Good to know » Wood varieties that do not rot
Only at the specialized larch warehouse “Les-Pro” the best prices for the following products:
- Oil for external and internal works
- Fasteners
- Floor board
- Planken beveled
- Planken straight
- Lining calm
See offers in our store.
Our prices may interest you! Trees do not react the same to moisture. Most rocks rot and collapse when exposed to water or high humidity. However, there are coniferous and deciduous species that are most resistant to moisture and are therefore extremely sought after and valuable.
Which tree is the best?
The hardest woods
- White acacia is included in the rating of the most durable trees
- Brazilian cherry is not only durable, but also a beautiful tree.
- Durable amaranth tree has an unusual color
- Oak has strong and beautiful wood
- Schmidt birch is called ironwood due to its strength.
- Brazilian cherry parquet and furniture
Interesting materials:
How much is 300 ml of milk in glasses? How much is 800 grams of flour? What is two-fifths? How much will 101 roses cost in Moscow? How much will a house made of aerated concrete cost? How much will it cost to change your last and middle name? How much will one hundred and one roses cost? How much will motorcycle insurance cost? How much will it cost to euthanize a cat? How many would there be?
Yew
The conifer is native to the United States but was developed in Europe and Africa. It is the European and North African yews that are considered the most durable. The wood has high density and hardness. According to the European standard EC 350-2:1994, yew is a resistant species, as are oak, acacia, chestnut and others.
Products made from yew are well polished and polished, but difficult to process. Yew is widely used in carpentry workshops and as a finishing material.
The properties of yew wood depend on the place of growth. The densest yew grows in the Primorsky Territory (density indicator 812 kg/m3). On average, the density of wood is 640-810 kg/m3.
The only difficulty in processing yew wood is the drying process. Firstly, the wood dries out a lot. Secondly, it cracks and deforms. However, in trees with higher densities, these disadvantages are weakly manifested. The higher the density, the calmer the wood behaves when drying.
Yew has unsurpassed bending ability. It cannot be compared with other breeds on this indicator. He's the best specimen.
High resistance to rot makes the material in demand for construction and finishing work.
Pine bathhouse: pros and cons
Pine wood has a large amount of resins. A plus is the presence of phytoncides, which, when heated, are released into the air and have an antibacterial and general health effect.
One of the disadvantages is the stuffiness in the steam room during bathing procedures. Even when heated, the resin is released outward, which becomes a frequent cause of sticking or burns on the skin of bath attendants.
As for pine lumber, it is of higher quality than aspen, because only every 20th piece is unsuitable for construction. Therefore, the construction of a bathhouse from coniferous trees will be more economical in terms of budget. Also among the advantages is the possibility of harvesting timber at any time of the year and simple debarking.
Since pine trees are not as “wet”, during the shrinkage period there is less likelihood of logs cracking.
The conifer itself looks quite aesthetically pleasing, so it does not require additional processing to give it a decorative appearance.
But due to the fact that the density after shrinkage is not as high as in the case of aspen log cabins, pine log houses require additional treatment to protect them from moisture and pests. It is also necessary to carry out regular inspections to determine the need to replace the logs of the log house.
When choosing whether a bathhouse will be made of aspen or pine, you should focus on your budget, the possibility of pre-ordering and your own preferences.
You also need to take into account the climatic characteristics of the area where the log house will be built and the characteristics of the work of construction companies in your region.
Source
Wood materials used in the construction of a house.
When building houses, various wood products are used for the construction of enclosing structures and their cladding - these can be solid logs or lumber made from them - boards, beams, slats, etc.
To have an idea of what wood materials are on the market and in what area of construction they are used, their main varieties will be discussed below:
Construction of a log house from handmade logs.
Mechanical or handmade logs are a building material for the construction of enclosing load-bearing structures. Logs treated with these methods are more durable in structures not protected by a facade than their rounded counterparts, since the natural protective layer located directly under the tree bark is not removed from them. But working with such logs is more difficult, since their “geometry” can “dance” a little in one direction or another.
Structure made of rounded logs
The rounded log has an ideal geometry, which is achieved thanks to special processing. During the rolling process, several top layers are removed from the product, which reduces the protective properties of the building material. Therefore, such products require mandatory impregnation with antiseptic primer solutions. This material has a more aesthetic appearance and is more expensive than conventional logs.
Calibrated logs
Calibrated logs - the entire batch of material has the same diameter. Unlike the products described above, calibrated logs have exactly the same diameter. To build a log house for permanent residence, the calibrated log must have a diameter of at least 250 mm, otherwise the structure will have to be additionally insulated. Most often, after rolling such logs at the factory, a longitudinal intercrown groove is immediately selected (as shown in the illustration above). Solid Logs - These lumbers, usually cut from the core of a log, can be rectangular or square in a variety of sizes.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Massive timber
Solid wood can be divided into three subtypes - these are products of natural moisture with a regular and profiled cross-section, as well as profiled ones that have been dried in special chambers.
Untreated wood with natural moisture has flat surfaces, and profiled products have longitudinal grooves to facilitate their joining when building walls.
It is impossible to immediately build a house from this material, since it requires time for atmospheric drying, during which the wood may crack and warp.
From timber without a profile, you can build the walls of a paved structure or for the frame of a frame house. It is also used in the construction of a rafter system, for example, a mauerlat, beds, racks, etc.
Dried profiled timber is the best option for building walls, but it has a higher cost.
The minimum cross-sectional size of wood intended for walls must be at least 150 ÷ 200 mm. Otherwise, additional thermal insulation will be required to ensure comfortable living in the house.
Glued laminated timber
Glued laminated timber is a prefabricated structure consisting of 3 ÷ 5 panels glued together under pressure. The product is then processed and profiled.
These products do not deform or crack to their full depth, since the board is dried in a special chamber before gluing, in which the optimal moisture content of the wood is achieved.
In addition, laminated timber, unlike solid wood, can have a very large cross-section, which makes it possible to build walls that do not require additional thermal insulation. But, however, the cost of glued profiled timber may seem terribly high.
Carriage
Carriage is lumber that is a cross between a block and a log. It is made by cutting out two sides of a large log. So, the cart can be called a log with two flat side surfaces.
The carriage can also be purchased without drying or already fully prepared for construction. Of course, material that has undergone special drying will cost much more.
Board
A board is lumber that can have a standard length corresponding to a log (usually 6 meters), a thickness of up to 100 mm and a width of twice or more thickness.
Boards are used in the construction of a house at all stages and in a variety of areas.
This is a rafter system, floor beams, logs, cladding of frames, floors, ceilings, production of lining for decorative external and internal decoration. Boards are also often used as support material.
The board can be dried and processed like logs and timber, or it can have natural moisture. Undried boards can only be used for preparatory work, for example, when constructing formwork for the foundation.
Wooden walls
For wall decoration, wooden lining, laminated veneer lumber, solid wood, and veneered plywood boards are used. When using solid wood or lining, a small gap is left between them and the wall for ventilation. Otherwise, the tree will be susceptible to fungal infection. To prevent this from happening, the wall panels are treated in the same way as the floor covering - they are treated before and after installation.
Veneered moisture-resistant plywood is the most convenient material for installation and use. It is resistant to moisture, does not deform and can either be glued onto plaster or attached with self-tapping screws to a plasterboard wall (the plasterboard must also be moisture resistant). During installation, elements of different sizes can be used, and combinations with stone and tiles are also possible.
ABOUT ASPEN AS A BUILDING MATERIAL.
The properties of aspen are varied, but as a specialist in this industry, I am only interested in construction properties. This will be discussed in this article.
Starting to describe and give characteristics of aspen as a building material (edged boards, timber), I will begin with the fact that many builders who build wooden houses do not like and try to avoid this type of wood, because aspen has a number of negative properties. The negative properties are as follows:
As a rule, this type of wood grows in the central zone of the Russian Federation in swampy areas, or in areas where there is a lot of moisture. Hence, aspen has very high humidity and, as a rule, in most cases, a rotten texture (core). Select 1 for sawing? grading aspen is very difficult, because out of ten trees only one is not rotten and is ready for sawing and further processing. A cube of freshly sawn edged boards and timber weighs 1:1 or 1 m3 = 1000 kg and is very heavy when loaded. This becomes especially obvious when loading timber, say 150x150x6000mm. The vices of aspen do not end there, but are just beginning.
Properties of aspen edged boards:
* the material is very durable, and when dry it practically has the properties of concrete (monolith). With age, this material only gains weight, i.e. it becomes stronger. Anyone who has worked with dry aspen can tell you how often you need to sharpen a chainsaw chain (it gets stuck in the dense texture of the wood, the chips are very large and fly off in flakes the size of popcorn), how difficult it is to work with an ax or hammer. That is why selected, large, dry aspen was used in the manufacture of interfloor ceilings and roof trusses.
* the material is not afraid of moisture, and being in a humid environment is not subject to rotting; in addition, once in a natural dry environment, it restores all its properties.
Here is a striking example: I had aspen boards laid in the lower rows of the stack almost on the ground itself and lay for about 2 years in the open air. I couldn’t get to them due to the fact that the goods are constantly renewed. Having taken them out and laid them out in the sun, they turned white and took on the same shade as they were when they were brought to me. That is why it is used to make tables, chairs, benches, wells, and flooring that will be located in the open air all year round.
* very cheap, due to its widespread growth. At the moment, the price for 1 m3 of ordinary edged aspen boards in Moscow is 3900-4200 rubles, while pine needles do not exceed 5500 rubles. for 1 m3. Mainly used for rough work, formwork, scaffolding, subflooring. Selected aspen is very expensive and is probably not worth comparing with pine needles.
* aspen firewood is used as a chimney cleaner. That is, they remove the soot. And they are often or usually mixed with birch fagots.
Based on the above, I strongly recommend that the first crowns of a log house (timber or chopped log) be made from aspen. It is expensive, and it will take a lot of time to find the right aspen in sufficient quantities, but it is necessary, because this house will outlive you and will go to your children without major repairs.
Source
Areas of application of different types of wood.
According to their purpose, all wooden building materials are divided into finishing and general construction materials. The latter are intended for enclosing and overlapping structures, as well as other loaded building elements. Finishing materials are used to decorate the surface.
From the information presented above about tree species, it is clearly seen that they differ in their technical and operational characteristics. Therefore, almost always, when building a house, several types of wood are used, each of which is best suited for a specific construction site.
- Pine is excellent for the construction of enclosing structures.
- Spruce beams are often used to make floor beams, elements of the rafter system, flooring, and ceiling cladding. The unique properties of larch even make it possible to strengthen the banks of tanks and install walkways and pillars.
- Larch is used for laying the lower edges of the house, as it has high moisture resistance. In addition, larch trunks are used for pile foundations, even for structures built above water, such as bridges or supports, as well as for strengthening the banks of reservoirs.
- Oak is most often used for windows, doors and openings. In addition, oak can be used for both interior walls and floors.
- Maple, basswood and alder are used for carpentry and carpentry due to their flexible structure. For example, this wood is used to make trays or carved cornices.
- Birch or alder is used for interior decoration. The textured pattern and color shades of alder wood allow it to be used to imitate more valuable types of wood.
What is the best way to treat wood against rotting?
copper sulfate; used machine oil; sulfuric acid in combination with potassium dichromate; compositions of boric acid, water and salt.
Interesting materials:
Who is Bendy and the Ink Machine? Who is an electronic computer operator? Who patented the washing machine? Where to go if your car is taken by a tow truck? Where can I send a photo of a car on the lawn? Where to go from Krasnoyarsk by car for the weekend? Where to put a dishwasher if there is no space? Where do socks go from the washing machine? Where to put Vanish in the car? Where to insert tablets for Bosch dishwashers?
Fernambuc
The tree grows in Brazil and is interesting not only for its high resistance to decay, but also for its color change when exposed to air. Today, billiard cues, musical instruments, and conductor's batons are made from fernamboo.
Like larch, fernambuco wood is difficult to process, as it contains a large amount of resins. You need to make the cut as quickly as possible, since the wood almost immediately begins to crack and dry out.
If the material is properly dried, it will not deform and will retain its strength. The interesting texture of wood has made it popular for decoration.
The density of wood is 600-650 kg/m3. It is used in furniture production and shipbuilding.
Features of choosing a tree.
General recommendations for choosing materials.
Wood grown in northern climates is considered the highest quality material for building a house. This is due to the fact that initially it has low humidity due to the natural characteristics of the regions where summers are short and quite cold. In this regard, the increase in the diameter of the wood occurs more slowly, creating a high density of the structure, due to which the material acquires excellent strength, moisture resistance and durability.
If you look at a cut of a tree grown in such conditions, you will find that it has a large number of tightly compressed annual rings. When purchasing a piece of wood, a carriage or a board, the annual rings and their position are clearly visible at the end of the product.
When inspecting lumber, it is necessary to keep in mind that there are several types of lumber, the most important of which are transverse, radial (cut along the log through the core) and tangential (cut along the edge of the log, along the grain or at one angle to the core).
With a tangential cut, the greater the angle of inclination of the cut relative to the core, the greater the distance between the growth rings. This type of cut is often made for blanks for decorative elements, when it is necessary to emphasize the beauty of the textured wood pattern.
An important criterion when choosing a wooden building material is its humidity, which should not exceed 22% for both the selected lumber and the first, second and even third grade.
This optimal residual moisture parameter is achieved through artificial drying or long-term storage of the material in a well-ventilated place and appropriate storage.
Products made from recently sawn wood can be unpredictable - when drying, they can begin to warp, change linear dimensions and crack. Therefore, they cannot be used for construction without achieving the required humidity level.
The moisture content of the lumber used to build a house should not exceed 22%. Of course it's better and lower.
After studying this table, you can see how much the density of wood decreases as it dries, and you can also imagine how the walls of the building shrink.
If you plan to build a house from chopped logs or a rod of natural moisture, then you should immediately remember that the house will be ready for living only at the end of the second season after installing the log house, since it must stand and shrink. If you hastily install windows and doors, as well as install ceilings and lay floors, without waiting for the walls to shrink, gaps will appear between the floorboards, as well as between the walls and window and door frames. Accordingly, many work steps will have to be repeated.
Provided that there is no possibility or desire to delay construction and wait for the walls to shrink, then it is necessary to purchase seasoned and treated wood or laminated veneer lumber with a moisture content of 12 ÷ 15%. Lumber that has undergone special drying or, like laminated veneer lumber, also heat-treated, is minimally hygroscopic, which expands the possibilities of their use and also increases their service life.
When purchasing lumber for construction, you need to pay attention to the grade, residual moisture and appearance of the products.
Humidity is usually determined using a special device - a moisture meter. If the materials were purchased from a bona fide seller, he himself will offer to check the quality of the wood.
Conscientious wood sellers will be sure to demonstrate to the buyer the degree of residual moisture in the lumber they offer.
In the same case, if the seller did not provide such an opportunity, then you can try to evaluate the lumber by sound. When you tap on wood, dry products sound loud, and products with high humidity sound dull.
Another nuance that professional builders advise you to pay attention to is the time of year when the forest was cut down.
The best characteristics are always those obtained from trees cut down in winter.
The best option for building a house is timber harvested in winter. There are a number of reasons for this:
- In winter, the forest is always drier, since there is practically no sap flow in the canals of tree trunks.
- After the trees are cut down, their trunks are placed on frozen ground covered with snow. Thus, they remain clean, and soil moisture is not able to saturate the wood structure.
- By the way, it is better to build a log house in winter, because during this period the air humidity is low and rain is unlikely.
Important!
How lumber sellers deceive buyers
* The most common deception is underestimating the width of the board. Let's say you buy a lining 95 millimeters wide. In fact, it turns out to be only 85 millimeters. The seller proves the opposite, and in front of you measures the width of the board along with the tenon - it turns out 95. But the tenon cannot be counted when determining the size of the board, it does not add usable space to the buyer, but allows the seller to make money.
* Another trick of sellers is that they can determine the grade of the board at their discretion. This product is not subject to mandatory certification, and everything depends on the conscientiousness of the sellers themselves. And it turns out: the same variety, taken from some sellers, looks perfect, but from others - with many cracked knots.
Plot
"House. Garden. Vegetable garden" Features and secrets of gardening in the Middle Urals.
Source
Floor board
– Why do tongue and groove floor boards come in different thicknesses and widths? How to choose them correctly?
– If the subfloor is already laid from edged boards, then you can put the thinnest tongue-and-groove floor board with a thickness of 27 millimeters on top, because in this case there is no point in buying a thicker one. The most popular flooring board, due to its versatility, is 35 millimeters thick. The width of the floor boards is also different, some are wide - 135 millimeters, some are narrower. Often they take a wide board, although a narrow one is best for the floor. I’ll tell you a secret: a narrow board shrinks less, which is why professionals choose it.
Larch
This breed can withstand the harshest operating conditions and is distinguished by the highest reliability and durability. Everyone knows the resistance of larch to moisture. It literally turns to stone when exposed to water. Therefore, larch has long been used for underwater piles, shipbuilding and exterior decoration. Larch log houses have been standing for hundreds of years; over time, their appearance and properties do not change; it only becomes difficult to make repairs inside the house.
According to the European standard EN 350-2: 1994, larch belongs to the group of very rot-resistant species. Plus, larch logs do not turn blue, since the trunk has a thin part - sapwood (only 5 cm), which is easily cut off during rounding. The main part of the trunk is the core, hence the resistance to decay, hardness and lack of blue color when exposed to moisture and sunlight.
The strength of wood is 109 units on the Brinell scale. Larch is 35% superior to pine in terms of resistance to bending and chipping, and its end hardness is 63% higher.
Shelf board
– A shelf is an attribute of any bathhouse; the boards on it should not burn or release resin. What type of wood should I choose for it?
– Wealthy buyers use boards made from African abash wood for these purposes. It has a porous structure, it does not heat up, but it is expensive - 380 rubles per linear meter, a 2.5 meter board will cost almost a thousand rubles. And you need a dozen or more of these. Linden is also suitable for these purposes, and aspen is a budget option.
Properties of some tree species
So, our traditional species for building a bathhouse or sauna are pine, spruce, larch, Siberian cedar, aspen, linden, and birch. Each tree has its own disadvantages and advantages. The range of wood and building materials market today is extremely diverse.
To understand it and choose exactly what you need, we bring to your attention a brief description of the properties of a variety of tree species. At the same time, their features, weaknesses and strengths, order of preference (that is, which of them is considered the most suitable for the construction of baths and saunas) and so on will be indicated.
Basic properties of wood
All breeds are grouped into three groups:
- ✔ With a resinous smell.
- ✔ With a pleasant smell.
- ✔ With a slight odor or no odor.
Norway spruce
Traditional wood for baths and saunas, with an almost white core, with a not very strong, but pleasant resinous odor. Quite resistant to splitting and rotting. Disadvantages: presence of resin pockets. Spruce is often sold together with fir; it is easy to distinguish them, since fir has an unpleasant odor.
Aspen bathhouse: pros and cons
Aspen is a specific tree; it can be used to build a log steam room. But before starting work, you need to familiarize yourself with the disadvantages of this breed:
Despite its negative qualities, aspen has a number of undeniable advantages, which contributes to stable demand for building materials:
Pine for log bathhouses
An essential characteristic of pine logs is a low degree of deformation and minimal cracking during drying. A significant disadvantage of wood is its high susceptibility to putrefactive processes and infection not only by fungi, but also by wood parasites. A characteristic feature is also the change in color of the tree cut: the initially yellow-pink tint becomes brown.
Pine is popular as a building material for baths due to its availability in almost every region and its relatively low cost.
Comparative characteristics of aspen and pine
When choosing a material for constructing a wooden bath, the following points should be taken into account:
What to choose for building a log house? Each person has their own preferences, plans and financial capabilities. To achieve what you want and create inner harmony, you should focus on personal feelings. One person likes the fresh coniferous aroma of pine, while another likes the sound of dry aspen. Experienced experts recommend using different types of wood in the construction of log houses for interior and exterior work.
Source
The paradox of stained wood: why it does not rot in water and can last 500 years
Stained wood, as you know, costs several times more than regular wood. But what is so valuable in a tree trunk that has lain in water for 50, 100 or 500 years? And why does wood, when in water, not succumb to rotting processes, as happens to it on land?
Today it is customary to call oil black gold, but in the pre-industrial era this was the name given to bog oak - a valuable building material from which durable houses were built. Although even today, among professional woodworkers, bog oak wood is called black gold.
Moisture-resistant wood species
If you decide to purchase softwood lumber, the most inexpensive option is pine. This fast-growing and beautiful tree is well protected from water, but it also has a drawback: softness. Pine boards are very easy to scratch, so it is best used for walls, not floors. Lumber from spruce, larch and cedar will cost a little more. Larch wood is especially popular, because in terms of moisture resistance it is significantly ahead of other species.
Siberian larch is one of the few trees that only benefit from contact with water (among deciduous trees, oak has the same property). If you make a bathroom floor from this wood, it is unlikely to require replacement within the next 50-60 years. Sometimes larch floors last for more than a century, and the boards become stronger and stronger.
If the construction project involves the use of larch, additional protection of the wood from moisture is unlikely to be required. However, you can use impregnations if you are going to do the exterior decoration of the house: the wood should be protected from ultraviolet radiation.
