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Frame house or log house?
Many people dream of owning their own home. It turns out that wooden houses are as durable as brick houses, while being ecological and energy-efficient. When building a wooden house, the following question may often arise: frame house or log house? In our article, we will answer the pros and cons of both technologies, which one is faster to implement, and which is associated with lower costs.
Table of contents
So a frame house or a log house? The choice depends on many factors
Technologies used in the construction of wooden houses
Both in the construction of a frame house and a log house, different materials and methods of execution can be used. However, regardless of the type of technology, each construction of a wooden house (as in the case of brick houses) requires the construction of appropriate foundations. The main advantage of building a wooden house is that no breaks are required during its construction during the winter. Therefore, it is built much faster than a traditional brick house.
There is no clear answer to the question of which technology is better. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and in fact it is important to base the decisions made on the professional knowledge of experienced specialists. It is also extremely important to choose the right quality of materials with proper processing due to the characteristics of a given construction technology.
When it comes to the difference in the pace of construction of wooden houses, prefabricated frame houses are erected much faster due to the fact that most of the elements are produced in a ready-made form. If someone decides to build such a house, then they do not have to worry about problems related to, among other things, thermal bridges (execution errors are also less common), because on the construction site there are already ready elements with previously installed insulation and door and window joinery.
Costs of building a log house
When it comes to issues related to construction costs, frame houses are cheaper than log houses. Log houses, due to the use of solid wood, require much more money, and moreover, a professional team is needed to build them. There are relatively few such specialists on the market, and thus the services they provide are associated with higher costs.
Insulation, fire resistance and finishing works
Extremely important issues in the case of wooden houses are related to insulation and fire resistance. To ensure that structures have adequate fire resistance, plasterboard should be placed on the walls. This applies to both log and frame houses. When it comes to thermal insulation, log houses are most often built with insulation from the inside, and the walls (logs) must have the right thickness. Solid wood (used in log houses) has low thermal insulation, but a high heat retention capacity. This is due to the fact that temperatures in log houses do not change as quickly as in the case of frame structures. Frame houses lose heat faster and heat up faster (which, depending on the season, can be considered both a disadvantage and an advantage).
In the case of finishing works in wooden houses, they can be carried out in any way, but differences may appear in the way the façade is made. In both technologies, all elements (except for the foundations) are made of wood and there are no significant differences between them. Read also what foundations for a frame house are worth choosing.