Repair of a wooden house: replacement of the lower rims

Recommendation points

• Causes of damage to the lower rims of the house and options for their elimination
• How to determine if the crowns need replacing
• Partial repair of crowns in stages
• How to replace mortgages with brickwork
• Renovation of the crowns of the house with a jack lifting method
• Preparatory work
• Materials and tools
• Lifting the building on jacks. Phased replacement of crowns
• Useful Tips

The most common problem that occurs among people living in a wooden house is damage to its supporting support – the lower rims. In our article, we want to tell you about how to replace or repair the lower rims of a wooden house with our own hands..

Wood is one of the oldest and most popular materials for building houses. It has many advantages, including durability, but over time, wooden structures, even built using modern technologies, using all kinds of treatments and impregnations, may require repair.

This problem is especially relevant for embedded logs, which perform a load-bearing function and are most susceptible to the influence of an aggressive environment, in particular, melt and ground water, atmospheric precipitation.

Due to external factors, the crowns of a wooden structure begin to rot, mold and fungus appear, insects grow in them, eroding the wood structure, as a result, an urgent complete replacement of the mortgages, strengthening or their partial local restoration is required.

Causes of damage to the lower rims of the house and options for their elimination

Before starting work on the localization of damage to the crowns, it is necessary to inspect them and identify the causes. Based on the results of the inspection, the question of methods of their elimination is decided.

Violation of technology during construction, as well as damage or wear of the waterproofing protection can lead to decay of the wooden base. If this problem is noted on time, it is solved after complete drying by impregnation with various specialized mastics, as well as a complete replacement of the waterproofing.

There are five main ways to make repairs:

1. Partial replacement. Only the damaged log is replaced. The method is used only as a temporary one, when not the entire salary is damaged, or for some reason it is impossible to raise the house. The log must be removed and replaced with a new one, treated with protective agents.
2. Complete analysis and reinstallation of the structure. The technology is used for non-residential buildings in cases where it is necessary to change not only the crowns, but also some other wooden elements of the structure.
3. Replacing the crown with brickwork. It is also possible to partially replace only damaged areas.
4. Jack method. Used on strip and solid foundations. The method allows not only to easily replace mortgages, but also to repair, waterproof and raise the foundation.
5. With the use of specialized metal suspensions. An expensive technology that requires finding or manufacturing a structure for hanging a house in accordance with the perimeter dimensions of the house, and using special equipment.

How to determine if the crowns need replacing

The need for replacement is determined by visual inspection. With a light tapping with a mallet, in case of internal decay, a dull echo will be heard. It is also necessary to check the second and third crowns..

In addition, special attention should be paid to the presence of small passages of wood-boring beetles. It should be noted that even one larva is capable of piercing the structure of a whole log to a rotten state in a short time..

You also need to inspect the foundation. The presence of cracks on it may indicate that it is deteriorating and needs restoration..

Partial repair of crowns in stages

Spot repairs can be done when the wood began to rot in one or more sections of the base, when it makes no sense to completely change the mortgages.

For this:

1. Examine the surface of the logs carefully. Using a chisel and other suitable tool, clean the log around the rotten area, determine the depth of the damage.
2. Having retreated from the rotten area to the right and left 40-50 cm each, screw the wooden ties from the inside and outside of the house to a height of 2.5-3 logs.
3. Using a chainsaw or jigsaw, carefully remove the damaged piece of wood.
4. Make a suitable flat cut in its place and install an insert into it that fits the dimensions according to the thorn-groove method.
5. Fix the insert firmly with the pins.
6. All cracks should be caulked, and the wood should be treated with water-repellent mastic..

1 – the size of the area to be removed; 2 – wooden screeds; 3 – old log; 4 – insert

How to replace mortgages with brickwork

Sometimes it is possible not to raise the building on jacks in order to replace the crown part with brickwork.

For this:

1. Knock out the damaged log from one corner with a sledgehammer. Install metal or wood supports in the free cavity, or fold a brick post. The same procedure should be done on the other side..
2. Clean the foundation from dirt and dust, repair it if necessary.
3. Lay roofing material on the surface of the foundation in 2 layers.
4. Lay out brickwork along its height in the central part instead of the mortgage log.
5. Then remove the supports and fill the space with bricks with surface waterproofing and treatment of the lower parts of the logs with mastic or other water-repellent solutions. Thus, it is possible to replace individual parts of the mortgages or the entire lower crown..

Renovation of the crowns of the house with a jack lifting method

Preparatory work

The most common way to update the bottom rims is to use a jack. Before starting work, it is necessary to prepare the structure for lifting:

1. Lighten the weight of the building as much as possible.
2. Remove, if present, part of the exterior cladding.
3. Secure the lower intact logs with vertical wooden ties in half a meter increments, preferably from both the outside and the inside.
4. Remove the skirting boards in the house, remove the floor from the walls if possible.
5. Disconnect hard-wired communications: gas (by the service organization), water, sewage.
6. If a stove or fireplace is installed in the house, then it is necessary to remove part of the floor around them, disassemble the chimney or part of the roof and interfloor overlap around the chimney.

Materials and tools

Prepare the following materials:

1. Fire retardant for wood.
2. Bituminous mastic.
3. Fitted logs or beams.
4. Any log sealing material (tow, etc.).
5. Bricks, cement-sand mixture for masonry – if it is necessary to update the brick foundation or replace the crowns of the house with masonry.

Instruments:

1. Jacks (with a lifting capacity of at least 2.5-5 tons) – 4 pieces, as well as 4 metal plates for support.
2. Wide blocks or beams, as support.
3. Levers (metal channel, I-beam or bar).
4. Plane.
5. Ax.
6. Chainsaw.
7. Sledgehammer.
8. Chismecu.
9. Pre-assembled channel or timber support bulkhead for safety and structural support.

Lifting the building on jacks. Phased replacement of crowns

Work is carried out in the following order:

1. Mark and cut out according to the dimensions of the jacks their location in the upper logs of the lower crown, with a distance of 1 meter to the corners of the house. The jack is installed depending on the type of foundation.

1 – bottom log of the crown; 2 – support of the lever; 3 – wooden wedges; 4 – the upper log of the crown; 5 – lever (channel); 6 – strip foundation; 7 – jack

2. Install the support blocks under the jacks and place the devices on them, also placing metal channels / levers on their surface, if the foundation is strip. If it is columnar, jacks are installed directly under the building..

3. Raise the house evenly with the participation of 3 more assistants. Take your time, keep your lift evenly.
4. After lifting, the lower logs can be removed immediately.
5. After raising the house on jacks, it is necessary to put a supporting structure under its walls (in the case of a columnar foundation) or place wedges (on a strip foundation) and leave them while repairing the foundation and its waterproofing continues, dismantling damaged crowns and processing the wood with fire-biological protection.
6. After the jacks are lowered, it is necessary to lay a new load-bearing log on them and, lifting the device over the supports, fix it tightly. This should be done from all sides of the building..
7. Further, all gaps must be processed and plugged with tow.

Useful Tips

1. It is not recommended to lift the building in stormy weather, as well as during the period of capricious behavior of the soil – in winter and during floods..
2. Do not put your limbs under the raised structure if you are not sure of its tight fixation.
3. Inspect logs carefully, and carefully process them with specialized products.
4. If you are not confident in your abilities, entrust the work to professionals. On average, the cost of replacing the lower rims can cost 30-40 thousand rubles.
5. The best material for mortgages will be larch logs. They are expensive, but also durable. The construction of them is moisture resistant and durable and can “live” up to 50 years.

Thus, you can replace the lower rims of the house and extend the life of the structure, even with significant damage to the supporting logs, you can independently. And although in some cases this may seem like a difficult job, it is quite feasible with careful implementation of all instructions and recommendations..