Visible ceiling beams and rafters create a cozy atmosphere in the attic of a country house.
If the wooden roof structure is to be visible throughout the attic, smoothed material should be used for all rafters and beams. This, in turn, causes a significant increase in the cost of its purchase. You can also buy raw wood and carry out its labor-intensive processing yourself. This saves some money, but at the expense of extending the investment implementation time. In addition, the entire entablature should be impregnated. Factory impregnation made in pressure boilers is much more effective than the surface impregnation and after the construction is completed, it requires manual refilling only in the places of cutting. The raw rafters and battens must be fully impregnated with a brush, which again does not require professional qualifications, and just a lot of patience and time. In both cases, the wooden parts visible inside the attic are covered with wax.
The crane first places the horizontal ridge purlins, intermediate and alloy, and then the rafters, sorted and stacked on the construction site. All internal surfaces of the beams in a residential attic are enough to soak in wax, exterior must be impregnated. The rafters are placed on the purlins. The notches made in them ensure the rigidity of the fixed connections, sequentially, with two nails. Because the flies, that is, the horizontal crossbars of the rafters will also be visible inside the attic, they are connected with hidden pins. Horizontal beams connected to a truss (we will take over or replace) they support the ends of the rafters cut at the openings of dormers or roof windows. A fanat – covered with a gable roof and situated on the west side of the building – makes, that there is more light and space in the attic.
The price of wood is even higher, the more precisely it has been processed. We can even order an assortment of the desired dimensions, but then we have to pay extra 20% to the basic price.
Personally, I recommend the material dried to a moisture content below 17%, processed on multi-head saws. It looks like planed, and thanks to its smooth surfaces, it is also more resistant to biological corrosion and soaking. Of course, it should be pressure impregnated with an impregnant that also fulfills the role of fire protection. This type of maintenance carefully and effectively protects the large-size elements of the roof truss – such, like pillars, rafters, masonry, purlins. Brush painting, whether soaking in the impregnation is effective only with thinner elements (e.g.. patches). Best, when elements with a rectangular section have bevelled edges. This is how construction timber is prepared in Canada and the United States. When buying large quantities of lumber, it is worth considering its place of origin, because trees in colder areas have slower annual growth, favorable for the strength of the material.