CONTENT
- Foundation restoration
- How to update a log house
- Major repairs to the roof of a house
- Major renovation of the house facade
- House interior renovation
- Do-it-yourself restoration and repair of an old wooden house
- Features of the restoration of ancient buildings
- A few words as a conclusion
- Video on the topic of repairing a wooden house
Sooner or later, any building structure begins to require major repairs. This also applies to houses assembled from logs and timber. And it is quite possible that in order to avoid unnecessary work costs, you will have to repair a wooden house on your own.
Floor repair
The rotten floor in a wooden house is being dismantled. A high-quality floor requires the creation of a good screed. Using a level, the screed must be leveled. Next, the concrete must be left for about 1 month to dry.
After some time, you can move on to laying the floor. You can choose any material depending on your financial capabilities. When choosing a laminate, you will first need to lay the underlay. Next, you can lay the laminate sheets, connecting them with locks.
If you plan to make a wooden floor, then creating a screed will not be required. The boards can be nailed to the joists and sanded with a machine. To prevent the floor from absorbing moisture, you should sprinkle expanded clay between the joists.
Foundation restoration
Repairing an old wooden house must begin with an inspection of its foundation. This task is probably one of the most basic. How long it will last will depend on the quality of the work performed.
Foundation repairs begin with a careful inspection and assessment of wear. Based on the results obtained after the inspection, it will be possible to determine what work will be necessary to restore the foundation.
If a strip foundation is installed at the base of the house and over time it begins to collapse, then it can be restored by pouring a new concrete belt, having previously reinforced it. To do this, you need to dig a trench around the house. Holes are punched in the body of the old foundation and new reinforcement is installed in them. The reinforcement bars existing in the old foundation are connected to the newly installed ones. After this, the trench is filled with concrete. It turns out to be a kind of concrete bandage. This design can last for decades.
If the foundation of the house is destroyed unevenly, then this significantly complicates the task of restoring the foundation. In case of uneven destruction, the building begins to collapse on one side.
To restore the base you will have to do the following work:
- It is necessary to remove the furnishings from the house.
- Remove windows and doors.
- Using jacks, the frame is raised to a certain height and placed on pre-prepared supports.
The area of the destroyed foundation must be completely removed. At this place, it is necessary to install new formwork, a reinforcement structure, which must be connected to the already installed one, and all this must be filled with concrete.
Foundation repair
As stated earlier, the foundation can have minor damage and also severe damage. Depending on the degree of wear, a decision is made to choose one type of repair or another. Small chips and cracks in the foundation can be covered with a special solution. Such work will not take much time and effort. If the foundation is significantly worn out, its complete reconstruction will be required.
In a one-story wooden house, you can quickly repair the foundation yourself. This will require screw pile technology. This type of piles can replace any type of foundation along the entire perimeter.
Reconstruction of the foundation begins with raising the structure to a certain height using jacks. A heavily damaged foundation requires dismantling and installing a new one. Using brickwork, you can strengthen a foundation with an average degree of destruction.
Strip structures can be updated by installing formwork and pouring concrete to the foundation. Rotten fittings should not be touched, as it is almost impossible to pull them out.
How to update a log house
Repairing an old wooden house with your own hands should also affect the log house. Over time, the log house also undergoes certain destruction. There are many reasons for this, but we are not talking about them in this case.
Among the main defects of the log house are the following:
- rotting of logs installed in crowns;
- the presence of longitudinal cracks in logs;
- deterioration and rotting of certain areas, for example, located under the eaves.
Repairing a log house may require the use of lifting devices (jacks and additional labor.
To replace rotting crowns you will need several jacks and several assistants. In addition, before starting work it is necessary to prepare logs of similar size. Using jacks, the frame is raised to a certain height, which will allow you to remove the rotted ones and put new ones in their place. Of course, we must not forget about the insulation, which should be located between the logs. If the first crown is being replaced, then it is necessary to replace the waterproofing layer laid before building the house.
In order to get rid of longitudinal cracks that appear in logs, you can use two options:
- Installation of a facade structure that protects logs from water and snow;
- Sealing cracks using various putties, sealants and other similar materials.
Ideally, you can combine these two methods.
To replace a section of log, there is no need to lift the entire frame. To do this, simply cut out the defective area and install a new piece of log in its place.
Stages of tidying up
Restoring an old building is quite a troublesome, but enjoyable task. It is necessary to pay attention to the protective and load-bearing parts, and only then to the decorative parts. First of all, you should conduct a strength test.
Walls
The degree of deterioration of the walls should not be ignored. If they have darkened over time, this does not mean anything. Very often you can see the white core under the dark surface of the log. However, if there is rot there, it must be cut out in whole pieces, along with clean areas, because there is no point in decorating a rotten surface.
Rafter system
Before starting the restoration of an old wooden house in the village, you should also inspect the rafter system for various damages: from time, moisture, biological parasites. The roof sheathing on old log houses must be replaced if 15% of the elements are damaged. In this case, it is necessary to prepare all the load-bearing units in advance, and simply demolish the old sheathing. You can return your home to a second youth if you cover its roof with bright, beautiful tiles or other roofing material.
Foundation
It should be carefully inspected for damage. Restoring an old log house of a wooden house makes no sense without strengthening and strengthening the foundation. If it is not strong enough, its base will receive a strong load, which will lead to damage to the external and internal decoration.
It is recommended to take a small pick and a flashlight and inspect the foundation surfaces from the outside and inside. If whole pieces of the foundation fall off during tapping, it is advisable to invite specialists to assess the capabilities of the load-bearing platform.
Major repairs to the roof of a house
One of the structures that most often requires repair is the roof. Before starting work, it is necessary to inspect the entire roof structure. In this case, you need to have paint on hand. With its help, you need to mark those elements that need to be replaced.
You should also carefully check the condition of the hydraulic and thermal insulation. By the way, it is possible that it will have to be completely replaced. You must be prepared for the fact that in order to access the elements being replaced you will have to dismantle part of the roof.
If defects in the roofing material are detected, it is necessary to take measurements from the damaged areas. Repairing defective areas is only permissible in dry weather.
If the coating has a large amount of damage, then you need to think about replacing it completely.
In addition to the quality of the roofing, it is necessary to find out the condition of the thermal insulation. The fact is that some materials, over decades of use, lose their properties, deteriorate and require replacement.
Roofing work
In an old house, as a rule, the roof is completely dismantled. Before starting work on the roof, you must carefully inspect the rafters and frame. Any element on the roof can be replaced with your own hands and quite easily. If you need to replace the rafters, the beams must first be fixed together, after which work can begin.
The main part of the roof is the Mauerlat. The entire frame rests on it, so all rotten parts should be cut out and replaced with new parts, which should be tightly fastened. The Mauerlat can be completely replaced. This will require replacing its parts around the entire perimeter.
After reconstructing the roof frame, you can begin installing the covering. During roof repairs, it can be insulated with mineral wool.
Major renovation of the house facade
The types and sequence of operations for repairing a façade structure depend entirely on its type. The repair includes operations such as cleaning the surface of the walls and drying them. For exterior decoration, you can use siding or other finishing materials. These structures not only strengthen the facade, but significantly improve the appearance of the house as a whole.
Choosing wood for the interior
The material that will be used directly depends on the purpose of its use, the dimensions of the room and the style direction. Wood must be selected individually. Parquet is best made from oak, as it is characterized by hardness and long service life. If you choose a color scheme, then it is better to give preference to dark shades close to black; black bog oak is best suited. Furniture made from this type of wood will always look interesting, stylish and chic.
Pine is a material with good flexibility and strength; due to its golden texture, it has an interesting appearance and gives off a pleasant aroma that cannot be killed by time or special treatments. This material is characterized by its low price and is best used for making doors or interfloor stairs.
In order to make the space lighter, you can use beech with pink undertones. When heat treated, the wood of this species becomes soft and susceptible to deformation. This property is actively used; bent Viennese furniture is now made from beech. The advantage is a high level of strength and amenability to grinding.
Walnut is another popular type of wood that has received a lot of attention due to its wide color range. Decorative elements made of walnut are always original and interesting; they can be either red or chocolate in color; this feature allows the material to be used in any interior. The only drawback of walnut is that due to its biological properties, the wood begins to darken after a while.
If the house or apartment is made in the Baroque or Rococo style, then it is better to pay attention to the linden tree, the core of which is yellow. The optimal solution would be to use birch, but it is better to use not the usual one for our region, but a special Karelian birch, which has honey tones. This color scheme can complement the interior of both an ordinary house and a huge penthouse.
How can you show off an expensive mahogany tree if you don’t have money for it? You can use an alternative that is cherry. For maximum effect, you need to use tinting impregnation, after which it will be difficult to distinguish the material from the expensive red material, and even impossible for the inexperienced eye. If your financial situation allows, then you can choose the “king” among trees – mahogany. It's pricey, but it's worth it, and the result is a chic design with red flowers that will last for decades.
House interior renovation
Internal repairs of the premises of a wooden house, like other work, must begin with an inspection of the premises. Moreover, when carrying out it, it is necessary to pay special attention to the state of thermal insulation. Floor, walls, ceiling. It is advisable to identify “cold bridges” that could arise over a long period of operation of the building. As they are identified, it is necessary to take measures to eliminate them. It is quite possible that it will be necessary to completely replace the thermal and waterproofing systems that ensure a comfortable stay for residents in the house.
It is possible that the floors will have to be opened. This is necessary to inspect the load-bearing joists and, if necessary, replace them.
Utilities located in the house require a separate discussion. In modern homes, quite complex equipment is increasingly used, which requires constant maintenance. Meanwhile, each unit, for example, a boiler, has its own service life, upon reaching which it must be replaced. This also applies to the water supply and treatment system.
In the process of repairing a wooden house, it is imperative to replace all pipelines and electrical wiring.
After this work is completed, you can begin interior decoration. The homeowner decides how and what materials and finishing methods are based on his tastes and financial situation. The use of new finishing materials will give the rooms a modern style.
Repairing the walls of an old house
Before us, the brick walls of the house were plastered for restoration. In some places the plaster fell off, in some places we tore it off, in some places it sat as if chained and nothing could dislodge it from its place.
We decided that leveling the walls, in our case, was too expensive in terms of finances and labor costs, and it would also steal several centimeters from the walls.
This moment most clearly reflected our approach to repair work: environmental friendliness, efficiency, simplicity.
In the process of restoring a private house, it was decided to clean the walls, apply a thin layer of gypsum plaster and paint with water-based paint. When we started applying the gypsum mixture, we tried to coat the walls with our hands, without a spatula, and it turned out that this way the appearance of the brickwork would be preserved. This made us happy, especially because the vaults that we were unable to save when repairing the windows now delight us with their designs.
The absence of a stereotype about the evenness of walls and the desire not to create problems for ourselves with interior decorative decoration helped us preserve the ancient beauty of our home.
Do-it-yourself restoration and repair of an old wooden house
Owning a new wooden house is the dream of many people, but not everyone can afford it. And in this case, they acquire an old, and sometimes dilapidated, structure. For accommodation in which it is necessary to carry out major repairs and reconstruction of the entire house. By the way, the cost of this amount of work can be equal to the cost of a new house.
All repair work is carried out approximately in the order described above. The main thing is to carefully carry out the most complete inspection of the building. By the way, to carry out this work, you can invite specialists who will check all the structures and make a conclusion about what restoration work needs to be done, inside and outside.
By the way, during the restoration of wooden houses, you can rebuild some rooms or add new ones, for example, arrange an attic room, or add a bath complex.
Of course, such a decision can only be made after a thorough inspection of the house.
Features of the restoration of ancient buildings
There are often cases when people purchase houses with a certain architectural and historical value. In this case, repair and restoration work must be carried out especially carefully.
The matter is significantly complicated by the fact that it is unacceptable to use popular finishing materials, such as siding, to decorate the facades of such buildings.
Restoration of an old wooden house must be carried out according to a pre-drawn plan, deviations from which are unacceptable. There is also no need to rush with deadlines. Particular care must be taken in selecting materials and tools to perform the work. Moreover, some building structural elements will have to be ordered externally. For example, artistic wood carving can be ordered from masters of this craft. By the way, when carrying out restoration work, it makes sense to find old photographs of the house, which may be kept by the former owners of the house.
An old log house is better than two new ones
The proverb is paraphrased, but it perfectly reflects the essence of the issue - a new house from an old log house. Indeed, why bother and fall into ruin if here it is, ready-made housing, you just have to put your hands on it. So, where does restoration begin, and how does the renovation of a darkened and unpresentable structure proceed:
- Foundation inspection. If you start work immediately to improve the appearance, and then it turns out that it is impossible to live in the house due to problems with the foundation, then the point in updating it immediately disappears. So, if a visual inspection reveals significant defects, such as cracks, destruction, dampness, or rolled corners, then they must first be eliminated.
Jacks are used for this. With their help, the log house is raised to a safe height, and the foundation is poured and insulated in a new way. The work is quite responsible and cannot be done without observers and insurers.
- Next, the house from the old log house is carefully put into place and the next stage of putting it in order is thorough sanding. This cannot be done manually using sandpaper. You need a special machine with attachments that allows you to reach the most inaccessible corners of the walls. It is easy to use - changing parts will allow you to grind and seal small cracks and cracks.
By the way, defects along the length of the rims should be taken care of even before you start working with the grinding machine. They are “cemented” with a mixture of sawdust and asbestos. They put it in problem areas, and after complete hardening they get to work.
In addition to asbestos, you can use plaster or wood glue. But such grouting is possible only for small inclusions.
If the defects are significant, then the log house will definitely need to be faced, otherwise the accumulation of moisture in the cracks will subsequently cause it to rot. Sanding work is carried out until a light shade appears.
- After this, the log house is treated with all compounds available in the industry - fire-, bio- and parasitic. It is recommended to do this before caulking; it is advisable to treat the sealant with the same chemicals.
- The actual caulking process itself. To do this, the old seams are freed from the previous material - it most likely represents dust. It is carefully selected from the cracks.
You can use a vacuum cleaner for this purpose - old log houses contain caulking in large quantities, because predecessors carefully took care of the condition of the house and did it at least once every 5-7 years. You need to choose a new seal from the modern materials offered, and not the one that your grandfather used - if he knew what was on sale today, it is unlikely that moss or tow would have been his priority.
- The final stage will be painting. In the understanding of most citizens, this is the application of a colored decorative composition to wood. This is true, but only partly.
This word can also be considered coating as varnishes, glazes, tinting, etc. In a word, everything that specifically will not affect the change in the texture and pattern of wood. But a completely dilapidated house, of course, should either be painted or re-clad.
It is worth considering that the ends of the log house should not be subjected to either decorative or protective treatment. These are peculiar capillaries of the tree through which it breathes. By sealing them, you can deprive yourself of air circulation and the trunk or beam will quickly rot.
This way the question is solved - how to renovate an old log house. The work is simple, except for the foundation, and allows you to use the full potential of imagination and creativity.
How to tidy up old buildings
Cases of beautification of ancient monuments or simply architecturally beautiful houses are not uncommon. The complexity of the process lies in thoroughness - since such a building does not intend to be hidden under siding or anything else. And be careful - wrong actions can lead to irreversible consequences.
For example, too careful sanding can ruin the special grain of the wood or thin the carving to the point of deformation. A few more features of working with an old log house:
- Complete restoration of log houses of ancient houses cannot be rushed. You need to carefully select the tool and appropriate materials.
- It would be nice to look at pictures of such houses when they were young. Surely somewhere in the family archives there are a couple of photographs with the building in the background. Then you can reproduce everything exactly.
- Some elements - carved platbands or special columns can be made to order. But of course, this is only if the owner is not short of money.
Otherwise, ancient log houses are subject to the same treatment as any other. Rather, they need even more different compounds than others.
