Installing plastic windows in itself is not easy, but it is even more difficult to install a window in a wooden house. The tree always shrinks. Of course, the log house is “standing up” in order to get rid of excess moisture, but this process lasts at least five years, and in some regions the entire service life of the house. In this case, the height of the wall can decrease by a centimeter and a half per meter of masonry, i.e. up to 6 cm.
To prevent the logs from drying out when they press on the window, a special construction is used during installation, the so-called casing, or pigtail. The casing does not allow the logs to deviate from the vertical line and takes on the entire load. If the casing is not done, then as the logs dry out and their diameter decreases, opening and closing the window will become more difficult. Today we will consider main types of pigs in a wooden housemost preferred for installing plastic windows.
5. Types of pigs and casing by design
First you need to decide what material to make casing from. The cheapest option is typesetting-glue, made of edged material bonded with microchips and moisture-resistant glue. A little more expensive will be a combined pigtail, where the upper and side parts are made of solid pine, and the threshold is type-glued. This option is preferable if an enlarged window sill is planned. And finally, casing from solid pine, dried to 10-12% humidity, machine processing.
4. Casing with embedded beam
This option is the simplest, most economical and therefore enjoys well-deserved popularity. On the inner side of the logs of the window opening, a groove of 5 by 5 cm is cut out, then a square section bar is laid in it. In this groove, a vertical movement of the log house occurs due to drying out. The junction of the bar and logs is insulated, for example, with flax or jute fiber. Then a U-shaped structure (casing itself) is assembled from the boards, laid in the window opening and fastened to the bar on the sides. Bottom design is attached to the crown. Between the upper horizontal casing board and part of the wall, a gap of 5-8 cm should be left, which is filled with insulation.
3. The casing "in the spike"
This option is more expensive and better. For window openings using this technology, a special beam is used, solid or glued, with a section in the form of the letter "T". In the side of the window opening, similarly to the casing with the embedded beam, a groove for the spike is selected, but the installation sequence itself is slightly different. First, the prepared jambs are inserted with the T-shaped part into the lateral grooves laid by the insulation and are bursting at first with the lower board - a threshold or window sill, and then with the upper one - the so-called. "Top".
2. Casing "in the deck"
Mirroring the casing "in the spike". This time, a 5 by 5 cm ridge is cut out at the ends of the logs of the window opening. The comb can be cut either in the middle of the end of the window or closer to the street (with this method, the window sills are wider). Then a roll tow is laid on top, and then pre-prepared boards with a recess under the comb (it is necessary to leave a thermal gap). Installation takes place in the same way as the casing in the groove, that is, first the side elements are fastened to the lower crown and burst apart by the casing board. Such logs during shrinkage will slide inside the groove without deviating from the vertical. From above, between the top of the window opening and the log, a gap of about 5 cm should be left for possible shrinkage.
1. The casing "fair"
If the house is made of a beautiful bar or logs, then it is a pity to hide such beauty. In this case, the features of installing plastic windows in a wooden house consist in the use of aesthetic and quality material for casing elements, possibly of a special shape. From a technological point of view, this method is a modified version of a pigtail with a embedded beam. The jambs made in the form of the letter “G” are installed in the window opening, attached to the embedded bars and bursting with the lower and upper boards.
We examined the most popular types of casing in a wooden house, you can make them yourself according to the drawings, or you can turn to professionals.