T-shaped casing with your own hands. How to make a pigtail with your own hands - basic views and drawings
Since wood is a living natural material, after assembly, a natural process of log shrinkage occurs in a wooden frame.
As a result, horizontal deformations, torsion and vertical displacement of the crowns occur.
To eliminate the destructive effect of drying logs and timber on window blocks, a special installation technology is used, called pigtails or casing. Its essence is to create a sliding fastening of the window block, in which the shrinkage of the log house does not affect its geometry and integrity.
The window frame in a wooden house is done before the start of caulking work. The casing box (pigtail) is a solid wooden frame assembled from thick, well-dried coniferous boards. The frame of the pigtail consists of a window sill, two risers (sidewalls) and a closing top board.
The dimensions of the pigtail are chosen depending on the size of the opening, leaving a gap of 3-5 mm between the side posts of the frame and the wall for laying the insulation. The width of the pigtail boards should be equal to the thickness of the log walls.
Features of mounting pigtails
The casing box is installed in such a way that when the walls of the log house shrink, its crowns can move freely vertically under the action of their own weight. To do this, a gap of 40-60 mm is left between the box and the upper crown, which gradually decreases during shrinkage, compensating for the vertical displacement of the logs.
On the sidewalls of the casing frame, protrusions (grooves) are made. Under the action of the settling of the crowns, the casing frame slides along these guides, excluding pressure on the window block from the side of the logs.
In addition to protecting window blocks from deformation, the pigtail (casing) reliably strengthens the ends of the openings and prevents the crowns from falling out under their own weight.
Okosyachka window openings can be made in two design options: U-shaped (in a deck) or T - shaped (in a spike).
U-shaped pigtail performed in this order. A window sill board is laid in the opening and fixed to the lower crown with self-tapping screws. Spikes are cut out at the ends of a wooden wall with a chainsaw. The side parts of the casing frame are installed on them, in which grooves are cut according to the size of the spikes. Through these grooves, under the action of shrinkage, the vertical movement of logs occurs.
All contact surfaces of the pigtail with the walls are treated with an antiseptic solution, and a soft compressible insulation is laid between the groove and the spike (it is forbidden to use mounting foam!)
Insulation (lnovatin) is fixed to the wood with a construction stapler.
The last step in the installation of a casing frame (pigtail) in a log house is the installation of a top - boards with a thickness of at least 50 mm. It is placed against the side racks and attached to them with self-tapping screws.
Installation of a T-shaped pigtail has no fundamental differences from the installation of the U-shaped. The difference is that at the end of the window opening, not a spike is cut, but a groove. A groove is also selected on the sides of the casing frame and a wooden block is glued into it, thus obtaining a T-shaped profile of the desired size.
The glued beam plays the role of a stiffening rib, ensuring the invariance of the pigtail geometry and the uniformity of wall shrinkage.
Casing T-type windows requires installers to accurately mark out, correctly fit elements and know important assembly nuances. In particular, if the bar is not glued into the sidewall of the frame, but simply screwed to it with self-tapping screws, there is a risk of blowing through and freezing of this structure. Therefore, anyone who wants to make a do-it-yourself pigtail of window openings will better cope with the U-shaped casing, as it is easier to manufacture and install.
How to make a window frame you will be prompted by a step-by-step guide that can be found on the Internet or a video posted by specialized companies on the network. However, when assembling such a structure with your own hands, questions always arise. Therefore, we will say a few words about the correct sequence of its installation.
First, you need to install a window sill in the opening, then put one of the side posts on the insulated end spike, then the top board and the second side post.
It will be useful for owners of log cabins in which the processes of drying and shrinkage of the walls have already been completed to know that the pigtail in such houses must also be installed before installing wooden or plastic windows.
The fact is that the completion of shrinkage does not mean a complete cessation of the process of changing the size of logs and timber. It is always necessary to take into account significant seasonal deformations of this material, which, without the installation of casing, will cause skew and jamming of windows.
A weighty argument for doing do-it-yourself windows do-it-yourself with the budget option for building a wooden house, the cost of such work is quite high.
So, in the price tags of firms performing window sashing, the cost of this work for a log house (with cutting and preparing openings) is 2500-3000 rubles per opening.
For a log house made of profiled timber, it is estimated from 3,800 to 4,900 rubles, and in log cabins made of logs, installation of casing will cost the customer 5,000-5,700 rubles, excluding the price of the material.
Some performers evaluate their work on installing a pigtail in linear meters, although when converted to one window opening, the price is approximately the same as we indicated above.
Useful video
- Combined type
When building a wooden house (from timber, logs, log type), you should definitely take into account the moment of the correct approach to the manufacture of casing in a wooden house. To design this element, it is necessary to take into account all possible nuances and standard requirements for technology. This procedure is mandatory for absolutely all such structures made of wood.
Draft casing in a wooden house to a cranial bar, which is built into a cut (strobe) located in a window opening. Thanks to this sliding type design, during the shrinking process of the building, the casing fasteners are not broken out. As a standard for all procedures with window and door openings, during their installation and the manufacture of beams for pigtails, height measurements are important. The window frame of doorways in a wooden house should take into account the difference of up to 7%, depending on the moisture content of the wood.
When the structure shrinks, the insulation that lines the upper gap compresses without causing damage to door and window openings. Attentiveness in measuring the parameters will allow for the correct installation of all window installations. The casing is also convenient in that it acts as a window sill, as it completely hides from prying eyes all the ends of the timber (logs) of the building, regardless of whether they are horizontal or vertical. You don't have to change the trims several times, as they are attached to the casing from two sides - from the inside and the outside.
Thanks to proper installation, door and window openings acquire an aesthetically beautiful, correct and attractive appearance. Blocks of windows and doors are installed regardless of the moment of shrinkage of a wooden building, because the opening is prepared and ready for operation.
Rough casing or in a mortgage block
The installation of a pigtail in a wooden house can be carried out using the sliding beam method, which is one of the most used and popular. The principle of such a process is simple: a hole of a certain diameter (50 by 50 mm) is made in the window opening, which is permissible only on both sides of the window opening. A special bar is inserted into the grooves made, the location of which must be clearly calculated, because it will be necessary to allocate space for the installation of thermal insulation.
If you add the size of the gap for the installation of insulation, the total dimensions of the bar should be about 30 mm. On the inside of the window frame, it is important to correctly lay the desired layer of insulation and mount the bar. The side racks of the pigtails are attached to the built-in timber using self-tapping screws (possibly nails). There is an important nuance - the fasteners should not be placed in the wall, only in the bar.
Do-it-yourself casing in a wooden house is quite often done using a special spike, which is mounted like a mortgage bar. The only difference is that you don’t have to make grooves for a spike on the sides of the window; only one comb is cut out. Its parameters should correspond to 30 mm. Cutting a hole (50 by 50 mm) is carried out in the side parts of the casing, after which this groove is carefully laid on all sides with a material - insulation. Glued casing is especially popular among developers. This type implies a further finishing complex of works, which is simply necessary at the end of the pasture of the building.
This option for mounting the casing in a wooden house is sometimes called a U-shaped pigtail. A spike is installed in the opening or correctly, the end is profiled and a device that looks like a roof is placed on this structure. Beams from the frame (lower and upper) are mounted in the spacer. Their manufacture is carried out exclusively in accordance with the parameters and requirements of a particular structural element and house. It can be balcony openings, a door or a beam.
Upon completion of this type of installation, the finishing of the used area is not carried out in the future. This method has its pros and cons:
- An excellent stiffness coefficient extends to all possible directions of the log house;
- If it is necessary to install doors or PVC, the previous manipulations will not interfere in any way.
- A rather expensive procedure, due to the high cost of the materials used - the parameters of the width of the bar for the manufacture of racks (vertical);
- This process covers a large amount of work carried out - the frame is made for a long time, since it contains curly elements).
When building houses made of wood, the method of glued casing of this type is very often used, which is much cheaper.
Making a box of a door or window opening is not necessary. From the very beginning, the finished casing in a wooden house will have a fairly presentable appearance that harmoniously fits into the overall picture of the building. Timber or logs for this are firmly glued together, which ensures resistance to sudden changes in temperature without leading to damage to the structure as a whole. Installation is similar to the installation of a rough casing.
In fact, this is an analogue of a finishing pigtail, which does not differ in structural elements (threshold, window sill, riser, etc.), fasteners are not used during installation (nails, self-tapping screws are not useful) and are simply fastened together with locks. This option is most often used when installing door frames.
This design is considered one of the most complex, therefore it is used as needed. Windows in houses, openings in baths - require a simple installation mechanism, and power pigtails are not involved. Most often, their scope is arched-type gates and openings, huge panoramic balconies and windows. A feature of this method is the use of a scheme for strengthening door or window openings. This procedure is performed for all types of windows, the structure can be mounted in two standard methods: a spike and a groove.
Combined type
Two types of building materials are involved in this process, hence the corresponding name. The base is made of two types of wood; upon completion of the work, additional finishing is not required, because this option is fair. The main advantages can be called a harmonious ratio of cost and quality of the material.
This type of casing is decorative and laborious. The shape of the casing is non-standard, it is important to clearly measure the necessary parameters so as not to make a mistake in measurements. For a wooden house, such a structure can be made from a single bar that has undergone the necessary preparation - steam treatment with a certain high temperature. This is done to increase the pliability of wood fibers. In most cases, it is better to turn to specialists to make an arched pigtail.
Window frame - what tools will you need
To carry out the process of installing a pigtail in a wooden house, they use a small arsenal of tools, which is selected depending on the type of wood with which you have to work. Usually, the array is dried a little, cut down. Staples for fastening, metal corners can be used to give the frame strength. Rough casing involves the use of fasteners (nails, screws).
Since, for the construction of a wooden house, not only wooden window frames are used, but also metal-plastic windows, it is necessary to remember some installation features. It is necessary to make an opening inside the log house with the expectation of 10 cm more than the width of the window. First, the casing is installed in a wooden house, and then individual double-glazed windows are ordered. It is performed as follows:
- expel the casing under the parameters of the window opening;
- propyl can be of 2 types - a groove or a spike;
- be sure to treat the surface with an antiseptic;
- spread a layer of sealant. It can be batting or linen, which is laid on a roll;
- installation of the sides of the casing, the so-called gun carriage, is being carried out. The process is performed without the use of fasteners;
- the upper part (top) must be attached to the device on the sides;
- the parameters of the upper gap of the pigtail should correspond to no more than 12 cm;
- a layer of insulation is laid, most often it is a fiber of mineral wool;
- mandatory waterproofing, steam protection;
- the plastic window is mounted, and the gaps are filled with mounting foam.
What is casing in a wooden house - the question is solved. It is important to consider how this procedure is performed for home from a bar. The material must correspond to the parameters 150 by 100 mm, the width is completely repelled from the index of the thickness of the walls of the building. Installation, assembly is not much different from similar procedures in a wood house, but there are certain features.
The lower part should rest against the wall, the upper part secures the side elements. The box can be any of the above types. T-shaped structures are manufactured as standard with a spike, and a groove is cut to fit the parameters in the surface itself. Finishing casing is widely used, which does not provide for further finishing and is mounted under the cladding. The first option can be made of decorative wood, sanded or glued.
Summing up, it can be noted that the answer to the question "What is a pigtail in a wooden house?" does not carry a terrible connotation, everything is quite simple for professionals and builders who do not have much experience in this area. If the procedure is performed correctly from start to finish, the house will be soundproofed, with good protection against heat loss in the cold season, and will prevent the process of possible deformation of double-glazed windows and door structures during shrinkage of the building.
Video on the topic of casing in a wooden house
2 types of casing boxes
3 pigtails in a wooden house
Pigtail material
Material - massif (spruce, pine) chamber drying. Material planed on a thickness gauge on the wide side. The machine is not four-sided, but a simple thickness gauge and can plan a maximum of 200 mm in thickness. Therefore, the dimensions of the ordered material initially include an allowance for shrinkage and sharpening.
Carpentry training
For those who have studied my pigtail courses, making it will not seem like some unrealistic thing. In my courses, you will learn common truths that joiners and carpenters usually do not tell each other, but imply. We add a solid pile of books on mechanical and manual processing of wood to the video courses "Okosyachka with our own hands". And, of course, work experience both in woodworking enterprises and in a home workshop. Elementary knowledge has not been canceled.
Answer to the question
To your logical question: - is it possible to make high quality joinery products at home with the help of power tools?
I will answer: by all means! Such a tool that is now possible to work wonders. You can make not only woodwork, but even furniture of quite decent quality.
The difference between hand and stationary power tools
After all, people work at a woodworking enterprise and the only difference is that they have stationary machines. What is the difference between stationary and handheld power tools? Only by its immobility.
Accuracy class
According to the manufacturing accuracy class, I divide woodwork into three categories:
Carpentry quality. Accuracy class is centimeters plus or minus 10 mm.
Carpentry quality. Accuracy class millimeters. Plus minus 1 mm.
furniture quality. Accuracy class tenths of a millimeter. Plus minus 0.1 mm.
How does it translate into practice?
Carpentry quality. You probably paid attention to how you sawed down the corners in the walls of the house. That's carpentry quality.
Carpentry quality. In carpentry, the connections are quite visible and these are the tolerances of the joinery. Joiner's products are - bandaging of wooden frames, paneled partitions, technical furniture such as a stool or a bench. Woodwork also includes wooden doors, windows, a pigtail, planed boards and various moldings (platbands, plinths, etc.).
furniture quality. Accuracy class in the manufacture of furniture - the connection of parts to each other should be indistinguishable to the eye. An example is a furniture board.
And in joinery, the connections are quite visible and these are the tolerances of joinery.
Aspirations and reality
Of course, I adhere to the rule to work at the highest level and strive for this with all my might. But when manufacturing parts from wood with a large cross section, it is impossible to achieve absolute accuracy for the simple reason that wood is an unstable material. It absorbs moisture directly from the air and, as a result, changes its size.
Here is a case from practice
I made a pigtail - joints, "a mosquito will not undermine the nose." While the windows were being prepared, 3 weeks had passed. Came here to install them. I look, there is a small crack, here it is a little sticky, here it is slightly twisted. These are the gaps visible to the eye in the aisles of a millimeter.
That's it. The volume of blanks is large and the expansion of the material is large, as is the shrinkage (compression). Therefore, plus or minus a millimeter, I think it's quite normal.
When I found out that the change in size depending on the humidity of a conventional edged board 150 mm wide reaches 7 (seven!) Millimeters, I was simply shocked.
View from the outside
Moreover, visually, with such a large product as a pigtail, it is impossible to notice. The same applies to platbands. They are always viewed in volume with the house, and no one examines them with a magnifying glass.
The okosyachka is almost completely hidden by platbands. Only slopes and a window sill remain. Of course, I place the greatest emphasis on the window sill, as on the most significant detail of the pigtail.
The process of making a pigtail
Edge planing
To cut out the edges, the following is done - the side is selected more evenly, a straight line is beaten off and cut out with an electric planer with a knife width of 110 mm. This makes it possible to sharpen the edge of the workpiece in one pass.
Parts calibration
Trimming parts
The trimming of the pigtail parts along the length due to their large cross section is also carried out using a circular saw along the line marked with a square.
window sill material
For the window sill, a blank from an array of conifers is used. At the request of the client, it is possible to make a window sill from harder wood species - larch, oak and ash.
It is quite realistic to buy unplaned dry boards or a ready-made furniture board. It is possible to order a bar for a larch window sill at the same sawmill as a budget option. Oak and ash are expensive.
Making a window sill
The details of the window sill are calibrated in width and the edges are stretched. The edges are rounded using a jigsaw with a special file for cutting curved surfaces. Further, with the help of a milling cutter and a milling cutter with a support bearing, the edge of the window sill is rounded off.
Tool for making locks, grooves and spikes
Locks, spikes and eyelets in detail are made using the usual set of carpentry power tools: a circular saw, a router and for chipping off the roundings remaining from the router - a chisel and a hammer.
The advantage of power tools
I think that not one carpenter from the past would not refuse modern carpentry power tools. I myself started carpentry in 1985 with conventional hand tools. And when normal tools appeared on sale at an affordable price, I gladly switched from hand tools to electric ones.
Final finishing of details
The final finishing of the details of the pigtail is a two-stage grinding. The first sanding is done with an angle grinder with a Velcro sanding attachment.
First grinding
With the help of the first grinding, we remove the traces left from the feet of the movers. We remove traces of inaccurate unloading and transportation - these are traces of small pebbles, and other dents. The first grinding also removes the marks left by planing on the machine.
It is very difficult to set the knives in a planer to the same height and therefore small ripples can be seen on the boards. Also, this trace may take place from the wear of the tool - the shaft beats. Softwoods are soft woods and planing with blunt knives will result in knot scuffing and a rough surface. This is also removed by the first grinding.
Second grinding
The second sanding is done with an orbital (eccentric) sander with finer grit sandpaper. The purpose of the second polishing is to remove traces from the first polishing.
Using an eccentric sander, using a sandpaper with a fine abrasive grain, you can completely smooth out all the bumps from the first sanding.
The wood becomes silky to the touch, and the eye simply has nothing to catch on. The final finishing of the rounded parts of the window sill is done manually with fine sandpaper attached to the platform with a soft sole with clips.
Locks in the details of the pigtails
He developed the locks for connecting parts of the pigtail himself, taking into account both ease of manufacture and practical meaning. Each node has a labyrinth - there is no direct connection between outdoor and indoor air.
Useful program SketchUp
The pictures show drawings made in SketchUp. A very useful program. With its help, it turned out to be possible to make 3D models of pigtails. On these models it is very easy to explain the inexplicable to inquisitive customers - but how do you make locks?
After studying this program, I am happy to show how I make them. In this program, I developed the last version of the locks. It is much more convenient to design locks in the program visually than mentally in the head.
What are self tapping screws for?
Self-tapping screws are required to assemble the workbench and benches, to work with both parts and openings. Usually, when installing a pigtail, the floor in the house is still missing (only beams) or there are draft floors, along which you don’t even dare to cross yourself. So I use self-tapping screws instead of nails. They are then easy to unscrew, leaving no traces of the nail puller.
And the hole from the self-tapping screw is much smaller and more inconspicuous than from the nail. With self-tapping screws, I also fasten the details of the pigtails together. Everything is done on the sly. So you won't even see where they were used. This is done to give greater strength to the structure. The design of the pigtails allows them not to be used at all. But I fasten - the usual defense against a fool.
Shrink gap sealing
Moisture-vapor-insulating film is used to seal the obligatory shrinkage gap above the upper part of the pigtail. A film is attached on the outer and inner sides, and inside the insulation is rokvol or any other soft insulation such as rokvol.
Work following the pigtail
Hi all! Recently, a good friend of mine came to me for advice. They are building a house from timber and have reached the stage of installing plastic windows. They build, of course, not by themselves, but by hired teams.
But you still need to be in control. They asked me to tell you about the nuances of installing double-glazed windows in the house, what to pay attention to, etc., so as not to drain the money down the drain and then not redo it after six months. We sat with them over a cup of coffee, I told them everything in detail and at the same time outlined it in this article. You may need this information as well. Read!
Structures and buildings made of natural wood tend to move, that is, shrink. This characteristic imposes restrictions on the installation of windows and doors in light openings.
If you do not use special techniques in the form of casing, or pigtails, then the installed window or door will be deformed, broken, gaps will appear between the frame and the wall.
In order to avoid such problems, an additional frame of the light opening, which is called casing, is widely used. In fact, this design is a wooden product - a box that is planted on the walls and to which window and door profiles are attached.
Such a simple design provides an independent position of windows and doors relative to the walls, and therefore, when the house begins to sag, the casing becomes mobile - it moves along the opening, moving the frames with it without deforming them.
There are two options for making a pigtail, or rather its profile. Allocate
- spike-groove - where grooves and spikes are cut out in the fastened parts for joining and fastening;
- monolithic, or finishing, which also have a spike and a groove, but the counterpart of the beam is made from solid wood of the beam. In this case, glued laminated timber is not even recommended due to the peculiarities of the glue's reaction to changes in humidity.
It is important that in the manufacture of this or that type of casing, in any case, it should not sit tightly on the walls of the house, since in this case mobility will not be ensured.
Since the pigtail consists of sidewalls, top and bottom (or threshold), it is very important to leave a larger gap between the top and the wall - up to 12 cm, which is designed to compensate for the shrinkage of a wooden house. Such gaps, of course, are processed: they are insulated and closed with platbands.
In order for the casing to serve for a long time and reliably, before installing it, it is important to treat it with an antiseptic and follow the installation order: first the bottom, then the sidewalls, and finally the top with insulation and platbands.
Types of pigtails:
- Photo 1 - Finishing (with a quarter).
- Photo 2- Power "SHIP" or "PAZ".
The difference between the two options is a slope for a PVC window
Vocabulary and material for the pigtail:
Carriage (side racks) - timber material, according to the thickness of the timber of the house (deck):
- Minimum 150mm*150mm(100);
- Max 360mm*150mm(100);
Top (upper part of the pigtail) - 150 mm * 50 mm;
Insulation:
- linen-batting (jute);
- mineral wool;
Antiseptic - protection of wood from the effects of atmospheric and biological factors;
Measurement of pigtails (the wall thickness of the house is 150 mm.) And PVC (plastic) windows.
- Distance from the floor 80-90 cm.
- The width of the casing is greater than the width of the window by 12-14 cm.
- The height of the casing is greater than the height of the window by 14-18 cm.
- Installation of a pigtail and a plastic window.
- Preparing the opening for the size of the pigtail.
- I drank "SHIP" or "PAZ".
- Antiseptic treatment.
- Roll seal (len-batting (jute)).
- Installation of the LAFET (side parts of the pigtail) is made without fasteners (screw, nail)
- The top (upper part) is put on the side elements.
- The upper gap of the pigtail is 8-12 cm. At the rate of 10 cm per 1 p / m of the window.
- Laying insulation (mineral wool) + vapor and waterproofing on both sides.
- Installing a PVC window like in a box (the gap is filled with foam).
Source: plastikovokna.ru
Installing windows in a wooden house is significantly different from installing windows in brick and stone houses. For example, the openings of buildings made of logs and timber, as a rule, have a quarter, but not from the inside, but from the outside.
Shrinkage
But the most important difference between houses made of wood (does not apply to frame-panel houses) is the ability to shrink as a result of drying of the wall material (logs, timber).
And this moment is decisive in the installation of plastic windows in a wooden house, because if you install a window, as usual, in a bare opening, it will inevitably be crushed and deformed by the shrinkage process.
There is an opinion that the first two are the most active period of wood drying. But it's not. After the construction of the house, the shrinkage of the walls continues for decades. But that is not all. The tree not only gives off moisture, but also absorbs. Therefore, rigid fastening when installing windows in a wooden house is impossible in principle!
- Shrinkage in a log house - about 10 - 15 mm per log D = 250-300 mm
- Shrinkage in a house made of timber - about 7 - 10 mm per one timber with a section of 150x150 mm
- Glued timber - unknown.
There are other ways to calculate the shrinkage height of log cabins as a percentage: about 10-15% of the original height. But in fact, the shrinkage of houses made of timber and logs depends on many factors:
- from the material (log, rounded log, timber, glued timber);
- from the time of harvesting the material (winter harvesting or summer harvesting);
- from time of day (morning, evening) Yes-Yes!!! Don't be surprised - we've explored this too!
- from the environment where the forest grew (marsh, field); on the degree of resinousness and density of the tree;
- on the dimensions of the material - both its length and thickness;
- from the moisture content of the material;
- on the size of the building; on construction technology (nagel, type of felling, etc.);
- from the material of interventional insulation; from the type of wood;
- from the time of year when construction is underway.
The strongest shrinkage occurs in log cabins from ordinary logs, then rounded logs, profiled timber, timber, glued timber go down.
Even if the house is more than a dozen years old, it is still necessary to take into account the vertical movements of the walls when installing windows in a wooden house as a result of an increase or decrease in humidity and air temperature at different times of the year.
Wooden house - Live
A wooden house is a constantly moving structure, compared to buildings made of stone and concrete. Therefore, the installation of windows in a wooden house is not carried out in the opening itself, but in a special wooden box, which acts as a link between the window and the wall. They call this box differently: casing, salary, deck, pigtail, linden.
How the pigtail is arranged
As can be seen from the photo, the casing is an ordinary window frame made of four, sometimes three (sides and top) thick boards, installed inside the opening.
The meaning of this design lies in the fact that it is independent of the vertical movements of the wall and moves freely in the opening, since it is not attached to the logs (beam) with nails, screws, or other fasteners, but is held with the help of grooves in the side posts, planted on the spikes at the ends of the logs.
Even foam is not used to seal the gaps around the pigtail - only tow, jute (flax) and other soft insulation.
Shrinkage clearance
Please note: a large gap is specially left above the pigtail, the size of which is designed for the maximum possible shrinkage of logs (beams). During the first years after the construction of the house, this compensation gap will gradually decrease to a minimum, but the upper log (beam) of the opening, with the correct calculation, will not press down or deform the pigtail.
Thus, the shrinkage of the house will not affect the size and shape of the pigtail in any way, and, accordingly, will not damage the plastic window inside it.
Shrink gap size
If you decide to install windows in an old wooden house, which has long gone through the shrinkage process, then, when disassembling the window blocks, you will probably notice: they are made according to the same principle as the casing design described here, i.e. not nailed to the beams of the opening, but fixed in it using a simple “groove-thorn” system on the sides.
This suggests that the technology for installing windows and doors in a wooden house in a pigtail was invented a very long time ago, and is used with success to this day. We will not invent anything new and will go the same way.
There are several ways to install a pigtail:
- t-shaped pigtail - a groove is made at the ends of the logs of the opening, a t-shaped profile is laid into it;
- p-shaped - the spike is cut out at the ends of the opening logs, and the groove is made in the side posts of the casing).
We make both options, as they determine the maximum strength and stability of the opening, because the pigtail not only protects the window from shrinkage of the walls, but also ensures the stability of the wall at the place where the opening is cut.
In short, the sequence of our actions will be as follows: we cut an opening in the wall, the dimensions of which slightly exceed the dimensions of the inserted plastic window;
Preparing the opening for installing a window in a wooden house
Before sawing, we mark the window opening with the help of a level, because the plastic window will be installed strictly according to the level in all planes, therefore the pigtail should also be installed in the opening as accurately as possible in the initial level.
The lower crown in the opening must be sawn through, so that a flat horizontal platform is obtained.
The dimensions of the opening are determined based on the dimensions of the plastic window, the thickness of the casing bars and the size of the required gaps.
All calculations are performed visually. Here is an example of a scheme for calculating the dimensions of an opening for a draft T-shaped pigtail:
Accordingly, we take a bar with a section of 100x150 mm and cut out a T-shaped profile.
The size of the shrinkage gap (H shrink) is not easy to determine, since the amount of shrinkage at home, as mentioned above, depends on many factors. If we, for example, calculate roughly, taking everything to the maximum, then for a window with a standard height of 1400 mm (plus the thickness of the casing beams, plus mounting clearances of ~ 245 mm), with a 15% shrinkage, the upper clearance will be 24.5 cm - a huge hole , the height of which, most likely, will eventually turn out to be unnecessarily large.
To simplify the task and avoid mistakes, you should not rack your brains over GOSTs that regulate the shrinkage values of building materials of various tree species, comparing this with local climatic conditions, etc.
You can do it easier, namely:
- if you are building a new house, then start installing windows in it no earlier than a year after the construction of the log house in order to wait out the period of the most active shrinkage. Then, during the manufacture and installation of the pigtail, the size of the shrinkage gap (H shrinkage) can be safely made 60-50 mm for a log house, 50-40 mm for a log house and 40 mm for a glued beam house;
- if your house has stood for more than five years, then the shrinkage gap (H shrinkage) can be made minimal - 40 millimeters, only to compensate for possible seasonal changes in the geometric dimensions of the opening;
So, we calculated the size of the opening, marked it out and cut it out. Now you need to cut a spike at the ends of the logs (beams) on the sides of the opening. The spike is also marked with a level in the center of the log (beam).
Making pigtails
First, you need to decide on the width of the pigtail bars: it should either be equal to the thickness of the wall, or be slightly larger, so that later, when installing the outer trim, they (platbands) fit tightly on the pigtail, and not on the wall. There is another option in a log house - a patch around the opening along the width of the groove.
Secondly, for the manufacture of pigtails, it is necessary to take well-dried material, otherwise the assembled structure itself will deform soon when it dries.
First we cut out the lower part (window sill), making it 10 cm longer than the width of the opening. At the ends of the window sill, we cut a groove for a spike 65 mm wide and 40 mm deep.
Also, at the ends of both window sills, we make small recesses of 20 mm each for joining the crossbars with the side posts - the so-called locks.
We make side racks with a height exceeding the height of the plastic window frame by 70 mm. On the reverse sides of the racks, using a circular saw, we cut a groove for a spike 60 mm wide and 40 mm deep. We immediately make a lock for the upper part in the side racks.
Lastly, we make the upper part of the pigtail. Based on the dimensions obtained between the two installed side parts.
Installing a pigtail
We start installing the pigtail in the opening from the bottom crossbar (window sill). Then, an apex is inserted into the opening, under which we alternately substitute the side racks, putting them in grooves on the spikes.
We fasten the pigtail elements together with self-tapping screws and, if desired (not necessary), coat the joints with sealant. We caulk the gaps around the casing with ordinary tow, but without much fanaticism, so that the details do not arch out.
We plug the upper shrinkage gap with soft insulation such as Rocwool or holofiber. This operation is best done after installing windows and external trim.
Now you can start installing the window.
Installing a window in a wooden house
We install a wooden or plastic window, aligning it with the front edge of the pigtail. It is not necessary to bring the window inwards by a third of the wall thickness, as is done in a panel or brick house, due to the lower coefficient of thermal conductivity of wood (lower freezing depth).
Especially with the small thickness of the walls of a wooden house, deepening the window into the opening, we will be forced to cut the already narrow window sill. And the ledge that is formed as a result from the outside of the opening will have to be additionally closed and sealed.
And as measurements taken by a thermal imager show, the main conductor of cold is the profile itself. For more details in the photo report made from photographs from the thermal imager, see here.
Black box for trim
If you calculated the dimensions of the opening and the pigtails as described above, then the mounting gaps around the window frame when installed in a wooden house should be 15 mm on the sides, 15 mm on the top and 15 mm on the bottom (we do not make the lower gap more, because the stand profile makes it possible later, put a plastic window sill under the frame, the thickness of which is 30 mm).
It is more convenient to fasten the frame to the pigtail with the help of self-tapping screws the size of such calculations so that they enter the body of the pigtail, but do not penetrate the wall. We drill holes in the frame with a drill with a diameter of 5-6 mm. Using self-tapping screws with a length exceeding the thickness of the pigtail is dangerous because they will pass through the pigtail and screw into the logs (bar), which is unacceptable.
Provided that all the preparatory work has been done using the level, the window frame should stand exactly on the pigtail, i.e. the front edge of the pigtail should be parallel to the plane of the window, without noticeable distortions.
Window waterproofing from the outside
Before foaming the gap between the window and the pigtail, it is necessary to decide with what material we will waterproof the installation seam from the street side. As you know, the two main enemies of foam are sunlight and water.
If we can simply close the mounting seam from the sun with platbands or flashings, then the situation with waterproofing is more complicated, because it must meet two basic conditions: do not let water in and at the same time not prevent moisture vapor from escaping from the inside to the outside.
Well, and, of course, waterproofing must be resistant to prolonged weathering.
All these conditions are met by such materials as PSUL, waterproofing vapor-permeable tape and special sealant "STIZ-A".
Sealant "STIZ-A" - one-component vapor-permeable acrylic sealant of white color for sealing the outer layer - is characterized by good adhesion to the main building materials: plastic, concrete, polymer concrete, foam concrete, plaster, brick and wood including.
It is also resistant to UV radiation, precipitation, temperature deformation and can be applied even at negative temperatures down to -20 degrees.
The only disadvantage of this material is that it is difficult to find it in small containers, and it makes sense to buy a whole bucket when you install a lot of windows. If you choose STIZ-A as an external waterproofing, then the procedure will be as follows: first we foam the window, then, after complete drying, cut off the foam sticking out from the outside and after that, using a spatula, apply sealant to the cut.
Vapor-permeable waterproofing tape (self-adhesive butyl rubber tape consisting of a vapor-diffusion membrane with an adhesive layer of sealant on one or both sides) is sold in rolls of different widths.
In our case, a tape with a width of 70 mm is suitable. When using this tape as waterproofing, orient it correctly when gluing.
You can determine this by blowing into it from one side and the other (do not forget to remove the paper first). Since there is a membrane inside the tape, the passage of air is only possible in one direction. The side from which it is impossible to “blow through” the tape is the outer (street).
The sequence of actions (first the tape, then the foam or first the foam, then the tape) does not matter much, but it must be taken into account that the foam, expanding when it dries, not only pulls the tape with a bubble (it will interfere later when installing the trim), but in general it can tear it away from a window or window frame.
Therefore, if you stick the tape in the first place, then immediately screw the trim or hard flashings on top of it, and only then foam it. Or foam first, wait for the foam to dry, cut off the excess and stick the tape on the same day so as not to expose the foam cut to prolonged weathering.
PSUL - pre-compressed self-expanding sealing tape (similar to foam rubber), impregnated with a special composition, due to which it is waterproof and vapor-permeable. Supplied in a compressed state, rolled into rollers.
If you opt for PSUL tape, then buy the one that expands more than 30 mm. PSUL will have to be glued not to the outer side of the frame profile, but to the end near the front edge.
This should be done after fixing the frame in the opening, but before foaming. Of course, it is more convenient to glue the frame with PSUL-ohm even before installation, when it lies on the floor, but then the installation will have to be done at an accelerated pace, because after a few minutes the tape will expand and interfere with work.
The assembly seam should be foamed only after the PSUL has fully expanded and blocked the assembly gap. But here the same problem is quite possible as with the waterproofing tape: the foam expanding when it dries can squeeze the PSUL out. This can be avoided by pressing the PSUL from the street side with platbands or flashings.
Internal window vapor barrier
From the inside, the foam should also not remain open in order to prevent moisture from entering it from the room air.
For the device of internal vapor barrier, you can use a vapor barrier tape, which has already been described in the main section of this site, or use acrylic sealant SAZILAST-11 ("STIZ-B").
The vapor barrier tape is glued to the end of the frame with a thin adhesive strip before foaming. Immediately after foaming, the protective paper is removed from the wide adhesive strip, and the tape is glued to the pigtail.
While the foam under the tape has not hardened, it is advisable to immediately install the window sill and screw the starting profile to the edges of the frame, otherwise the tape “inflated” with foam will interfere with this later.
Sazilast is applied to the hardened foam, more precisely, to its cut. In this case, it is no longer necessary to rush to install window sills and the starting profile, as when using a tape. Nothing will stop you from doing it later, when it's convenient.
Interior decoration
The interior decoration of a window in a wooden house (window sills, slopes) is not much different from the decoration in a panel or brick house.
It’s even a little simpler here: you don’t need to drill holes for installing slopes - we fix everything with self-tapping screws into a tree (into a pigtail).
It is also not required to additionally insulate the slopes from the inside with foam or other material. To be safe, it is enough to foam the inner surface of the casing with a narrow strip next to the mounting seam before installing the slopes. This will be enough, because the tree does not freeze through as deeply as concrete or brick.
How to make slopes has already been described on the pages of this site. I want to propose a slightly different method of finishing a window in a wooden house, or rather, refuse to install a plastic window sill and any panels, and use the pigtail itself instead.
Okosyachka, like - window sill and slopes
This method of installing a window in a wooden house allows you to save on slopes and window sills, gain time and achieve a greater, in my opinion, aesthetic effect, but this will require a good woodworking machine to evenly cut the so-called reverse quarter on the casing elements, into which install a plastic window.
What is a reverse quarter can be easily understood from the figure. This is the recess in which the window frame will be installed from the street side.
Quarter depth - 20 mm. The width is made exactly corresponding to the thickness of the frame, for example: for a 5-chamber VEKA, the profile thickness is 70 mm, therefore the width of the back quarter should be 70 mm.
It is important to accurately calculate the dimensions of the pigtail and the window, carefully assemble the pigtail and install the pigtail into the opening exactly according to the level - the inner clearance should have the shape of a regular rectangle, and all faces of the outer edge should be located in the same plane without skew.
In order not to be mistaken in size, it is better to first make and install a pigtail, and only then accurately measure and order a plastic window in place.
Installing a quarter window
Let's assume that the pigtail is already installed in the opening. The size of the plastic window is made in such a way that it turns out to be slightly larger than the “clearance” of the casing, or rather: 10 mm more in width and the same in height.
From the inside, such a window will not enter the pigtail, but it will easily enter the opposite quarter from the street side. In this case, the edges of the frame will “hide” behind a quarter of 5 mm on each side (it’s no longer possible - the leaf hinges will interfere), and a mounting gap will remain around the frame, which will later be filled with foam.
The frame is attached to the pigtail with self-tapping screws, as already described above. To ensure a beautiful hermetic joining of the frame and casing from the side of the room, a D-shaped door seal can be used. It is glued before installing the frame with the adhesive side on the edge of the quarter. Accordingly, the dimensions of the quarter must be adjusted for the seal.
But as practice shows, with high-quality manufacturing of the pigtail, the need for such an addition disappears. The window is placed directly in the quarter and the meringue of the gaps is pressed tightly against the pigtail.
When attaching the frame, we firmly press it to the quarter, compressing the seal, and screw in the screws, fixing the window in this position. The installed window foams from the street. Then, after the foam has dried, its excess is cut off, the seam is sealed with a waterproofing tape or smeared with STIZ-A sealant, and platbands are installed.
Of course, since we refuse the interior decoration of the casing with any additional elements, we must ennoble it, i.e. give it a look that matches the interior design of the room.
First of all, you need to give the lower crossbar the shape of a window sill so that its inner edge protrudes slightly from the wall and is slightly wider than the opening.
Secondly, we make the “dawn” of the inner surfaces of the racks and the top, i.e. we abandon the primitive rectangular (in cross section) shape of these elements and cut out a large chamfer, simulating the turn of the slopes.
Next, we process the inner surface of the casing elements. There are many options: texture, color - the choice is yours. You can simply sand the surface and varnish it. It is possible to cover the wood with a stain of the desired color so that the surface of the casing is in harmony with the color of the window and / or the color of the walls.
There is also, in my opinion, an interesting, but more expensive option - to brush the surface, i.e. process antique.
Artificial aging of antique wood is now very popular in various design styles. The essence of brushing technology is to remove soft fibers from the surface of wood with a metal brush (along the fibers), while the surface turns from smooth to embossed. After giving the relief texture, the wood is cleaned of pile and fibers, then the final gloss is given.
You can immediately cover the tree with varnish, but the “aged” wood will look much more spectacular after being treated with a stain of the color you need. However, there is an even more spectacular way of coloring - patting - creating a contrast between dark wood pores and a lighter surface.
This is achieved with the help of paint of the desired color: the entire front surface of the casing is covered with it, and then the top layer is removed with a cloth until the paint has had time to dry. The final stage of artificial aging is varnishing. It is applied in two or three layers. Then you can rub the surface with a soft cloth to give a gloss.
One of the most pressing questions that arise during the construction or repair of a wooden house is: “Do I need a door frame in a wooden house?”.
This question is far from being idle, since the time and money spent on the window and door locks are very significant and, oddly enough, are often not provided for in the original design of the house.
In our opinion, the answer to it is obvious: it is definitely needed, and the main proof of this is the age of this technology. For hundreds of years in Rus', wooden houses were built without milling cutters, band saws and electric drills, spending many times more time on each operation. And, nevertheless, doors and windows in a wooden house were always installed in a casing frame.
Consider what reasons determine the need to install window and door casing, and what designs exist.
Wood is a good and environmentally friendly building material, but it has one significant drawback - its linear and volumetric dimensions are not stable and depend on the level of humidity.
In turn, the moisture content of wood changes not only with time (due to natural drying), but also depending on climatic conditions.
For a new frame, the total changes in its geometric dimensions can reach 100-150 mm during the initial shrinkage and up to 7-10 mm during the rest of the operation period (due to seasonal humidity fluctuations).
We emphasize right away that moisture changes in dimensions always occur, even after the end of the shrinkage period.
So that dimensional fluctuations are not transmitted to those structural elements of the house, the dimensions of which must be unchanged, they are installed in special casing boxes, also called "casing" or "pigtail".
The connection of the casing with the rest of the structure of the house is always sliding. That is, the logs in the frame are displaced, and the dimensions of the frame remain constant.
The basis for disputes on the topic “Do I need a door frame in a wooden house?” is the assumption that when using modern methods of stabilizing wood (special modes of drying, impregnating with oil, etc.), seasonal fluctuations in dimensions in a wooden house are negligible and in an old house it is possible to install doors and windows without a pigtail.
To some extent, these judgments are correct. A wooden house built from profiled or glued timber, which has undergone special factory drying and treated with water-repellent agents, will indeed maintain stable dimensions in the first 5-10 years.
Impregnations and protective coatings also have a certain "shelf life" and even in the instructions for their use it is written that the coating needs to be updated (every 3-5 years). But in practice, this requirement is rarely met, especially in cases where the log cabin is sheathed on the outside with clapboard.
Summarizing the above, let's summarize: the installation of doors in a wooden house without casing can be performed only in temporary buildings, and even then, only under certain conditions, but the house for yourself and your family must be reliable and built with the installation of casing.
Types of pigtails for doors
Let's consider what types of casing for doors in a wooden house are in terms of labor costs and cost, since it is from this perspective that most builders who are faced with the need to make a pigtail consider this issue.
Mortgage beam
The fastest and cheapest way to prepare an installation site for wooden or metal doors is a pigtail in a mortgage beam.
In this case, the power frame is made from a conventional rectangular beam and is laid into the grooves punched in the ends of the openings.
The height of the casing frame under the door jamb should always be less than the opening by the shrinkage height of the log house (that is, by 60-100 mm).
The laying of the timber in the groove is carried out on a soft fiber seal (jute tape or lnovatin). No additional fastening is required - the frame should move freely in the grooves.
This technology is especially convenient in a log house, where logs can be supplied with ready-made grooves in the ends.
But since the door frame should be installed only within the casing frame - and its thickness is only 50-70 mm - this scheme is rarely used for mounting external doors. The optimal scope of the casing in the embedded timber is the pigtail of interior doors.
Okosyachka in a monolithic spike
In practice, for the installation of wooden and metal doors, a T-shaped casing is used in a monolithic spike. The difference from the previous version lies in the fact that the end of the opening is closed with a solid board, rigidly connected to the spike.
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