Lightweight and compact, the change house is well suited for furnishing a summer home. By combining several such buildings, you can equip a temporary hut in which the family will move in for the period while the house is being built from bricks or other material. If you insulate the walls with high quality and sheathe them from the inside with a material that retains heat well, you can build a house from cabins for permanent residence.
House projects
The change houses themselves consist of a frame (made of wood or metal), on which a flooring made of profiled sheet or wood material is attached. One of the advantages of this design is the ease of replacing flooring elements in case of damage. If the layout requires it, you can dismantle one wall, and this will not affect the reliability of the building in any way.
There are many options for arranging. They differ in scale and complexity of implementation: you can make a country house from a change house for 1-2 people or a two-story structure for year-round living for a large family. On the second floor, they often equip a bedroom or a nursery.
A common option is a dacha of two cabins located 3 m from each other. One of them is equipped with a kitchen and a bathroom. In the space dividing the cabins, 2 additional walls are usually created. If it is decided to place a car in it, a gate is made instead of one of the walls. You can also use this space as a workshop or storage for gardening tools.
The original idea is to make a chalet-style house from frame structures. Thinking over the shape of the roof and other details of such a project, it is worth consulting with an experienced architect. A popular option is a building equipped with a veranda. The latter can be covered or look like a spacious porch next to the entrance.
You can make a modular house from a couple of change houses, while the dining area is partially open. It is also possible to implement interesting ideas in the external design of the structure, for example, to put the dwelling on "legs".
Types of cabins
Having decided to make a house out of cabins, you need to decide what elements will be at its base. They are used not only for the construction of dwellings, but also for equipping utility rooms, as well as for temporary settlement of workers.
The following types of cabins are distinguished:
- Block containers made of metal or wood. Decking, lining, PVC panels, MDF can be used as cladding. From the point of view of long-term residence, the profiled sheet has an advantage over block materials: it does not crack from temperature changes. But such a dwelling must be insulated with mineral wool and sheathed from the inside with clapboard or OSB.
- Panel structures. If you plan to have a dacha from cabins or a house for permanent residence, this is not the best solution, since due to the lack of stiffeners, such boxes cannot be classified as durable. They are suitable for temporary residence while the construction of a permanent dwelling is underway.
- Frame cabins, the base of which is made of timber, and plywood and lining can be used for cladding. This is an inexpensive, but quite suitable option for equipping a permanent home. It is better to use lining for decoration, since it does not swell or deform from the action of moisture, like other materials. The floors of such cabins consist of a finishing and rough flooring, between which mineral wool and a vapor barrier are laid.
- Modular cabins made of timber are the most expensive option, distinguished by their attractive appearance and good performance.
Houses are often made in factories. When ordering, they are brought to the site already assembled. Another option is also possible - to call a team of workers, which will build houses at the site of their future installation, or make them yourself.
Phased construction
To make a country house out of a change house with your own hands, you do not need to equip a solid foundation. Several concrete blocks are often used as supports. They are mounted at the corners of each of the cabins, as well as along the walls at intervals of 1-1.5 m. After installing the cabins, brickwork can be laid in these intervals. If the soil is unstable, it is better to organize the foundation on screw piles. The same solution is suitable when building a house for permanent residence from several cabins.
You can assemble the boxes yourself. First, a frame is made from a bar. Openings for windows and doors are also tied to it. External wall cladding is done after the floor has been installed. The latter should consist of two layers of flooring, between which insulation (mineral wool) and vapor barrier are mounted.
In general, the technology of independent construction of change houses for housing is very similar to the construction of a frame house. The need for wall insulation depends on the purpose of the building: if it is a country house or temporary house, it is often possible to do without it, if the building for permanent residence requires the installation of mineral wool and internal cladding. Sandwich panels are well suited for such a house.
The roofs of standard cabins have a simple single-pitched shape. When arranging a dwelling, they are often dismantled and a structure with two or more slopes is assembled. Most common materials are suitable for roofing, but it is better if they are light.
Finishing and home improvement
If wooden houses were purchased for the base, they are rarely seriously changed from the outside, since such cabins have a completely attractive appearance. The structure, sheathed with corrugated board, can be painted. One easy way to improve the outside view is to use large windows. This will help mask the tightness of the room and improve the illumination inside. But there is also a minus - the house becomes accessible to prying eyes. Only one of the used cabins can be equipped with such windows. To save space, it is better to make the window high, but small in width.
Furniture should be functional and compact. For example, the bed can be placed on a high chest of drawers in which things will be stored. In the wall plane, you can pre-install fasteners for a hammock. In the kitchen, the window sill is combined with the countertop. Shelves for storing dishes are placed under it. Instead of wall partitions, you can use curtains for zoning - they eat up less usable area. In such a house, you can place old pieces of furniture that have not lost their functionality.
There are two options for arranging a bathroom - a septic tank and a dry closet. A conventional cesspool is easier to build, but has a lower level of environmental friendliness. In addition, a strict rule applies when arranging it: it must be done at a distance of at least 25 m from a well or well. The septic tank can be installed a few meters from the house. If the choice fell on a dry closet, the function of the sewer system will be reduced to the drainage of wastewater from the washing room and kitchen.
