All about fasteners for frame-panel houses

Recommendation points

• Anchoring
• Impact anchor
• Screw anchor
• Push-through fasteners

In this article, we will talk about anchor and through fastenings – about when they are used in the construction of a wooden house. You will learn how to correctly determine the required type of fastener or tie for different needs. The article provides video tutorials on mounting mounts.

There are many different wood products for building houses. Basically, they can be divided into prefabricated (frame panels, glued beams) and natural (logs, boards, sawn timber). The structure and properties of wood are preserved in any structure, which means that standard types of fasteners can be used for all wood materials.

Anchoring

This type of attachment involves a pin or anchor that provides a locking or clamping force. Anchor fasteners can have a clamping head, a thread on a pin, a self-tapping tip and other fixing elements.

Impact anchor

To fasten this type of anchor, the rotational force of the power tool is not required – it is simply hammered in with a hammer or sledgehammer.

Nail.The simplest dowel. For centuries it was the only metal hardware available, but it was handcrafted. This made it a common but rather expensive product. Over a thousand-year history, the nail has established itself from the best side, which is why it has received recognition today..

Benefits:

1. Allows the tree to “breathe”.
2. Low cost.

Disadvantages:

1. Lowest structural rigidity.
2. Fragility. Over time, the wood dries up and the mounting hole increases, the connection looses.
3. One-time installation (maximum – 2 times).
4. Corrosion instability. Nails are made from low (cheap) grades of steel, so they actively oxidize in a humid environment.

Nowadays, the nail has received many improvements – anodizing, notches, longitudinal helical drawing, automatic hammers with nail clips. This made it much easier to work with and more reliable..

How nails are made on video

Practical advice.Always try to drive the nail at 90 ° to the surface or grain of the part that will hold the point. With each degree of deviation from the perpendicular, the nail connection loses from 1 to 2% of strength.

In frame housing construction, a nail is used very rarely – for example, in the case of construction on a site without electricity.

Staple.Along with the nail, centuries of exploitation have passed. As reliable as the steel it is made of. Purpose – fixing between each other large wooden elements, such as a bar, a log, a board from 50 mm.

Benefits:

1. The simplest design.
2. Connection reliability.

Disadvantage: olimited scope (only large forms).

Practical advice.Do not use the clip on products that are thinner than the clip anchor. If it turned out that the anchor went through the element – do not rush to bend it from the opposite end. The faceted pin of the bracket holds perfectly even without it, and it is possible to bend the end (as a reinforcement) during routine inspection and repair after 30 years.

It is easy to make a bracket with your own hands – it is enough to process wire O 6-8 mm or reinforcement O 10-12 mm in a vice.

Video tutorial – how to make a brace yourself

Staples are still produced today, but they have not received development (coatings, notches, etc.) due to their rare use. In the construction of frame or log houses, the bracket is used “for speed” – to install it much faster than a screw rod.

Screw anchor

This type of attachment has blades in the form of a thread, which are securely held in the wood..

Self-tapping screw.Fasteners number 1 today. The most versatile and most common anchor. Inexpensive and reliable due to sophisticated production technology and mass production.

Benefits:

1. The thread blades hold firmly in wood and other materials.
2. Possibility of fine adjustment of pressure, depth and speed of twisting.
3. Multiple assembly / disassembly.
4. Rigid stationary structure.

Disadvantages:

1. Electricity required (or cordless tool).
2. Weak pin under shearing force.

The self-tapping screw served as the basis for the creation of a great variety of screw anchors, one of which we will describe below.

Turboprop.Derived from a self-tapping screw – in this version, he received a powerful central pin, which significantly expanded the field of application. Differences between a turboprop and a self-tapping screw:

1. Powerful rod holds great shear force (up to 12 MPa).
2. Reinforced “problem” joint of the head and the rod.
3. Carving throughout the dowel. In this case, the ratio of the thread pitch to the rod thickness is less than that of the “base model”, which has a positive effect on the reliability.
4. TORX slot (“sprocket”) – much better and more reliable transmitting force from the tool, stall is excluded.
5. Notch in the first third of the thread blades – the anchor sinks more easily into the hole.

The main advantage of the turboprop is that it can be installed in both wood and stone – without dowels or plastic holders. It is convenient when you need to press a tree to a stone, for example, a Mauerlat to an armored belt.

The disadvantage is obvious – preliminary drilling is required, since the rod thickness is from 3 mm.

Push-through fasteners

This type of fastener requires mandatory through hole preparation.

Threaded rod tie.Such a rod is colloquially called a “hairpin”; it is a threaded rod of considerable length. The main difference between this method of attachment and the anchor is that the stud is not held in the body of the element (in the tree), but is held due to the effort that it itself creates.

Two directions of work of a threaded rod:

1. Creates a downforce between elements. This is a very effective technique – the elements are stationary due to the frictional force between themselves. The screed is especially effective when joining two non-planed boards.
2. Serves as a stopper. Steel bar – an additional strength factor that prevents displacement along planes, while the clamp holds them stationary around the axis of the bar.

Ideally, you need to apply glue on the plane and then the friction force between the elements will be fully realized.

Splicing rafters from laminated veneer lumber – step-by-step video instruction

Useful advice.To install the stud, first connect the parts with ordinary self-tapping screws. Then drill a hole according to the rule:

1. Hole length up to 150 mm – stud diameter + 1 mm.
2. Hole length over 150 mm – stud diameter + 2 mm.

A hairpin is also used to pull together logs made of glued beams – this innovation has only been applied recently.

Logging with a hairpin on the video

Wooden dowel.This is a smooth round wood pin with a diameter of 20 to 40 mm, which is used to fix the rims of a log house between each other. Small wooden pins are used when assembling furniture (with or without glue), they are called dowels.

Installation of a wooden dowel. Working process:

1. Set parts to design position.
2. Choose a place to install the dowel:
   • not closer than 200 mm to the edge of any opening or to the end of the length;
   • spacing of the axes of the dowel at least 200 mm is required;
   • dowel pitch – 1–1.5 m.
3. Two or three crowns are connected with a dowel. Upper – through passage, lower – on? thickness.
4. Mark the places for drilling holes. Hole diameter – pin diameter + 2 mm.
5. 5. Drill holes in wood with a drill.

Attention! Controlling the verticality of the drill is critical. The dowel should be located strictly vertically.

6. Slightly grind the nose of the dowel and drive it into the hole with a sledgehammer, sink in 30–40 mm with a nozzle. You can add wood glue.

Video – installation of a wooden dowel

Correctly selected and installed fasteners are the guarantee of “longevity” of the constructive structure of your wooden house. Using the tips from this article, you can avoid many of the mistakes that builders make due to inexperience or intention, and your home will last for many years..