Frame houses – construction technology

The first frame houses were two-timbered houses, which were known in Europe in the 17th century. Frame two-timbered construction began to gradually displace traditional log cabins and stone houses.  The characteristic appearance of the fawverka is decorated with the old streets of northern Europe and the New World.

The basis of such a two-door house is a wooden frame, consisting of a system of crossbars, racks and slopes. The frame performed both a decorative function and the role of a supporting structure. The building received expressiveness and individual design. The existing gaps between the elements of the frame were originally filled with lime and straw. Over time, stones, bricks and clay began to be used.

In modern frame construction, the principles that were developed during the construction of a two-door house are still used. But the technology of mass acquisition has become developed and modern. Such houses can be built at any time of the year, and construction is carried out in a short time.

Frame construction technology is best adapted to the production of elements of the load-bearing frame and walls in production centrally with a high degree of automation. This is how prefabricated houses appeared. The prefab constructor is manufactured on high-precision equipment according to the project, and the assembly of the house is greatly simplified and accelerated.

The next step in frame construction is the use of modular technology. This involves greater localization of construction in production, manufacture and further transportation of modules of varying degrees of readiness.

For the manufacture of a load-bearing structure, a load-bearing wooden frame is used. The outer cladding was previously made of multilayer plywood or chipboard, now mostly oriented-shaving plates (OSB) are used. As a heater, various materials were initially used, but later mineral wool became the main insulation.

The developed high-tech insulating and vapor-proof membranes and films, which improved the protection of the house from wind and humidity, allowed to guarantee long-term use of houses. Now, when designing frame houses, the external environment is studied and the "pie" of the walls is optimized for it.

A frame house is lighter than a wooden, concrete or brick house. Therefore, the foundation for such houses is cheaper, it is faster to build, and the walls do not shrink over time. Communications – electricity, water supply, sewerage – are laid in insulation in the walls of the house, which simplifies the construction process and adds the area of the house.

With the help of frame construction technology, you can implement any architectural and design ideas. If the two-door house of the 19th century is easy to recognize, now the frame house is only a construction technology. Houses using frame technology can look anything but, with a flat or pitched roof, in modern, conservative, minimalist and other styles.

Recently there was a new architectural style – Barnhouse. It became a business card of frame construction, is easily recognizable and has gained great popularity. We have developed Barnhouse-style SKANDI frame houses, which we have been building using modular technology for more than 5 years. These houses have gained great popularity in Ukraine.