Grinding a beam is one of the most important processes in the construction of a wooden cottage. It allows you to remove bark from the bars, make them perfectly smooth and attractive, as well as eliminate various defects. In addition, grinding allows you to significantly increase the operational characteristics of this material, and make it more durable.
Nowadays, many companies provide professional services in the grinding of timber, but their cost is very high, so many people are thinking about how to quality sand wood at home. If you adhere to the basic tips and recommendations that will be given later, then polishing a house from a beam with your own hands will turn out no worse than when ordering similar services from construction companies.
Why is it necessary to grind the timber?
The surface of the wooden beam has a roughness, which is a common occurrence and is manifested as a result of sawing wood on the machine. If you perform these works manually, hairiness can be avoided, however, there will be significantly more other defects on the tree that will significantly reduce the quality and durability of the beam.
For exterior decoration, hairiness can be hidden by the cladding, but inside the room it will spoil the aesthetics and attractiveness of the interior. In addition, in the places of chips and cracks ideal conditions will be created for the appearance of fungus, mold and various microorganisms.
Grinding the beam inside the house helps not only to avoid all this, but also to achieve the following:
- make the walls inside the house perfectly smooth;
- eliminate various defects;
- get rid of fungal spores before impregnating wood with antiseptic agents;
- to improve the quality of adhesion of the beam with paints and varnishes;
- give the tree a more attractive appearance and emphasize its texture.
Despite all of the above advantages provided by polishing the timber indoors, many experienced builders recommend waiting a bit before it can be completed before the building settles down. This is understandable, however, if the defects that are on the timber cannot be immediately eliminated, then they can become much larger, as a result of which it will be impossible to achieve an aesthetic appearance in the future.
The only way out of this situation is to remove a rather thick layer from the timber, which not only requires large physical and time costs, but also negatively affects the performance of the tree. Therefore, the grinding of timber should be done immediately after the construction of a country house.
What tools will be required in the process of grinding walls?
In order for grinding to be performed as quickly and efficiently as possible, you will need to acquire the following tools:
- grinding machine;
- belt sander;
- grinder with nozzles for woodwork;
- chisel and sandpaper.
Grinding machine is a professional tool designed to work with profiled timber. It allows you to perform all the work very high quality, but its purchase will cost about 150 thousand rubles. This amount may not be affordable for everyone, so renting it out is the best solution. To work with glued beams designed belt sander, the average cost of which is approximately two thousand rubles.
If your budget does not allow you to purchase specialized equipment, then grinding the walls of the timber can be done using an electric drill and a grinding nozzle, which is included in the factory package of almost all grinders.
Grinding is carried out in stages using nozzles with different levels of rigidity. First of all, the beam is sanded with a nozzle No. 80, intended for primary processing, after which a nozzle No. 120 is used, which will give the tree an ideal appearance.
General tips and tricks for grinding wooden beams
So that after polishing the beam meets all your expectations, you must adhere to the following tips and recommendations:
- Sanding the walls of the timber should begin after the roof has been erected. This is very important, because during the construction of the roof on the walls, various defects can appear that will have to be repaired.
- It is strictly forbidden to grind an unsuspected timber, since it only spoils the nozzles, and the result of the work done is unlikely to satisfy you. An exception may be a tree felled in winter.
- If after the completion of construction work the wood has acquired a blue tint, then first you should bleach it with abrasive materials, and only then you can start grinding.
- After the grinding of the beam is completed, it is necessary to treat the walls with a special antiseptic. If this is not done, then the wood will darken.
Following these recommendations, you can polish the walls of your cottage with quality, and they will take on a completely different look that will give the interior a very original, natural and attractive appearance.
The process of grinding walls of wooden beams
Now you have a detailed idea of all the nuances associated with grinding the beam, so you can begin the process of performing work. In order for the final result to be of high quality, grinding should be performed strictly in a certain sequence, which will be presented later.
Stage One: End Grinding
The end face of the house is exposed to negative environmental factors more than the rest of its parts, so the grinding process should begin with it. If this step is omitted, then the tree, having absorbed moisture, will swell very much and begin to crack. To avoid this, the ends must first be sanded with a nozzle with high rigidity, then processed with a nozzle designed for finishing work, and polished at the very end. When the grinding of the ends is completed, the wood must be treated with special antiseptics.
Glued beam processing
Sanding glued beams should be carried out immediately after completion of construction work. This is due to the fact that this material has low resistance to external stimuli. If the glued beam is dry, then fibers will stick out from it, which will not allow sanding the wood to a perfectly even state.
Profiled timber processing
If a country house was built from coniferous trees, then grinding profiled timber can be performed using nozzles of any rigidity. However, there is one important nuance. If you purchased material that has been treated with antiseptic agents, then after the grinding is completed, the impregnation of the tree will need to be repeated.
