Technology for replacing the crowns of a wooden house. How to replace the lower crowns of a wooden frame of a bathhouse and a house. Reasons for damage to the lower crowns of a house and options for their elimination.

Every owner of a wooden house sooner or later is faced with the need to replace the most important structural elements of a structure. Most often we are talking about the restoration of the lower crowns. This task is not easy, requiring certain theoretical knowledge, special tools and experience in carrying out such work.

The need to replace the lower crowns of the house

Wooden houses remain popular even with the advent of modern, more practical materials and construction technologies. However, wooden log houses have one significant drawback - the fragility of the wood and its susceptibility to rotting. The lower crowns of the structure become unusable over time.

If the construction of a wooden house is carried out “wisely”, then the period of operation of the house without major repairs is from 50 years. But in practice this is not always the case. First of all, the lower crown of the house, which comes into contact with water more than other structural elements, begins to collapse.

Rapid rotting of the lower crowns is a consequence of the use of low-quality, unprepared material. Experienced craftsmen recommend using only larch when laying. This wood, oddly enough, only becomes stronger over time when wet.

Often, the construction of wooden houses is carried out by unprofessional builders who neglect the subtleties of the technological process. In addition, it is not always possible to control the quality of the material - the wood may not be sufficiently dried or harvested “out of season.” An important factor is poor waterproofing, made from inexpensive brands of roofing felt. As a result, after 5-6 years the homeowner is forced to decide on replacing the lower crowns and reconstructing the building.

Important! A house built from durable, high-quality dried and antiseptic wood, with reliable waterproofing and wide roof overhangs that protect the walls from snow and rain, will last at least half a century without repairs.

A visual inspection of the crowns will help determine the need for repairs and the scope of upcoming work. When you tap a log with a hammer or the butt of an ax, a dull sound will be heard in some places - a sign that the tree is deteriorating from the inside. A more detailed picture of the destruction can be obtained by working a little with a chisel.

It is also necessary to inspect 2-3 logs located above the mortgage - the likelihood of their damage is also high. It would also be useful to assess the condition of the foundation. Small cracks must be sealed with paper construction tape. If the strips break after a while, it means that the base is deformed and you will have to replace the crowns and repair the foundation of the wooden house.

Ways to replace rotten crowns at home

It is strongly recommended that replacement of the lower crowns be carried out with the assistance of specialists. This process is technologically and physically very complex. Operational errors can lead to destruction of the roof, chimney, ceiling or the entire house. In addition, self-reconstruction of the house is unsafe for the performers.

The repair technology depends on a number of factors: the technical condition of the foundation and crowns, the dimensions of the building, the availability of free space near the house, the proximity of adjacent buildings, the presence of a chimney, etc. A master with experience in performing such work will be able to choose the reconstruction method wisely, after weighing all the pros and cons.

Partial replacement of crowns without raising the house

Partial repairs, the so-called “spot” repairs, are performed if the wood begins to rot in one or more areas of the lower belt of the crowns. In this case, it is not advisable to completely change the crown.

“Local” repair involves replacing only the damaged part of the log.

Advantages of partial crown replacement:

ease of repair;
the work can be done independently, without the involvement of professionals and special equipment;
minor financial investments.

Disadvantages of “spot” repairs:

the formation of additional joints increases heat loss;
the strength of the structure weakens.

General procedure for partial replacement of crowns:

A crown consisting of several sections is less durable compared to a solid one. Therefore, some experts recommend using such technology in extreme cases, or as a temporary solution.

Replacement of the lower crown of the house with brickwork

There are two ways to replace the lower crown with brickwork: with raising the wooden house and without lifting. The choice of one technology or another depends, first of all, on the type of foundation, age of construction and budget allocated for repairs.

If the house does not have a foundation and stands directly on the ground, then it is not necessary to raise the entire building. Without lifting, it is possible to reconstruct the crowns if a columnar foundation was laid during construction.

Repair sequence:

The affected areas are cut out using the technology described above.
The brick foundation is being laid.
The foundation surface is brought under undamaged logs.
If necessary, replace not one, but several rows of crowns.

Advice. It is advisable to start work from the corners of the house - cut off the connections at the ends and install a strong support.

A more expensive and time-consuming method is to raise the house with jacks. Using a hydraulic or screw device, lifting is carried out, the elements of the frame are repaired and the masonry is started. General algorithm of actions:

Raise the building at the corners.
Place temporary support at the corners.
Remove the old foundation of the house.
Build up the brickwork, install waterproofing and lower the building.

Raising a wooden frame with jacks

When doing DIY repairs, they often resort to technology that involves lifting the house with a jack. Advantages of the method:

optimal ratio of cost of work and its quality;
the possibility of updating the waterproofing layer of the foundation;
high reliability.

The disadvantages of the jacking method include:

the need for certain skills and knowledge;
strict adherence to work technology;
duration of the process;
when using jacks, new joints subsequently appear.

The easiest way to raise a house is on a columnar foundation. The base of the jack is installed between foundation supports, such as concrete blocks. First, an old log is cut out. If you plan to replace several crowns, then several logs are cut at once.

When replacing the two lower rims, two logs are cut out and a jack is installed so that it rests on the log of the third row.

When reconstructing a house on a strip foundation, the lifting procedure is somewhat different - partial destruction of the foundation will be required. You need to retreat a distance of about 1 m from the corner of the house and hollow out an area 40 cm wide. The height depends on the type of jack.

When raising a building, you must adhere to some rules:

for less distortion, it is advisable to simultaneously lift the house from all sides;
on each side of the house it is necessary to make two or more niches - it depends on the size of the structure;
location of niches at the same distance from the corners of the house.

Important! After repairing the crowns in a house with a strip foundation, the integrity of the foundation is compromised, which leads to a decrease in its strength.

Step-by-step repair of a wooden house: replacement of crowns

Preparatory activities

A log house must be carefully prepared for lifting, namely:

Remove furniture and household appliances from the house. In general, the house needs to be emptied as much as possible.
Remove the sashes and frames from the windows, remove the doors and door frames. This will lighten the structure and protect windows/doors from damage and possible distortion.
Detach the wooden floor from the walls. In this case, it is necessary to take into account:
- the floor, embedded above the embedded crown, which is not planned to be changed, does not need to be removed;
- the logs embedded in the embedded crown must be disassembled, support pillars installed under the logs, and then separated from the lower crown.
The fireplace or stove present in the house is usually installed on a separate foundation. If this standard is not met, then raising the house without damaging the heating equipment is impossible.
Separate the stove/fireplace chimney from the roof and ceilings.
The intact crowns of the house must be fixed and fastened. Boards 40 cm thick are nailed vertically along the perimeter of the building, the fastening step is 50 cm. The boards are nailed both from the outside and from the inside of the house. The lower end of the board is fixed to the remaining lower crown, and the upper end, respectively, to the upper crown. This measure will protect the house from deformation during the lifting process.

The procedure for raising a log house: columnar and strip foundations

Step-by-step raising of a house on a columnar foundation:

Important! To raise the house you will need at least 4 jacks. They are installed two at a time on opposite sides of the house - the wide sides of the building are chosen. The distance to the corner of the house is about 1 m.

Lifting a log house on a strip foundation:

Important! Using a lever-jack combination, you can lift the sides of the house one at a time. In addition, after replacing the crowns, it is necessary to seal the gap through which the lever was driven.

Algorithm for replacing the crown of a wooden house

The next stage is the direct replacement of the crowns. Any crown consists of a lower and upper log connected at the corners. The jacks are installed with emphasis on the upper logs, and the lower ones can be easily removed. In their place it is necessary to put temporary supports supporting the upper crown.

Further progress:

Carefully lower the jacks together with the upper rim. Remove the dressing log.
Prepare two logs to replace the upper elements of the lower crown. The wood must be carefully processed and precisely sawed so that the fit is tight.
Place the top log on jacks and cover the top with caulking material.
Raise the jack all the way - the new log should press tightly against the counter top log.
Raise the jack along with the house and remove temporary supports from other walls.
Replace the lower strapping log in the same order as the upper one.
Repair the foundation, improve its waterproofing and lower the house.

The nuances of replacing the lower crown of a frame house

The installation of a frame house is carried out on a mortgage crown made of timber and logs. The technology for restoring the lower crown is in many ways similar to replacing the trim in a house made of timber. However, there are some important nuances:

Important points when replacing the crowns of a wooden and frame house

Log house: replacing the crown. Video

Quite often we solve problems with floors in private wooden houses for our Customers, be it a complete replacement with insulation, or a change in the finishing floor covering. The main reasons why people turn to us for this are subsidence of floors, violation of the geometry of planes, partial rotting and destruction of floor joists, insufficient or complete absence of insulation (cold floor), etc.

In most cases, the reasons that cause these unpleasant consequences are violations of the technology for installing floors and floor coverings, insufficient or absent ventilation in the underground, the proximity of groundwater, the low height of the base of the house and ventilation holes, and the most common one - savings on the cross-section and number of floor reworks and thickness of the supporting layer (floors “trampoline”). Everything is solvable, and absolutely any situation can be corrected if you have the desire and the funds. The most important thing is not to let the problem get worse, otherwise the day is not far off when it will be simply dangerous to walk on the floors, and they may even fail completely (we’ve seen this happen too). So, we have sorted out the main reasons for the disruption of functionality. Now let's get down to business.

Dismantling the floor.

The first step when replacing and/or insulating floors with your own hands will definitely be to dismantle the baseboards around the perimeter of the room and the existing floor covering, and, possibly, transfers. No special skills are required here, the main thing is accuracy in work and attentiveness when disassembling, so as not to disrupt communications (mainly electrical wiring and sewerage, possibly plumbing with heating). After all this, the accumulated construction waste should be removed (there will be a lot of it, so prepare a place for its disposal in advance). Often, it is no longer possible to carry long boards and translations through the doors, so we either cut them right in the room (inconvenient, and when using a chainsaw, the smell of exhaust fumes remains) or we feed them through the windows (most often this is what they do).

Device of sexual translations.

In general, if it is necessary to replace the floors, it is rare that the translations are not changed at the same time, because if the covering has already rotted, then the load-bearing beams are definitely also damaged. Modern technologies for laying floors and installing a supporting frame for them necessarily involve treating both beams and subfloor boards with hard-to-wash antiseptics, which significantly reduce the degree of damage to them by fungus, insects and pathogens. The dacha squatters of the last century were rarely puzzled by this, which is also why translations collapsing right in the hands are not a rarity, but rather a pattern. So, be sure to purchase antiseptic from construction stores, and don’t be lazy about treating the wood, this is important.

What else? Organization of proper air exchange in the underground. The main reason why floors and floor joists rot is the lack of proper air exchange. Natural ventilation is the key to the long life of your floors and a healthy indoor climate. Often in private houses on the ground floor there is a persistent smell of mold, especially in spring and autumn. This is the first sign that there are either not enough vents or they are organized incorrectly (there are blind pockets, non-through vents, etc.). Therefore, when overhauling floors, you should pay close attention to this, and, if necessary, correct mistakes made during construction. It would also be a good idea to check the proper organization of waterproofing of the foundation and the condition of the backfill under the house (most often it is sand, it is possible to fill the subfloor with expanded clay).

Construction and installation of floor joists.

This stage is important in terms of selecting the correct sections of load-bearing elements; here all kinds of online and offline beam calculators can help you. The main principle is that the section should be selected with a margin for load; the required lag pitch is mainly selected based on the selected finishing coating (one for a tongue-and-groove board, another for plywood, taking into account the subsequent laying of the laminate, etc.), or based on the width insulation mats. What else should you pay attention to? Floor level. Recently, the main trend in the installation of floors in private wooden houses is the installation of the latter in one level on the entire floor, without transitions across levels. Accordingly, all interior door frames are assembled and installed without thresholds, with the exception of kitchen and bathroom doors. This is undoubtedly more convenient to use.

How to do it? If we are changing the floor in a particular room, then we need to start from the level that already exists in the adjacent one. Here a laser or water level helps us, with the help of which we transfer marks to the corners of the room. After this, we subtract the future thickness of the floors (tongue-and-groove boards from 28 to 45 mm, plywood from 18 to 22 mm, a smaller thickness does not fit from the boards without organizing the flooring), put down new marks - this is the plane of the floor joists. Then we set the outermost joists of the floors according to the marks and secure them. A prerequisite for supporting transfers on a concrete base is waterproofing the contact point.

An independent floor is considered good form when translations are not tied to the walls of the house. They can be mounted on the cheeks of the foundation, or on posts indoors. In this case, it is better if these are not pillars made of foundation blocks or bricks (from practice - without a proper foundation they tilt and do not perform their functions after 3-5 years), but piles drilled and cast into a sleeve made of asbestos-cement or plastic pipe. The location of the piles is individual for each room, we are guided by beam calculators to calculate the deflection and common sense; too many complicate and increase the cost of the whole process.

Go ahead. Now we have something to support the logs on; the outermost ones have already been mounted. Collecting the rest into the system is a matter of technology. You need to tighten the lace along both edges and the middle, and continue installing the floor transfers with the required step, controlling the gaps under the tensioned threads (should be equal and minimal). As a result, we get a flat plane.

We assemble subfloors.

The rough (black) floor is added as an additional layer when insulating floors; most often it is a plank flooring (on cranial blocks fixed on the inside of the joists) made of edged boards with a section of 150x25 or 100x25 mm, pre-treated with an antiseptic. It adds rigidity to the entire floor structure, serves as an additional insulating layer, protects the final finishing of the floor from moisture, and the entire insulation pie lies on it. How to make subfloors correctly? We will need bars with a cross section of 30x30 mm, and an edged inch board. We screw the cranial block onto the inner sides of the translations and measure the width of the gaps between the joists. We cut the boards to a size slightly smaller than the span, and lay the boards tightly on the bars. Actually, that's all.

Insulation of floors in a wooden house.

It is not difficult to properly insulate the floor in your house with your own hands. The insulation pie, if you follow the technology, consists of subfloors, a waterproofing layer, a thermal insulation layer, and a vapor barrier. The process itself is simple. Using a construction stapler, we install a waterproofing membrane on top of the subfloor and floor joists, which goes around each transition, monitor the connections to the walls, and control its integrity. Then we place the required layer of insulation into the resulting pockets; it is not worth doing less than 100 mm (today there is plenty to choose from on the market, so such anachronisms as shavings with sawdust, glass wool, expanded clay, and fallen leaves have not been used for a long time). The choice of manufacturer is the Customer’s business; we, in turn, most often recommend and use Knauf products in our work. We pass along the walls along the transfers with a roller of insulation, checking the absence of cracks and cold bridges (the junctions of the mats must be covered with the next layer). There are no fundamental differences between roll and briquette insulation in floors; you can use any, it’s a matter of ease of use. We do not recommend using polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam - mice love them very much, and they burn hotly, releasing deadly substances.

The next layer will be a vapor barrier membrane, we also install it using a stapler, making sure that the junctions with the walls and the overlap are observed. After this, you need to organize ventilation between the insulation and the base of the floor; the easiest way is to sew planed thin slats over the joists, fortunately, they are not expensive. We've sorted out the insulation, let's move on.

Plywood flooring under laminate.

In the last few years, when replacing floors in a country house, customers are increasingly choosing laminate as a finishing floor as a finishing floor. The choice is not accidental - the highest performance qualities and a huge variety of colors and textures speak for themselves. It lasts a long time, is unpretentious, low price per square meter, does not dry out like a tongue and groove board, does not need to be painted - an ideal option. Linoleum? Not exactly what you need - it doesn’t breathe more than completely, the only plus is ease of cleaning and a slightly lower price, and even then not always. Can be placed in the hallway, kitchen and bathroom.

So, laminate flooring – installation in a country house. We need a smooth and durable base that does not “walk” with changes in temperature and humidity. What to choose? There is no need for plank flooring made from edged lumber - the moisture content of the source material is 12-14%, the thickness of the boards is different. OSB sheets, even 12.5 mm thick, do not have sufficient rigidity. DSP - let's say, cement in the house, especially on the floor, is never comme il faut. What remains is the plywood. The thickness that suits us starts from 18 mm, better if it is 21 mm. Which one to choose? It should definitely be birch plywood, since softwood plywood is not strong enough and is more demanding in terms of the frequency of transfers. Grade, everything is also simple here, we don’t need polished of the highest quality, since this is not a finishing coating. Accordingly, you can save a lot of money if you contact the manufacturer or official dealer directly and buy the so-called economy class, which is significantly cheaper, and for our purposes fits perfectly.

The process of laying plywood on ready-made transfers is simple, the most important thing was not to make a mistake during the installation of transfers so that the joints of the sheets fall in the middle of the joists, this is critical. The step-by-step installation of plywood on the floor is as follows:

we check the diagonals of the room, determine the right angle along the walls;
temporarily lay the sheets along the walls, where we have defined a right angle (or its similarity), with the letter G;
we check that the sheets are laid correctly, whether they do not move away from the joint line in the middle of the translation, if necessary, we cut the sheets along the wall to achieve the required result (it is important - only one side is cut along the wall, otherwise all the sheets will have to be cut later);
We provide small gaps near the walls for possible expansion of the plywood;
Then everything is simple, we pre-drill the plywood with a drill of a smaller diameter than the self-tapping screw and fasten it (life hack - we fix the joints of the sheets between the translations with scraps of plywood or boards, which we screw, slipping them under the previous sheet to make a continuous and rigid flooring).

This way we get a flat and rigid base for the subsequent laying of the finishing coating. In this particular case, it was laminate; the baseboards were chosen to match it, plastic. The final result is in the photo.

Video - the process of replacing and insulating floors in a private wooden house.

You can determine whether a foundation needs repairs by taking just one look at it. The fact that the days of the foundation of the house are already numbered is indicated by the skew of the building, cracks on the walls and subsidence of the house. It is impossible to insure a building against such deformations, because over time the foundation materials deteriorate. Therefore, one day the time comes when the owners of a wooden house have to decide what type of repair to do - partial or complete.

Conditions for partial and major repairs

In order to find out the extent of damage to the foundation and determine the necessary measures to restore it, you need to carefully study the current state of the foundation and identify characteristic defects that may affect the strength and integrity of the building or its individual elements.

If cracks appear on the foundation, then you need to think about the need to repair it.

The foundation is restored in fragments if it has sunk lower but has not begun to collapse. Complete repairs are resorted to when cracks and other damage are detected.

The decision on what basis to replace a completely damaged structure is made taking into account the type of soil, the terrain and the type of foundation originally created.

If the foundation of the house has sunk into the ground, it’s time to repair it

With a strip base, they often proceed as follows: the destroyed areas are dismantled and the structure is reinforced along the entire perimeter. In case of serious destruction of the foundation strip, it is decided to completely replace it.

If there are serious defects in the strip foundation of a house, it makes sense to think about its complete replacement.

Repair of a columnar foundation is almost always carried out completely: all the old supports of the building are replaced with new ones. To do this, the house is raised to the height of the pillars using jacks. New reliable supports are fixed on reinforced concrete “pillows”.

The columnar foundation is most often completely replaced with a new one

A foundation made of wood, which has already been slightly damaged by fungus, is usually replaced with a strip or columnar structure. To do this, the building is raised to a certain level and concrete blocks or bricks are placed under it.

Strengthening the foundation of a wooden house

When repairing the foundation, it makes sense to immediately strengthen it. This can be done if you are confident in the stability of the soil, which is below the foundation level of your house. Strengthening the structure under the building may also be required in the case where it is planned to add another floor to the house, but there is a suspicion that the previously installed foundation will not withstand the increased load.

You can strengthen the foundation in two ways, depending on the load it has to withstand.

Instructions for strengthening the strip structure

To make the foundation more durable, perform the following work:

A trench is dug along the perimeter of the base. The hole must be wide, otherwise it will be inconvenient to work. In addition, we must take into account that the new foundation will become stronger.
The soil is removed from the excavated foundation. To do this, use a metal brush.
The trench must be wide enough to make it comfortable to work in.
Holes are made in the old base with a drill. It is important that their diameter exceeds the thickness of the purchased reinforcing bars by no more than 1 mm. In this case, the metal elements will be installed securely and without gaps.
Reinforcement rods are inserted into the drilled holes using a hammer. They will help connect the new foundation to the old one.
Reinforcing bars are driven into the drilled holes, to which the vertical grid is attached.
Further metal elements are welded to the hammered rods, forming a reinforced belt. It is better to solder the reinforcement with already installed rods only in a few places. For the most part, it is wiser to tie metal elements with wire to avoid deformation of the reinforcing belt during pouring and hardening of concrete.
The reinforcement cage will firmly connect the old foundation with the reinforcing concrete structure
The formwork is installed and filled with concrete. After waiting for the solution to harden, the structure of the boards is dismantled. The new foundation is left untouched for several days so that it becomes even stronger.
Formwork is installed around the reinforcement frame and concrete is poured into it. After the reinforcing layer has hardened, the formwork is removed
The created base is covered with waterproofing material. An asphalt strip is created around the foundation at an angle.

Thanks to the reinforcement, the weight of a wooden building is distributed over a larger area. This method allows you to stop subsidence and destruction of the house.

Video: how to strengthen a strip foundation

Replacing the foundation under a timber building

The method for replacing the base depends on its type.

Replacement of strip foundation

Overhaul of the base in the form of a tape is carried out in stages:

In order to reduce pressure on the foundation, furniture is removed from the house, floors are dismantled, and the stove is dismantled. Only heating equipment located on a separate concrete platform is not subject to dismantling.
The building is raised slightly. If the house is small, then its level in relation to the ground is changed using a kind of lever for lifting weights - a beam measuring 8x8 cm, placed at the corner of the building. A log will serve as a support for it. For heavy construction, it is better to choose thicker lumber. The wooden structure is raised by applying pressure to the timber.
The house is raised on jacks and temporary supports are placed under it.
A trench is dug around the house or only in areas where the wooden building needs to be raised.
A jack is placed under the old foundation. There may be several mechanisms for raising a building. The number of jacks is determined by their load capacity and the weight of the house. The mechanisms can only be installed in areas where there is no damage.
Using a jack, the house is slowly raised to the desired level. It is important that it rises evenly above the ground. Since there is a risk of unsuccessful installation of the jack, it is advisable to play it safe - place wooden wedges between the structure and the base pad.
The house is raised evenly on several jacks. For insurance, wooden blocks are placed under the load-bearing beams.
The lower crown of a raised wooden structure is tied together with a steel hoop or hammered in with strong boards. This technique will protect the overloaded lower beams of the house from damage.
The house is freed from its former foundation right down to the surface of the earth. If you are not ready to spend a lot on repairing the base, then you can partially disassemble the structure - remove only the damaged areas.
A hammer drill is used to destroy the old foundation.
A cushion of sand-cement mixture is made under the reconstructed base of the house. Supports made of concrete or bricks are placed at the corners of the building. Instead, you can use piles. Thanks to the installation of supports, the size of which must correspond to the height of the foundation being constructed, in the future the foundation will be able to withstand increased pressure.
Construct a reinforcing belt necessary to strengthen the base. Elements of a metal structure are connected not by welding, but by wire.
Formwork is made from boards. The finished structure is filled with concrete mortar.
Formwork with a reinforcing frame inside is reinforced with side supports and filled with concrete
After 3 days, the concrete hardens, so the formwork is removed, but no further work is carried out yet, waiting for the foundation to strengthen.
A few days after dismantling the formwork, the new base is covered with a waterproofing sheet, for example, roofing felt.
A few days after the formwork is removed, the foundation is covered with waterproofing material
The house is lowered, acting as slowly as during the raising of the building. The front side of the base is covered with waterproofing and facing materials. A blind area is made around the house, which will not allow rainwater to seep into the foundation.

Video: how to repair a strip concrete base

Repair of support pillars

To replace a columnar foundation, proceed as follows:

If it is necessary to replace just a few pillars, they act differently: they make tunnels in the area where they are located, and pipes are immersed in them and filled with concrete. Old supports are dismantled after the solution has hardened.

Video: replacing a columnar foundation with your own hands

Converting a rubble or brick foundation into a monolith

Since the brick foundation is characterized by increased fragility, it is more advisable to replace it with a concrete foundation.

To build a concrete foundation in place of a brick or rubble foundation, perform the following steps:

Video: brick foundation repair

Repairing the foundation of a wooden house with your own hands

The wooden foundation is mainly made of pine or larch. A wooden structure always requires complete replacement, since over time it becomes completely covered with fungus and rots. Replacing old elements of such a base with new ones is carried out as follows:

The damaged foundation of a dilapidated wooden house can be put in order. To do this, you need to obtain the necessary knowledge and choose a repair or replacement technology. You can do the reconstruction of the foundation of a house yourself, if you have the desire and at least a little experience in construction work.

In a private house or in a “Khrushchev”, it is most often necessary to replace old wooden floors, since their service is limited to a certain period of operation. Wooden floors are susceptible to deformation from constant temperature changes and exposure to humid air. Wood is an environmentally friendly, durable and affordable material with reliable heat-insulating characteristics; wooden floors look cozy and are suitable for any surface. In order to decide to replace the floors with your own hands in an old house or in a “Khrushchev”, you must first determine the degree of its wear and possible repair options.

Signs of wear on a wood floor

You can make sure that the floors are truly unusable and you can replace them yourself by checking a few basic indicators:

boards squeak when loaded;
boards bend under the weight of furniture;
significant level differences are noticeable, water flows in one direction;
cracks and gaps appeared between the floorboards;
wood becomes rotten and crumbles under any impact on it.

If you come to the conclusion that repairs in this case are useless, then you should plan a full-scale re-flooring. The video provides a list of tools that you will need to replace wooden floors with your own hands. You can proceed in several steps, including:

determining the amount of materials - logs are calculated based on laying 0.5 - 0.8 m from each other, boards with a width of at least 40 mm are used for floorboards, and how many boards will be needed to re-lay the floors are calculated based on the area of the re-laying with a margin not less than 1%;
treating wood with impregnation with antiseptic properties to prevent rot and mold;
installing a hydraulic barrier before laying the logs on the surface of the soil or concrete base; for this purpose, you can use sheets of roofing material placed in two or three layers under each log.

Replacing the old floor

If the floors are being replaced not in a Khrushchev-era building, but in a private house or country house, then after dismantling the old floors, the base for the joists should be leveled; this requires several steps:

Level and compact the ground;
In the places where the supports are installed, dig holes 200x200 mm up to half a meter deep;
Fill with layers of 60 mm of sand, crushed stone and rubble chips;
Fill with prepared concrete mortar;
Build brick pillars on the hardened mortar so that horizontal support beams can be laid on them;
Then the logs are laid perpendicularly on the support beams, and the space between the logs is covered with OSB sheets;
Support beams and logs are coated with protective impregnations and it is advisable to additionally coat them with bitumen mastic;
Next, the floor surface is covered with waterproofing in the form of a dense film.

The video shows how logs are laid on a leveled base and their strictly horizontal position is checked with a hydraulic level (spirit level). To do this, you can use a cord stretched between the outermost joists, then the joists are carefully leveled in height relative to the cord, selecting small pieces of plywood of suitable thickness in the right places so that the cord remains evenly stretched and comes into contact with all the beams.

Important! We must fill the space between the joists with insulation, which can be used as mineral wool, penoplex or expanded polystyrene. All of these materials also have sound-absorbing properties. The price of these materials is not high and they can be purchased at any hardware store.

When we re-floor the floors with our own hands in a Khrushchev building or in a country house, we mark the required size on the prepared boards with a tape measure and, using a square, we cut the boards strictly in compliance with the right angle. In order for wooden floors in a house or in a “Khrushchev” to be strong and durable, you need to try to follow the basic rules:

joining floorboards is only permissible in the middle of the joist;
between the boards and the adjacent wall it is necessary to provide a gap of one and a half centimeters for the free expansion of wood in the warm season; the gap left under the baseboard will be invisible;
to fix the boards, you need to use self-tapping screws three times the thickness of the board, since the nails gradually come out due to the constant expansion and contraction of wood fibers, which creates inconvenience and leads to dangerous consequences;
When laying the boards, they should be knocked together as tightly as possible, for which a hammer and an extension made of timber are used; it is advisable to place the floorboards in the main direction of daylight from the window openings;
the heads of the screws, which must be hidden in the wood, and the resulting cracks must be covered with a special mixture (sealants, putties);
the floor surface must be treated with a sander;
A primer or drying oil is applied to the laid boards and painted with acrylic or oil paints.

Important! It is very convenient to use tongue-and-groove boards, which have longitudinal protrusions on one side and grooves on the other - special recesses that fit exactly with the protrusions, to replace floors with your own hands in a Khrushchev-era apartment building or in a dacha. Tongue and groove boards are thoroughly cleaned during the manufacturing process and do not require additional sanding.

This video demonstrates in detail the process of laying tongue and groove floors, which create a very neat, comfortable impression. Their cost is not much higher than the cost of ordinary boards, but the quality of processing and ease of installation pay for the money spent. It often happens that in order to emphasize additional aesthetic accents in the interior, the boards are not painted, but in a “rustic style” they are covered with alkyd varnish of different color saturation; the low price of varnishing makes this method very attractive. Any covering can be laid on top of a wooden floor: laminate, linoleum, carpet, ceramic tile.

The lower crowns in a wooden frame are one of the most vulnerable places. No matter how hard the owners try to protect a wooden frame (be it a house or a bathhouse), it is not immune from deterioration. Wood is an excellent building material, but its service life is limited.

The situation when the house is in good condition, but the base is very rotten, is quite common. The owner of a wooden building should think about the possibility of repairing the lower logs already at the construction stage.

If a wooden frame house requires major repairs after 50-60 years of operation, then its lower crowns (basement part) may fail much earlier. Accelerated destruction of wood occurs for the following reasons:

Rotting as a result of frequent and prolonged direct contact with sedimentary and flood moisture, the release of groundwater, the accumulation of penetrating moisture and condensation.
Damage by microorganisms (fungi, mold, bacteria), insects (ants, bark beetles, etc.) and various rodent pests.
Destruction under excessive loads.
Mechanical damage of various types.

The following factors contribute to the appearance of these destructions:

Absence or poor quality waterproofing between the foundation and the plinth, as well as on the outside of the lower part of the wall.
An improperly organized drainage system, which causes the accumulation of sedimentary and flood water, as well as moisture formed when snow melts.
Lack of foundation ventilation (vents or vents).
Violations during construction - use of low-quality wood, incorrect choice of log diameter, use of undried wood, insufficient antiseptic treatment and anti-rot impregnation of wooden elements, incorrect calculation of loads, violation of the rules for laying the lower crowns.

Important. The lower crowns, made of high-quality, durable material and impregnated with a protective composition, with proper waterproofing, have the same service life as the entire wooden frame of the house.

Preparatory work

A properly carried out preparatory stage creates the basis for high-quality repairs. It includes the following activities:

Visual inspection. It must be carried out periodically so as not to start a destructive process. The above-ground part of the foundation, the filling element and the 3-4 lower crowns of the frame are inspected with special care. An obvious reason for repair is the appearance of visible defects - cracks in the wood, deformation of individual logs (including bulging in one direction or another), discoloration, traces of insects and pests. A pronounced sign may be the presence of a specific smell of rotten wood.
Checking the internal condition of the wood. Superficial signs do not always indicate the need for major repairs - sometimes they just need to be cleaned off the logs and covered with a protective layer. Things are much worse if the process goes deeper into the material. The first sign of this is established by the dull sound heard when the logs are tapped with a hammer. To create a more accurate picture, you need to use a chisel and carefully remove the top layer of the tree to assess the condition of the core.
Assessing the scope of work and drawing up a repair plan. At this stage, the types of defects and the distribution of damage are identified - local, i.e. on a small area of logs; damage to individual logs; destruction of almost the entire basement area (on one wall or along the entire perimeter of the house). Accordingly, repairs can have the following types: replacement of a small section of a log; replacement of one log with or without lifting the entire frame; complete replacement of the entire basement part of the frame.

Complete replacement of the lower crowns

Major repairs in the form of a complete replacement of the lower crowns include raising the frame, removing rotten logs and installing new crowns. The work is carried out in the following order: preparatory activities, replacement of the lower crowns and beams.

Preparatory activities:

maximum lightening of the entire structure (removal of furniture and plumbing, removal of doors and windows, dismantling of the floor and roofing);
dismantling stoves and fireplaces if they do not have their own independent foundation;
separation of the chimney from the ceiling and roof, if the stove is not dismantled;
disconnecting floor joists if they are embedded in the lower crowns to be replaced;
shutting down all communications.

To secure the crowns along the entire perimeter of the house, boards with a thickness of at least 3 cm are nailed vertically at a distance of 45-60 cm from each other. You can fasten adjacent crowns using metal staples. Fastening is provided on both sides of the wall (outside and inside).

To lift the log house at a distance of 60-80 cm from the corner of the building, an opening 35-45 cm wide is made in the foundation and part of the logs is cut out to form a niche for installing a jack. The following lifting technology can be used:

With one jack. Each corner is raised in turn.
Using 2 jacks. First, one wall is raised completely, and after it is fixed, the opposite one.
On 4 jacks. The entire frame rises at once. This method eliminates damage to the frame, but requires coordination of the operation of the devices.

After raising the corner of the log house to a height sufficient to remove one log, a support is placed under the first crown, which cannot be replaced, mounted on 2 posts. This way the frame is fixed at all lifting points, and the jack is removed.

Unusable logs are knocked off the nigels and removed outside. Then new logs are installed. They are immediately held together with nigels. A jack is again placed under the lower crown, which is used to compact the new logs.

Before completing the work, the foundation is repaired if necessary, the waterproofing between the base and the base is restored, and a new filling element is installed. After this, using jacks, the frame is slowly lowered to its original place, secured with pins.

After the log house is completely lowered, all the cracks between the logs are caulked with moss, tow or jute. The thermal and waterproofing of the base is restored.

Partial replacement of timber

If an examination of the condition of the house shows that the foundation is in good condition, as is most of the base, and only a small section of the crown is destroyed, then repairs are carried out by partially replacing the elements of the frame. In this case, only the damaged area of one or more logs is removed, and a kind of “patch” is installed.

Such work involves the following steps:

The area to be repaired is clearly marked, for which you can use a knife, ax or chisel.
Fixation of crowns. At a distance of 35-45 cm on both sides of the boundary markings, ties from a board 3-4 cm thick (with fixation of 2-3 crowns) or metal brackets are installed.
Cutting along the markings of the damaged area using a chainsaw, electric saw or grinder.
Preparing the opening. The lower surface of the upper, untouched crown is slightly flattened, and cuts 15-20 cm wide are made at the ends of the opening. The entire surface of the opening is carefully treated with an antiseptic.
Manufacturing and installation of the insert. From logs of a size similar to the installed logs, elements 1.5-2 mm shorter than the opening are cut out. After treatment and impregnation with an anti-rot composition, the insert is firmly driven into the opening using a sledgehammer. All cracks will be caulked.

Replacing timber without raising the frame

Major renovations to a house can be done without lifting the frame. The following options are available:

Replacement of destroyed logs. First, the rotten element is removed in parts. To do this, the log is cut into pieces 1-1.5 m long, which are taken out one by one. The technology is no different from the previous method of partial replacement. After removing the entire log, exactly the same element is carefully driven into the vacant space and fastened to the adjacent crowns with metal staples.
Replacing a damaged wooden plinth with brickwork. The technology is based on alternately cutting and removing sections of a wooden plinth 1-1.5 m long and replacing it with brickwork 1.5-2 bricks thick. The masonry is brought directly under the remaining lower crown, and waterproofing is laid between them. Gradually moving along the entire perimeter of the house, a complete replacement of the rotten lower wooden crowns with a brick basement is ensured. Next, it is enough to insulate the masonry and plaster it.

Which wood is best suited for the lower crowns of a log house?

When constructing a wooden house, the following types of wood are used:

Spruce. This is one of the most accessible and cheapest materials. Thanks to their loose structure, spruce logs retain heat well. In addition, they have antibacterial abilities. The main disadvantages are low moisture resistance and a tendency to rot, which limits their use in lower crowns.
Pine has a smooth trunk without knots, but in its shortcomings it is similar to spruce.
Birch is considered a hard, durable material, but it dries out strongly, has high water permeability, a tendency to rot, and low durability.
Larch. It has high strength, resistance to microorganisms, and is not subject to rotting. The main advantage is moisture resistance and fairly high fire resistance. Wood is a highly drying species, which requires good drying before construction. The only real drawback is the high cost.
Oak. This wood is distinguished by its strength and durability, high hardness, and resistance to any weather conditions. In terms of resistance to rotting and moisture resistance, oak logs are comparable to larch and have a similar disadvantage.

Taking into account the economic side, wooden houses are most often built from spruce and pine. However, in the lower crowns their use threatens premature major repairs. The best option for making a plinth is larch and oak. Such materials will be more expensive than common tree species, but their very high resistance to moisture and mechanical strength will significantly increase durability.

Attention! The lower crowns of the log house bear the maximum loads, and therefore the diameter of the logs for them should be 15-20% larger than the size of the elements of the rest of the walls.

What tools are required to complete the work?

When carrying out repairs on your own, you will need the following tools and equipment:

jack for raising the house (1-4 pieces);
Bulgarian;
gasoline or electric saw for cutting logs;
hammer drill for forming a jack installation site on the foundation;
electric drill for installing nigels;
sledgehammer;
hammer;
chisel;
plane;
hacksaw;
scissors for cutting waterproofing;
metal brush;
paint brush;
roulette;
metal ruler;
rail to control the lifting height.

Is it possible to change the bottom beam yourself?

In general, the repair work in question requires a certain skill, significant time and labor costs.

The question of whether it is possible to independently replace the lower crowns of a wooden house is of a purely individual nature. If you have the necessary equipment and sufficient time, the work associated with lifting the log house can be done with your own hands.

But, if a person is in doubt, it is better to invite specialists. In order to carry out repairs correctly and efficiently, you need to take into account some nuances.

When is the best time to do the work?

Repair of the basement of a wooden house must be carried out immediately when damage is detected. In this case, it is possible to do without major repairs and complete replacement of the lower crowns. The work itself cannot be carried out in high humidity and windy weather.

When planning the timing of repair activities, it is necessary to take into account some features of the behavior of wood. In summer, moisture moves deeper into the log, which can cause cracking when drying.

In winter, the humidity of the tree is minimal, and the moisture is frozen, which ensures uniform shrinkage. In addition, in summer, wood is more sensitive to temperature differences between night and day.

The choice of repair timing should be made taking into account the recommendations given for the construction of a wooden house:

It is better to carry out foundation repairs in the fall, when the air temperature has not yet dropped to sub-zero values. After 2.5-3 weeks, the concrete will gain the required strength, and you can start building the log house.
It is better to carry out work with a wooden frame in winter.
During spring, maximum shrinkage occurs. It is better to wait out this period.
Summer is the best option for finishing work.

Important! If the major repair of a wooden house involves raising and strengthening the foundation, as well as replacing the lower crowns of the log house, then work should begin at the end of October-November, taking into account that the completion of the log house repair will take place in December-January.

How can you increase the service life of timber?

The service life of the lower crowns, and therefore the entire wooden house, can be achieved in the following ways:

Application of high-quality and reliable waterproofing. Such materials include modern euroroofing felt. It is laid on top of the foundation and protects the frame well from below.
Cover board. If there is no financial opportunity to manufacture lower crowns from larch or oak, you can increase the reliability of the base by installing boards made of these materials. It is attached on top of the foundation waterproofing and has a width of 25-30 cm and a thickness of 6-8 cm.
Impregnation of wood with folk remedies. It is recommended to use the following substances: copper sulfate, “Finnish mixture” (slaked lime, copper sulfate, table salt, flour); natural wax; spruce resin or birch tar; bitumen; drying oil; oils
Modern, synthetic, impregnating compounds. The following antiseptics are popular: Pinotex, Sadolin, Senezh Ognebio, Tikkurila, Belika.

You can replace the lower crowns in a wooden frame yourself in different ways. It is important to correctly assess their condition and determine the scope of work.

To prevent rapid rotting of wood, it is necessary to protect it from moisture and pests. Preventive measures will help eliminate the need for labor-intensive major repairs.