Change house for a summer residence – how to make a smart choice

Recommendation points

• Types of cabins by appointment
• Types of cabins for materials and technologies used in construction
• Choosing a change house

What is a change house and how to choose it correctly so that it serves not only during construction, but also after its completion, is described in this article.

At the beginning of any construction, there is always a need for some kind of structure in which you can fold the tool, wait out the bad weather, and, if necessary, spend the night. You can solve these problems in different ways, for example, every time you bring tools with you by car, or just build something like a barn. However, both options are not the most rational, since the car only solves the problem of storing the tool, and the temporary structure, if it becomes unnecessary after the completion of construction or turns out to be built in the wrong place, will eventually become a waste of money.

Change houses will help to get the necessary auxiliary structure and at the same time to avoid these problems. A change house is a temporary, mobile building designed to solve various problems related to construction or economic activities: storage of tools and materials, accommodation, or, for example, ensuring sanitary and hygienic needs. Mobility is the possibility of easy transportation from place to place without special material costs and harm to the structure itself. Accordingly, it becomes possible to deliver the finished structure to the required place in the shortest possible time. The main question remains to be solved – how to make sure that the change house is useful not only during construction, but also served after its completion. It is the solution of this problem that will make it possible to rationally spend money on its acquisition. This will be discussed in the article..

First you need to decide what qualities should be considered when choosing a change house. The main criteria will be: durability, thermal insulation, price per 1 m² (since the size and layout of cabins from different manufacturers may be different, it makes sense to consider the price for 1 m²), quality of finish, waterproofing and mobility.

Types of cabins by appointment

Let’s look at what cabins, in principle, can be used for:

• storage space for tools and building materials – a barn;
• places for temporary or permanent seasonal or year-round residence;
• organization of a sanitary and hygienic zone: baths, showers, toilets;
• auxiliary facility: summer kitchen, gazebo, boiler room, etc..

In the construction market, you can be offered cabins for their purposes of the following types:

1. Change houses are used during construction as a temporary shelter and a place for storing tools.
2. Summer cottages – used as temporary, for the period of construction, or permanent buildings for seasonal or year-round use, as ready-made modules for the construction of capital houses, as well as for storing tools and materials.
3. Bathhouses – from the name it is clear that this is a ready-made sauna module.
4. Change houses plumbing: change houses-showers, change houses-toilets. Used at construction sites to provide workers with normal sanitary and hygienic conditions, in the absence of stationary objects of such a purpose.
5. Change houses, security posts. These are small booths for the temporary stay of the guards. Due to their specificity, they are of the least interest to us and will not be considered within the framework of this article.

Such a classification can do little to help when choosing a change house, since it does not reflect their real characteristics. For example, a bathhouse, which costs much more than an ordinary summer cottage, in fact, is what it is, only from the very beginning it is retrofitted to a bath, that is, it has additional insulation of the steam room and reinforced waterproofing. It is quite obvious that all this can be done on your own when the construction is completed and there is no longer any risk of damaging the interior decoration or the layer of thermal insulation. That is, by purchasing a suitable change house, it will be possible to save money at the moment when they are already needed for construction, and after its completion, re-equip it for new tasks. Therefore, when choosing a change house, it is much more important to know how and from what it is made. Let’s try to classify them by materials and manufacturing technologies.

Types of cabins for materials and technologies used in construction

When classifying, we will immediately evaluate the above requirements for buildings of this type..

According to the material, the cabins are divided into two types: wooden and metal. Depending on the technologies used in the assembly, they can be divided into:

1. Wooden panel boards.Frame made of timber with a cross section of up to 50 mm, sheathed with lumber: chipboard, plywood, fiberboard or low quality clapboard. As a rule, they have minimal or no insulation.

Pros: the cheapest (from 2000 rubles / m²), due to the small mass, the most mobile.

Cons: not durable, with poor thermal insulation, cheap finishes and poor waterproofing.

Conclusion: well suited for storing tools and materials during the construction period. In the future, without alteration, they can be used as a barn. Can be converted into a summer kitchen or an open seating area such as a gazebo. Due to their low weight, they have high mobility, therefore, they can initially be installed anywhere on the site.

2. Wooden frame.More solid construction in comparison with shield ones. When assembling, beams of a larger section are used, a layer of thermal insulation of at least 50 mm along the walls, floor and ceiling.

Pros: durable, well insulated, usually finished with eco-friendly, high-quality materials. Have medium waterproofing, environmental friendliness and mobility.

Disadvantages: higher, in comparison with switchboard cabins, price (from 4000 rubles / m²).

Conclusion: wooden frame cabins are initially suitable for both household needs and seasonal living. After completion of construction, they can be used as a guest house, an additional insulated room, for example, for a boiler room, or after additional refinement as a bath..

3. Wooden, made from timber.The walls are made of timber with a cross section of at least 100×100 mm with inter-crown insulation. The floor and ceiling are additionally insulated. Due to the initially treated wooden walls, no special finishing is needed.

Pros: the most durable and warmest among wood, have a good natural finish, thanks to the use of solid wooden beams, they are environmentally friendly, have good waterproofing properties.

Cons: the highest price (from 9000 rubles / m²), low mobility.

Conclusions: a great option for solving any problems, from seasonal living to re-equipment for any other needs. Due to the high price, it is not rational to use them as barns..

4. Metal frame.They have a wooden frame, sheathed with profiled metal sheets. The inside is filled with a thermal insulation layer of at least 50 mm. They are usually finished with clapboard.

Pros: Strong and durable construction with good insulation, quality finishes and good waterproofing. Have average environmental friendliness and low mobility.

Cons: high price (from 4500 rubles / m²).

Conclusion: like wooden frame cabins, they are suitable for any purpose, except for their use as sheds and similar structures..

5. Metal block containers.Monolithic frame made of metal corners or channels with a reinforced layer of insulation, metal outer cladding and high-quality interior decoration.

Pros: have the highest strength and durability, excellent insulation, high-quality finish. They have low environmental characteristics and high waterproofing properties, they are mobile.

Cons: very high price (from 5000 rubles / m²).

Conclusions: due to its excellent thermal and waterproofing characteristics, it can be used as a residential building at any time of the year.

Choosing a change house

Let’s summarize everything said above in a table. Now, with the help of it, having decided on the requirements for the structure, it will be easy to decide what type and from what material you need to buy a change house. In the table, we will evaluate on a five-point scale the correspondence of the types of change houses to one or another characteristic (from one – the worst, to five – excellent). In the end, on a five-point scale, we will assess the need for additional investments to re-equip the change houses for other needs (from one – the largest investments, to five – do not require investments).

Change house type	Durability	Warming	Price	Finishing	Environmental friendliness	Hydro-isolation	Primary Application Areas	Secondary applications (requiring minimal investment for conversion)	Additional investments for re-equipment
Wooden panel boards	1	1	five	1	2	1	Barn, change house	Summer kitchen, open gazebo	five
Wooden frame	3	4	4	3	3	2	Barn, change house, temporary dwelling	House / part of the house or guest house for seasonal living, sauna, boiler room	2
Wooden from a bar	4	4	1	4	five	4	Barn, change house, bathhouse, temporary dwelling	House / part of the house or guest house for seasonal living, boiler room, guest house	4
Metal frame	4	4	3	3	3	4	Barn, change house, temporary dwelling	House / part of the house or guest house for seasonal living, sauna, boiler room	3
Metal block containers	five	five	2	4	3	five	Barn, shed, temporary or permanent dwelling	House / part of the house or guest house for year-round use, bathhouse, boiler room	five

Thus, it becomes clear from the table that if a change house is needed, from which it will subsequently be possible to make, for example, a bath, then the following options are suitable: a wooden frame, a wooden bar, a metal frame and a metal block container. For re-equipment, we look at the last column, the least amount of money will be required by a lumber and a block container. However, if the price is in the first place when choosing, then you should look at the corresponding column and stop at the second option, and if environmental friendliness, then on the first. So, having identified the tasks and priorities, you can easily make a choice in favor of one or another version of the change house.

In conclusion, it is necessary to dwell once again on the fact that change houses, of course, are not the only possible solution to the problems indicated in the article. You can try using other things, such as wagons or containers. Not only are they not initially adapted for solving the assigned tasks, but all of these are momentary decisions. What to do with them after the need for them is gone? Resale them? It’s troublesome. Just get rid of them? Then you end up losing money. That is why cabins in all their diversity are an ideal option for buildings necessary, both during the construction of a house and after.