The space under the roof, which is used as a useful area in the house, is called an attic. Houses with an attic - this is a profitable solution for those who want to save money, because the materials are consumed less than a full-fledged two-story building, and the useful area of the house is the same. That's why attics are so popular. There are many options for solving the attic floor. However, it is not necessary to think that the attic has only positive aspects, this room has its own shortcomings, which we also mention in our article.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of the attic floor is the additional living space in the house
Log house with an attic is not by chance so popular with private developers, because this building has a lot of advantages, among which is the list the following:
- The main advantage of the attic floor is the additional living space in the house. If the roof allows, then the attic can have a height and size of a full-fledged floor. As a result, you will get one or two rooms, from which a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape opens. If the attic is completed with a balcony or terrace, the comfort of staying on the second floor will be much higher.
- A chopped house with a mansard floor allows you to save space on the territory of a suburban area, because in this way you will get maximum useful space with a minimal building area. This solution is ideal for small areas, because it allows you to fit in the house all the necessary facilities.
- With the attic you can easily zonate the space of the house, having arranged a quiet sleeping area on the second floor, and on the first having arranged a drawing room, kitchen and bathrooms.
- To facilitate the construction, the attic floor can be made not from logs, but from lighter wooden structures. For example, you can trim the rack carcass by lining. This in no way will spoil the appearance of the building, and even on the contrary will give the house a special style and architectural expressiveness.
- Since the wood house is perfectly kept warm, the premises under the roof also will not need additional heating in winter, provided that the roofing structures are thoroughly insulated.
- A log building with an attic will cost less than the erection of a full-fledged two-story house. In this case, the savings are achieved due to the fact that on the second floor there is no need to erect side walls, whose functions are performed by the roof. As a result, you can significantly save on materials and foundation of the foundation, because under the lighter walls do not need a massive capital base.
- An additional advantage of such premises is that they can be completed on an existing house, if the bearing capacity of the walls allows it. This option is ideal for families who have increased the number of people living in the house and living space on one floor is simply not enough for a comfortable stay for all members of the family.
- The rapid construction and excellent appearance of the building - additional advantages of using the attic.
Among the cons of the attic floor is worth noting the following:
- The attic needs to be ventilated efficiently, but it must be arranged in such a way as to prevent excessive cooling of the room. Usually, advanced technologies and special diffusion materials are used for this.
- In order to avoid condensation in the roof structure, which will inevitably form in the case of a heated mansard, it is necessary to provide a ventilation gap in the roof cake that will not allow the insulation to dry out.
- Sometimes rooms under the roof need additional lighting. This applies to houses with a large building area and several attic rooms. In this case, the only way out is the arrangement of special attic windows. However, their creation entails a rise in the cost of house construction and additional costs.
- In the overburden there is a so-called "dead zone". This is the floor area in the place where the rafters fall so low that they can not be installed under the furniture and stand in full growth. As a result, the useful area of the room will be less than on the ground floor.
- Beveled ceilings do not always contribute to the creation of a comfortable living space.
- The room needs to be thoroughly insulated and protected from moisture.
- Complete or partial absence of the attic, where you could store a lot of things.
- Not all materials can be used as roofing. From natural tiles it is worth giving up because of its considerable weight. Coatings made of corrugated board and metal are not suitable due to increased noise during rain and hail.
Tip: The ideal cover for a roof with a mansard floor is a soft roll coating that dampens noise well during rain and provides good protection against moisture.
Varieties
Choosing projects of houses from a log with an attic, you should decide in advance with the type of roof, because this depends on the total area of construction and the useful area of the second floor. So, the attic rooms can be arranged under the following types of roofs:
- Shed roof. In this case, one inclined ramp rests on two opposite walls with different heights. This option is the easiest to perform, but there will not be any special savings in the material of the walls, because you will have to make one wall up to the upper mark of supporting the rafters.
- Gable roof - This is a common classic option, ideally suited for the formation of undercoverings. In this case, the roof is formed by two skates, which go in two directions from the ridge. There is an obvious saving on the material of the walls, because you will have to erect only the gables of the house, the roof acts as the rest of the enclosing structures of the upper rooms.
Tip: you will get additional savings on materials if the pediments are made not from logs, but from cheaper wood material.
- Semi-hail and hip roofs. In this case, the roof has a four-stage configuration. By the way, the semi-fine version of the roof is considered more beneficial, because in this case you can arrange two full windows in the end walls. In the case of the installation of a hip roof, the only way to illuminate the under-roofed premises is to equip the attic or dormer windows.
- Broken roofing is a variant of a gable roof, when each of the skates has a fracture that promotes an increase in the overburden space. This is the most suitable option for a roof in case of using the space below it as a living space. So you get the maximum height of the room, and the area of "dead zones" is either completely absent or minimal. However, the installation of such a roof is more complicated and requires additional material consumption.
- Under the dome, pyramidal and cone roof The most difficult thing is to arrange a dwelling. Usually they are used in houses of complex configuration. Arrangement of such a roof is the most difficult and expensive.
Depending on the height and configuration of the roof, there are two types of mansard spaces:
- single-level premises are made under a gable and broken roof. They can have remote consoles to equip a balcony or terrace;
- two-level rooms It is possible to equip under a complex roof with the use of supports of different types and heights.
Important: when selecting a roof skylight it is very important to perform the correct calculation of loads and to select suitable materials.
The desire to sometimes escape from the rhythm of urban life to nature, probably visited every person. Therefore, many are trying to build a holiday home in the suburbs. To live there permanently or to come on weekends, holidays or on vacation.
As practice shows, the feeling of satisfaction from rest is determined not by the size and layout of a private house, the presence of modern and technological adaptations, but rather, its spirit.
Even in a small house 6x6 meters with an attic you can create a unique atmosphere of harmony. Therefore, it is better to lay the idea in the cottage project first.
Definitely, the closest to nature can be called a house, the construction of which used natural materials. The construction of log houses or houses from round logs is on the rise today. What is not surprising, because wood, allows you to create a unique microclimate in the house and ensure a comfortable stay in it at any time of the year.
And that the house does not occupy a lot of space on the site and at the same time meets the needs of the family, its area is increased due to the superstructure. At the same time, some users prefer the second floor, and many build an attic over the house. The latter option is characterized by lower construction costs, less stress on the foundation and a faster work rate. There is also a visual effect, which is that the illusion of the lightness of the whole structure is achieved.
The attic floor, despite the existence of so-called "dead" zones, quickly becomes a favorite place for pastime. There are bedrooms, playrooms or rest rooms. Often the attic has access to the loggia or balcony. Then you can watch the sunset from it or just enjoy peace and quiet.
In general, everyone has his own vision. And show the elegance and uniqueness of suburban construction of some projects of wooden houses with an attic, which are presented in the photo.
The project of a small house made of timber with a mansard 6x6 m
Plan of the first and the attic floor
Examples of projects of wooden houses with an attic
It should be noted that the use of wood during construction does not impose any restrictions on the design of the house. Whatever the consumer sees his future house, it can be built without problems. Of course, you can entrust the development of the project to a professional, or you can, trusting your intuition and having studied several typical projects to create it yourself. The main thing will take care of the proper location of engineering communications, fire safety, and adhere to the basic design rules (compliance with GOST, SNiP, regulations, etc. regulatory documents).
Thus, a well-designed wooden house with an attic, will meet all the requirements of tenants, will be for them the place where they always want to return.
More and more consumers are returning to the origins and traditions of Russian Wooden Architecture, replacing brick and stone houses with log houses or so-called log houses.
Log house with a loft in the form of a sketch of the artist
Positive characteristics of the log house
It is believed that a stone or brick house is much more reliable than a wooden one. With this, one can argue and cite irrefutable arguments in favor of a wooden structure.
As a building material, logs have their drawbacks:
- increased flammability;
- decay of wood, mold and fungi;
- short-lived and fragile in comparison with the stone;
- the high cost of a wooden beam.
So, the tree has increased flammability. But everything is burning. Fires happen in brick and stone houses. Destructive actions of fire destroy everything. When exposure to high temperatures the brick collapses, becomes brittle.
The strength of the masonry is inversely proportional to the duration of the fire. As a result, any structure collapses in a fire. To increase the fire resistance, wooden logs are treated with special substances and means. Modern flame retardant agents can reduce the possibility of burning wood to zero.
The frame with the attic looks very good
In addition, the modern market offers a lot of impregnations, the application of which reduces the ability of the tree to support the combustion process, providing the I group of protection against fire.
The tree is rotting, it's understandable. But it rot in natural conditions. Fungus and mold are formed in a moist environment. With brickwork in wet corners, or if there is dampness, leaks also do not exclude the possibility of mold and fungus.
One can argue about the durability of the wooden structure. Masonry is considered durable. This opinion came from ancient times, when they built stone castles. Just forgot about the thickness of the walls of these stone structures (1.5 m). Modern stone masonry in thickness is much inferior to the ancient, and the quality of building materials has changed much, and therefore not so long-lived.
If we also take into account the quality of the masonry, then the wooden frame is in no way inferior to the line of service to the stone house. There are many examples where wooden log cabins from the Arkhangelsk forest served and serve more than 250 years. And this is without using any chemical processing agents!
The wooden log house is expensive. This opinion is erroneous. Logs for construction you buy cubic meters, and the price is set for 1 m³.
If the brick is also bought with cubic meters, then from 1 m3 of brick, at a thickness of 0.5 m, a wall with dimensions of 2 m х 1 m is obtained, and from 1 m³ of timber, at a thickness of 0.25 m, the wall will be 4 m х 1 m in size. Simple mathematical calculations show the fallacy of opinion about the high cost of wood.
If you take into account that the wooden masonry does not require additional insulation, waterproofing and interior finishing, the final cost will be 25% lower than the masonry made of stone or brick.
In addition, wooden log houses are much warmer than brick, the air exchange in them occurs faster, since the tree breathes. Wood is a building material given to us by nature. The house of the log house is much lighter than the stone, so it decreases, and you can lay down a lightweight version of the basement. For the construction of a log house, a minimum set of tools is required: a saw, an ax, a chisel. A log-house is both ecological cleanliness, and unique design of your dwelling.
Selection of material for the log house
For log cutting, it is best to use coniferous tree species. The log is rounded with the same diameter, this will simplify the production of marking, and the final product will have a symmetrical appearance.
Logs for logs should be chosen very carefully
The second type of building material is a profiled beam. Machined on a special conveyor bar has the exact grooves with which the bars easily and tightly connected, leaving no gaps. Using a profiled beam, you will accelerate the construction process, but the construction will be patterned, not original.
From a profiled beam, you can build any small object. This will help you understand the technology of laying logs and the process of building a log house. It should be taken into account that the construction of a log house is an impossible task for one person. I need a specialist, so as not to spoil the good logs. The proverb "learn from my mistakes" does not work here.
Trimming logs
The most important stage of construction is the processing of log material. Logs are selected, not affected by fungus and mold. First thing it is necessary to remove the bark. In the end, they should get a smooth surface, i.e. you do not trim the log, but sand it, keeping the podkorievuyu shell. The subcore shell is needed not only for appearance, it protects the tree from decay.
The cleaning of logs can be carried out with an ax, an electric drill or a scraper. The use of each type of instrument has its own advantage. So, manual operation by an ax allows to remove a layer about 1 cm thick, thereby ensuring a high level of wood protection from external influences. Using the electric ball, a more modern treatment is obtained.
Scheme of log cleaning for building a log house
Logs come out smooth, smooth, outwardly rounded. The outer layer of wood is preserved, which also has a beneficial effect on the protection of the tree from decay. This processing ensures that the logs fit together to each other.
The scrapers are rarely used for processing. This tool is like a sickle. The wood comes out clean and bright.
Technology of construction of a log house
Before you build a log house, you need to take care of the foundation. When designing a house, consider the presence of an attic space. This exerts an additional load on the foundation, so it is necessary to properly design and take into account everything.
There are several options for cutting logs: in the "paw", in the "cup".
The frame in the "paw" is notable for its economy, it is also called house felling without residues. Logs, with this method of construction, use less. With this method of construction logs do not protrude angles of a log house.
It should be noted that such a technology is much more complicated than cutting a house in a "cup". The useful area of the room, with a similar length of the log, when felling in the "paw", increases. The frame in the "paw" is convenient for mounting the exterior and interior decoration of the house.
Layout of logs for a log house
The disadvantage of the method is the worst heat preservation, the property of the joints to crack over time. Appear blurred cracks, which must be "podklinivat." Otherwise, the structure may lose its integrity and part.
Splitting a house into a "paw" is of two kinds - without a spike and with a spike, i.e. simple and complex. For such cutting it is better to resort to the help of a qualified specialist, otherwise you can to get blown angles, this design is not subject to correction.
House chopping in the "cup" is much more expensive than cutting in the "paw" (5% -10%). But the house, cut down in the "cup", is not only attractive externally, but also has a number of advantages. This house is much warmer than the house, cut down in the "paw". Log house, felled in the "cup" is highly resistant.
This is truly a work of art. When choosing such a method of logging, you do not violate the structure of the wood, thereby prolonging the lines of service at home. Resistant to changes in the environment, to weather conditions is much higher than in a house, cut down in the "paw".
The connection of the logs to the "bowl" can be made by the method of "Russian bowl" and "Canadian bowl". Time shows that the "Canadian bowl" is much more effective than the "Russian bowl". This is due to the presence in the first special sweeps in the area of the cuts.
When the logs shrink, the "Canadian bowl" does not allow large gaps to form, when the logs are sagging, the gaps formed fill up. Even more effective is the log connection method an improved "Canadian chalice" with an additional spike. The presence of a spike plays a big role in the warming of the corners of the house, it ensures the construction is not inflated.
Attic on log house
The advantages of the mansard room on the bridge or any other house said a lot. The attic on the log house looks very effective, this house pleases the eye, fascinates with its unique design.
For erection of an attic on a cross-stone first of all it is necessary to make installation of a rafter system and подстропильной a frame. Next, proceed to install the Mauerlat. Mauerlate system needed to fasten the rafters roof to the walls of the house. In fact, the Mauerlat keeps the entire roof and transfers the load of the formed roof to the walls of the building.
After all the work done, rafters are installed, ridge beams, serving as a support for the rafters. Next, the lath is fastened to the temporary roofing material. The final installation of the roof with insulation, coating, etc. will occur only after the full shrinkage of the log house. After the shrinkage of the log house, internal work is also produced.
The company "Cottage Dreams", focused on the design and construction of houses of wooden buildings for different purposes, offers houses from a log with an attic, which will be ideal for a small family who wants to have a two-level housing at minimal cost.
Advantages of such solutions
In the field of suburban construction of buildings with an attic are in great demand. This is due to their numerous advantages:
- The erection of such a structure will cost much less than a two-story house. After all, do not spend on materials for the walls of the second floor. Despite the additional costs for the roof, the cost of such housing is lower.
- Saving of useful space. The right arrangement will make the attic a comfortable place (sleeping, billiard, etc.).
- You can choose a beautiful project, which they look very attractive and original.
- The possibility of creating interesting solutions for the arrangement, the embodiment of unique design ideas.
Designing houses from a log with an attic
The company "Cottage Dreams" offers ready-made designs of houses from a log with an attic, in our catalog dozens of options are presented, among which you will surely find an option to your liking. But if you want an individual solution, our specialists are ready for your services. You can choose an option with a different layout of the attic, it can be symmetrical or asymmetric rooms. The latter give the structure a special charm.
We note that our team employs talented engineers, designers and designers, thanks to the joint work of which unique projects are being created.
We offer comprehensive services, starting with design and finishing with internal and external arrangement. All stages of construction are under strict quality control, due to the use of an exceptionally high-quality log house, treated with special antifungal and fireproof impregnations, ensures the durability of the future structure. Contact us, and we will build a "hut of your dreams".