Construction Of A Country House: Manufacturing Of A Frame And Truss Structures (Himself A Builder - 4)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

My own builder

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

In the August issue of the magazine, we completed the description of the marking of the support pads and the grooves in them. Events at the construction site continue to evolve.

Frame rigidity

It is necessary to say a few words about the rigidity of the frame. It is provided by the so-called jibs. The jibs must be beaten from the inside of the frame, otherwise they will interfere with subsequent operations (see Fig. 1). Nails are initially nailed and only after the racks are plumb in two planes are they finally achieved. Do not rely on the accuracy of the eye and level - only a plumb line is ideal for accuracy, if, of course, it is used correctly.

Picture 1

You know the cross-section of the racks. Intermediate pillars, with the exception of door and window pillars, are double edged, which significantly saves time.

Between the corner posts along the outer edges we throw a cord and transfer the line to the "okladnik". And when installing intermediate racks, it makes sense to use a cord - then the plane under the sheathing will be perfectly flat, and you will save time when sheathing the frame with boards. In contrast to the corner ones, in the intermediate posts, the upper and lower spikes are in the same plane, and the spikes are made along the entire end of the rack. To mark the grooves, also use the cord and the templates you have (square and level). For intermediate struts, the spike height is quite acceptable within the range of 50-60 mm.

So, all racks, except for the intermediate ones on the short side, are exposed and fixed on temporary jibs. It's time to make the permanent ones. They will create the maximum rigidity of the frame.

From an edged board - it is desirable that it be wider - we will make a template.

We make jibs on it. For greater strength, the lower part of the jib should rest against the rack. In the place of the stop, for maximum fit, make a plane with an ax. Nails of 120-150 mm (depending on the material used) must be driven in at different angles - "anchor". And, of course, the jibs should not protrude beyond the dimensions of the corner posts. With a smaller diameter of the material, it is advisable to move them outward to the boundaries of the outer marking of the corner posts, which will create great convenience when sheathing - from the inside, the difference in cross-section with the corner post will not be difficult to compensate with additional overlays.

The next stage of work will be the alignment of the upper tenons along the cord. To do this, you first need to prepare the workplace, that is, fill horizontal boards or poles along all four walls with an interval of about half a meter - this will facilitate your movement along the frame in any direction and provide access to the desired place. If necessary, on this basis, it will be possible to arrange scaffolding, resting on them walking bridges from improvised material.

Picture 2

Having eliminated the inaccuracy in the spikes along the cord, we remove the dimensions, which we transfer to the already prepared long log. It should be 100 mm longer than the lower one on each side, which will ensure safety from wood chips during installation. If the log is cut into four edges, it will become much lighter and it will be easier to mark the grooves. It is easy for one worker to lift such a bar up, lifting each side in turn.

When putting on the spikes one side of the bar, secure it with a rope from its accidental fall and, accordingly, from possible injury. I have done all these operations alone more than once, but, nevertheless, it is more convenient and safer to do it together. Having done away with one side, we move on to the other and, using the experience gained, we finish the next stage.

Figure 3

Cooking transverse logs. They should also be longer than the lower ones, but in this case by 500 mm on each side, since at the same time they will serve as rafter beams for us. Again, we transfer the dimensions known to us using a plumb line from the bottom marking of the grooves to the upper logs. I clarify that on the intermediate racks, the upper spikes are 100-120 mm in height, and the lower ones are 50-60 mm, but we will determine the support planes of the upper part of the intermediate racks of the short side only after we cut short logs into long ones. It will be enough to hack into each log 20 mm crosswise - as for a Christmas tree (from shift).

The grooves are ready from above and from below - we raise the logs upward in a way already known to you, we cut ourselves down, as mentioned above, and measure the height from the lower log to the upper one. We transfer this distance to the racks (support planes). We carry out marking operations and put the racks in their places. After that, having tied up for insurance, we put the upper logs on the spikes. Having checked the verticals with a plumb line, we beat the jibs. As well as on the lower crown, we carefully drive four staples into the corners. The top harness is ready.

Figure 4

Now you need to prepare five more rafter beams. Their length will also be equal to 4 m. Since the ceiling will be hemmed to the bottom of the rafters, it makes sense to give the beams the following section. It should look like a 5: 7 ratio, in our case it is 100x140 mm. This aspect ratio ensures maximum rigidity of the horizontal beams. Changing the smaller side in an increasing direction will cause the beam to deflect more. And this is the law!

You will not experience any special problems in installing the rafter beams. Everything happens in the same sequence. It makes sense to drop the spirit level along the extreme rafter and correct, if necessary, the errors, then pull the cord along the upper edges of the above rafter and align the other rafter beams along it. You should start with a rafter that closes the partition, then the rest in any order. After aligning with the cord, hammer in two nails with an “anchor” on each side of the beam.

Figure 5

The next step is to put the remaining jibs and move on to the rafters. We will have 7 pairs of them.

Roof selection

Many gardeners, in an effort to save money, make shed roofs on their temporary huts. But this is an apparent economy - it entails a number of problems and, in the end, does not reduce costs, but increases them. I'm not even talking about the fact that rather large useful meters of the second floor are lost, and such roofs are leaking much more often. And it takes time to repair them, and consumables too. I'm not even talking about the fact that the gable roof looks more interesting than the "barn".

Now take a piece of paper "in the box" or, even better, graph paper and draw your building to scale. Try to depict different corners of the roof and settle on the most pleasant to your perception. Imagine how it will look on your wonderful plot among exotic flowers and fruit trees to the envy of enemies and the joy of loved ones!

My recommendations will consist of the following (see Fig. 2). Roofing with roofing felt is short-lived, so later you will still have to cover the roof with a hard roof. Not everyone can work on iron, but slate is a completely different matter. And you can paint it with oil paint of your favorite color. Therefore, the calculation of the roof slope must be carried out based on the standard slate size 1100x1750 - of which 100 mm will go to the side for the overlap, 100 mm - for the overhang, and 100 mm for the sheet joint.

Two ramp sizes will be practical:

1. 3 300 mm,
2. 2,425 mm

In other words, 2 sheets or 1.5 sheets - it's up to you, think for yourself.

On the long side of the roof, the number of sheets of one slope is 28 or 21 sheets. Plus slate nails. Roofing material under the slate must be nailed! Roofing material is not placed under the roofing iron - the iron from the neighborhood with the roofing material rusts very quickly (condensation). You can put roofing material horizontally - then the roof will not leak longer. Roofing material is nailed through a steel strip (splint) not only along the joints, but in the center. Otherwise, it will be heavily rinsed from the wind.

Figure 6

Manufacturing of roof structures

So, you have chosen the desired roof angle and are ready to start making the truss structures. We need to decide: from what material we will make them, what you have. If this is a 40-50 mm edged board, then you can make rafters in one board. If this is an inch, it will be necessary to unite the boards in pairs. And it will be a more durable construction than a solid board. Consider the cheapest option - the rafters will be made of large poles, that is, the material at hand. You have already decided on their length, so let's get down to work directly.

We select from the available material 14 fairly straight conifer poles of quite a decent diameter. We find a flat place on the site and establish the so-called "base". The base is a relatively straight log 4.5-5 m long. We make two saws with a hacksaw with a distance of 4 m between them. Then we throw the cord and draw lines intersecting these saws at right angles. After that, we take up the rafters.

Figure 7

Two pairs (extreme rafters) need to be hewn in two planes. One edging will go under the lathing, and the other - under the trim of the gables. The rest of the rafters are hewn into one edging. Take the size of the blanks with a margin of about 300 mm, the edging should not be wide, so as not to weaken the structure. Depending on the diameter of the material, you will orient yourself according to the situation.

Now all the rafters must be folded in pairs on the lining and secured with the edges down. I offer two options for ridge connections:

1. Groove - thorn
2. Overlay

In the first case, make two washed down with a hacksaw and cut out the washed down with a chisel. In the second case, after washing down, carefully chop off the excess with an ax. In both cases, the cuts are made with a margin of about 100 mm. Having connected the ridge part of the rafters in one of the ways, we put the pair on the base (see Fig. 3). Then, gently tapping with the butt of the ax, we achieve a complete fit of the ridge part, after which we do not completely hammer a nail (70-80 mm) into the joint of the rafters and saw off the excess wood. After that, we restore the desired position of the rafters relative to the base and set aside the size of the rafter leg you have chosen from the ridge. Next, we fix the rafter pair with staples and saw off the excess.

Further options are possible. On the frontal rafters, for the convenience of boarding and, possibly, the device of a small window, a crossbar is cut flush from the outside, the markings for which are made again from the ridge.

This concludes. Next time we will consider operations that will allow us to noticeably grow our "grandiose" structure.

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My own builder:

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6