synthetic caulking for sealing gaping cracks in logs, pos. 5 in fig. On top of the sealant, the cracks are puttied with any wood putty for outdoor work, and the whole structure is rejuvenated. Putty has to be renewed every 2-3 years - it also burns out in the light - but this is not long, easy and inexpensive.

The final touch - polishing

Caulking is not yet completing the construction of the log house until it is ready for flooring, installation attic floor, roofs, installation of windows, doors, partitions, for decoration and equipment - a log house is desirable, but it is necessary to grind inside. Especially - chopped from a wild log, debarked by hand.

Grinding a log house with sandpaper is extremely long, tiring, and this damages the outer most resistant layers of wood. The log house is polished by manual universal grinder with nylon brushes. Worse - a grinder with them; the drive is too powerful. But the main thing here is still brushes for grinding wood, see the video review:

Video: an overview of nylon brushes for sanding a log house

Grinding a log house with a brush is actually a moot point: the brush removes the caulking roller, see Fig..

You were told that it is not necessary to caulk a house from a bar, they say, everything is perfectly fitted there anyway? Feel free to send such “woe” specialists home and invite real professionals in construction wooden houses. Like any other, the technology of building houses from a bar has its own stages and design features, which invariably include the caulk of a log house, even if you are going to do external and internal decoration with insulation in the future. Do not try to save time and money so as not to overpay in the future. If you don’t want drafts to constantly walk in your house, curtains flutter even in calm weather, and over time, wet and rotten places in the wood appear, it’s better to do all the caulking work at home on time.

Do I need to caulk a log house and why

In some sources you can find information that a log house can not be caulked. And the builders building your house can say the same thing. They explain this by the fact that, unlike timber in log houses shrinkage and displacement of wood is stronger and more intense, cracks and leaks appear, so it is necessary to caulk the structure. But houses built from profiled timber practically do not shrink, as the wood undergoes pre-treatment. Let's see how it actually happens when building a house from a bar with your own hands.

Bar of natural moisture- relatively cheap construction material, for which it is popular in the construction of economy-class houses, followed by insulation and siding. Even if you invite the best architect, he will not be able to build a house from such a bar without gaps between the crowns and gaps. Moreover, when the beam begins to dry out, and this is inevitable, additional gaps will appear, wider, the beam will decrease in size, it will begin to “twist”. As a result, such cracks will appear, due to which the wooden wall will lose its thermal insulation abilities. To avoid such a sad end, the walls must be caulked at least 3 times and carefully insulated.

It was invented precisely in order to reduce the costs and time for the construction of a wooden house. It passes special treatment in production, due to which it practically does not dry out during operation, as well as its tenon-groove joints are perfectly aligned to the nearest millimeter. The beam adjoins each other as tightly as possible, and a 5 mm insulation is placed between the crowns, which is located between the engaging parts. Despite the assurances of the seller, the house made of profiled timber still shrinks, as the timber finally falls into place under the weight of the structure. In addition, the properties of wood are highly dependent on the region of growth, climatic conditions and storage conditions. No one can guarantee that absolutely all the timber that you have purchased is the same High Quality. As a result of the movement of the building, the beam may slightly shift, the insulation may be wrinkled. Even if no gaps appear after shrinkage, and this option is possible, all the same, those gaps that are in the interventional space outside and inside the house accumulate moisture, and since the place itself is very secluded and vulnerable, mold and rot can form in it.

The caulking of a log house is necessary in order to isolate wooden walls, completely filling with natural insulation and sealing the gaps and cracks between the timber and in the corner joints. This guarantees tightness, no heat leakage through the walls, drafts and icing of the timber outside the building, which occurs when warm steam escapes through the cracks and settles as wet frost on the surface.

How to caulk a timber house

To summarize, the material that can be used to caulk a house must meet the following requirements:

• Have low thermal conductivity.
• Be immune to temperature and humidity fluctuations, as well as easily withstand the wind.
• So that insects and pathogenic fungi (mold) do not start in it.
• To be absolutely environmentally friendly material, otherwise the whole point in building a wooden house is lost.
• Be relatively durable (do not lose properties for at least 20 years).
• Be breathable.
• Be hygroscopic, i.e. when it is necessary to absorb moisture, when it is necessary - to give.
• And most importantly - to be similar in properties to wood.

Due to the fact that our ancestors caulked their houses for hundreds of generations on their own, materials that have been tested and tested by thousands of years of successful practice have come down to our days. They can be called traditional materials.

Moss- most best material even today for caulking wooden buildings. This is sphagnum moss - a swamp plant that can be red, white or brown. Subsequently, peat is formed from it. None of the modern materials can compare with moss, it is so durable and environmentally friendly. You can drive around the old abandoned villages, look at the houses: the logs are already almost rotted, and the moss is still in excellent condition. As an interventional sealant, moss is simply indispensable: it has antiseptic, antibacterial and healing properties. Clamped between wood, it inhibits the development of putrefactive bacteria and mold fungi, due to which the wood lasts longer. Moss easily passes air through it, which, passing through it, is saturated with healing vapors, so the atmosphere inside the house becomes healing. Moss is hygroscopic, which means it smooths out moisture fluctuations. In general, moss has no drawbacks, except for one thing - it’s not so easy for them to caulk, otherwise no one would invent or look for anything new.

Linen tow it is used as a sealant and sealant everywhere, but for caulking - mainly in flax growing regions and where there are no swamps where you could stock up on moss. No one produces tow on purpose, it is waste from the production of ropes, ropes and linen, or waste and tow after cleaning flax fibers. Tow has some antiseptic and bactericidal properties, but to a lesser extent than moss. Therefore, in some cases, tow is treated with resins to increase resistance to high humidity. These resins may be natural, ie. tree resins, then this material can still be called environmentally friendly, but oil products are also used for impregnation, then tow no longer has anything to do with natural materials. Tow contains a large amount of fire, which will shake out during the first years of operation of the house, so the caulking will need to be repeated several times.

It is very similar to tow, only its fibers are coarser, so they are sometimes confused. Hemp is not afraid of temperature changes and high humidity, so it can be used even in very humid regions. Such properties are due to the high content of the lignin polymer, which is also found in any wood for bonding cellulose fibers. Hemp does not lose its properties even after getting wet, therefore it is resistant to decay.

Among the modern materials for caulking, the following can be distinguished:

A foreign product, it is imported to us from China, India, Egypt and other countries with a tropical climate or heavy rainfall. Produced from the shoots of the jute plant of the Malvaceae family. Jute fiber is very strong, it is not affected by mold, putrefactive bacteria, it is not interesting for insects and birds, it is hygroscopic, i.e. easily accumulates and releases moisture, passes air. Jute contains about the same amount of lignin as wood, so their properties are similar and together they are a perfect match.

Jute is available in both fibers and ribbons in various widths. Tape jute insulation it is very convenient to use for laying between the crowns of a timber house. In addition, pure jute compacts evenly. These advantages more than cover the price of this material.

In addition to materials made of fibers for caulking, felt heaters (interventional felt) are also used:

Jute interventional insulation 90% jute and 10% linen. But it is better to follow this ratio, since there is jute felt, 70% consisting of jute and 30% of flax, which significantly worsens its properties.

Linen felt also called eurolen or lnovatin. It is a needle-punched material made from highly refined linen.

Flax jute felt consists of jute and flax in the ratio 1:1.

Full jute modern heaters are considered the best, as they ideally interact with wood and shrink evenly, and other materials with the addition of flax worsen the properties of the insulation. The more flax, the worse the properties.

When to caulk a log house

Caulking at home is carried out in several stages, this is due to the fact that the beam dries out gradually, the house sags under its own weight. The most big shrinkage occurs in the first year and a half after construction, and every year it is less and less. Experts say that after 5 - 6 years, shrinkage practically stops.

First time a log house is caulked immediately after construction. During the construction process, a heater is laid between the crowns, and after the whole house has been erected, the gaps between the bars are filled with caulking material, but not too tightly.

Second caulk produced a year and a half after the completion of the construction of the house. The house will already sit down, so it is necessary to caulk tightly, leaving no gaps and hanging material.

Third time work on caulking will have to be done again in 5 - 6 years, carefully filling all the newly formed gaps and crevices and adding material where it accidentally spilled out or was pulled out by birds.

If the log house is planned to be sheathed with siding from the outside, then the third caulk is not made, but the first two must be completed without fail. Do not rush and save on something for which you will later have to pay much more.

Do-it-yourself caulk of a log house

Caulking is a very responsible and time-consuming process, despite a certain monotony of the operations performed. not many construction teams agree to work on caulking, they just don’t know how to do it and are afraid to spoil it, which is why they recommend not caulking at all. We have already discussed why they should not be listened to.

But there are teams and entire organizations that deal with caulking professionally. For a caulk of a timber house, the price depends on the stage of work and amounts to a certain amount per 1 linear meter of each crown. average cost caulking is 50 - 60 rubles. for 1 r.m. A caulk corner connections can reach up to 200 rubles. for 1 r.m. At a separate rate, caulking will be carried out with a decorative rope (rope) that adorns appearance caulked walls and prevents birds from pulling out the material. By the way, it is customary to pay for the material separately. If you are offered to perform freckled work for 25 rubles. m.p., you should not agree, as the work will be performed out of the ordinary badly.

If you want to do all the work yourself, then be patient, material, tool and subsequent information.

How to caulk a log house with jute

Jute, as a material for warming a log house, is gaining wild popularity. It is often used in the construction of the house itself.

Before you caulk a timber house, you first need to properly lay and secure the timber. A heater is always laid in the interventional space with a layer of at least 5 mm. Even if the beam is profiled, jute is necessarily laid between the spike and the groove. But its width depends on the shape of the tenon-groove system. The easiest option when lower beam has a convex crescent-shaped surface, and the upper one has the same notch (somewhat reminiscent of the connection of logs), in this case the space between the crowns is completely filled with insulation, and its edges remain hanging by 4-5 cm on each side. A more complex version of a profiled beam, when it is impossible to lay the insulation with a continuous carpet, then it is laid only in the middle, and the outer and inner slots are then caulked separately.

If the house of their timber is of natural humidity, then the thickness interventional insulation should be 10 - 15 mm.

Important! Caulking is necessarily made from top to bottom. In this case, first one crown is caulked completely outside, then inside, and only then they move on to the second crown. It is better if the work will be done by 4 people at the same time on 4 walls. This is necessary so that the house does not warp. After all, after the completion of the caulking, it will rise a few centimeters, from 5 to 15 cm.

Consider the option when the insulation hangs between the bars by 4 - 5 cm. The caulking technology is very well shown in the video example. With the help of a caulk (tool), the jute is tucked under the bottom and slightly pushed into the slot. Then gently, but already more strongly pushed in the upper part, and finally - in the middle. To push the material into the slot, a rubber or wooden hammer(mallet), with which they gently hit the caulk.

If after the work done, loosely clogged slots are still observed, then additional caulking is performed.

Consider the option when the gaps between the crowns are not filled (the insulation is located somewhere in the middle of the beam). The work will be exactly the same as with an additional caulk.

Usually, the gaps between the beams are quite narrow, so this method of caulking is used: a rope as thick as a gap is twisted from jute fiber and hammered into the gap with a mallet.

There is another way - "stretching". Individual fibers of jute are laid with fibers across the beam and pushed inward with a spatula or caulk until the gap is completely filled. We leave the remaining ends of the material to hang down, it should turn out about 5 - 6 cm. Next, a little more jute is taken, twisted into a ball (roller), which is wrapped in these hanging ends and pushed into the gap.

Important! How can you check whether it is enough to push the insulation already or do you still need to add a little more? If it enters the gap between the crowns kitchen knife by 15 mm or less, then the caulking was completed successfully. If the knife goes further, then the material should be added.

When large gaps are formed, the “in-set” caulking method is used. Long strands are twisted from jute and rolled into a ball. Then loops are drawn from the ball and pushed into the slots until they are filled.

After completion of all caulking work, the house is loaded and, if possible, operated for a whole year. In winter, it will be possible to check for cracks by the so-called "hares". These are pockets of frost on outside walls. If you find them, mark the place, it means that there is a leak warm air from home. A year and a half after the first caulk, a second one is made, the house is carefully inspected, insulation is added to those places from where it spilled out or frayed, where the cracks have increased, where the beam has warped, and also in places of “hares”.

Only after repeated caulking, you can proceed to the external and interior decoration at home. Even if it assumes 100 mm mineral wool and ventilated façade.

You can also caulk a log house with other materials. But there are some exceptions. For example, only a house made of non-profiled timber can be caulked with moss, since this material fits and fills the interventional space completely, which is absolutely impossible if the timber has a thorn-groove system. The work on caulking at home is complex and painstaking, although it seems painfully simple from the outside. If you are not confident in your abilities, invite a specialist.

Log house caulk: video - example