Is it worth it to build a house from glued beams: features, pros and cons of the structure

In the construction industry, the usual technologies that have been used for years are constantly faced with new, progressive ones. Houses made of innovative material - glued beams - appeared in the country not so long ago, so reviews on the Internet about them can be found the most controversial. In order to rationally approach the choice of a project or self-construction of a house, it is better to familiarize yourself with the features of the technology, its pros and cons.

What is glued beam

This is a material made up of several layers of prepared wood glued under pressure. Manufacturing technology consists of cutting timber into thinner layers than is commonly used in construction. At the same time, the boards are carefully curved, damaged areas or knots are removed from them. After thoroughly uniform drying in an electric dryer to obtain raw materials with a low moisture content, the boards are glued in a special way - observing the different direction of the fibers in all layers. From glued blanks, a beam of different sections and profiles is cut.

Resin-rich woods are used to make typesetting boards. As a rule, these are conifers - pine, larch, spruce - individually or in combination. Combined timber is recruited from more expensive durable wood on the outer layers - this is usually larch. The use of less expensive pine or spruce inside the profile does not affect the main characteristics of the finished building material, while reducing its cost. The finished glued profile usually consists of three to seven layers; it is impregnated with fire-resistant and anti-putrefactive compositions.

Pros and cons of glued beam houses

The advantages of the material and, accordingly, of the house built from it, are due to production technology.

1. In fact, glued beams are improved plywood. Bonding several layers of wood with different fiber directions makes it strong, resistant to deformation. It retains an attractive appearance for a long time, does not crack, does not bend.
2. Drying the chopped boards allows you to get a material with uniformly low humidity. The erected building does not require time for shrinkage, which when using whole logs can be up to several months. The shrinkage rate for glued beams is about 1-1.5 percent.
3. Use in the manufacture of glue and protective impregnation makes it resistant to environmental influences - high humidity, putrefactive bacteria, wood parasites, open fire.
4. A small specific gravity of the material, and as a result of the entire structure allows saving on the foundation. For such a construction, a strip or pile foundation is enough. However, piles should be buried below the freezing level of the earth by 20-30 cm to prevent pile deformation and subsidence.
5. Beautiful view of the walls of the finished building outside and inside. The natural appearance of natural wood is aesthetically pleasing in itself and does not require additional polishing from burrs and bumps or finishing with claddings.
6. Walls and ceilings from glued boards retain all the natural properties of natural wood - good thermal insulation, the ability to pass air, a pleasant fresh smell. In such a house, comfortable humidity without excess dampness or mustiness.
7. The length of the finished board is not limited by the size of a solid log.The technology allows you to build up workpieces of almost unlimited length or thickness that are needed for the implementation of the project.
8. You can build such a house yourself. All components of the building are a convenient constructor: they are equipped with grooves for a snug fit, marking for ease of installation.

The only drawback of a house made of glulam can be considered its high price in comparison with other types of building wood. Other imperfections mentioned by critics are usually caused by a violation of production technology in order to reduce the cost of production.

Common technology disruptions include:

• insufficient drying of the tree before gluing, causing cracking, deformation and significant shrinkage;
• the use of toxic adhesives of poor quality;
• use for gluing boards with defects - rot, knots.

The production of glued beams is an innovative technology based on a combination of new components with traditional wood processing methods. To build a really warm, strong house, it is better to take the material from manufacturers who carefully follow the technological process.