Frame houses - buildings are quite comfortable and durable, of course, if their construction was carried out in accordance with existing rules. The design of the frame structure is numerous nodes, fundamental - basic, and auxiliary. Absolutely any of the existing nodes of a frame wooden house during the construction will certainly require special attention: it simply can’t be any trifles. After all, if you fix and join all the elements of such a structure incorrectly, living in a building will not only be not comfortable, but very dangerous for you and your loved ones. Once, from an improperly distributed load, such a house risks simply “falling apart” into pieces.
Knots of a frame house: features
In order for the frame structure to be strong and reliable, all nodes must be performed in absolute accordance with the design documents, drawings. The design of the frame includes three key nodes of the building - this, of course, walls (more precisely, a wall system), ceilings (floors, ceilings), as well as a roofing system. This is the basis of the basics, and without the proper construction of these elements, a long stay in the house will be simply impossible. In addition to the main ones, one cannot but note the additional structural units of the structure. They are places of joining, joining of different parts, elements of the future home - the frame.
Support for the nodal wall system of frame houses - foundation. It can be of various types, most often used:
- slab foundation;
- tape;
- columnar base.
Anchor bolts act as fasteners for wall units. Ordinary racks are fixed to each of the strapping beams. Auxiliary nodes in this case are the lower as well as the upper harnesses. In order to mount the harness, you should use special bolts. The most reliable option with maximum strength is the assembly of the "frame", when the mounting bolts are located in the harness, and the racks are put on them. The installation process of rack beams should be given special attention, because it is these elements that have the bearing function.
Walls: features of corner nodes
When designing the corners, or rather, the corner nodes of the walls of the future structure, it is also important not to make mistakes. If there is no competent connection scheme for such nodes, you will have to spend much more time installing the side and front walls of the building.
To create a frame of the side walls, it is absolutely necessary to provide an additional stand, which will be turned to the corner stand exactly ninety degrees. Thus, it will be possible to qualitatively bandage the frames of the front and side walls. So, the angular connection will become reliable and durable. An undoubted plus is that such a connection makes it possible to form a good internal corner: accordingly, the sheathing of the building from the inside with plywood, drywall or other finishing materials in the sheets will be simple and convenient.
Pay attention to the most important detail: the construction of the wall (supporting) of your future building must certainly be of frame type. The dimensions of the uprights must certainly be observed in accordance with the existing project; the same requirement will be justly presented to the gaps between the racks. If we are talking about the strengthening of load-bearing racks, then it is produced, as a rule, by plywood, chipboard.
Docking the foundation and walls
What is the best way to complete the assembly of the walls and the base of your frame? Beams can be placed on the support beam either perpendicularly or parallel to the walls. At the level of the beam, the beams can be located on anchors or on the suspension, perpendicular to the wall. The roof, as well as the walls of the frames, have a node represented by the racks. These racks should be positioned at right angles to the wall surface. You can also arrange them parallel to the wall, on the gable of the roof, as well as in partitions (internal).
As for the beams supporting the attic, they are made of several elements. If the coating on them with reinforcement, you can install parallel to the walls.
The outer corners of the walls of the frame are composed of at least a couple of racks. The corner elements of the walls, as well as the points of their intersection, will thus become a support for the external and internal edges of the floors. The walls will be tied with the help of boards whose thickness exceeds 4 centimeters. The width of these boards is similar to the width of the supporting racks in the main frame of the structure. The lower binding boards are available in any structural part of the building, and in the outer wall they will protrude above the support a maximum of one third of the total width of the binding.
Upper binding of frame-type buildings
In the event that the lintels and walls are fastened using special wooden plates or high-strength steel plates, it is quite possible to allow the absence of an upper binding over the opening with jumpers. The strapping itself is formed from a pair of boards. If there are openings on the wall for future window or door structures, a jumper is already provided, which will form one assembly with the strapping.
The design of the frame implies that in the upper harness the joints of the boards are located above the central part of the uprights (installation - staggered). To fix the elements, nails are used at least 6 cm long. Each end of the upper trim boards is fixed with two nails. The rack is nailed to the harness, marking is made with the location of the first rack. It is advisable to put the mark on two boards at once.
It is important to correctly calculate the distance between the racks, which is determined based on the dimensions of the plywood sheet (the size of the standard sheet is 1525 by 1525 mm).
For standard sheet material, the distance between the racks is 380 mm. Where there will be window openings and door structures, mark the places of the main pillars, as well as the elements that will support the jumpers. It is absolutely necessary to include the obtained distances in the design of the frame building: it is important that the distances between the fundamental racks are equal.
Proper installation of openings with jumpers is a guarantee that all loads will be correctly distributed and the building will last a long time.
The bottom harness assembly is the place where the harnesses will be attached to the base of the house. Docking of elements is carried out using clamps or special foundation fasteners (bolts). Before laying the bars, provide high-quality waterproofing of the joints. There is another knot in the design of the lower harness - these are the angles at which the bars will dock with each other. Docking is performed in one of two traditional ways: “in half a tree” or “in a paw”. In order for the connection to be strong, you should take special metal corners or use bolts.
Ceiling and floor beams: what to consider during installation?
Floor joists should have support in the strapping beam and their installation is carried out with a pre-calculated step. Ceiling beams are also installed. As for the racks, then in the frame buildings are placed, first of all, vertical corner racks, and after them - intermediate. There are several nodes here:
- corners, in places where vertical racks meet with the upper harness and the lower;
- connection of strapping beams and racks.
In order for the vertical posts to be fixed securely in the corners, grooves are made and metal corners are additionally fixed. By analogy, the intermediate racks are mounted. Equally the bars of the upper and lower harness will be fixed (the joints are the racks of the frame structure and the corners).
Additional "connections" are important for those who seek to make the house as reliable as possible. Vertical and diagonal supports are the connecting elements with which the entire frame construction receives additional strength. But this method is not always used. More often, the construction of frame structures suggests that for reinforcement it turns out to be enough to sheathe the frame with OSB plates.
Rafter system
A significant number of nodes will also consist of the rafters of frame buildings. This is in particular:
- places where the rafters are based on a ridge run;
- places where the rafters make support on the bar of the upper harness;
- place of joining of a crossbar and rafters;
- the junction of the frame lattice and rafter legs;
- the joint of the building counter-battens and its battens.
Briefly about each node we can say the following:
The skate rafters dock in two ways - overlap or butt. In order to fix the rafters to the bars of the upper strapping, it is necessary to carry out the corresponding sizes of cutting on them. As for crossbars and other types of supports, their role, as a rule, can be played by bars or boards. The bars of the counter-lattice should be installed with a step similar to that with which the rafter legs will be mounted. The lathing of the frame building is both continuous and sparse, it depends on what the roof structure is and, of course, on the type of future roofing material.
With knowledge of what the design of the nodes of a frame building should be, such a housing can be built with your own hands. The use of high-quality wood and other necessary materials, compliance with all standards and technologies is the guarantee that your residential building will be functional, reliable and of high quality!