Which is better: a profiled bar or a round log for building

Many compatriots are faced with the problem of choosing building materials for the construction of a country house. So, the question is: from what to build houses, from a rounded log or a bar? In this article, we will consider the peculiarities of this and other material under the condition of natural humidity, and determine the advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantages of profiled timber

• Saving of time due to short shrinkage. Both that and other material are subject to shrinkage. Thus, lifting the walls, you need to take a break, during which the building will take the desired shape.

The time required for shrinkage should be regarded as a disadvantage. But if the shrinkage of a log building lasts from 6 months or more, as required by the instruction, then a similar process in buildings of square beams proceeds an order of magnitude faster.

The difference in numerical values ​​of shrinkage of these building materials is explained by the special construction of the profiled bar.

• Lack of cracks. When deciding what is better rounded log or profiled bar, you need to understand that log buildings need caulking iron (sealing the gaps between adjacent logs).

Using larch timber can be saved on a caulking iron, since the presence of a special profile eliminates the possibility of gaps. Moreover, the presence of a characteristic profile on such sawn timber guarantees the absence of drafts in the house.

• There is no cracking tendency. It is obvious that the profiled product is an order of magnitude more profitable and relevant to the rounded counterpart. But do you know which is better: glued laminated timber or rounded log? Profiled glued wood products significantly exceed the log in strength and durability.

After all, wood with a round section, in the process of operation of the finished house, anyway, cracks. The appearance of cracks is the beginning of a destructive process, which is extremely difficult to stop. Timber, due to compensatory cuts, does not crack.

As a result, he always remains an aesthetic building material with the same degree of thermal conductivity.

• No deformation during storage. Long-term storage of rounded wood can cause a screw and longitudinal strain. Especially wrongly harvested wood is subject to such a curvature. That is, an insufficiently dried round tree will surely change its shape after a couple of months of storage.

Important: Profiled lumber may also be deformed if improperly stored. But the degree of curvature of such products is negligible compared to the deformation of the log.

• Low thermal conductivity. When choosing a house from glued lumber or rounded log, keep in mind that the house will be truly warm not from these materials, but from a profiled bar. According to statistics, the thermal conductivity of a profiled bar with a cross section of 200 by 145 mm is equivalent to the characteristics of a rounded log with a diameter of 340 mm.

• Lower cost of the finished house. The use of timber as a building material saves money. Profiled lumber, unlike logs, is less wood consumption and low labor costs. As a result, the price of such a house is slightly lower than the price of a log building.
• Durability. The presence of a special profile allows you to connect adjacent bars almost in a monolithic structure. As a result, moisture does not penetrate the walls - you can watch the video in this article about it. Consequently, the walls will not begin the process of decay. Logs cannot boast of such a profile, and their rounded shape provokes the appearance of excessive moisture between the crowns (also read about the advantages of glued larch timber).

What to choose for construction?

It would seem that everything is extremely clear, since glued lumber surpasses the log in all parameters. But compatriots continue to acquire rounded beams as a building material to this day.

What to prefer?

The advantage of round wood is the specific design of construction objects built using such material. That is, if you plan to build a hut in the style of a native Russian log building, beams with a square section will be inappropriate.

• No cracks. Again, if over time, a house built with its own hands from logs will be covered with characteristic cracks at the ends, this will give the housing design a century-old look.

Note! Perhaps this is one of the few or even the only reason why a modern person who has planned the construction of a country house will prefer this material.

• Экономия сырья. Важным моментом, на который обращают внимание при подборе основного материала для строительства дома, является доступность. Иначе говоря, сырье для производства профилированных пиломатериалов более распространено и доступно, чем сырье для изготовления бревен. Round log – круглое, а потому на его производство должно использоваться дерево с соответствующим диаметром ствола.

The cross-section of a square beam is an order of magnitude smaller than a log. As a result, for the manufacture of profiled timber can be used a large trunk, cut in two, or trunks of thinner trees. Due to the greater availability of raw materials, the price of wooden lumber is more attractive than the cost of logs.

• Выгодная транспортировка. Продолжая тему стоимости стройматериала, необходимо учитывать особенности транспортировки. За счет прямоугольной формы поперечного сечения, пиломатериалы с квадратным сечением компактнее размещается в транспортном средстве. Round log, напротив, за счет круглого сечения, вмещается в аналогичное транспортное средство в меньшем количестве.

Storage features

In addition, during storage, square lumber, as we see in the photo below, takes up little space. That is, you can use a room or area with a smaller area for storing a profiled bar than for storing a log. All this, ultimately, helps to reduce the cost of the finished wooden house.

Features of use

Now a few words about what is more difficult to lay: parts from profiled sawn timber or rounded logs. Any professional related to the construction of wooden houses probably knows that it is an order of magnitude easier to use wood with a quadrilateral section than an analog with a round section.

• The rounded surface, despite the presence of a wide semicircular groove, makes the log "slippery" and inconvenient when laying.
• At the same time, a profiled beam is a product with a flat top and bottom surface. That is why the house of such building materials is going as a Lego designer.

Recommendations for choosing a warmer building material

As already mentioned, timber and logs are characterized by varying degrees of thermal conductivity. Again, different thermal conductivity is inherent in the walls of construction projects erected with the use of these building materials.

As it turns out that the walls of wood exhibit different indicators of thermal conductivity. The thing is in the so-called "thin places", which can be determined by a thermal imager. After analyzing the testimony of this device, we notice that the bridges of cold do not appear anywhere, but in the crowns.

In log walls, the seats are an order of magnitude thinner than the diameter of the cross-section of sawn timber with a circular cross section, and this is guaranteed heat loss. In the walls erected with the use of a rectangular beam, the thickness of the seat and the thickness of the building material itself is equal, and therefore there is practically no heat loss.

Conclusion

So, we conclude on the basis of all the above. What to order for the construction of your house - profiled timber or log? It all depends on how you want to see your house, and what requirements you place on its subsequent operation.

If you need a house that, in all respects, is similar to the village hut of past centuries, then your choice is rounded wood. If you are interested in the rapid construction of a comfortable and energy-efficient construction site, it will be right to choose glued lumber (see also projects of baths from a bar).