House of sleepers - how to remove the smell?

Often today you can find a house made of sleepers. How to remove the smell, which is quite noticeable in such a building, not everyone knows. In this article we will discuss this issue and some others regarding sleepers.

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House of sleepers

Nowadays, when apartments in high-rise buildings are expensive, and land plots are even more expensive, people are trying in every possible way to save on building materials. The construction of your own home is no exception. For example, families that live near highways often build houses from railway sleepers.

Both new and used sleepers are used for these purposes. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks about the question: is this housing option harmful or not, because the material is cheap enough, and the shape of the beams greatly simplifies the process of building a house.

Important! One of the most important questions that should be puzzling even before building such a house is how to get rid of the smell of sleepers in the house. With this approach, you will greatly simplify your life and will be able to quickly arrange your family nest cozy and comfortable.

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Advantages and disadvantages of a house made of sleepers

In any case, it is necessary to know all the advantages and disadvantages of such housing, so as not to regret the work done, the money and time spent.

High heat capacity

In winter frosts, such a building warms up very quickly and retains heat for a long time. In the summer heat, the inside of the house is always cool and comfortable.

Durability

Sleepers are made mainly of pine or other coniferous wood. Thanks to the smooth trunk of trees, their processing is greatly simplified.

• Pine belongs to soft species.
• It is moisture resistant.
• It has a homogeneous structure.
• Doesn't crack.
• It has great strength.
• Not subject to decay.
• It retains all its properties for a very long time.

All of the listed characteristics of wood are considered a virtue and railway sleepers, as a material for building a house.

Antiseptic impregnation

A special composition of creosote, which is saturated with sleepers, has a strong antiseptic effect. Thanks to this treatment, the service life of the sleepers is maximized. It is believed that a house built of sleepers and covered with plaster on both sides can survive more than one generation. Neither fungus, nor rodents, nor insects are afraid of him.

What is creosote?

This is a mixture that consists of various phenols and aromatized carbons. It is extracted from wood and coal tar using caustic solutions of alkali and sulfuric acid. Therefore, creosote has a rather specific smell.

The latter advantage is the most significant drawback of the house of sleepers. Since creosote is a strong toxic, carcinogenic substance that can significantly worsen a person’s health. And of course, it is for this reason that you will be bothered by the question: “A house from sleepers - how to remove the smell?”

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Impact of impregnation on human health or what are the disadvantages of a house made of sleepers?

With a long stay in a room with creosote impregnation, a person may experience the following symptoms of poor health:

• Persistent headache.
• The development of liver disease.
• The formation and rapid growth of cancer cells.
• Violation of the nervous system.
• Breathing problems, asthma.
• Chronic skin diseases, allergies.

Important! Creosote, on contact with the skin, causes burns. Its fumes, which are formed in warehouses of wooden sleepers at high temperatures, can also cause burns.

Besides harm to human health, soaked sleepers are highly flammable. Similar houses burn out in a fire in 15-20 minutes.

Important! In 2003, after a study of the harm of Creosote to human health, in the European Union, this substance was banned for use in civil engineering.

You can hear a lot of objections from people regarding the fact that before their grandparents lived in such houses, and everything was in order. Part of the answer to such claims lies in the method of processing wood. In the manufacture of sleepers, they can be impregnated with a surface (to a depth of 5-10 mm) and through method (under pressure to the entire depth of the bar).

Using sleepers with surface impregnation for building a house, and providing the room with good ventilation, the harmful effect of creosote is minimized. But the minimum is not a complete absence. In the heat, you will constantly feel the unpleasant smell of harmful impregnation. Therefore, it is up to you to buy or not sleepers for building your own home.

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How to get rid of the smell of sleepers in the house?

If you built a house from railway logs or are going to do it, then minimize the emission of harmful substances and get rid of the smell of sleepers in the following ways:

• Treat the sleepers with pure cement diluted in water. Its consistency should correspond to a thick sour cream. Apply the mixture with a brush, carefully rubbing it into the grooves and crevices.
• Inside, decorate the house with a metal or wooden frame with drywall.
• Between the frame and the sleepers, or between the frame and the finishing material, lay a layer of high-quality vapor barrier airtight material.
• Tape inside and outside sleepers, ceilings and floors. All structures through which harmful substances may leak must be hermetically sealed.

Important! Fiberglass reinforced polyethylene film or foil foamed polyethylene are quite reliable and cheap options for building vapor barrier. A conventional greenhouse film is also suitable for this purpose, but it quickly becomes unusable.

• Eliminate other routes of entry of harmful fumes into the home. All joints between door and window units must be filled with at least construction foam. Traditional tow in this case will not help much.

Important! The integrity of the vapor barrier must not be violated by sockets, switches and other elements of the electrical wiring.

• Complete vapor barrier turns the house into a sealed structure. Having completed all the procedures, you will reduce the degree of penetration of the nasty smell and harmful substances into the living rooms, but lose the important property of wooden walls - their “breathing”. To ensure air exchange and remove excess moisture, it is necessary to consider and provide ventilation. The rooms should have adjustable openings through which fresh air will penetrate: micro-ventilation devices, windows, windows. In bathrooms and kitchens there should be exhaust ducts. Thus, you will establish a favorable microclimate in the house and will be able to get rid of the smell in the house from sleepers.

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How to build a house of sleepers on your own?

If you, after reading all the above information, still have not abandoned the construction of housing from sleepers, then the following recommendations will be useful to you during the construction work:

1. The construction of each room begins with the foundation. As a rule, a columnar foundation is built for sleepers. But if you plan to make a basement under the building, then the best option would be to fill the strip foundation.
2. The upper part of the foundation should be waterproofed before laying the log house. To do this, it is necessary to coat the concrete with melted bitumen mastic, and lay on it several pieces of roofing material.
3. Next is the laying of the first row of sleepers. They lie flat on the wide side. For the lower row, it is best to choose the heaviest sleepers, for example, wood completely soaked with creosote. Dressing is carried out by a thorn connection.
4. On the first crown you need to lay the insulation. As a heater, moss, jute or tow can act.
5. After that, the second row of sleepers is laid edge-on with the narrow side.
6. Mounting is carried out by the in-line method. To do this, drill holes for wooden pins that will hold the sleepers at a distance of 60 centimeters from the ends on opposite sides of the log.

Important! Installation of the structure can be carried out without laying insulation. Seams are subsequently covered with mounting foam. Fastening the rows can be done using brackets and nails of 200 mm.

7. It is worth choosing the same details for each row. They will depend on the geometric parameters and dimensions of the sleepers.
8. Using a level or plumb during masonry, check the vertical direction inside. Irregularities in the exterior walls are hidden by façade finish.
9. Corner fastening of wooden sleepers is carried out similarly to brickwork - using special dressings and staples.
10. Window and doorways in the piers are vertically filled with 50 mm boards or installed sleepers. Slots are removed using tow or mounting foam.

Important! Internal partitions are best made from ordinary wood. In this case, you will get a warm and dry house of sleepers.

11. When lifting sleepers to the top of the building, difficulties can arise. To do this, you can use a manual or electric chain hoist.

Important! Tal must be at least 750 kg. Pre-test the operation of the device.

As you can see, it will not be possible to completely get rid of the smell of sleepers in the house. And to lower its level, as well as the amount of harmful substances indoors - is a very expensive pleasure. Used wooden sleepers are quite acceptable to use for the construction of utility rooms such as sheds, where the presence of a person is minimized. This will not save you from the unpleasant smell of creosote, but the risk of poor health will be significantly reduced.

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Stock footage

If you want to quickly and inexpensively build a house from sleepers, then select only new sleepers that have not yet been treated with toxic antiseptics. Such a house will serve you long and reliably, without harming the environment and your family in particular.