Combined houses – a combination of various building materials during construction

Historically, there were three main types of combined houses, each of which has its own characteristics:

• Russian house-cub. This is a building, the first floor of which was built of mineral material, usually brick was used for it. For the construction of the upper floor (or several), beams or logs were used. In Russia, in the old days, only wealthy townspeople could afford such houses. Traditionally, a workshop or shop was opened on the first stone floor, the whole family lived on the upper floor..
• Chalet. This variant of building construction originated in the Alps, where in mountainous conditions a more reliable stone floor served as a rigid foundation. Chalets are characterized by wide and gentle roof slopes.

• Fachwerk. In this case, the difference between the materials for building a combined house is not so pronounced. The frame is wooden, the gaps are filled with brick and stone.

Material combination options:

• Wood and stone. It was this combination that arose initially, historically. The stone, of course, serves as a foundation, protecting the house from high levels of groundwater, adverse weather conditions, strong winds.
• Wood and brick. In this case, the role of a stone base will be played by a brick, also reliable, protecting from fires, pests, moisture.
• Wood and concrete. The base is concrete blocks, which save time at the construction site. However, concrete blocks have poor sound insulation properties, and they hold heat worse than bricks..
• Wood and reinforced concrete or expanded clay blocks. For residential buildings, this combination is not used so often, but it can seriously help out if the house is being built on a slope or a plot with a large difference in height..
• Wood and foam blocks. Not a bad option if the foam blocks are poured with reinforced concrete for strength.

The advantages of a combined house, where the first floor is brick or stone, and the second is wooden:

1. Reduced fire hazard.
2. The house retains all the advantages of wood, while becoming more reliable and durable.
3. The wooden part is protected from getting wet and therefore there is no need for a high foundation, it can be built where the groundwater is shallow.
4. Reduced heat loss.
5. The second floor is protected from subsidence.
6. It will be convenient to carry out all communications in the stone part of the house, and in fact, in a log house, problems often arise with this.

The stone or brick part of the building can be of different heights. Often it depends only on the aesthetic considerations of the owners who want to see the facade of the house exactly like this. However, one should also take into account the location of the windows, the deepening of the stone part into the ground, as well as the width of the roof eaves – the wooden part of the house must be protected from rain.

The disadvantage of building a combined house can be considered the fact that the strength and durability of the materials used in its construction will initially be different for obvious reasons. As for the cost of construction, it will depend on the materials that you have chosen, as well as the features of the project. Needless to say, a combined house is much cheaper than a brick house or more expensive than a wooden one – there will be a difference, but not so significant.

One of the big advantages of the combined houses is the original exterior. Their facade immediately attracts attention, and the first floor can be finished as you like – imitate brickwork, lay out with artificial stone, plaster, paint, even sheathe siding (although this option is not accepted – it does not go well with wood).

As for the interior of the combined house, you can try to highlight the different orientations of the styles of the lower and upper floors. For example, preserve the natural beauty of the tree upstairs, and make the lower floor more modern, intended for general use and receiving guests..