Construction tricks of the Siberian peasant (how houses were built 100 years ago)

Siberia for many is the best world where you can meet the weather diversity. Harsh, but very beautiful land. Only the strongest people can live here.

When they mastered Siberia, Russian settlers brought with them all the knowledge in construction, traditions. But with time and awareness of the nature of the weather, they began to change significantly.

Wood was the only building material. As a rule, they built from pine, and also from larch, fir.

Avoided trees that grew in swamps, lowlands. They called such trees "Kremlin", because even an ax would not take them.

Carpenters in Siberia did this: they threw the logs into the river for 4 months, and in the summer they took them out and dried them until winter. They said that this way the tree would not rot, it would be more durable and without cracks.

They built (huts, yards) according to the principle of hut + canopy + cage. In the summer they moved to a cage, and in the winter they lived in a heated hut. The canopy was between the hut and the cage.

This was done before construction. Pieces of birch bark or bark were laid out in the intended place. In the morning we looked at the bottom side. They chose where the dry side was.

The most commonly used technique was cutting a house into a "bowl" or "corner". A semicircle was cut into the logs with an axe. The ends protruded beyond the walls of the log house. Therefore, the corners of the hut did not freeze through even in severe frost.

The logs were laid on the moss, and the cracks were caulked and covered with clay. Larch was used for the lower crowns. It is a dense and durable wood. The initial crown was placed directly on the ground.

Sometimes they made huts on piles of larch chocks or a stone foundation. If from chocks, then they were coated with hot resin or tar. They could just burn them at the stake.

In Siberia, because of the harsh climate, the floors were made of boards and sometimes even double. They were not painted, but simply scraped clean with special mowers (knives).

Inside the hut, the walls (logs) were simply hewn, except for the place behind the stove. Then they began to coat the walls with clay, plaster, whitewash.

The roof and the house as a whole were built without a single nail. Boards were stacked on top of each other. After the roof was built, the ceiling was insulated with earth or clay with humus.

Door and window openings were done last. There were many windows, but they were small (to keep warm). Poor tightened the windows with the peritoneum (bull bladder) and this was enough for 2 years. Others glazed windows. The windows were decorated very beautifully - with architraves with double-leaf shutters.

The doors were without iron hinges. The hinges were made of wood. Not very durable, but free.

Some houses in Siberia, built with one ax, are still standing.