The difference between a winter forest and a summer forest. A winter log house is better than a summer one, but how to determine it? Winter forest - can lie sawn for several months

Eco-friendly construction. Homestead: I plan to build wooden house from round logs. Everywhere it is written that it is necessary to make a log house exclusively from the forest harvested in winter period because he is the best. However, few places say how to determine whether it is a winter forest and how to check sellers

I am planning to build a wooden house from logs. Naturally, the first thing that arose was the question of ordering a log house. I shoveled a bunch of books and everywhere it says that you need to make a log house exclusively from the forest harvested in the winter. he is the best. However, there is little where it is said how to determine whether it is a winter forest and how to check the sellers.

Of course, conscientious carpenters harvest wood in winter, and in spring and summer they cut log cabins and collect them. However, what prevents unscrupulous producers from harvesting wood in the summer, when it is easy to do so, putting it in storage and selling log cabins from it all winter and half of the next year under the guise of winter wood. Let's try to understand this issue together.

To begin with, a little theory, or why the winter forest is so good:

In winter, the trees come to a state of rest, they are prepared for a long winter. The pores close, sap flow and growth stops, excess moisture is discharged through the root system.

Therefore, with the further operation of products from such a forest, we get the following advantages:

• when the logs are heated, resin will not be emitted from them
• the wood is denser and drier i.e. less prone to warping and cracking
• the material goes through a long period of natural drying, since from the moment of harvesting to summer heat several months pass
• winter timber is harvested at low temperatures, which means that the wood retains its natural light appearance longer and is less susceptible to infection by fungi and insects.

Now let's move on to practice - how to recognize what is being sold to you by the type of winter wood.

I must say right away that it is difficult for a non-specialist to do this, but it is possible.

There are several ways:

First- it's better to see it once - it's ideal to go to the site where log cabins are made and look at the unskinned wood from which the house is made. If you see dirt on the bark, this indicates that it was cut down in the summer, if dark spots appear on the saw cuts, this indicates that the forest was in the rain. Winter forest when properly stored, as a rule, does not turn blue. In summer, in the winter forest, the bark has dried up and partially flies off.

Second- choose proven ones. Everything is clear from the name, for sure you turned to the carpenters from whom your friends or acquaintances have already placed orders. Conscientious sellers should have the addresses of those to whom they have already delivered log cabins or even mounted them. Take an interest in the reputation of suppliers and a lot will become clear.

Third- order time factor - for an additional guarantee, it is worth buying a forest, a log house of a wooden house or a bathhouse in winter months starting in January or February, at least in the spring. The reason is simple - it is at this time that the harvesting of winter wood begins, and the sawn wood in the summer, as a rule, has ended. Therefore, at the end of summer, in the fall, it's time to deal with the project of a wooden bathhouse or house and choose suppliers and carpenters. Because it will take from one to two months to develop a project sketch, select an internal layout, refine details, and draw a so-called log for a residential building. In the meantime, the winter forest will also arrive, from which it is necessary to build.

Fourth- trust but check. If you were offered a ready-made log house under the guise of a winter one and there is no way to comply with clauses 1 and 3, at least carefully inspect the goods. There should be no deep cracks on the logs - this is not only a sign of a summer forest, but also indicates a violation of the drying technology. Logs should dry slowly, naturally, and the longer the better: the tree needs to dry out not only on the outside, but also on the inside. Those. if you are offered a box of a house made of summer wood, cut down during the same period, then in a dry summer, the outer southern walls will dry out very quickly, while the inner and northern ones will be slower and due to internal stress, a large number of cracks.

You should be especially wary if the manufacturer offers a wooden house box covered with an antiseptic. Here they can say that they cut it last season, they didn’t sell it, therefore they treated it with a septic tank (and maybe with bleach to pass it off as a new one). At the same time, such grief carpenters will prove that they cut it in winter. But why do you need unnecessary problems - it is better to control everything and get a quality log house.

Fifth- instrument control. Some authors advise putting one drop of iodine on a saw cut log. Because in winter wood starch more tree in this place should turn blue. Next, you can measure the moisture content of the log at a depth of 10-15 cm, but this requires a special moisture meter device.

These are the ways to determine winter wood for construction exist. Each of them is not particularly effective, however, if you apply them in combination, then the probability of getting a high-quality log house for a wooden log house or a house made of timber is quite real. published

The developer of a wooden house faces many problems. One of the most important issues- the choice of wood, because the durability of the future structure largely depends on the material.

It has already become a classic statement that the winter forest is much better than the summer one.

Advantages of a winter log house

Firstly, wood harvested during the cold season is much less prone to rotting. He is not afraid of warping. Yes, and there will be no problems with drying, since it happened naturally before the construction of the house begins in the summer.

In winter, the trees are dormant. In preparation for wintering, the pores close, there is no movement of juice, growth stops. Wood does not need excess moisture, so it is discarded. As a result, during the operation of houses from such a forest, logs will not release resin at the time of heating. Dense, dry wood is not prone to warping and is less likely to develop cracks. wood in lesser degree infested with fungi and insects.

So you've decided build a log house. It is good, of course, to trust the performers of the work, but it is not at all superfluous to check, because not everyone works in good faith. It is better to make sure for yourself that it is the winter forest that is offered. But how to do that?

Recognizing the difference is not easy, but it is possible if you know the main points. Ideally, of course, you should see for yourself at the construction site what material the house is built from. But the skinned forest will say little about anything, and you can see dirt on raw materials that have not been processed, which indicates summer harvesting.

The appearance of dark spots on the saw cuts is a sign of a forest that was in the rain. A good winter forest (you still need to be able to store it!) Should not turn blue. On it, over time, the bark dries up and flies off in some places.

To avoid doubts about the time of felling wood, buy it during the winter months. Of course, there is a possibility that you will slip the remaining summer wood, but it is small.

It is more difficult to determine the quality of raw materials when buying ready-made log house. You may be told that it is winter, but if you see deep cracks on the logs, do not trust such a seller. Not only is this a sign of a summer forest, you can be sure of obvious violations of the drying technology. The offer of a wooden house box covered with an antiseptic should also alert.

Going for the choice of logs, take iodine with you. In order to establish the truth, you need only one drop. On the saw cut of a log of winter wood, it should turn blue, since in the presence of starch in the cold season it reaches its maximum concentration.

When deciding to build a house from logs or timber, the first thing to do is to find out exactly from which forest (winter or summer) the house will be built (the same goes for ready-made options). It is worth noting that when building a house from cedar or another type of wood, the fact at what time of the year the material was harvested is important.

The wood that is harvested winter time, is valued much higher, as it has a number of features, unlike the summer one. If you are planning to build a durable, strong house, then you should give your preference to the winter forest.

Purchasing material for cedar houses or hand-cut bathhouses on your own, it is worth knowing a few signs of the difference between a winter forest and harvested material at another time. This article will present a small list of differences with which you can independently distinguish a winter forest from a summer one.

1. Selecting the season for purchasing raw materials. For example, you decide to buy material in October. If consultants assure you that the material is winter felling, you should immediately think about it. With a high probability, you are being told false information, since by the autumn the harvesting of winter timber for most manufacturers is already over.
2. It is worth paying special attention to the ends of the logs, to their shade. The ends of the winter forest have a lighter shade than in the summer or during the rainy season. If you find dirty marks or dried pieces, this is clearly a summer harvest. The winter forest is taken out in the snow, so it is clean and in bark. The summer forest is taken out on the ground from this it turns out to be peeled from the bark and dirty.
3. Cuts on logs (longitudinal) should be even, without characteristic waviness, since in winter the forest is cut down much easier and more evenly.
4. In the winter forest, resin dries up from the end of the log where the sapwood is, but this is not the case in the summer forest, since there is a lot of water in it.
5. You can also pour iodine on a log, it changes its color if there is a lot of moisture in the tree.

The visual differences were listed above, but there is also chemical method. It can help distinguish logs from winter or summer harvests. The thing is that a tree harvested in the cold season has a core that contains a large amount of starch.

To figure out how to harvest this method, you will need ordinary iodine. By applying the solution to the core of the log, the determination takes place. On a forest that was harvested in winter, iodine will not change, unlike in summer - it will turn blue.

Starch, which is contained in the winter forest in winter, changes its state, binding all its useful elements, including water, into a kind of mass, and its distribution along the trunk occurs evenly. This condition allows the water (which is in the tree) to evaporate more slowly, which means that the material suffers less during drying. As for iodine, it interacts only with pure starch, such as in summer harvest forests.

When building a house from cedar, take into account the above points.

Everyone knows that the strongest and most reliable wooden houses need to be built from winter forest, because its main advantages - shrinkage uniformity and strength - are directly related to low temperatures during cutting.

The benefits of the winter forest have been known since time immemorial, and its use in construction is backed up by the centuries-old experience of Russian architecture. In the construction of houses and baths, preference was given to trees cut down in winter, and there are good reasons for that.

Winter Forest Benefits

There is an opinion that in the winter season a tree, significantly reducing its growth rate, contains a minimum amount of moisture and sap. This statement is true, but mainly it is worth paying attention to the fact that the winter forest dries out (freezes out) more slowly and more evenly. That is, such material is drier and more durable, which means it is of better quality.

Increased strength is achieved due to the fact that at sub-zero temperatures the percentage of moisture in the tree trunk is much less than in the warm season. Under such conditions, the tree gets rid of excess resins and juices, the tree "says goodbye" to its inhabitants.

In addition, the percentage of starch in the wood is reduced. Therefore, a felled winter forest compares favorably with a forest felled in summer, and this difference lies in the absence of cracks.

Also, the winter forest is less prone to decay. Due to the fact that the winter forest dries slowly, the shrinkage of the house is carried out more evenly. In the case of summer forest, this process is faster, and this often leads to warping of the structure, since the outer part of the log settles before the inner one.

Alternative opinion

However, today there is also a polar opinion. Some experts argue that the amount of moisture in wood is the same both in winter and in summer, and our ancestors built houses exclusively in winter, not at all because of the unique properties of the winter forest, but for reasons of their own busyness in summer gardening work.

But even such "skeptics" insist: it is profitable to build wooden houses in winter. But it becomes profitable because of the winter logging technology. A tree cut down in winter should lie down and dry on fresh air. Due to this, the process of freezing moisture occurs. And then the moisture really becomes less than that of summer tree. Sawn wood should lie down with good ventilation for at least one month.

It is this circumstance that eliminates (or reduces the likelihood) the appearance of blue, black spots, and fungus on the tree. Namely, when the log has high humidity, and the temperature environment more than 15 degrees, it becomes very vulnerable to damage by harmful fungus and mold. All this leads to darkening, debate and decay of the material.

Here it is logical to think about the conditions of ventilation of wood. So that a constant stream of air could pass through the rows. You can not cover the entire pack with non-wetting and breathable material, so as not to create a "greenhouse effect". Although even with the observance of all technologies, the material can still fall under this adverse effect and turn blue. The very nature of the wooden material is to blame for this. Thus, the winter forest helps to a greater extent bypass the unfavorable properties of blueing and mold infestation. Even though the winter forest can save you from such negative consequences, nevertheless, the best protector of the tree is the advance treatment of the material with antiseptics and paints and varnishes.

If we talk about the most favorable, profitable, convenient, cheap time of the year for the very process of building a wooden house, then this is certainly the winter season. And, both for the customer, and for the company and builders.

When compared with autumn, spring, and sometimes summer time, then in winter there are no problems with the access of heavy vehicles (or at least the transport does not spoil the road and the landscape of the site, and the squeezed ruts on the roads after the passage of heavy trucks on them - serious problem for all those who carry out construction work in the summer, on soft ground). Dust, dirt, slush, stains - all this can remain on building material in all seasons except winter. Less chance of fire. There are no various harmful insects that love both the tree and people. In summer cottages (or neighboring) plots there are fewer dissatisfied neighbors who are hindered by construction.

How to distinguish a winter forest from a summer one?

Of course, only a professional will be able to determine with 100% certainty a winter forest in front of him or a summer one, however, there are several indirect signs and nuances that you should pay attention to when choosing wood:

All this indicates that the material was harvested in the warm season or improperly dried, which, in principle, equally affects its quality characteristics.

There is an opinion among the inhabitants that the forest harvested in winter is more suitable for construction. On the other hand, many sources and experts claim that this is nothing more than a myth. Let's figure it out.

To begin with, let's pay attention to who debunks this myth. If you look closely, we will notice that all publications of this nature are posted on the websites of wooden housing construction firms or those selling business assortment. What a coincidence, right?

What is their interest in promoting the summer forest?

Logging is a laborious process, often depending on the weather, so they cut down and take out the wood when there are roads. Winter is better suited for this, whether it be a swamp, rivers without bridges or lowlands. But for the harvesting of round timber only in winter for the entire period of work, both costs and large areas for warehousing, but not all companies can afford it.
Therefore, it is much more profitable to divide the harvesting season into at least two periods, adding the summer one.

When it's cold, there's less moisture!?

The main argument in favor of the lack of dependence of the quality of wood on the season of felling is the indicator of natural moisture content. Scientific evidence says that lowest percentage its content in the tree turns out to be not at all in the winter, but in late summer, early autumn. The fact that the weight of one cube of forest in winter is up to 20% more than in summer is cited as indisputable. And they conclude that it is possible and necessary to cut not only in winter, but also in summer.
It turns out that in the old days signs and customs were too zealously observed?

Interested loggers are willing to explain this issue as well. In their opinion, firstly, earlier in the summer the peasants were so busy that logging had to be postponed for the winter, and secondly, in winter it is easier to harvest and transport timber. We agree on export. But, if there really is no difference, then working in the summer forest is still much easier and more pleasant than standing knee-deep in snowdrifts, and it will not be difficult to find a couple of weeks in the summer.

And yet, something suggests that earlier people were far from being so dark and ignorant in this matter, but quite the contrary.

Therefore, at present, both the adherents of the winter forest and the sellers of the summer forest agree on one thing - after the tree has been cut down, the gradual departure of moisture from it begins. How and under what conditions it will be dried will affect its quality of the material in the future. And the higher the percentage of wood moisture at the time of felling, the greater the consequences for the round timber this process can proceed.

At the same time, unbound (free) moisture first evaporates from the surface areas of the wood, and then from its deeper layers. And than higher speed this process, topics more likely to form deep cracks. The ends of the logs are especially affected, coating them with paint or lime only partially removes the problem.

It turns out that the less moisture was initially in the trunk of the tree, the less likely it is to damage the log. On the other hand, waterlogged wood with a gradual increase in temperature and the absence of direct sunlight will dry more gently than with a low moisture content, but in hot weather. After debarking, a thin layer of bast remains on the logs; it serves as a kind of protection against the release of resin from the tree. As a result, it is distributed throughout the wood, making it more resistant to rot and pests.

In other words, wetter winter tree during the winter, it gradually dries evenly and therefore cracks less. The summer forest dries faster in the hot sun, so it may well have more cracks.

Another point is the "healthiness" of raw materials. When logging in the summer, two more problems arise: summer forest turns blue very quickly. Even timely debarking and stacking often do not help. A damp summer forest is highly likely to be invaded by pests, because summer is the time of their intensive resettlement.

In conclusion, I would like to say that, taking into account the peculiarities of the current construction of baths, summer harvesting cannot be considered unacceptable. If you do everything yourself or control the process, then the wood will really turn out to be businesslike and will not yield to winter wood.