Assemble a frame house yourself. Construction on an affordable price or a frame house with your own hands

The construction of frame houses came to us from abroad. These easily erected structures are the basis for the construction of country houses and cottages in Scandinavia and a number of European countries. The basis of the construction technology is assembled frames made of wood or metal profiles; mineral wool and basalt insulation are used for insulation. The wall takes on a finished look after it is covered with various slabs, for example, DSP. The final coating is already applied to these slabs.

Which frame to choose - metal or wood?

As a material for the frame, new dried timber of various sections, made of coniferous trees, is used.


Undoubtedly, wood has a number of properties that give it advantages over stone and metal - this is the ability to breathe, and much more. But at the same time, wood has disadvantages; without appropriate treatment, it is prone to the appearance of fungus or mold; in addition, if a number of conditions are met, the possibility of the appearance of strains of harmful microorganisms arises.

All of these factors lead to the fact that some developers prefer frame structures made of metal. The metal profile has a zinc coating, which can guarantee long-term protection against corrosion. In addition, the necessary perforation has already been prepared on the metal profile for frame house construction.

The difference between frame housing construction and environmental friendliness. Only natural wood and the possibility of using natural insulation.

In addition, a frame house can be built without the help of a large team.

Now it is believed that a frame-panel house can only be a country house. However, the experience of many European countries, for example, Swedish or German technology, tells us about the successful possibility of using a frame house in winter and summer for. Reviews also confirm this.

So, let's start building a house with step-by-step, step-by-step instructions. We hope they help you.

Preparatory work


Buying a frame house is not difficult; you just need to contact a specialized company that sells such products or, having developed a project yourself, build your own home. The order of construction work can be displayed in the following list:

  • Research;
  • Design;
  • Construction of the foundation;
  • Construction of a box, roof;
  • Insulation, finishing work and arrangement of engineering systems.

At the first two stages, the possibility of building a house in this place is clarified. If this is possible, then the type of foundation and its design are determined. As a result of this work, a specification and estimate appear, which contains a list of materials and tools, their estimated cost. Before starting all this preparatory work, the developer must draw up technical specifications for the future home.

Laying a columnar foundation


Depending on the condition of the soil and the mass of the future house, the developer determines the type of foundation. Practice shows that any type of foundation can be used - a foundation on screw piles, or a columnar one. When building a columnar foundation, you must have at least an approximate drawing of the location of the walls.

The essence of this foundation is that the pillars will be placed in the corners of the building and in places of maximum load on the structure. For this type of foundation, concrete and brick are used.

Before starting work, it is necessary to mark the location of the pillars.

After it has been carried out and quality checked, you can begin to manufacture the pillars themselves. For this, you can use separate formwork, or you can arrange their production directly on the site.


The first step is to make a pole support, it is called a shoe. Look at the photo, it shows a schematic diagram of a pile with a shoe. Its dimensions are up to 30 cm in height and 25–30 cm in cross-section. Its design includes a reinforcing mesh, which is located parallel to the surface of the earth; several vertical reinforcing bars can be installed - they will serve as the basis for the pillar. After the shoe has hardened, the main part of the foundation column can be made. To do this, you can use either a piece of pipe or build a wooden formwork. The height of the entire structure is equal to the sum of two terms - the depth of the hole (freezing height) and the amount of the column extending above the ground (from 100 mm).

Some experts use traditional M300 grade concrete as a material, while others use sand concrete. In fact, the type of concrete used must be determined at the calculation stage. The main thing to remember is that the material for making the shoe and the base must be the same. To carry out further work, it is necessary to allow the finished parts to dry. This process will take at least 7 days, but using bricks or cinder blocks will speed up the drying process by several days.

Once the pillars are ready, you can begin installing them. To do this, you will need a hole drill, which will allow you to dig a hole under the post. The size of the hole must exceed the size of the shoe. The installation of pillars is carried out in strict accordance with the markings of the foundation. The pillars are installed at a distance of 1–2 m from each other in places of greatest load, for example, under a heating boiler. After installing the pillars, the space between them and the walls of the pit can be filled with crushed stone and sand.

Construction of wall frames

Grillage - platform for the home


Completion of the foundation construction allows work to begin on the construction of the main load-bearing structures. The basis of the walls and everything else in a frame house is the grillage. This is a wooden or metal structure that is laid on foundation pillars protruding from the ground. Along its contour, the grillage follows the outline of the future house. When laying it, it is imperative to use measuring instruments that allow you to control its horizontalness. The dimensions of the timber or metal profile are determined by the weight of the building structure being erected.

Construction of a wall frame


After installing the grillage, you can begin installing the wall frame. For this, you can use timber with section dimensions of 150x50 or more. The timber must be made from coniferous trees and dried to a moisture content of 12–18%. In addition, we must remember that all wooden structures must be treated with protective agents against mold, mildew and fire.

The wall frame can be assembled nearby on a flat piece of land; when assembling the frame, it is necessary to immediately prepare window and door openings. The finished frame of one wall can be installed on a grillage and secured with jibs. As with all assembly operations, builders must use a measuring tool to install wall frames in strict plane orientation.

House roof installation


Creating a roof is one of the most important moments when building a house using frame technology. Errors that occur during its construction lead to deformation of the roof and violation of the thermal insulation regime. As a result, its destruction may occur. The ceiling is responsible for solving several problems, namely:

  • Hanging a ceiling covering on it;
  • Insulation retention.

If the developer provides for the presence of a second floor or, then the ceiling must be reinforced. Depending on the load that the ceiling will take on, the cross-sectional size of the ceiling beam is selected. For example, if the useful and non-residential load is 147 kg per square centimeter, then it is necessary to use beams with a section of 150 * 50 m with a pitch of 400 mm between them.

The process of installing joists and rafters for them is no different from the process carried out during the construction of a traditional house.

That is, after marking, the logs are nailed to the top plank of the wall frame in a vertical position.

In order to secure the lag, it is enough to use three nails, two are driven in on one side, and one on the other, at both ends.

The rafters can be assembled on a flat area of ​​the construction site and, after they have been assembled and checked for correctness, lifted up. The assembly of the roof begins with one of the facades; the use of a plumb line is mandatory. Having placed the first rafter, it is necessary to fix it with jibs, and after installing the second, it is advisable to tie the installed structures together. In addition to the fact that the rafters are connected to each other, to increase the strength of the structure, it makes sense to connect the rafters and joists using a vertically lowered board. This is how the rafters are installed sequentially.

The installation of sheathing is also no different from such an operation carried out when erecting a roof on a regular house. Laying of hydro- and thermal insulation is carried out in accordance with the instructions supplied with this product. Both artificial and natural materials are used as thermal insulation materials. To reduce the weight of the structure, it is advisable to use polystyrene foam, which is produced in sheets of different thicknesses.

Another positive property of a frame house is that all finishing work can be carried out without waiting for it to shrink. You can begin to carry them out immediately after the openings are in place and the wall frame itself is sheathed with slabs. Then the developer can begin finishing the walls inside and out.

Interior work in the house


The material that is used to cover the walls from the inside, and this can be DSP or its analogues, allows you to apply almost any finishing material to its surface - wallpaper, tiles and others. It all depends on the choice of the developer and the interior design of the future premises.

Exterior works

With work on finishing the house outside, the situation is somewhat more complicated. Depending on the climate zone in which the frame house is built, additional insulation may be required. For these works you will need insulation, a waterproofing film, as well as a wooden beam or galvanized metal profile to create the sheathing. To insulate the walls, a sheathing made of wooden beams or metal profiles is installed on them.

The dimensions of the sheathing must correspond to the dimensions of the insulation that will be laid in it. Some experts recommend laying a layer of waterproofing film on top of the insulation. If the task is to create a ventilated facade, then it is necessary to attach smaller beams to the vertical beams of the installed sheathing, and the siding will be attached to them. The created space will serve for natural ventilation and prevent excess moisture from accumulating.

How much does it cost to build a house

The experience of erecting a frame house by those who rely only on their own strength shows that the entire cycle of work from building the foundation to the start of finishing, with proper organization of labor, no interruptions in materials and the presence of one or two assistants, can take three to four months.

Building a house with your own hands is also beneficial from an economic point of view. By purchasing a ready-made structure, the developer pays for the project, construction materials, in addition, the labor of builders and installers, by the way, who will erect the house in approximately the same time frame, is paid. The project price ranges from 5-50,000 rubles. If you buy a ready-made house project, it will cost about 15,000 rubles, and if you order an individual house project from an architect, it will cost 30,000 - 50,000 rubles. Nowadays, many architectural studios work remotely, so even if they are in Biysk, they will be able to design your dream home project. In other words, with the cost of a finished house and the work on its construction being approximately 1.5 million rubles, you need to understand that this figure depends on the region and the configuration; building it yourself will cost half as much. For example, some companies offer their clients country houses at prices ranging from 1,115,000 rubles to 1,824,000, and dachas - within 300,000 rubles.

If you are not ready to build a house or you don’t have the opportunity, then order a turnkey house using Canadian, Scandinavian or Finnish technologies.

Video

Watch a video about building a frame house with your own hands.

It’s not for nothing that frame houses are called energy efficient. Residential buildings of this type consume 30% less energy in winter than those built using conventional technology. The advantages include ease of assembly of structures, low weight and availability of materials. Assembling a frame house with your own hands is a completely feasible task for a person who has the skills to work with wood and a supply of the necessary tools. Detailed step-by-step instructions will help him with this.

Frames are erected on average in 2-4 months. The experience of cold Scandinavian and North American countries confirms the strength and durability of structures. In a short period of time, comfortable housing appears on the construction site, the price of which is 15-20% lower than that of brick or concrete. In Russia, the construction of frame houses is gaining momentum. It is standardized by the document SP 31-105-2002, which is based on Canadian and American developments.

A frame house is a rigid system of support posts, horizontal and inclined connections, resting on a pile, pile-grillage, slab or shallow strip foundation. In the classic version, the space between the racks is filled with insulation. Most often - basalt wool. The outside and inside of the structure is sheathed with finishing materials.

Another way to build a frame house is to install walls and ceilings from rigid SIP panels, consisting of two OSB boards and a layer of expanded polystyrene between them. Systems are assembled in different ways. In the first case, the frame is installed element by element or in blocks, and in the second, large-sized panels are mounted like a constructor, observing the sequence. The easiest way to assemble a frame house with your own hands is step-by-step installation of the supporting system, insulation and finishing. In this case, construction lifting mechanisms and a large team of workers will not be needed. All operations can be performed independently or with the help of 1-2 friends.

Prices for cement and basic mixtures

Step 1: Foundation for a frame house

A house on a frame is a lightweight structure that does not require a powerful buried foundation. The bearing capacity of pile or strip foundations with a depth of up to 50 cm is sufficient to ensure that the load from the structure is absorbed and transmitted to the soil.

Pile foundations are rods made of concrete, reinforced concrete or metal buried in the ground. Their advantages:

  • quick installation;
  • a small amount of excavation work or even its absence;
  • a short interval between the completion of the installation of foundations and further installation of structures.

An exception is the installation of monolithic piles and grillage. Here you need to wait until the concrete gains strength. This usually takes 1-2 weeks. Since the load will increase gradually, it is not necessary to wait until the standard period of 28 days to begin installing the frame.

Metal piles are screwed in using manual or mechanized drilling equipment. Ready-made concrete anchors are immersed into the drilled holes using driving or pressing equipment. The construction of such foundations takes 1-3 days and is carried out by specialized organizations.

Monolithic bored piles can be made independently. Concrete of a grade not lower than M 200 is used. For formwork, roofing felt rolled into a tube is used. It is placed in the hole, and a reinforcement frame of 3-4 rods is installed inside. The solution is poured into the cavity of the structure, compacting it layer by layer using a vibrating tool.

At the top of the piles, load-bearing crossbars made of metal, concrete or wood are mounted on the pile heads. In this case, the underground remains open.


Pile foundation with hanging reinforced concrete grillage.

The grillage connects individual piles into a rigid, stable system. May be:

  • hanging;
  • ground;
  • buried.

In the latter case, this is an analogue of a shallow strip foundation. It is constructed from monolithic reinforced concrete around the perimeter of the house and under load-bearing partitions. The pit is dug to a depth of 30-50 cm and filled with sand and crushed stone.

Formwork is installed on the cushion. Steel frames are placed inside, which are rigidly tied to the outlets of the pile reinforcement. To fasten the lower strapping beam, metal studs with a diameter of 12 mm with threads are prepared in advance. They are welded or screwed with wire to the frame rods every 150-200 cm along the length of the grillage. Fasteners should be located at a distance of no more than 30 cm from the corners of the foundation and protrude above the upper edge of the structure by 13-15 cm.


Installation of a recessed grillage.

The installation locations of the racks are first marked on the formwork so that they do not coincide with the fasteners for the horizontal beam.

The surface of the base is treated with waterproofing mastic, 2-3 layers of roofing felt or other moisture-proof material are laid.

A monolithic foundation is arranged in a similar way. If the base is a slab, concrete is poured over the entire area of ​​the house with a protrusion of 20 cm beyond the perimeter. The thickness of the structure is 10-20 cm, reinforcement is with welded mesh.

- almost finished base for the floors. Particular attention should be paid to insulation. Expanded polystyrene slabs are used, which are laid on crushed stone preparation. They are not afraid of moisture, do not rot, and retain their thermal insulation properties for 50 years.

When concreting monolithic slabs, sleeves are installed for supplying communications. They provide access when laying water or sewer pipes. Underground passages must be equipped in advance, otherwise it will be very difficult to install channels later.


In above-ground and shallow foundations, the installation of sleeves is necessary for ventilation of the underground space. In frame structures this is a very important point that cannot be neglected. Hoods reduce air humidity, which has a detrimental effect on wooden structures.

Step 2: Bottom Rail and Floor

The bottom frame, or bed, is a horizontal structure that transfers the load from the entire house to the foundation. It is made from well-dried edged boards 50x150 mm or timber with a cross-section of 100x150 mm.

We install the harness and logs

Sequence of operations when installing the bed:

  1. Lay out boards or beams treated with bioprotective compounds and fire retardants around the perimeter of the foundation. Trim off the excess.
  2. Mark the bolt locations by laying a flat on top and lightly hitting each fastener with a hammer.
  3. Use a powerful drill to drill holes in the dent areas. The diameter should be 3 mm larger than the bolt cross-section.
  4. Insulation is laid on the foundation - fiberglass tape, and a bed is installed on top.
  5. Screw the nuts onto the bolts with washers using an impact wrench or manually with a wrench.
  6. Check the horizontality of the lower trim with a level or building level. If you need to change the position of the beam, loosen the nut, place wooden wedges and raise it to a new level. The gap is filled with liquid concrete.

In the corners, the beams are joined “half-tree” or with a root tenon.


Laying the bed.

The next stage after laying the bed is installing the floors. When installing a frame house using the “Canadian platform” method, they will serve as the basis for assembling wall blocks. If you plan to install the racks sequentially, it is more convenient to move around the finished floor than constantly climbing a stepladder.

Floors in a frame house are installed in three ways:

  • on the ground;
  • by lags;
  • on a finished slab foundation.

Floors along joists are installed in a house on a pile or strip foundation. In this case, a ventilated subfloor is formed between the bottom of the structure and the ground. Lags are laid in three ways:

  • rest on a bench and reinforce it on the outside with a façade board;
  • installed in the grooves cut out in the lower trim;
  • mounted end-to-end to the beam using metal brackets.

For logs, timber with a cross section from 110x60 mm to 220x180 mm is used, depending on the distance between the supports. The larger the span, the more powerful the element should be.

The laying step is 50-60 cm. In places where heavy equipment or furniture is installed, beams are installed more often - every 30-40 cm.


Installation of floor joists.

The procedure for carrying out work when installing a floor using joists on metal brackets:

  1. Cut and cut the beams to the required length.
  2. They are installed on galvanized brackets and secured with self-tapping screws or nails.
  3. Skull bars with a cross section of 50x50 mm are nailed to the bottom of the logs.
  4. Moisture-resistant plywood or OSB sheets are laid on the bars. The flooring will serve as a base for the insulation.

When spanning over 2.5 m, spacers are installed between the logs - pieces of timber or boards that give bending rigidity to the system. They are secured with nails, nailing them into the end obliquely through the joist.


The spacing of the spacers depends on the span width:

  • 2.5-3.5 m - 1 element;
  • 3.5-5.4 - 2 boards;
  • 5.4-7.2 - 3 spacers;
  • more than 7.2 m - from 4 pieces.

All wooden structures are treated with antiseptics and fire retardants before installation. This extends the life of the material and protects against rot, insects and fire.

Insulation and flooring

One of the main tasks if we are building a frame house is to reliably insulate all surfaces. Up to 10-15% of heat is lost through floors and basements, so special attention must be paid to the thermal insulation of structures.

The following materials are used to insulate wooden floors:

  • granulated - expanded clay, slag, vermiculite;
  • rolled - stone, glass, slag wool, polyethylene foam, cork;
  • slabs made of mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, chipboard;
  • liquid - polyurethane foam, ecowool.

Waterproofing from dense films is spread over the flooring in 2 layers with an overlap of 10-15 cm. Granular, slab or roll insulation is laid in a thickness corresponding to the thermal calculations for the climate of a particular region. Usually this is 10-20 cm for mineral wool, 30 cm for expanded clay.


The materials are covered on top with a vapor barrier membrane, through the pores of which moisture can evaporate into the atmosphere. The film is secured with a stapler. To create a ventilation gap, counter battens are placed along the joists.

Important. If you do not create conditions for the evaporation of water in the underground space, over time the insulation will become damp and the wood will begin to rot.

Vapor barrier with ventilation gap.

The finishing coating with a soundproofing gasket is installed along the counter slats.

If foil materials are used for insulation, when laying them they are turned towards the room. This will reflect the infrared rays into the room.

Step 3: Frame Walls

A frame house is assembled with your own hands from individual elements, cutting and adjusting them at the construction site. It is possible to install larger sections or even entire structures prepared at the factory.

Frame assembly methods

Prefabricated buildings today are built in the following ways:

  • traditional - they sequentially assemble a frame from racks, crossbars, jibs, insulate the walls, install the sheathing;
  • using the “Canadian platform” method - sections are prepared horizontally on the rough floor and placed in the design position;
  • from SIP panels - large elements, cut at the factory, are assembled on site using connecting bars and polyurethane glue;
  • according to the German “half-timbered” technology - frame boards, which are also decorative finishing, are placed outside the insulation;
  • according to Swedish technology - the frame is assembled from two battens, the first is intended for installing insulation and fastening the external finishing, the second is used for laying communications and installing internal cladding.

Installation of the frame using the “Canadian platform” method.

In private construction, for do-it-yourself assembly, the classic method is more often used, which does not require complex installation work and the cost of lifting equipment.

Installation and section of racks

The installation steps for frame posts include:

  1. Marking on the subfloor covering where the racks will be installed. Typically the step is 60 cm. This is convenient for subsequent laying of mineral wool slabs. In two-story buildings, the distance is reduced to 40 cm.
  2. Cutting supports from dry treated boards 50 mm thick. The cross-section is selected based on load-bearing capacity.
  3. Installation of racks in corners, leveling, securing with temporary jibs.
  4. Installation of intermediate elements.
  5. Connecting the supports with a beam of the upper trim.
  6. Reinforcement of window and door lintels with boards laid on edge. If this is not done, the frame will become pinched when it bends, and cracks will appear on the glass, façade finishing and internal wall surfaces.
  7. Reinforcement of the frame with jibs made of 100x25 or 150x25 boards, embedded in the upper and lower frames, perforated steel strips, and horizontal jumpers. Additional reinforcement is not required if the frame is sheathed with rigid sheets of OSB or multi-layer plywood.
  8. Covering the beams of the upper and lower trim with a frontal board. It is recommended to lay a layer of basalt wool to insulate the structure.

To select the section of the racks, all the loads acting on the supporting frame are summed up. If the building is small, then with a height of up to two floors, the dimensions of the timber are:

  • for external walls - 150x50 mm, 200x50 mm;
  • for internal partitions - 100x50 mm.

The strength of such sections is quite sufficient to withstand vertical and lateral loads. During thermal engineering calculations, it may turn out that the placement of thermal insulation requires a greater than calculated width of the racks.

It is not advisable to increase the cross-section of the supporting beam. In this case, the insulation is laid in 2 layers - one between the frame posts, the second along the outer sheathing with dressing. This arrangement will help to avoid heat loss through wooden elements, corners, and frames of openings.

Jib or braces

Jib or braces are installed temporarily to give stability to the frame during installation or permanently so that the structure maintains its geometry for a long time.


The jibs in the frame are installed obliquely.

In order for the permanent jibs to fulfill their role - to provide rigidity to the frame, when installing them, follow the rules:

  • elements are mounted with an inclination of 40°-60°;
  • the thickness of the jibs is no more than 1/4 of the height of the rack section;
  • fastening the brace to the frame - only by inserting; with other types of joints, drying out of the wood leads to loss of stability of the unit;
  • the jibs are cut flush with the posts, strappings and jumpers;
  • At least two braces are installed on one wall, tilted in different directions;
  • They are nailed to the posts along the length with 2-3 nails.

Instead of jibs in the corners of the frame, you can use OSB-3 12 sheets. Diagonal rigidity of the structure will be ensured.

Corners of a frame house

The corner is one of the problem areas in a frame house. Installing timber without an additional insulating layer leads to the formation of a cold bridge. Wood has a higher thermal conductivity than mineral wool, so the wall in the corner of the room may freeze.

To prevent this from happening, structures are formed in one of four ways:

  • From two racks. The junction of two walls is reinforced with a finishing corner.

  • "California" corner. A board or strip of OSB is nailed to the inside of the outermost post. Insulation is inserted into the formed shelf.

  • Closed corner. The structure is formed by three boards connected by the letter P. In terms of the quality of insulation, this type of joint is better than the first; it requires laying an insulator on the outside.

  • "Scandinavian" corner. The warmest of the three options. They are assembled from three racks in such a way that cold bridges practically do not form.

The first two methods are more technologically advanced, but their thermal insulation qualities are lower. At the junction of the two walls there are through gaps that are very difficult to seal.

Step 4: Covering

The installation of a frame house ceiling is similar to the installation of a floor. Beams made of a board placed on edge, a wooden I-beam, timber or round timber cut on both sides are attached to the top frame.

The cross-section of plank structures is selected at the rate of 1/20-1/25 of the span width. For example, a room 6x4 m is covered with load-bearing beams 400 cm/20 = 20 cm high.

The installation step is 60-80 cm, the timber can be laid at distances of up to 1 m. It is advisable to connect the floor beams and frame posts into a single flat element during installation. This will add additional rigidity to the structure.

The elements are mounted on brackets end-to-end to the frame or laid on top and attached to a frontal board placed on edge.


Fastening beams with brackets.

Sequence of work:

  1. A 50x200 mm frontal board is installed around the perimeter of the house.
  2. A middle beam with a cross section of 50x200 mm is laid along the long wall.
  3. The logs are installed in increments of 58 cm, securing their ends to the front board and the middle beam.
  4. All nodes are additionally shot with a nail gun or nails are nailed by hand with a hammer.
Important. Fastening is allowed only with nails; it is not recommended to use self-tapping screws.

If the span width is more than 6 m, glued laminated timber is used. It consists of thin wooden slats and resists bending much better than solid wood structures.

Step 5: Rafter system and roofing material

The rafter system of a frame house is installed in several stages:


We begin the installation of the drainage system and roofing material - metal tiles:

  1. Hooks for drainage gutters are attached to the eaves strip with a slope towards the drainage pipes.
  2. Lay the first four sheets of tiles without fastening. Align it along the end and edge of the cornice, screw it with self-tapping screws at the rate of 8-9 pieces per 2 m². Hardware is attached to the lower part of the wave using sealing gaskets made of rubber or polypropylene.
  3. Install ridge elements and wind strips.

Step 6: Insulation

Insulation of a frame house is carried out according to the following scheme:

  1. Install a vapor barrier film along the inner contour of the walls. It will protect the thermal insulation from water vapor that penetrates from the warm room into the room and condenses in the thickness of the material. The junction points are glued with butyl rubber tape and fixed to the frame with a stapler.
  2. To connect 2 sheets of film, double-sided tape is glued to the edge. Apply a vapor barrier with an overlap of 100 mm and press tightly.
  3. Thermal insulation slabs, usually mineral wool, are cut to the size of the frame sections. The width of the material should be 10-20 mm greater than the distance between the posts. Cut the insulation with a knife or saw with fine teeth.
  4. Install the slabs between the frame elements in 2 layers with an offset of at least 150 mm. The total thickness of the insulation is 200 mm.
  5. A hydro-windproof membrane is laid on the outside to protect the thermal insulation from blowing out and getting wet. Attached to the posts with a stapler.
  6. The joints are taped with double-sided tape.

Now you can start finishing work. If a developer plans to build a frame house, step-by-step instructions will help you understand the principles and nuances of its construction.

A frame house deservedly holds the palm as the most reliable, warm, prefabricated and energy-efficient mass construction object commonly used today. The construction of frame houses has long been used in many developed countries: for example, in the USA, Australia and Canada their percentage reaches almost 90%, and in Europe it is close to 80%. It’s nice that the technology for building frame houses has reached Russia. Developers are increasingly resorting to the development of this technology, but not all of them conscientiously follow the basic principles of frame housing construction. Sometimes the rules are violated to please unprofessional builders, and often because not all builders have studied this technology. Therefore, in order not to waste money and time looking for a professional team of builders, of which there are not so many today, we go to the design office ourselves to draw up a detailed and suitable project for you, look for a couple of assistants, prepare the necessary tools and literally in a couple of months , we enjoy the work done, the result of which is a finished frame house.

Do-it-yourself frame construction

In most cases, when building a frame-type house, wood is used to make the frame. You can, of course, use metal, the frame structure will weigh much lighter, but the cost of the material will increase by almost 40%, which is a strong argument to abandon this idea in favor of using wood. In addition, the main philosophy of frame housing construction is a significant reduction in the estimated cost of construction.

A frame house is assembled, like a children's construction set, in a certain sequence, which must not be disturbed in order to avoid weakening and instability of the structure.

The phased construction procedure can be described in the following sequence:


Frame house foundation

Construction of the foundation is the most important and critical step in the construction of any facility. There are quite a lot of technologies for its construction: , and others, each with its own nuances and features. Since the construction of a frame house is carried out with a maximum of 2 floors, it can be erected on any type of foundation.

Types of foundations that can be used in the construction of frame houses

The most reasonable solution would be to build a strip or pile-screw foundation. The task of such foundations is not so much to withstand the enormous weight of the building, but to create rigidity in the fastening of the base for the entire structure, by adding a reinforcing frame to the monolith in the first case and connecting the piles with a grillage in the second case.

Laying the bottom trim timber

Before you begin laying the bottom beam, you should once again check the horizontal plane of the slab or grillage.

If the result is positive, a waterproofing layer of roofing material is spread around the perimeter of the foundation, on top of which the timber itself is laid.

The most popular methods of fastening timber in the corners are: connection “in the floor of the tree” and connection “in the paw”. Both the first and second methods are quite reliable.

You can fasten the sawn corners together 150 mm. nails (4 for each corner), or a wooden dowel, which is driven tightly into a pre-drilled hole.

In addition to connecting the connecting corner, the dowel serves as a fastening element for installing corner vertical posts; it should not be cut flush; it should protrude above the base of the bottom trim beam to a height of at least 10 cm.

Options for connecting the corners of the bottom trim

Important! Before the final connection of the corners, you need to make sure that the perimeter laid out from the timber has equal diagonals and right angles.

The next step is to fasten the bottom trim to the foundation. For these purposes, an anchor bolt with a diameter of 16-18 mm. For a high-quality connection of two structures, the bolt must be inserted into the base of the grillage to a depth of at least 100 mm. Anchor fastening step from 1-1.5 m. For a larger contact area, a nut of the largest possible diameter must be placed under the bolt or stud.

Fastening the bottom trim using anchors

If, at the stage of pouring the foundation, fastening pins were inserted into the tape, then anchors will not be needed in this case. Holes are drilled in the marked timber into which concreted metal pins will be inserted.

Place washers on top of the studs with a thickness of at least 3 mm., after which they are tightened tightly with nuts. At this stage, fastening the lower trim can be considered complete.

When building a house using frame technology, the first step is to install corner pillars. If a wooden dowel was used to connect the corners of the lower frame, then the post is installed on its protruding part. To do this, the necessary hole is drilled in the lower end part of the column using a brace to connect them tightly.

For greater efficiency, you can use a special fastening glue. The dowel must be made of hard wood, such as oak or birch, with a cross-section of at least 20Ø mm.

In the case of connecting the corners of the lower frame with nails, the pillars on both sides are fastened to the base of the frame with galvanized metal corners with reinforcement, thickness 4 mm. To fasten the corner, use a black phosphated wood screw.

Fastening a pole using a metal corner

In both options, the pillars are additionally fixed with temporary jibs made from sections of regular boards.

Firstly, this significantly weakens the main structure of the lower frame, and secondly, the complexity and required precision of the cuts significantly slows down the overall process of assembling the frame.

Installation of racks

After the final installation and fixation of the corner posts, the remaining posts are placed in the pre-marked places according to the project.

They are attached using the same metal corner. When constructing frame houses, two main steps are used between the posts:

  • Pitch - 400 mm. The frequent installation of racks makes the frame especially strong, which allows the construction of both one-story and two-story buildings. Also, the resulting distance allows you to attach standard sheets of drywall without cutting them to the required size.
  • Pitch - 600 mm. This step is more often used in the construction of one-story buildings, because the structure in this case is less durable and simply may not withstand the load of the second floor. This step will allow you to use not only drywall, but also standard insulation without trimming.

Fig 2. Diagram of installation of window openings and their reinforcement

In areas of window and door openings, due to the lack of a full-fledged vertical post, the frame must be additionally reinforced.

To do this, add one more board to the side posts relative to the window. They are adjacent to the main step wall post, from the bottom trim to the top beam of the window opening.

A load-bearing crossbar is installed above the opening. This strengthens the load-bearing capacity of the weakened unit’s structure. (see Fig. 2).

Laying the timber for the top frame

The corners of the upper frame, similar to the bottom, are connected into a “tree floor” or into a “paw”, only to fasten them to the corner posts, the use of a dowel is no longer necessary; a couple of nails hammered from above and one corner on each side of the post will be enough.

Using the same principle of “corners at the bottom and two nails at the top,” the top trim is connected to the rest of the racks. Before installation, it is important to check the verticality of all exposed racks one last time.

Top trim diagram

Floor beams

The floor beam is an edged board installed transversely on the top frame. The method of fastening the beams is a nail or a metal corner.

Beams must be placed directly above the vertical posts, so the load of the second floor will be distributed evenly across all load-bearing walls.

Beam sections for various spans:

If the opening ratio is not equal 1m., then rounding the intermediate number, we use the closest value given from the table.

In order for the structure to have greater load-bearing capacity, the floor beams must be placed perpendicular to the wall that is longer.

For example, take a house with dimensions 5x8 m., so the beams must be laid perpendicular to the wall, which has a length 8 m. If the design feature of the roof for its overhang requires the beams to extend, then it is necessary to initially take this into account and make the size of the beams longer.

Slopes and jumpers

To resist strong winds, a frame house must have special strength. Therefore, it is advisable to strengthen all the main posts and corner posts with so-called slopes. The cuts are made from a bar of size 70x50 mm.

There are 4 bevels for each post (2 on top and 2 on bottom). Using a tape measure and a level, the diagonal and vertical of the resulting spans are checked.

For tight contact of the bar with the elements to be connected, it must be sawed to the desired angle, and then, using nails, they must be installed.

The second no less effective way to strengthen the frame is to install horizontal jumpers between the load-bearing posts; this will significantly add spatial rigidity to the structure, and will also prevent vertical sliding of the insulation, serving as a horizontal support for it.

The material for the jumpers is a board of the same dimensions as the racks themselves. It is necessary to install jumpers proportionally by dividing the span into equal sections. Fastening is also done using a nail.

Construction of the rafter system

Builders strongly do not recommend using natural tiles or other heavy materials; this requires an expert opinion from a qualified specialist on the possibility of using this type of roofing, which he can give only after a complete study of the load-bearing capacity of the frame.

You can learn more about the technology of constructing the rafter system in this video:

As you can see, building a frame house with your own hands is quite quick and simple. Having certain construction skills and the necessary tools, a team of two or three people will be able to build this type of structure in a fairly short time.

Among all prefabricated structures, frame houses are the most popular. Such buildings have many advantages. They are quite light, so they do not need a powerful foundation. Thanks to its good thermal insulation qualities, such a house can be used not only as a summer house, but also for permanent residence. In addition, frame buildings are easy to build with your own hands, which is why many developers choose this option. In our article we will tell you in detail and step by step how to build a frame house.

Technology

The construction of a frame house with your own hands can be carried out using Finnish or Canadian technology. But the basic principles of constructing frame houses are the same for both technologies. Regardless of the choice of technology, we build a frame house, adhering to the following sequence:

  1. Selection of materials. The basis of such buildings is the frame. It can be made of wood or steel elements. More often, private developers prefer to build a frame house with their own hands using a wooden frame made of timber. Such buildings are economical, environmentally safe and quick to install. If you decide to build your house on a steel frame, then its price will be 1/3 more. However, these structures are a little lighter, which allows for a lightweight foundation. You can also safely use steel fasteners on a steel frame.
  2. After installing the foundation, they begin to manufacture the floor of the future house. We will describe in detail how to make a floor in a step-by-step guide.
  3. After installing the floor, the construction of the frame of the walls, ceilings and roof begins.
  4. Next, the completed frame is sheathed with wood sheet materials. The constructed house is insulated. Window and door openings are being installed.
  5. Now you can begin laying utilities and performing external and internal wall decoration.

As you can see, the construction technology is quite simple, but to build a frame house with your own hands, you need a construction diagram and drawings. Detailed diagrams that make it easy to build a house yourself can be found online, but it is much easier to work on a specially designed project, so don’t be lazy and order it. Once you have a project or diagram in hand, figuring out how to build a house will not be difficult with our step-by-step guide.

Preparatory work

When building a frame house with your own hands, work begins with preparing and marking the site for construction. Preparatory work includes the following steps:

  1. First, you need to clear the construction area of ​​debris, stones, and unnecessary green spaces.
  2. If there are uneven areas or a slight slope in the area, the area must be leveled. That is, all the hills should be cut off and soil should be poured into the depressions.
  3. Next, you need to mark the future building on the site. In order to transfer data from the design documentation to the site, you need to use pegs and a cord to mark the axes and dimensions of the building, and it is also worth laying out the internal load-bearing walls. If we build a frame house with our own hands, then it is very important that all angles are strictly 90 degrees.

Foundation

If you want to know how to properly build a frame house, then first you should familiarize yourself with the sequence of the foundation. Since the walls of such a building are quite light, there is no need to equip a massive capital foundation. In this case, we build a house on one of the following bases:

  • shallow monolithic or prefabricated strip foundation;
  • columnar base design;
  • pile screw foundations.

The easiest way is to build a columnar foundation for a frame house. The pillars must be located at the corners of the future house, at the intersection of walls and with a certain pitch under the external and internal load-bearing walls. Typically, the pitch of the pillars is taken to be 2 m. The installation of the base is carried out in the following order:

  1. Under each pillar, holes are dug to the required depth. To do this, you can use a shovel or motor drill.
  2. At the bottom of the pits there is a sand cushion 100-150 mm high. Wet sand is carefully compacted.
  3. After this, wooden formwork is installed. It should rise above ground level by at least 30 cm.
  4. The inner surface of the formwork is lined with roofing felt, which will serve as waterproofing and facilitate the dismantling of the formwork.
  5. Concrete is poured into the formwork to a height of 5 cm.
  6. After the concrete mixture has hardened, a frame made of reinforcement is installed. At the same time, it should not approach the formwork closer than 50 mm. On top of the frame, it is necessary to leave reinforcement outlets 15 cm long, which will allow you to tie together the structure of the pillars with the grillage.
  7. Concrete is poured.

Important: in addition to reinforced concrete, pillars can be made from ready-made concrete blocks, bricks, steel or asbestos pipes with concrete poured inside.

To make the frame of the grillage, rods with a cross-section of 12 mm, connected with wire, are used. The formwork for the grillage is made from boards. After installing the reinforcement cage, it is connected to the reinforcement outlets from the pillars. After pouring and compacting the concrete mixture, studs 300-500 mm long are inserted into the grillage. The frame of the house will then be attached to them.

Base strapping

After the mortar has set and the formwork has been dismantled, horizontal waterproofing of the base is performed. To do this, lay two layers of roofing felt on bitumen mastic. Typically, timber with sides of 15 cm is used to perform the strapping.

Attention: the cross-section of the timber for strapping is directly related to the pitch of the pillars. The larger it is, the larger cross-section the beam is needed to avoid sagging.

If you are building frame houses with your own hands, step-by-step instructions for installing the strapping will definitely be useful to you:

  1. The beam is mounted on the foundation base along its perimeter. At the same time, they strictly control the length of the walls and constantly check the data with the project. It is allowed to join the timber if its length is not enough. The joints should be directly above the posts. In the corners and at the junction, the beams are connected into a “half-tree”, fixed with nails and corners.
  2. The beam is attached to the base using bolts and studs. To do this, holes are drilled in the timber and foundation caps. If possible, fastenings should be deepened into the material.

Floor

To know how to properly build a frame house, you need to understand the process of making the floor of the future structure. For the logs it is worth taking a beam with a section of 100x200 mm. The lag pitch is selected based on the width of the insulation boards. Usually it is taken equal to 60-70 cm. The logs are attached to the framing beam using corners and nails.

After this, the floor installation is performed in the following sequence:

  1. We attach the cranial blocks to the installed joists, and lay the roughing boards on them.
  2. Then the surface of the joists and ridges is covered with a waterproofing membrane.
  3. Thermal insulating material is laid on top of the membrane.
  4. From above, the entire structure is covered with a vapor barrier membrane.
  5. Next, the floor is covered with OSB or moisture-resistant plywood.

Walls and ceiling

We continue to make frame houses with our own hands - step-by-step instructions for installing walls:

  1. To make the frame, you can use timber from coniferous wood. To begin with, it is necessary to assemble the span of the wall at the construction site, and then install the assembled structure on the frame.
  2. The distance between the frame posts is usually determined taking into account the width of the insulation boards that will be laid between them. If mineral wool is used for insulation, then the pitch of the racks should be 1-2 cm less than the width of the heat insulator for its tight fit.
  3. The frame posts are fixed with nails to the lower and upper horizontal elements. For additional fixation, you can use mounting angles.
  4. To increase the rigidity of the frame, jumpers are mounted between the vertical posts. They are fastened in a checkerboard pattern.
  5. Window and door openings are installed in the places specified in the project. To do this, racks are mounted along the edges of the opening, and lintels are installed at the top and bottom of the window opening.

After assembling all the spans, they are mounted on the framing frame in the following order:

  1. The first span is attached to the floor and secured with supports.
  2. Next, the second span is installed. It is attached to the floor and side post of the first span.
  3. All subsequent spans are connected to each other using nails.
  4. To install spans in a strictly vertical position, they use jibs - diagonal struts that are fixed at the corners.

Installation of internal partitions is carried out similarly to the installation of the external frame. After this, the entire structure is tied with a board on top to provide additional rigidity. Then the walls on the outside are covered with oriented strand boards.

The ceiling is mounted on the top frame:

  • To do this, grooves are made in the timber into which beams are inserted.
  • They are additionally fixed with nails and steel corners.
  • Support beams are installed along the internal partitions. They are connected to the upper and lower trim.
  • Then the ceiling panel is nailed. It is better to make it from tongue and groove boards.
  • After this, a vapor barrier layer is laid. The material should also be applied to the ceiling beams.
  • Now the thermal insulation material is laid out.
  • The thermal insulation layer is covered with a waterproofing film.
  • A rough floor made of boards is laid.

Roof

To know how to build a frame house yourself, you need to understand the sequence of roof arrangement:

  1. The rafter pairs are assembled on the ground into a structure, like a truss, and lifted up to be installed on the top frame beam. The overhang of the rafters should be within 350-500 mm. The rafter pairs are installed first on the gables.
  2. All subsequent rafter pairs are installed between them with a step of 700 mm from each other.
  3. The rafters are connected by a ridge beam, which is attached to the “foot floor”.
  4. Next, a continuous or thinned sheathing is made, which is laid over a waterproofing membrane fixed to the rafters with a counter batten.
  5. Now you can lay the selected roof covering.
  6. At this stage, you can notify your family members and friends about the completion of installation of the housing box.

Wall insulation

To insulate a house, polystyrene foam, mineral wool or polystyrene foam are used. The thermal insulation layer must be at least 50 mm thick. Insulation and finishing of the walls of the house are carried out in the following order:

  1. Thermal insulation material is laid between the frame posts. If two layers of material are used, then the joints of the slabs in the layers should not coincide.
  2. On the inside, the walls are covered with a layer of membrane vapor barrier, which is attached over the insulation to the frame studs using a stapler.
  3. Then the walls from the inside of the house are covered with OSB, moisture-resistant plywood or clapboard.
  4. The outside walls of the house must be protected from moisture. To do this, a waterproofing membrane is attached to them.
  5. Then a sheathing of slats is placed on the walls, which will allow ventilation of the walls of the frame building.
  6. The selected finishing material is sewn on top of the slats. For the exterior decoration of the facade of a house built using frame technology, you can use vinyl siding, lining, etc.

How to build a frame house with your own hands - video lesson:

The construction of frame houses is becoming increasingly popular in Russia. All new technologies are being introduced into the construction of such structures, and it does not matter what technology - Finnish or Canadian - the house is built using. In this article we will tell you how to build a frame house with your own hands, give step-by-step instructions, as well as diagrams, photos and videos of phased construction.

Foundation

Since frame houses are recommended to be built no higher than two floors, they do not require a massive foundation. A strip foundation, a prefabricated concrete block foundation, or a columnar foundation are suitable. The most important thing is that they fulfill their main purpose - to ensure the rigidity of the frame in space.

For this purpose, reliable and durable reinforcement is used in a strip foundation, and a wooden or concrete grillage is used in a columnar foundation.

Frame installation

Frame houses are built using wooden or metal structures. During self-construction, the latter are rarely used; they increase the cost of construction by 40-45%, but their use allows saving financial costs on the construction of the foundation, this is due to the lightness of metal structures.

A wooden frame is best built from oak, but it can also be made from other types of wood. The timber must be made of high-quality wood with a cross-section of at least 150x150 mm. Corner joints must have no gaps. Choose a tongue-and-groove connection method.

Note! A metal connection is undesirable, since wood rots when it comes into contact with metal. Over time, such fasteners will weaken and the house will begin to loosen. Wooden dowels will provide reliable and durable fastening, and this guarantees a long service life of the frame house.

The frame must be braced with braces; they give the house rigidity. The technology for constructing a frame house provides for the installation of three braces. They are made from the same material as the stands.

The outside of the house is sheathed with boards or clapboards no more than 60 mm wide and at an angle of 45°. Old craftsmen do not advise nailing them firmly; during the first year of use they can swell and dry out.

Floor

The manufacture of the floor of a frame house begins with the laying of wooden beams with a section of 150x50 mm along the perimeter of the walls.

Note! It must first be treated with an antiseptic solution.

The timber should be laid on roofing felt and secured with anchor bolts every two meters. Pay special attention to the alignment of the corners, check them using a level. Possible deviation 10 mm.

First, the logs are installed, then a subfloor is made from cheap edged boards, insulation is laid between the logs, and then the floorboards are installed.

Walls

After installing the floor, you can begin building the walls. It is best to make them in sections. They are assembled on a dry surface from timber, equal in length to the height of the future room. You choose the width of the beam installation step yourself, usually it is 300, 400, 600 mm.

Note! All wooden parts of a frame house must be from the same type of wood.

Window

According to accepted building codes, windows should make up 18% of the wall area. Try to stick to these sizes. In a house for year-round use, it is better to install double-glazed windows with a large glass area.

Roof

The roof frame is the main part of the entire structure of the house. The frame bears most of the mechanical load. It must be made according to accepted rules from high-quality material. If you do all this, you will have a reliable and long-lasting roof. You choose the roofing material, insulation and waterproofing material yourself, based on your financial capabilities.

It is not difficult to build a frame house; you just need to follow all the rules prescribed by this technology. Then in the end you will get a beautiful and warm, reliable and durable home.

How and how to insulate a house

The insulation of a frame house depends on what role it will perform. If you are building a house for permanent residence, then the insulation must be appropriate. The house is a structure of racks arranged vertically, fastened with horizontal bars.

Note! Thermal insulation material is installed in the voids between the bars, and the top is lined with various finishing details.

What thermal insulation and finishing material you will use largely depends on the climatic conditions of the place where you live. There are tables indicating what thermal conductivity different materials have. For example, a 4 cm layer of polystyrene foam replaces 14 cm of wood or 86 cm of brick.

Video

We invite you to watch a series of videos about the construction of a frame house:

Photo

Scheme

We invite you to familiarize yourself with some schemes related to the construction of frame houses: