Nowadays the fashion for building baths and residential buildings from natural wood. Log houses have a respectable appearance, are warm and environmentally friendly, which is very much appreciated modern people. But even such reliable and energy-saving buildings should be additionally insulated in order to feel truly comfortable in them in any weather.
Caulking - what kind of operation?
Since ancient times in Rus', most buildings were built from logs. Such buildings have always been called log houses. IN last years interest in them has increased significantly, due to their special performance properties wooden houses and baths. The construction of log houses is offered by many companies these days. And experienced home craftsmen even build cozy homes and hot steam rooms from logs with their own hands. In this article we will not describe the technology for constructing environmentally friendly buildings, but will talk about how to make them warmer. We will talk about the rules of caulking wooden structures. Without this operation, we will not be able to arrange a truly cozy sauna or residential building.
First, let's figure out why you need to caulk a log house? Everything is simple here. During installation, gaps and voids remain between the logs from which this or that structure is built. It is clear that they cannot be left. After all, through such small, at first glance, gaps, precious heat will escape from the room. Instead of a comfortable building, we will get a bathhouse or a house blown by all the winds. Caulking allows you to solve this problem. It is understood as the procedure for carefully sealing all the cracks between logs using special tools and materials. All their varieties will be described below.
Tools for insulating log cabins - unusual, but easy to use
You can do caulking of any log house yourself. To do this, you will need to study the technology of the operation and stock up on special tools:
- 1. A flat spatula made of hard wood or metal. We need to purchase a tool with a blade about 5.5 mm thick and 10 cm wide. This blade, called a flat caulk, is the main device for insulating log buildings.
- 2. A tool, called a road builder by specialists, triangular in shape with a blade 8–15 mm thick and at least 17 cm wide, along which a special groove is made. This caulk is needed to form smooth rollers from the strands of the sealing material used.
- 3. The so-called curved caulk - a flat chisel. The thickness of its working part is 5 mm, width is about 5.5 cm. The chisel makes it possible to seal seams on rounded parts and in the corners of a log structure.
- 4. With a wooden hammer (mallet). With its help, you can easily fill the seal without worrying about it deforming or collapsing. It is also possible to work with ordinary hammers.
In addition, you need to buy two split caulks - narrow and wide. The width of such devices, which visually resemble a wedge, should be approximately 3.5 cm. Breaking tools are necessary to widen narrow cracks. After using them, it is much easier to place the insulating material into gaps and voids.
The working parts of all these tools must be as smooth as possible, and the ends must not be sharp.
A rough surface will not allow the planned work to be completed efficiently, since the insulation fibers will cling to the caulk and be pulled out of the gaps. And too sharp blades will cut the material used for thermal insulation of the log house.
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Let us add that there is no need to be afraid of unfamiliar names. Every self-taught craftsman can use the caulking tool.
Materials for caulking – an assortment for every taste
Thermal insulation of log houses is carried out different insulation materials(by the way, they are usually called inter-crown), both traditional and more modern. The most famous material for caulking is moss. It can be white and red. Our ancestors used it when constructing buildings from logs. Moss is an environmentally friendly natural material. It has:
- low thermal conductivity;
- antimicrobial and antiseptic properties;
- resistance to temperature changes (this is especially important if we are insulating a bathhouse);
- durability.
It is almost impossible to purchase moss in construction stores. Therefore, if you plan to use it, you will have to take care of collecting and proper preparation this material. Here you need to know the following. It is advisable to collect moss in November. At this time, there are practically no insects and snails in it. Collected material We carefully sort through, throw away rotten particles, remove debris and lumps of soil. After this, dry the moss. Don't overdo it. Overdried moss cannot be used; it becomes too brittle. It is almost impossible to push it into the cracks between the crowns and place it tightly there.
An alternative to moss is tow. It is made from flax fibers. Such material can be tape (roll) or bale. Experts recommend using the first type of tow. Insulation in the form of tape is easier to push into the seams. Yes, and heat-shielding properties rolled products higher. Bale tow is cheaper. But it is characterized by hard and short fibers. Working with such material is very inconvenient. The key advantages of tow are that it is not electrified, has low thermal conductivity, affordable price, antibacteriality. Disadvantages of the material - the insulated seam has an unaesthetic appearance, the installation process is complex and labor-intensive. For these reasons, home craftsmen rarely use tow.
About 10–15 years ago, the insulation of log houses was often done with natural felt. It is environmentally friendly, easy to use, protects the building from street noise and foreign odors, and has increased vapor permeability. But, unfortunately, this material also has two serious disadvantages. Firstly, moths love it very much. She literally chews out the insulation. Secondly, felt is susceptible to rotting.
Jute does not have these disadvantages - it is pliable, soft material in the form of tapes and ropes different thicknesses. It can be matched to any seam. Jute, according to experts, creates an optimal microclimate in the log house. And most importantly, it is quite simple to install it in the cracks between the logs.
If the log house was built by professionals from ordinary logs or from rounded logs, has a semicircular groove and gaps of small thickness, it can be insulated using sealant. This is the most modern and simplest method of thermal insulation of wooden buildings. The sealant cannot be used in the presence of large gaps and in cases where the grooves of the structure have the shape of a triangle. In such situations, it will be of no use.
We will protect the wooden building from cold and winds ourselves
Caulking of a bathhouse or a residential building made of logs is carried out twice. The first time insulation is carried out directly during the construction of the log house. We need to lay the selected material after installing each crown. If we use insulation in the form of tape, the operation takes place with minimal costs time. We roll out the insulation along the crown and fix it with a construction stapler (staples). If it is necessary to lay additional tape, we mount it on the previous one with a 5-centimeter overlap. Cover installed material the next crown and repeat the procedure.
If you use moss, you will have to tinker a little longer. We take a bunch of dried material (we moisten it if necessary), lay it across the log. The fibers should hang 5-6 cm on each side of the log. Then we lay the second bundle close to the first. The moss layer is quite impressive. The tree should not be visible through it. The thicker the layer, the better the insulation.
The second part of caulking is carried out after installing all the crowns of the building and installing the roof on it. Repeated thermal insulation is necessary for any structure, be it a residential building or a bathhouse. The wall insulation scheme looks like this:
- 1. Take a bunch of tow (moss, felt), apply it to the seam between the logs, and use a caulking blade to press the fibers into the gap. We begin work from the end of the building from the bottom row.
- 2. Gently twist the protruding ends of the material. We will get a roller 8–10 cm in length. It should be applied to the gap and pushed back between the logs using caulk, leaving only a small tip.
- 3. We weave the next bundle of material into the free end and continue to insulate the frame. The roller must not be interrupted. It must remain intact along the entire length of the gap.
It will take a lot of time to complete such a labor-intensive operation. But we will get a well-sealed building. And you can reduce labor costs by using tape materials rather than tow or moss. Installing them is much faster and easier. We simply cut off a piece of tape to the required length and begin hammering it into the seams. After insulating the walls, we begin to insulate the corners of the log house. This operation is also easier to perform with tapes. They are pushed into the gaps with crooked caulk.
Caulking with sealant can be done after complete shrinkage of the structure. The procedure for performing such work is given below:
- 1. We thoroughly clean the seams between the crowns from debris and dust, wipe them with a dry rag.
- 2. We treat all joints with a primer (water-based or rubber-based primer) using a sprayer or a regular brush.
- 3. Wait for the soil to dry.
- 4. We insert a tourniquet made of polyethylene (foam) into the gaps. We select products that match the width of the seams.
- 5. Apply sealant.
To give the log house an elegant look, we treat the insulated joints with tinted or colorless varnish.
After installing the log house, there is still a lot of work to be done, including caulking the bathhouse. This must be done to close the gaps between the timber or logs and to insulate the walls. Without proper caulking, the bathhouse will be ventilated, and the heat will quickly leave the room. In addition, logs or beams will soon become unusable, crack and become damp.
You can easily caulk a bathhouse with your own hands, since this process is not very complicated. But it is important to choose the right materials and carefully follow the technology. Let's find out how to properly and what is the best way to caulk a bathhouse made of logs or timber.
Features of bath caulk
It is important to perform this procedure correctly, otherwise installation errors will cause the walls to warp or cause serious cracks and cracks. This simple process, but quite long and monotonous. Therefore, you need to be patient! Caulking is done six months after the installation of the log house, when most of the shrinkage of the tree has passed. After this caulking, you can already install windows and doors.
If a second caulk is needed, the procedure is performed a year after the first (1.5 years after installation of the log house). Depending on the quality of work and material, another caulk may be required after 4-5 years. In any case, this procedure is very important for wooden buildings.
Bath caulk performs the following useful functions:
- Reliably closes cracks and gaps in wooden walls between crowns and ceilings, logs and crowns, in window and door frames;
- Eliminates cracks in wooden log house, which are formed during the shrinkage process. Caulking prevents the growth and appearance of new cracks;
- Enhances the thermal insulation qualities of wood and retains heat indoors for a long time, which is especially important for a bathhouse;
- Protects the room from wind penetration, internal wooden walls- from negative impact moisture;
- Seals cracks in an already built house or bathhouse.
Among the materials for caulking, there are natural and synthetic types. Natural jute, tow and moss - traditional means which have been used for a long time. From modern artificial materials use industrial sealants. Each product has its pros and cons, and which one to choose is up to each owner to decide. Also among the tools for caulking you will need a hammer, a 20 mm chisel and a rubber mallet.
Natural materials for caulking
The oldest and most proven method is to caulk a bathhouse or house with moss. It is eco-friendly and safe material, which will save natural properties and aesthetics of a wooden structure. It effectively resists the negative effects of bacteria and prevents the formation of fungus or mold, quickly absorbs moisture and does not rot. However, it is not very convenient to use. Moss is optimal for baths and sealing cracks in a wooden house.
Processing with jute is also good for baths, as this environmentally friendly material saves natural properties and tree safety. This fiber is distinguished by high strength, thermal insulation, resistance to moisture and decay. Rolled material with an even structure is easy to lay between the crowns. However, jute often becomes a breeding ground for moths, so it is recommended to treat the material with a moth repellent before use.
Tow represents waste after the primary processing of natural fibers of jute, flax or hemp. This is a very difficult and inconvenient material to work with. In addition, when a log house shrinks, it gains moisture, rots and turns into dust.
As a result, this rot has to be cleaned out and the bathhouse frame caulked again. Among the advantages of tow, we note the environmental friendliness and safety of the fiber, high antibacterial and thermal insulation properties. However, due to its complexity and fragility, tow is not recommended for caulking baths or at home.
Sealants
Modern sealants have long filled the construction market. These are quick, convenient and easy to use products that are well suited for independent work. However, in in this case it is important to choose high-quality sealants from a reliable manufacturer, since some do not tolerate exposure well sun rays and wind.
As a result they lose beneficial features and are blown out. Additionally, some types of sealants can damage the wood fibers when they dry. To avoid this, use elastic products (acrylic) that contract or expand with the wood.
At the same time, sealants have a large number of advantages, including not only easy and quick installation. Such products are characterized by high thermal insulation qualities, resistance to moisture, cold and temperature changes. In particular demand today warm seam using acrylic sealants. This product contains rubber, which gives elasticity and prevents small hidden cracks from cracking further.
Acrylic sealants are safe and environmentally friendly, making them ideal for processing wooden bath or at home. They do not emit toxic substances and allow the wood to “breathe”. These products can withstand high temperatures, do not have an unpleasant odor, and are distinguished by quick and easy finishing. They do not allow wood to rot and have wide choose color range. Read more about acrylic sealants and “warm joint” technology.
Features of caulking using different materials
If you are using moss, the material must first be completely dried and re-moistened before use. To do this, soak the material for 30-60 minutes and squeeze thoroughly. The soaked moss is laid out between the crowns in an even layer so that the ends of the material stick out on both sides of the log or timber. After this, the too protruding and long parts of the material are trimmed and tucked into the cracks of the log house. After a year, re-caulk must be done.
When using tow, it is better to choose rolled tow, as it is easier to use. If you choose tow in blocks, a strip of material is pulled out of the block and a rope is twisted, which is then placed into the seam. Take jute with a fiber length of more than two centimeters. Short fibers fall out easily and are blown out.
Caulking with natural materials is carried out using two methods. The “stretching” method assumes that the material is divided into separate strips and placed in the gaps between the rims. The insulation remaining outside is rolled into a roller and driven into the groove. The “set” method means that the fibers are separated into strands and wound into a ball, and then pushed into the spaces between the logs or beams.
When choosing a sealant, first lay a heat-insulating cord made of polyethylene or jute fiber in the cracks. This will reduce the consumption of the main product and increase the thermal insulation properties of wood. And then sealant is applied over the cord in a wet state with a layer thickness of 4-6 mm.
Then the layer is leveled with a spatula or spatula, and the remains are cleaned with a rag. The sealant is left to dry for two days, while it is important to protect the seam from moisture. Detailed instructions Directions for use can be found on the packaging of each product.
Bath caulking technology
- Before starting work, logs or beams are cleaned of dust and dirt. Can be closed wooden surface construction tape or masking tape so that the insulation does not get on the walls of the log house;
- Start with lower crown and move along the perimeter of the bath, first from the outside, then process the lower crown along the perimeter inside. Only then move on to the next crown! Each crown should be caulked in turn, without skipping rows;
- Pay special attention to the corners of the bathhouse, as in these places there are a large number of cracks and large gaps;
- During the process, carefully monitor the evenness of the walls of the log house and check how the insulation fits. The material should lie tightly, evenly and not form bubbles;
- Do not use under any circumstances polyurethane foam for caulking a wooden bathhouse or home! It violates the naturalness and environmental friendliness of materials, reduces the service life of insulation;
- After completing the work, check the quality of the work. To do this, try removing the material or piercing it with a sharp object. If you can remove an entire strip or pass a sharp tool through the insulation, the work was not done well.
When laying insulation, it is very important to follow the technology, otherwise incorrect actions will not allow you to get maximum efficiency from caulking. The room will be ventilated, and the caulking itself will have to be done again every two to three years. In addition, mistakes can lead to skewed walls, rotting of logs or beams, and lumber falling out of locks!
To avoid possible problems and get quality work, contact professionals. The masters of the MariSrub company will reliably and quickly carry out caulking and insulation of the log house of a bathhouse or house. We provide a full range of services for the construction and finishing of wooden buildings.
The scope of work includes the production of lumber and the creation of a project, installation of a log house, installation of the roof and foundation, installation and connection utility networks, finishing. We provide high-quality insulation and caulking of log houses, and seal seams!
Have you been told that it is not necessary to caulk a house made of timber, they say, everything fits perfectly there anyway? You can safely send such “woe” specialists home and invite real professionals in the construction of wooden houses. Like any other, the technology of building houses from timber has its own stages and design features, which invariably includes caulk timber house, even if you are going to do external and internal finishing with insulation in the future. You should not try to save time and money so as not to overpay in the future. If you don’t want there to be constant drafts in your house, curtains to flutter even in calm weather, and over time wet and rotten places in the wood to appear, it is better to complete all the caulking work at home on time.
Is it necessary to caulk a log house and why?
In some sources you can find information that timber house You don't have to caulk it. And the builders who are building your house can say the same thing. They explain this by the fact that, unlike lumber in log houses shrinkage and displacement of wood occurs stronger and more intensely, cracks and leaks appear, so it is necessary to caulk the structure. But houses built from profiled timber practically do not shrink, since the wood is pre-treated. Let's figure out how it actually happens when building a house from timber with your own hands.
timber natural humidity - relatively cheap construction material, for which it is popular in the construction of economy-class houses with subsequent insulation and finishing with siding. Even if you invite the best architect, he will not be able to build a house from such timber without gaps between the crowns and gaps. Moreover, when the timber begins to dry out, and this is inevitable, additional cracks will appear, wider ones, the timber will decrease in size, and it will begin to “twist”. As a result, 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 thoroughly insulated.
It was invented precisely in order to reduce costs and time for building a wooden house. He's passing special treatment in production, due to which it practically does not dry out during operation, and its tongue-and-groove connections are perfectly calibrated to the nearest millimeter. The beams fit together as closely as possible, and 5 mm insulation is placed between the crowns, which is located between the interlocking parts. Despite the seller’s assurances, 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 greatly depend on the region of growth, climatic conditions and storage conditions. No one can guarantee that absolutely all the timber you purchased is the same High Quality. As a result of building movements, the timber may shift slightly and the insulation may become wrinkled. Even if no gaps appear after shrinkage, and this option is possible, still those gaps that are located in the inter-crown 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.
Caulking a timber house is necessary in order to insulate wooden walls, completely filling them with natural insulation and sealing the gaps and cracks between the beams and in corner joints. This guarantees tightness, no heat leaks 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, and easily withstand wind.
- So that insects and pathogenic fungi (mold) do not grow in it.
- Be completely ecological pure material, otherwise the whole point of building a wooden house is lost.
- Be relatively durable (not lose properties for at least 20 years).
- Be breathable.
- Be hygroscopic, i.e. when you need to absorb moisture, when you need to give it away.
- And the most important thing is to be similar in its properties to wood.
Due to the fact that our ancestors caulked their houses hundreds of generations deep on their own, materials that have been tested and tested by thousands of years of successful practice have survived to this day. They can be called traditional materials.
Moss- most best material even today for caulking wooden buildings. This is sphagnum moss - a bog plant that can be red, white or brown. Subsequently, peat is formed from it. Neither of modern materials cannot compare with moss, it is so durable and environmentally friendly. You can travel through old abandoned villages, look at the houses: the logs have almost rotted, and the moss is still in excellent condition. Moss is simply irreplaceable as an interventional sealant: it is antiseptic, antibacterial and medicinal properties. Sandwiched between wood, it suppresses the development of putrefactive bacteria and mold fungi, due to which the wood lasts longer. Moss easily allows air to pass through itself, which, passing through it, is saturated with healing vapors, so the atmosphere inside the house becomes healing. Moss is hygroscopic, which means it smoothes out changes in humidity. In general, moss has no drawbacks, except for one thing - it is not so easy for them to caulk, otherwise no one would invent or look for anything new.
Tow made of flax fibers It is used as a sealant and sealant everywhere, but for caulking - mainly in regions where flax grows and where there are no swamps where moss could be stocked. No one produces tow specifically; it is waste from the production of ropes, cords and linen, or tweezing and stripping 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 can be natural, i.e. tree resin, then this material can still be called environmentally friendly, but petroleum products are also used for impregnation, then tow no longer has anything in common with natural materials. The tow contains a large amount of fire, which will be shaken out during the first years of operation of the house, so the caulk 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. These properties are due to the high content of the polymer lignin, which is also found in any wood to bind cellulose fibers. Hemp does not lose its properties even after getting wet, therefore it is resistant to rotting.
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. It is produced from the shoots of the jute plant of the Malvaceae family. Jute fiber is very durable, not affected by mold, putrefactive bacteria, not interesting to insects and birds, hygroscopic, i.e. easily accumulates and releases moisture, allows air to pass through. Jute contains about the same amount of lignin as wood, so their properties are similar and together they are a perfect pair.
Jute is produced both in fibers and in strips of different widths. Tape jute insulation 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 from fibers, felt insulation materials (inter-crown felt) are also used for caulking:
Jute interventional insulation consists of 90% jute and 10% flax. But it is better to monitor this ratio, since there is jute felt consisting of 70% jute and 30% flax, which significantly worsens its properties.
Linen felt also called Eurolen or flax wool. It is a needle-punched material made from highly purified flax.
Flax-jute felt consists of jute and flax in a 1:1 ratio.
Fully jute modern insulation materials are considered the best, since they interact perfectly with wood and shrink evenly, while 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
Work on caulking a house is carried out in several stages, this is due to the fact that the timber dries out gradually, the house sinks under its own weight. The largest 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, insulation is laid between the crowns, and after the entire house is erected, the gaps between the beams are filled with caulking material, but not too tightly.
Second caulk is carried out a year and a half after the completion of construction of the house. The house will already have settled, so it is necessary to caulk tightly, leaving no gaps or hanging material.
Third time Caulking work will have to be done again after 5 - 6 years, carefully filling all newly formed gaps and cracks and adding material where it accidentally spilled out or was pulled out by birds.
If it is planned to cover the outside of a timber house with siding, then the third caulking is not performed, but the first two must be completed. There is no need to rush and save on something for which you will later have to pay much more.
Do-it-yourself caulking of a timber house
Konopatka is a very responsible and labor-intensive process, despite some monotony of the operations performed. Not many construction crews agree to do caulking work, they simply don’t know how to do it and are afraid of ruining it, which is why they recommend not caulking at all. We have already discussed why you should not listen to them.
But there are teams and entire organizations that deal with caulking professionally. The price for caulking a timber house depends on the stage of work and amounts to a certain amount per 1 linear meter of each crown. average cost caulking costs 50 - 60 rubles. for 1 m.p. And the caulk corner connections can reach 200 rubles. for 1 m.p. Caulking will be carried out at a separate rate decorative rope(rope), which decorates the appearance of 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 caulk work for 25 rubles. m.p., you should not agree, since the work will be done extremely poorly.
If you want to do all the work yourself, then stock up on patience, material, tools and subsequent information.
How to caulk a timber house with jute
Jute, as a material for insulating a log house, is gaining wild popularity. It is often used in the construction of the house itself.
Before caulking a timber house, you must first properly lay and secure the timber. Insulation is always laid in the inter-crown space with a layer of at least 5 mm. Even if the beam is profiled, jute must be laid between the tenon and groove. But its width depends on the shape of the tongue-and-groove system. The simplest option is when the lower beam has a surface convex with a crescent, and the upper one has the same notch (somewhat reminiscent of a joint of logs), in which case the space between the crowns is completely filled with insulation, and its edges remain hanging 4 - 5 cm on each side. A more complex version of profiled timber, when it is impossible to lay the insulation with a continuous carpet, then it is laid only in the middle, and the external and internal cracks are then caulked separately.
If the house has timber with natural humidity, then the thickness interventional insulation should be 10 - 15 mm.
Important! Caulking must be done 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 is carried out by 4 people simultaneously on 4 walls. This is necessary to ensure that the house does not warp. After all, after caulking is completed, it will rise by several centimeters, from 5 to 15 cm.
Let's consider the option when the insulation hangs 4 - 5 cm between the beams. The caulking technology is very well shown in the video example. Using a caulking tool (tool), the jute is tucked underneath and lightly pushed into the gap. Then it is gently, but more forcefully pushed in the upper part, and finally - in the middle. To push the material inside the crack, use a rubber or wooden hammer (mallet), which is gently hit on the caulk.
If, after the work has been completed, loose cracks are still observed, then additional caulking is performed.
Let's 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 additional caulking.
Usually the gaps between the beams are quite narrow, so this caulking method is used: a rope as thick as the gap is twisted from jute fiber and hammered into the gap with a mallet.
There is another way - “stretching”. Separately taken fibers of jute are laid in 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 hanging, it should be about 5 - 6 cm. Next, take a little more jute, roll it into a ball (roller), which is wrapped in these hanging ends and pushed into the gap.
Important! How can you check whether it’s enough to push the insulation in or if you still need to add a little more? If it fits into the gap between the crowns kitchen knife by 15 mm or less, then the caulking was completed successfully. If the knife goes further, then material should be added.
During education large cracks use the “set” caulking method. Long strands of jute are twisted and rolled into a ball. Loops are then made from the ball and pushed into the cracks until they are filled.
After all caulking work is completed, the house is loaded and, if possible, operated whole year. In winter, it will be possible to check for the presence of cracks using the so-called “hares”. These are pockets of frost on outside walls. If you find them, mark the place, this means that there is a leak here warm air from home. A year to a year and a half after the first caulking, a second caulking is carried out, the house is carefully inspected, insulation is added to those places where it has spilled out or frayed, where the cracks have widened, where the timber has warped, and also in places where there are “hares”.
Only after repeated caulking can you begin external and interior decoration Houses. Even if it assumes 100 mm mineral wool and a ventilated façade.
You can caulk a timber 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 is laid and completely fills the inter-crown space, which is absolutely impossible if the timber has a tongue-and-groove system. The work itself on caulking a house is complex and painstaking, although from the outside it seems painfully simple. If you are not confident in your abilities, invite a specialist.
Caulking a timber house: video - example
Look beautiful wooden houses. They are warm because during construction, insulation is placed between the crowns of the logs. But after shrinkage, cracks may appear different sizes, cracks, which spoil its appearance and make it cold. In addition, cracks can become a place for rot and mold to appear. To prevent this from happening, after the structure shrinks, the log house is caulked with moss or other material.
A house or bathhouse made of logs shrinks in the first 2 years after construction. In the first year, the shrinkage of the log house reaches up to 20 cm. This factor should be taken into account when designing a house. This is due to loss of moisture and drying out.
During shrinkage, loose junctions appear in those places where everything was previously sealed. To eliminate this, resort to caulking. It is necessary to take measures to seal the cracks so that there is no heat loss or drafts. These activities are carried out only after the structure has settled.
Material for sealing cracks
Caulking material
Inter-crown insulation is a material for thermal insulation of seams in wooden houses. Insulation is often made from natural materials, which are distinguished by their environmental friendliness and ability to “breathe”, which provides sound and heat insulation. To fill the cracks, the following materials are used: tow, felt, mosses (red, white). Each has advantages and disadvantages.
| Type of material | Characteristics | Advantages | Flaws |
| Tow | Used for primary caulking, after shrinkage of the house. They are made from flax fiber in 2 types: in bales, rolls (tape). The latter is more convenient for work, better in quality, soft. Before laying, it must be treated with a special antiseptic solution to repel insects that feed on tow fibers and wood. |
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| Jute | They are made from linden wood, and are produced in the form of ropes, fibers, and tapes of different thicknesses. Apply simultaneously for the first, repeated caulking. More often it is brought from abroad. The material is soft and plastic. Ropes are more convenient to use for work carried out after shrinkage. |
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| Moss | The following types of mosses are used: sphagnum, cuckoo flax, swamp red. Natural material, having antiseptic properties. Assembling it yourself late autumn you can save money. After collection, they sort it out, remove all debris, and lightly dry it. Do not dry it too much, otherwise it will break during operation. Before work, the moss must be soaked in a special solution (add 0.5 liters of oil and 0.25 kg of laundry soap to 10 liters of water) to facilitate installation, but it should not be used when it is very wet either. The sphagnum must be fluffed up a little and placed across the log so that its fibers hang down by 50 mm (they are then driven into cracks and crevices). |
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Each owner of a log house independently chooses the type of material, taking into account the quality, financial capabilities, and availability of the material.
Caulking technology
Before caulking, the moss is dried. However, before starting the caulking process itself, it is wetted, otherwise it will crumble in your hands and it will be impossible to do any work with it. Caulking with moss is carried out with special tools: caulking, mallet.
The caulking tool is made from the same wood as the log house. This is done so that the tool and the log have the same hardness upon contact. Then there will be no traces left on the log house. Wooden hammer used to strike the caulk, which makes it possible to push the moss into the gap with force and tightly fill the space.
Caulk with moss begins from the bottom row, passing along the perimeter. This approach avoids distortions. The crown passes completely from the outside to the inside. Before use, “Kukushkin flax” is formed into 100 mm strips, laid parallel to the log, and cracks and cracks are sealed using special tools. White moss Before work, fluff it up a little. The laying is done perpendicular to the log with hanging fibers on both sides of the log by 100 mm, which are then pushed into the gap with tools.
Caulk with moss at a log house - not hard work, but requires care. We must ensure that the house does not warp, that the seams are complete, that the logs do not fall out or tear apart from each other. What is needed in this matter is perseverance, time, and patience.
Putting up a log house from a log or timber is not the whole task. It is also necessary to properly caulk this log house: to seal the gaps between the crowns and the cracks that form when the wood dries out. This is done so that the log house of the bathhouse loses as little heat as possible. The quality of the log house's assembly is determined by how the crowns are laid. It is important not only to cut out the bowls and grooves correctly, but also to lay inter-crown insulation between two rows of logs or beams.
The insulation is installed during the assembly stage of the log house
What it will be - moss, tow or jute - is up to you, but such a layer must be present. When building a log house, you need to lay insulation in two layers:
- on the lower crown so that the edges of the insulation protrude beyond the edges of the bowl by 3-5 cm, the width of the insulation, in general, is taken 5-10 cm more than the width of the bowl;
- Insulation is also placed in the bowl of the upper crown; its edges protrude beyond the bowl by 3-5 cm.
Please note that when using moss or tow, there is no need to “tap” the material. When tapped with a hammer or an ax butt, the moss fibers break and dents form on the wood, which are directed across the fibers. Such damage can lead, in the future, to the development of foci of rotting. It is enough to simply compact the fibers with the palm of your hand, leveling and probing the layer; if you come across large foreign objects (cones or sticks are often found in moss), simply remove them.
Laying moss when assembling a log house
When using tape insulation, you can fix it using construction stapler– damage to wood from staples is minimal, and the material is held securely. It is advisable for two people to lay the “insulated” crowns so that they can take the log from both ends and lower it so as not to move the insulation.
- 1 How to caulk a log bathhouse
- 1.1 Moss
- 1.2 Jute
- 1.3 Tow
- 2 When to caulk a bathhouse
- 3 How much tow do you need for a bathhouse?
- 4 Rules for caulking
How to caulk a log bathhouse
All materials for caulking can be divided into two main categories: natural (tow, hemp, moss, jute, etc.) and industrial sealants. Sealants are applied faster and easier to work with. Usually, to reduce the consumption of sealant, a cord is placed in the gap between the rims, and only then a sealant is applied on top of it, which, when wet, is leveled with a special spatula.
When caulking, it is not appropriate to have a spatula-scalpel at hand. The working part of the tool is made of hardened carbon steel
Synthetic sealants have a number of disadvantages:
- some of them do not tolerate exposure to ultraviolet radiation - when irradiated, they lose their properties, crumble and are blown away by the winds. The problem is solved by strengthening strips that will cover the seams from ultraviolet radiation;
- Some sealants for log houses, when dry, form a monolith, which, when the wood expands/contracts (depending on weather conditions) interferes with the process and contributes to the destruction of adjacent wood fibers. For this reason, it makes sense to use flexible sealants.
Elastic joint sealant for wood from EUROTEX
The video shows how to use Eurotex sealant.
As shown in the video above, you can use a regular tablespoon as a tool to level and remove excess sealant.
If you decide to use one of the sealants, carefully read the instructions and description, make sure that it is compatible with the type of wood from which the log house is built and can be used in your region ( temperature regime) and has necessary qualities.
The use of sealant is justified in the case when it is used to seal caulked cracks: after caulking the log house twice with tow, moss or jute, wait for the log house to completely shrink and acquire operational dimensions, after which a cord is laid in the seams, and then the sealant is applied.
Natural materials for caulking also have their advantages and disadvantages, in addition, each of them requires certain preparation.
The most proven material for caulking a bathhouse is moss. It has been used for centuries. Today, many other materials have appeared, but they have not surpassed moss in terms of characteristics. It is more convenient to work with new materials (especially tape materials). This is undeniable, but the qualities of moss remained unattainable for them. Chief among them is the ability to resist bacteria and high resistance to rotting.
Not aesthetically pleasing, but practical
The moss is first dried and then wetted again before use. This restores elasticity to the stems. The soaked moss is laid out in an even layer so that its ends hang down on both sides of the log/beam. After completing the collection of the log too long stems the moss is trimmed, everything else is tucked in and tucked into the cracks of the log house - the initial caulking of the log house is performed. This is followed, after six months and after a year and a half, by repeated caulking.
Increasingly in construction wooden baths and jute is used in houses. And not just jute fibers, but roll material. Jute fiber has good characteristics: it has good heat-insulating properties, due to the large amount of lignin - a natural resin that serves as a binding element - it is practically not subject to rotting and has low hygroscopicity. Even with high humidity, the jute remains dry to the touch.
Jute insulation can be of several types:
Tow - waste that is generated during primary processing natural fibers. For caulking log houses, tow made from jute, hemp and flax is used. The characteristics of the material and its quality depend on the source raw materials, the degree of purification of the fibers and their length. Construction tow is pressed into square blocks. For use when caulking log houses made of common block a strip of material is pulled out, twisted into a rope and placed into the seam. Combed tow, which is sold in rolls, is more convenient to use.
Tow for a bath
It is inconvenient to work with such material: it is difficult to achieve a uniform layer when used as inter-crown insulation, and for caulking a log house, tow is excessively rigid, which is why it is almost impossible to achieve a dense filling of the seam the first time and you have to periodically re-caulk it. If the choice is between moss and jute tow, then we can definitely say that moss is better for a bath - it has the ability to inhibit the development of putrefactive bacteria and fungi.
When to caulk a bathhouse
The log house is assembled, when is the first time you can caulk a fresh log bathhouse? If the log house was assembled with moss or tow, then remnants of material stick out between the crowns different lengths. In this case, you can perform the initial caulking immediately: trim the overly long fibers, tuck them inward and tuck them into the seams. There is no need to be zealous about this. This is preliminary work, the purpose of which is to remove fibers. But this must be done following the rules of caulking. If the log house is assembled on tape insulation, nothing needs to be done.
Bath after initial caulking
The first “serious” caulking is carried out approximately six months after the collection of the log house. During this time, the logs/beams will lose most of their excess moisture, new cracks will appear, the crowns and corners will basically “sit” in place. At this time, the first caulking is carried out. After this process, you can install doors/windows.
A second caulk will be needed about a year after the first. A year and a half has passed since the construction of the log house, the log house has become stable. Now all seams and cracks are checked, all defects are eliminated. Depending on the material and quality of work, it may be necessary, in another five years, to caulk the seams again. But there have been cases (usually this is the result of the work of “shabashniks”) when caulking errors are corrected for several years in a row. Most often, this need arises if the log house was built without inter-crown insulation.
How much tow do you need for a bath?
Any natural material for caulking, it is compressed many times during installation and a large amount of it can fit into a log house, even with good interventional insulation. No one can say exactly how much tow is needed for a bathhouse: it also depends on what material the log house is assembled from and how the grooves are cut out in the logs. At manual chopping grooves usually go away more material. Also, a sanded log requires more material compared to a rounded one. Less is required for a log house, but even here the amount of tow or moss that will be used to seal the cracks depends on the accuracy of the geometry of the beam and the depth/number of cracks that appear during drying.
Caulking rules
Caulking a log house is not a very difficult task, but it is long and tedious. Everything needs to be done thoroughly and slowly, so it takes a lot of time - it took 10 days to caulk a small 5*4 bathhouse (one worked for 7-8 hours).
The main thing is not to overdo it in the efforts made when hammering in the insulation, which can lead to the log house rising by 15 cm or more.
Rules for caulking a log house:
- You need to start from the bottom crown, moving along the entire perimeter, first from the outside of the building, then caulk the same crown from the inside. And only after that start processing the next crown.
- When caulking, pay attention Special attention at the corners - this is where the most significant gaps are often found.
- At primary caulk, first you need to pick up the hanging material, bend it down and tuck it into the gap. The tool should be used as needed. Perform this operation on a section about a meter long, then move on to the next section.
- In the same area, use caulk and a wooden mallet (sometimes a hammer is used, but the mallet does not knock off your hands so much) to compact the material. You need to hit the caulk until the material begins to spring back. Then move on to the next section.
- After compaction, a gap formed. A piece of insulation is again placed in it. If it is tow, you need to roll it into a rope required thickness or tear off a piece of the required length from the tape. This piece is also hammered with caulk and a mallet until a springy effect appears. Repeat this operation until the gap is completely filled and move on to the next section.
Like every business, caulking requires certain skills. Since there will be more than one such procedure, you will eventually gain skills. As you gain experience, you will notice the mistakes that you made at the beginning of your activity - this will be your chance to eliminate them. Actually, it is not the gods who burn the pots, but it is possible to caulk a log house more or less efficiently even if you have no experience.