The correct warm corner in a profiled beam. Assembling a log house

In wooden house construction, there are several ways to cut corners: cutting into half a tree, into a warm corner, into dovetail, on rectangular keys, etc. These corners are cut directly on site where the house is being built.

There are also such angles as: a single-line key groove (in the “oblo”) and a four-sided key groove, this type of cutting is done on machines in the factory. We will tell you more about other types of cutting corners of houses and log houses in the following articles.

We are interested in the most popular and common type of sawing (cutting) the corners of houses made of timber, this is in the so-called “warm corner” or, in other words, in a tongue and groove. This assembly of a log house is ideal for houses and bathhouses made of timber, in particular from profiled timber.

Cutting in a warm corner

The technology for cutting into a warm corner is quite simple: a groove is made in one beam, a tenon of the same size is made in another beam, and the walls of the beams are tightly joined together, crown by crown. The corner of the house turns out to be completely windproof and reliable, which is why it got its name warm.

The step by step process of cutting into a “warm corner” can be seen in the photographs below.


The groove is marked


Please note that according to the technology, the cuts of the tenon or groove of the corner walls alternate on even and odd crowns. How this happens can be seen in the drawing:

All corners of a house or bathhouse are sawed off at the construction site directly during the process of assembling the log house. One of the early varieties of a warm corner, the so-called “dovetail”

All lumber is produced with sawmills of a standard six-meter length. But, most often, houses have dimensions larger than 6x6 m and in this case the beams need to be joined together.

There are two types of timber joints: a joint in the wood floor and a tongue-and-groove joint.

method of joining wood floors

methods of connecting timber into a tenon and groove

Also a type of timber connections

Installation of a bay window (joint of a bay window made of timber)

Log walls corner of the house

[Louse walls corner of house (corner in tongue and groove)]

Log walls corner of the house (corner in tongue and groove)

Photo corner in a log house made of profiled timber

[inner corner of timber frame]

internal corner of timber frame

Joint of partitions into main walls (washed down)

[Seeded the partitions into the walls of the log house]

Washed the partitions into the walls of the log house

Logs made of 150x100 timber are completely sawn into the frame (base of the house)

[Filled a joist into the base of a wooden house]

Sawed a log into the base of a wooden house

Wooden dowels when assembling the crowns of a house or bathhouse from timber

[Wooden dowels when assembling a log house from timber]

Wooden dowels when assembling a log house from timber

Roofs (casing bars) in window and doorways. A method to combat shrinkage at home. Read more about log shrinkage

[Curbing in the house to combat shrinkage]

Casing in the house to combat shrinkage

Profiled timber as the main one building material for main walls of houses, baths, log houses and cottages.

[Profiled timber is the main material for the main walls of a house]

Profiled timber is the main material for the main walls of a house

Installation of timber partitions photo (top view)

[Installation of timber partitions (top view)]

Installation of timber partitions (top view)

Shrinkage compensators include screw shrinkage supports, sliding supports rafters, etc. See more about shrinkage compensators.

[Shrinkage compensators in log houses]

Shrinkage compensators in log houses

Key stage of construction wooden log house— connection of timber and logs into a common spatial structure.

Without knowing what docking methods need to be used, you shouldn’t even take on this work.

We will look at the main types of existing connections, and also evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. This will help the novice craftsman feel more confident when assembling the crowns of a wooden building.

Obviously, joining timber during construction is necessary in two cases:

  • For securely tying the corners of the house
  • For building up logs or beams

These operations can be performed in dozens different ways, invented by Russian architects over hundreds of years. If we begin to consider all existing connection nodes at once, we will quickly get confused in the complex terminology and nuances of cutting. Therefore, for your information, we will tell you in detail only about the most common types of docking.

Types of corner joints

In modern wood construction Two types of corner joints are used:

  • With the rest. The remainder is the end of a log or beam that protrudes outward from the corner of the frame. The advantage of this type of corner connection is best protection seams from blowing;
  • Without a trace. The crowns of the log house do not protrude beyond the corners of the house.

Corner joints of logs are performed in almost the same way as joining beams. In this case, the landing nest in the lower log is most often made not flat, but semicircular, resembling a cup. Therefore, this docking method is called cuttings "into the bowl".

The rectangular shape of the timber does not require a complex cup-shaped joint.

Joining the beams at the corners of the house is done in two ways:

  • Single-sided (wood floor)
  • Double-sided (in red)

One-sided timber joint is easy to perform, since it is enough to make only one vertical groove here.

Half a tree this type connections are called because the depth of the cut or notch is ½ of the height of the beam or log.

Listing the main ways to connect timber in the corners of a house, you need to say a few words about the two-sided method felling "to the point". It is more complicated than one-sided joining of crowns, since vertical cuts have to be made not only on the top, but also on the bottom side of the beams.

After this, the wood between the cuts is cut out, leaving smooth horizontal landing areas. By laying the beams on top of each other, we get a strong joint with two flat seams.

Reliable joining of logs can also be done using the “snap” method.. However, most often specialists use a “bowl” connection, which is optimally suited for round shape logs

The double-sided “bowl” connection and the semicircular “bowl” require highly qualified carpenters. Here you need to work accurately and carefully. Any mistake with the depth of cut or cutting out the groove can lead to a violation of the geometry and a decrease in the strength of the joint.

To protect the corner from blowing, professionals wooden house construction use joining the timber “in the fat tail”. In essence, this is a modified double-sided “bucket” connection, in which a longitudinal protrusion is cut out on the seating surface. It not only covers the joint from blowing, but also increases the strength of the contact area.

Considering the types of connections between logs and beams, we note the very popular chopping method "in the paw". It is quite simple to implement and at the same time allows you to obtain a fairly strong and airtight joint.

Butt connection

For beginners the most simple option is the connection of profiled timber using the butt method. The ends of the beams are cut evenly and fixed at the corners using steel brackets or plates with spikes.

However, this method of joining timber cannot be called very durable and airtight. Therefore, it is better to use it for non-residential outbuildings.

To strengthen corners assembled end-to-end, dowels are often used - vertical rods made of hard wood (oak, birch, hornbeam).

The optimal joining option is the “warm corner” method, also called a tenon joint. At the end of the beam, an internal protrusion-spike is cut out, which protects the seam from blowing and increases the strength of the corner.

A common corner connection method is the dovetail.. It differs from the root tenon in its trapezoidal shape, which makes the contact area of ​​the beams denser and more rigid.

Longitudinal connection of timber and logs

In addition to reliable tying of the corners of a wooden building, it is very important to ensure high-quality longitudinal joining of the beams or logs that make up the crowns. For timber, extensions are most often used using a direct or overlay lock. To further strengthen the overhead joint, vertical dowels or dowels are used.

In addition, it is convenient to make the longitudinal connection of the crowns “half a tree”, cutting off part of the end of the beams being connected. To increase the rigidity of the joint in the contact area, you need to install two dowel pins.

Connection with a root tenon It is also quite acceptable for longitudinal extension of beams.

Resists forces well longitudinal tension that occurs during drying wooden crowns, a combined half-tree joint with a dovetail on the upper protrusion.

If such cutting seems too complicated to you, then make a longitudinal connection of the crowns with an ordinary dovetail, which reliably fixes the timber being built up and the log.

T-shaped types of connections between timber and logs

This type of joining is used in places where internal timber and log partitions adjoin external wall. Here one of three options can be implemented:

1. Keyway on the root thorn

2. Straight groove on the main tenon

3. The already familiar “dovetail”

Useful video

At first glance, it seems that the technologies for constructing a house from profiled timber or solid logs have long been established and nothing new can be invented in this direction. But it is worth noting that over time, established assembly methods still undergo significant changes. Here, for example, is the classic method of corner connection of a wooden frame, the so-called “cup” connection, thanks to the appearance modern instrument transformed into a more technologically advanced “paw” connection, however, such a connection turned out to be not without flaws. It has already been replaced by a new scheme, called “in a warm corner”.

Assembling the corner joint is the most critical step in the process of assembling a wooden frame; in addition, it is also the most labor-intensive. Almost everything depends on how well the corner is assembled. performance characteristics at home, this includes the service life and susceptibility to warping and deformation of the walls, and most importantly, how warm the house will be.

Each of us has been convinced from our own experience that the corners freeze first in winter, and if this happens, then it is quite difficult to deal with this problem. It is best to take care of this during the construction phase. There are several ways to achieve good results.

Characteristics it has
quality corner connection:

Everything here is quite simple: strength, tightness, aesthetics, manufacturability and efficiency, these are the characteristics that first come to our minds, but are most interesting to us:

Strength. It is known that the timber is fixed under the pressure of its own weight, as well as the pressure of the floors and the weight of the roof. But such connections must be resistant to possible changes in the linear dimensions of the timber, and wood, as is known, is susceptible to deformation that occurs with fluctuations in atmospheric humidity and air temperature. This effect can be reduced by using timber, pre-dried to 18-25%, in contrast to the material natural humidity, it will create a minimum of problems, both during construction and during operation.

Tightness. One of the main conditions for why we are building a house is to protect ourselves from the external environment; circulating drafts will bring pleasure to few people. The simplest solution to avoid drafts is to complicate the path for air to pass through the connections, i.e. we must make the connection of parts geometrically more complex.

Types of beam connections in corners

When building a house from timber, all types of corner joints can be divided into two types:

  1. Angle with remainder.
  2. Angle without remainder

Angle with remainder

Such a connection can have different names: “into the cup”, “into the edge” or an angle with cuts. What exactly is an angle with a remainder? During the construction of a log house, the joints are formed in such a way that the edges of the logs extend beyond the walls. Docking occurs due to grooves - one-, two- or four-sided. In the first option, a notch is made on top of the beam in width, which corresponds to the cross section of the upper segment. And when cutting a double-sided groove, the same cuts are made, both above and below, and in width, and they are equal to a quarter of the height of the lumber.

To increase the strength of the structure they use four way connection. IN in this case cuts are made on four sides. Laying timber of this shape is very convenient; the crowns in this embodiment are located transversely on top of each other. In order to ensure additional tightness, the corner is filled with insulation between the crowns - this is, as a rule, flax tow or jute insulation.

Basic positive qualities corner connection of the beam with the remainder:

It has high degree reliability and does not require additional fixation. At the same time, the crowns located on top reliably hold the bottom ones by applying pressure with their own weight. In this case, displacement of any wall elements becomes impossible, even during seismic vibrations.

This connection option is very technologically advanced; it is possible to prepare the grooves on the timber in advance under production conditions, and then compactly assemble it on site like a construction set.

The main disadvantages of assembling the corners of a log house with overcuts:

  • As a result of drying and shrinkage of the timber after assembly, cracks may appear in the corner joint; in this case, the groove may freeze and be blown out. It is almost impossible to organize tightness and insulation.
  • There is an obvious waste of the material used, since the logs, as a rule, must be significantly longer than the structure itself.
  • And of course, the protruding ends significantly interfere exterior decoration Houses
  • The ends crack and require special treatment

Angle without remainder

In this type of house construction, the parts used are cut to exactly the required size. It is important to note that the joining in the corner parts is made in such a way that the ends are located in the same plane. This structure turns out to be more neat and aesthetic. Several methods are used to connect timber in such corners of a log house. But, as a rule, only some are suitable for the construction of residential premises.

"Butt"

With this method, parts are laid joint to joint. For connection, an element specially adapted for fastening or a screw stud is used. This construction option is typical for utility rooms. A log house built using this method does not initially imply the presence of high thermal insulation characteristics, therefore, such premises are not intended for living in during the cold season. This connection of corners can be used for the construction country house, which does not pretend to be a year-round residence. To improve the thermal insulation characteristics of this type of connection, install an additional dowel across the connecting seam.

"Half a Tree"

This method can significantly protect the room from drafts, but still these characteristics are not enough to build a warm home. This method shows itself perfectly for building country houses or light garden houses.

"Into the paw"

It manifests itself as a more modified version of the previous structure. This method is considered to be a simplified version classic way corner connection. In the old days, the paw was cut from scraped logs. This method Suitable only for the first crown and top trim, but in no case suitable for erecting walls, because it has a through gap.

"Dovetail"

This type of joining is suitable for logs and timber. Due to the special shape of the cut, after the wood is saturated with moisture or, conversely, during the process of drying out, the connection parts do not change their original shape, due to which the protection is maintained living rooms from the penetration of cold. To eliminate cracks, they are sealed with insulation and then sheathed on the outside.

"Warm Corner"

The disadvantages that are described in the methods given above are completely absent when assembling “in a warm corner”. This connection is more suitable than others for profiled timber. A special profile is cut out at the end of the beam; when connected, it completely eliminates the possibility of blowing through the corners. To achieve a completely tight fit, a special groove is cut out. It is located inside the trunk, which is used for the joint, and a tenon is formed at the mating end of the beam, which ensures excellent tightness.

This type of connection, which is also referred to as a “root tenon,” preserves the walls from displacement and provides unsurpassed protection from the wind.

At this type gap assemblies also require sealing with insulation, and then sheathing the corner from the outside.

If it is planned to build not just an outbuilding, but a premises for permanent residence– you should choose the most suitable types of corner connections for this – “warm corner” or “dovetail”. The second option will require certain skill from the performers, so it must be taken into account that dovetail assembly may require additional financial costs.

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The topic of our article is methods of connecting timber in corners and splicing on straight sections of walls. We will analyze several methods of varying complexity and describe their advantages and disadvantages.

To begin with, you can calculate required quantity timber using a calculator:

Wall length

m

Wall width

m

Wall height

m

Beam section

150x150 mm. 180x180 mm. 200x200 mm.

Beam length

5 m. 6 m. 7 m. 8 m. 9 m. 10 m. 11 m. 12 m.

Let's start, however, with general requirements to connections.

Connect securely wooden walls in corners is not an easy task.

Requirements

What properties should the compound have?

  • Strength. It is clear that the beam is supported by its own weight, the mass of the floors and roof; however, the connections will have to withstand the inevitable fluctuations in the linear dimensions of the timber with changes in atmospheric humidity and temperature.

Please note: a house built from so-called natural moisture timber is most susceptible to deformation and experiences maximum internal stress.
On the contrary, material dried to 16-20% creates a minimum of problems for builders and the owner.

  • Tightness. At a minimum, straight and corner joints of the timber should not be blown through: drafts are unlikely to please the residents of the house. The practical conclusion from this requirement is obvious: the more complex the form of the connection, the less likely it is for drafts to occur.

Corner joints with remainder

The corner connection of the beam with the rest has a couple of important advantages:

  1. It is practically not blown through.
  2. It is extremely reliable even without additional fixation. In this case, the mass of the upper rims holds the lower ones quite reliably. Displacement of wall elements becomes impossible even with moderate seismic activity.

What types of corner joints of timber with the rest exist?

Single-sided locking groove

Actually, the connection method is exhaustively described by its very name. On one side of the beam, a groove perpendicular to it is cut to exactly half the thickness. The length of the groove is equal to its width: it will have to accommodate half of the next, perpendicular beam.

As a result of this connection, each beam is securely fixed relative to the one lying below in one direction. Taking into account the additional fixation, the angle can be considered quite strong. The connection can be used for both square-section material and profiled timber.

Double-sided locking groove

The corner connection of a profiled beam with grooves on both the top and bottom sides is somewhat more complicated. The width of the grooves is the same; the depth in this case is equal to 1/4 of the thickness.

Why make things more difficult for yourself? Why is this connection better?

The fact that with double-sided cutting of grooves, each pair of beams is rigidly fixed in two directions. As a result, shifts due to changes in humidity and temperature fluctuations are practically impossible.

Four-sided locking groove

Ambiguous decision. On the one side, four-sided groove It seems like it should fix the corner joint even more reliably and make it completely windproof. On the other hand, in practice there are no great advantages relative to a double-sided groove, and the processing process becomes noticeably more complicated.

Note: the grooves can have a rather complex asymmetrical shape; but in this case, their selection is usually not done manually, but on machines during production.

Corner joints without residue

This type of connection is more economical: the material does not protrude beyond the edge of the wall. The price of saving is slightly less reliability and worse wind protection.

So, what can be the corner connections of profiled timber or square material without leaving a residue?

Butt-butt

The simplest method comes down to laying timber of the required length without any additional processing. The material fits into checkerboard pattern; The builder is insured against displacements with dowels, galvanized plates or steel brackets.

The connection is extremely simple, requires a minimum of time and can be done with your own hands even without any carpentry skills. However, assembling a corner from raw wood in this way is at least unwise: deformation during drying is guaranteed to occur.

In addition, it is almost impossible to provide protection from wind: any seal during the notorious changes in humidity (and, therefore, linear dimensions) will not protect against the appearance of gaps.

On dowels

The butt joint, however, can be modernized, after which it will lose a significant part of its shortcomings. It is enough to select the grooves on the end of one beam and the side surface of the other in which the key will be located.

The key is guaranteed to protect the corner from blowing and from moving the walls in one direction. However, the keyed connection is still capable of moving in the other direction.

To prevent this from happening, a special dovetail shape is used: it is made to expand from the middle to the edges. Of course, both the production of the key itself and the selection of grooves for it in this case are somewhat more complicated.

Half a Tree

How is a half-tree join performed? The end of each beam is cut to half its thickness; the length of the remaining spike is equal to the width.

There is no need to talk about any inherent reliability of the connection: it is provided by the dowels. The corner is also quite easy to blow through: after shrinking, grooves may appear in it; in fact, that’s why after preservation for shrinkage wooden houses usually caulked.

The problem with blowing can be partly alleviated by an additional key; it will also protect the walls from mutual displacement.

Another modification of the method is “claw” docking, in which the ends of the beam are slightly larger complex shape. In this case, we provide greater strength: the mutual displacement of the walls is prevented by the mass of the upper crowns.

Connecting the corners of the timber “half-tree” and “into the paw”.

Warm corner

Connecting the timber into a warm corner (otherwise known as a root tenon) insures the walls from mutual displacement and provides excellent protection from the wind.

The instructions for preparing the material are not too complicated:

  1. The end of one of the beams is cut in such a way as to leave a tenon with a length and width of one third of the section of the beam. The tenon may be rectangular or have an extension from the base to the end.
  2. The corresponding groove is selected on the second beam. You should not adjust the size to within a fraction of a millimeter: the groove must accommodate not only the tenon, but also the seal (jute, tow, hemp, felt, etc.)
  3. The tenon is placed into the groove from above, after which the crown is fixed with dowels.

Direct connections

If the length straight section walls are longer than the length of the material used, the latter has to be spliced.

The fact that two wall elements are joined on the same line and not at an angle does not change the priorities. Durability and reliable wind protection are still important.

How can they be provided?

  • Butt splicing on dowels prevents mutual transverse displacement of the crowns; At the same time, the key blocks the way for drafts. Of course, in this case too it is compacted with natural fiber - jute, felt, etc.

  • The root tenon is an excellent replacement for dowels. With direct splicing, it moves from the edge of the beam to its middle.

  • An oblique lock is the most labor-intensive and material-intensive method. Two beams overlap by at least two of their own sections; Strict requirements for fitting both halves of the lock do not make life easier either.

How do our sacrifices pay off? First of all, increased strength and the fundamental impossibility of gaps appearing due to any shrinkage.

Nageli

Finally, a few comments regarding the fixation of wall elements.

  • The pins should have a length of approximately 4/5 of the total height of the two crowns. However, it is also practiced to fix three beams with one dowel.
  • Their optimal diameter- 25 - 30 millimeters.
  • The step between two dowels is no more than one and a half meters; At the same time, fixing the corners with them is mandatory.
  • Two horizontal rows of dowels are arranged in a checkerboard pattern, offset from row to row.
  • The traditional material for their manufacture is birch. The fibers must be parallel to the axis; knots and cross-cutting are strictly prohibited.

Conclusion

In the article we touched only on the most popular docking methods. As usual, the video in this article will confirm all of the above. Good luck in construction!

One of the main stages of building a house with your own hands from timber or rounded logs is raising - erecting a log house. Before you begin practice (construction), you must know how to connect timber, otherwise the consequences can be disastrous.

The need for connection arises in two circumstances:

  • When cutting a corner of a house
  • When lengthening a beam or log - when the length is not enough (sometimes, for example, someone cut it to length).

Depending on what is needed, they use different methods, so I will try to clearly show the main ways of connecting timber and rounded logs.

The methods of connecting beams during the construction of a log house are significantly different from the joints of logs. More from ancient Rus' in wooden construction, they built from logs; since then, centuries of experience in connecting corners and joints have been accumulated. But this is the 21st century and ancient techniques are gradually acquiring their modified analogues, so first of all I want to introduce you to the technique of laying beams, and we will disassemble the log later.

Types of beam corner connections

Nowadays, two connection methods are practiced in wooden construction:

  • With the remainder (“to the oblo”, “to the bowl”)
  • Without a trace (“in the paw”, “in the tooth”).

The corner connection of a log, as well as with a beam, is made in two types, as “into the paw” or “into the bowl”, that is, without a remainder or with a remainder.

Connecting the corners of the timber with the remainder “into the bowl”

The bars are connected into the bowl using four locking grooves, which can be of several types:

  • One-liners
  • Bilateral
  • Quadrilateral.

With this type of connection, a perpendicular groove in the form of a notch is made in each beam on one side - usually the top. The notch must match the width of the beam perpendicular to the cross-section.
Most house-building companies use this technology to connect profiled timber, because fastening in this way requires a minimum of effort and time.


The double-sided groove lock technology means cuts on both sides of the beam, i.e. above and below. The depth of the perpendicular cut is approximately 1/4 of the height of the beam. High quality connection, but requires a lot of experience from carpenters in order to prevent cracks or chips when cutting the groove and installing the timber.

When making a four-sided locking groove, a groove is cut out on all sides of the profiled beam. This fastening option will allow you to achieve greater strength of the log house. The cuts on all sides simplify the construction of the log house - the crowns fit like a construction set. Connecting corners in this way greatly increases reliability. Requires high skill of carpenters.

Beam connections are made in the following options:

  • Butt-butt
  • On dowels
  • On the root spines.
  • Wood floor
  • Dovetail

The simplest and fastest type of timber connection is the butt connection. We simply connect them to each other and secure them with studded steel plates, which are driven in with nails or staples. The tightness of the corner connection and strength is highly dependent on the level of experience of the carpenter. It is necessary to perfectly fit the ends of the joined beams - It is very necessary flat surface. But, alas, even experienced people like me don’t always cope. The corner turns out to be poorly sealed and subject to periodic perpendicular loads.

This type of connection is the fastest in construction, but the worst in quality. I advise you better not to use such technology, you won’t end up with problems. Heat loss through such a butt angle is too great to save time and effort on more complex types of connections.

When connecting beams using dowels, use a wedge made of hard rocks for corner strength. Installing a key in the grooves of the beams helps prevent movement of the joints of the connected beams. It is also worth noting that the strength depends on the type of key: transverse, longitudinal or oblique - an oblique one is difficult to create, but in return excellent result, strong corner with low thermal conductivity.

Connections of timber into a root tenon (“ Warm corner") - this type of beam corner connection is effective, heat-intensive and very common in the construction of houses made of profiled timber. The trick lies in the following: a groove is cut out in one of the connecting beams, and a tenon of a size suitable for the groove is cut out on the other beam. During construction, inter-crown insulation is placed in the groove, which can be flax-jute fabric or vegetable felt. It is important that the joint between the tongue and groove is tight to minimize heat loss. And for the strength of the structure, the rows of beams alternate with tenons and grooves, and the round wooden dowel(key).

You can see the connection of the timber into a warm corner in detail in the video below:

See the diagram for preliminary calculations for marking cuts for corner joints

Applying in corner connections dowels (dowels), fat tails, undercuts and other joints of the “tenon in groove” type, it is very important to provide mandatory vertical gaps between the groove and the tenon. This is necessary to compensate for the inevitable shrinkage of the log house.

Another type of corner cutting that I want to consider is the “half-wood” connection - a type of fastening whose name has stuck among carpenters thanks to cutting half the width of the beam. The same as the previous versions of the assembly timber log house It begins with drilling holes for dowels (dowels) in places near the corner joints; the length of the dowel must be calculated so that it is enough for several beams. There is also a more modified version of this connection - adding a key to the joints of the beams to increase the strength of the corner connection, as well as for greater heat capacity

And finally, the most durable and reliable and with minimal heat losses is the dovetail beam connection. Almost the same as the “root tenon”, but here the tenon is sawed into a trapezoidal shape. The connections with this groove are given a similar shape.

It has a type of horizontal dovetail-to-foot connection - in which horizontal trapezoidal notches are sawn through the timber, which should fit perfectly with each other - it is quite rare in the construction of houses or bathhouses from timber due to the complexity of sawing and for most clients this type of fastening is not like purely with aesthetic side. In my construction practice, clients have only asked for such an angle a couple of times. By the way it turned out well.
T-shaped types of beam connections to create interior walls houses are embodied using the following connections:

  • Key groove on a tenon
  • Symmetrical trapezoidal tenon - frying pan
  • Rectangular trapezoidal tenon - half frying pan
  • Symmetrical trapezoidal tenon - blind frying pan
  • Straight groove on the main tenon.

You can clearly see in the figure what the T-shaped connections of the internal walls look like:

Click to enlarge

Longitudinal connection techniques

During construction big house, usually if the length exceeds 6 m ( standard length profiled timber) you have to longitudinally connect two beams to increase the length.

In this case, I advise you to use one of the following types of beam connections.

  • Oblique castle.
  • Longitudinal tenon on dowels
  • Half a tree
  • Longitudinal root tenon

Fastening the beams together along the length using a tenon on dowels is quite strong. The use of this type of connection involves cutting identical grooves at the ends of the connecting beams. The sawn beams are installed back to back, and a hardwood key is driven into the groove, which firmly holds both joining beams together.

A key is an insert (wedge) that secures two elements of the structure being connected. Dowels are made from metal or hardwood and come in rectangular, prismatic and dovetail, smooth and serrated.

The longitudinal fastening in a half-tree is similar to the connection of corners in a “half-tree” - the ends of the connecting beams are sawed to a width equal to half the thickness of the beam. The strength of the fastening is increased by fastening with a dowel (you can also fasten with a staple, nails, or fastening plate). Of course, this is a simple and quick type of fastening, but its strength is not sufficient for load-bearing walls houses made of timber. I don't recommend it.

“Longitudinal root tenon” connection - a groove is made at one end of the beam and a tenon at the other. The fastening is similar to connecting the corners to the main tenon. For greater strength, I advise sawing the groove and tenon in a trapezoidal shape - dovetail. This will eliminate horizontal vibrations of the fixed beams.

Increasing a long beam using a “bias lock” connection is one of the most difficult techniques for carpenters, but in terms of strength and stability it is far ahead of the beam connections described above. Typically, construction companies are silent about such fastenings so as not to bother their teams of carpenters. The figure below shows the implementation diagram:

Methods for joining logs when cutting a log house.

  • With the remainder
  • Without a trace.

Cutting a log house without leaving any residue means that the ends of the logs do not protrude into the joint, but are even with the wall. In turn, cutting a log house with the remainder assumes that the ends of the logs protrude beyond the boundary of the wall. Of course, cutting with residue is more expensive in terms of material consumption. Because the log or timber has to be laid 0.3 -0.5 m longer than when joining without residue. But this is compensated by greater heat capacity, protection from climatic misfortunes (rain, wind) and with such felling the log house turns out to be more stable. Let's take a closer look at both types:

Connection with remainder

The connection with the remainder has three types of felling:

  • In the oblo "in the bowl"
  • In the heat of the moment
  • In a huff.

Connecting the corners of a log house into a bowl is the most common and simplest type. The method is that a bowl is cut out of a log (it used to be cut down, but nowadays carpenters are using axes less and less in construction; a chainsaw takes over). Then we put it in this bowl cross beam and in it we cut out the next bowl (oblo), and so on in the cycle.

Corner joints of logs “in the oblo” are done as follows:

  • Half a tree
  • Oval ridge
  • In the fat tail.

Half a tree - easy to connect. To achieve stability of fastening in the crown, make longitudinal groove. We pre-fill the groove with insulation.

How to connect two logs? During the assembly of the log house, in addition to fastening them in the corners, they are also secured with dowels. Dowels can be cut pieces of reinforcement, shovel cuttings, and some craftsmen use mop cuttings. Fastening with dowels is necessary for additional vertical stability.

Oval comb - fastening with a remainder, here a small ridge is made on the bottom of the bowl oval shape, it is important that it accurately follows the shape of the laying groove. In this option, the longitudinal groove is cut not from the top but from the bottom of the log.

Detailed video about the technology of building a house from timber in examples:

The fat tail is more technically complex. A small protrusion (tail fat) is cut out at the bottom of the bowl, which is placed along the crown and across the bowl. In turn, a recess is cut out on the lower part, which coincides in shape with the protrusion (see picture:)


In the oblo - this type of connection is almost the same as what we described above (“in the oblo”). The only difference is that the bowl is cut from above, and not on the lower part of the crown. The name oklop appeared because of the characteristic clap when rolling a log into a prepared corner.

The joints in the okhryap are more technically complex than all the previous ones: here, notches are made on the upper and lower sides of the log. It’s difficult to explain in words, better see the picture below.

Joining logs without residue

In the paw - this is almost the same connection as “in the okhryap”, but from the sawn end part of the log. This is how you get an angle without a remainder. The strength of the fastening is increased by dowels and cutting out a tenon with a groove - cut. This type of connection is characterized by poor wind resistance; changing the rectangular cutout into a trapezoidal one will help save you from this - it turns out to be a “dovetail”. (picture below)