How to determine the winter forest from the summer. Winter forest or summer forest - what's the difference? It's drier

When planning any building on their suburban area, many are faced with the question of which forest to purchase for winter or summer construction. Houses, baths, outbuildings, all this is usually made of wood and therefore it is desirable that the service life of any structure be as long as possible. What differences exist between the forest harvested in winter and the one that was cut down in summer, we will try to figure it out.

Forest harvested in winter

In winter, the following phenomenon occurs, the forest prepares for hibernation, the sap flow stops circulating, the pores are covered. According to the root system of tree life occurs removal of excess moisture. Most often, this is why logging for construction takes place during this winter period. This type of blanks has its huge following advantages:

• Using logs in construction, they will not release resin at warm temperatures.
• During this period, all wood is drier, and it also surpasses summer harvesting in density.
• Wood harvested in winter tends to be less prone to warping and cracking.
• Natural drying gives the ability to make the wood stronger and more durable.
• Harvest timber in winter low temperatures, therefore, this wood perfectly retains its light natural color.
• Winter forest less susceptible to rotting and infection by fungal diseases.

This is more than enough to make right choice and purchase wood from a log house in winter. Sometimes not everything is so rosy and an unscrupulous manufacturer tries to sell blanks made in summer period.

How to choose the right timber for construction

Not all of us are well versed in wood. Trained carpenters and builders will do this much better. But it is not at all difficult to recognize the fraud of the manufacturer, if you follow some rules when choosing materials for construction. If you do not have much experience, then you should use the following tips:

• Surely it will be reasonable visit the place where you are going to purchase wood for your construction. You can examine the logs and look at the bark of the logs. If there are strong traces of pollution on them, it will become clear that this forest was harvested in the summer. It is also necessary to pay attention to the place of saw cuts, darkened places will tell you that, most likely, the forest fell under heavy rain. The following signs can also be seen with the naked eye; in the winter forest, the bark will begin to fall off on its own, since it has dried up over the summer.
• You have made the decision to start construction and are already starting to act. The matter remains small, do not make a mistake when choosing wood. There is also such a factor as information. To date, there are many companies that can offer their services, but before you use them, you should carefully weigh and check everything. There are winter timber suppliers who have been operating in this market for a long time and have proven themselves on the positive side. Consult with acquaintances and friends, find information on the Internet, clarify all the nuances and only after that place an order.
• For additional insurance purchase timber for construction during the winter months. By the period of January and February, most likely, the forest cut down in the summer period ends and the winter timber harvesting begins.
• Manufacturers often offer their buyer a ready-made log house. A good option would be visual inspection of the proposed material. Logs should not have cracks, especially of a deeper origin, this will be the first sign of a summer forest. Also, if this type of deformation is present, it will become clear that the technology of drying and storing the forest has been violated. Often, going to any tricks, manufacturers treat log cabins with an antiseptic, trying to hide traces of blackouts and wet spots.

The main differences between a summer forest and a winter forest

As can be understood from all that has been said above, the logs of the winter forest are radically different from the summer ones. If you want to build something very durable for yourself, then in this case it is advisable to purchase a winter forest. Here are some tips for purchasing durable winter wood for construction:

• The winter forest is less prone to various fungal diseases.
• In the summer forest, wood does not always have time to dry from the inside.
• Summer wood has much more moisture than winter wood.
• The color of the winter forest is much lighter and closer to natural than the summer one.
• A log cut in winter contains a large amount of starch.

The durability of the building will directly depend on material of your choice. Everyone wants to build a house, a bathhouse or any extension from high-quality wood for themselves. In order not to make a mistake and make the right choice, do not rush. It is necessary to start by the end of summer and the beginning of autumn to do what to consider all projects for construction.

Select a team of carpenters, find normal suppliers of timber. All this will take from two to three months, by this period only the winter forest will remain, then it will be necessary to purchase it to implement your project. Any construction is not worth the haste, it is necessary to weigh and think about everything correctly, only in this case we guarantee a positive result.

Everyone knows that the strongest and most reliable wooden houses need to be built from winter forest, because its main advantages - shrinkage uniformity and strength - are directly related to low temperatures during felling.

The benefits of the winter forest have been known since time immemorial, and its use in construction is backed up by the centuries-old experience of Russian architecture. In the construction of houses and baths, preference was given to trees cut down in winter time, and there are good reasons for that.

Winter Forest Benefits

There is an opinion that in the winter season a tree, significantly reducing its growth rate, contains a minimum amount of moisture and sap. This statement is true, but mainly it is worth paying attention to the fact that the winter forest dries out (freezes out) more slowly and more evenly. That is, such material is drier and more durable, which means it is of better quality.

Increased strength is achieved due to the fact that at sub-zero temperatures the percentage of moisture in the tree trunk is much less than in the warm season. Under such conditions, the tree gets rid of excess resins and juices, the tree "says goodbye" to its inhabitants.

In addition, the percentage of starch in the wood is reduced. Therefore, a felled winter forest compares favorably with a forest felled in summer, and this difference lies in the absence of cracks.

Also, the winter forest is less prone to decay. Due to the fact that the winter forest dries slowly, the shrinkage of the house is carried out more evenly. In the case of summer wood, this process is faster, and this often leads to warping of the structure, since the outer part of the log settles before the inner one.

Alternative opinion

However, today there is also a polar opinion. Some experts argue that the amount of moisture in wood is the same both in winter and in summer, and our ancestors built houses exclusively in winter, not at all because of the unique properties of the winter forest, but for reasons of their own employment in summer with gardening work.

But even such "skeptics" insist: it is profitable to build wooden houses in winter. But it becomes profitable because of the winter logging technology. A tree cut down in winter should lie down and dry on fresh air. Due to this, the process of freezing moisture occurs. And then the moisture really becomes less than that of a summer tree. Sawn wood should lie down with good ventilation for at least one month.

It is this circumstance that eliminates (or reduces the likelihood) the appearance of blue, black spots, and fungus on the tree. Namely, when the log has high humidity, and the temperature environment more than 15 degrees, it becomes very vulnerable to damage by harmful fungus and mold. All this leads to darkening, debate and decay of the material.

Here it is logical to think about the conditions of ventilation of wood. So that a constant stream of air could pass through the rows. You can not cover the entire pack with non-wetting and breathable material, so as not to create a "greenhouse effect". Although even with the observance of all technologies, the material can still fall under this adverse effect and turn blue. The very nature of the wooden material is to blame for this. Thus, the winter forest helps to a greater extent bypass the unfavorable properties of blueing and mold infestation. Even though a winter forest can save you from such negative consequences, the best protector of a tree is the advance treatment of the material with antiseptics and paintwork.

If we talk about the most favorable, profitable, convenient, cheap time of the year for the very process of building a wooden house, then this is certainly the winter season. And, both for the customer, and for the company and builders.

Compared with autumn, spring, and sometimes summer time, in winter there are no problems with the access of heavy vehicles (or at least the transport does not spoil the road and the landscape of the site, and squeezed ruts on the roads after heavy trucks pass through them are a serious problem for everyone who conducts construction work in the summer, on soft ground). Dust, dirt, slush, stains - all this can remain on the building material at all times of the year, except for winter. Less chance of fire. There are no various harmful insects that love both the tree and people. In summer cottages (or neighboring) plots there are fewer dissatisfied neighbors who are hindered by construction.

How to distinguish a winter forest from a summer one?

Of course, only a professional will be able to determine with 100% certainty a winter forest in front of him or a summer one, but there are several indirect signs and the nuances that you should pay attention to when choosing wood:

All this indicates that the material was harvested in the warm season or improperly dried, which, in principle, equally affects its quality characteristics.

Let's try to figure out when (and why) you need to harvest wood for building a log house.

The object of our consideration will be only conifers.
In his article Forest for a log house. Coniferous or deciduous? I showed that hardwoods (with the exception of oak) are not suitable for building log walls due to low resistance to decay, and low durability.

Actually, before I never bothered with the question of time for harvesting. For his buildings, he harvested or bought exclusively winter wood because it has been so customary in our area since ancient times. Our ancestors established this empirically, having probably tried both winter and summer forests for the construction of walls.

One day, accidentally ending up on the site of a timber seller, I was surprised to find out that the summer forest is not only no worse, but even better. But the argumentation of the advantages was so absurd that I decided to figure it out for myself, so what is the difference between a winter and a summer coniferous forest?

We look at the arguments in defense of the summer forest from the sellers.

1. Previously, in the summer, the peasants were so busy that logging had to be postponed for the winter.

Weak argument.
Any villager knows that in the summer, between busy periods of sowing - haymaking - harvesting, you can always carve out a couple - three weeks of relatively free time. A house is built once and for a lifetime. Therefore, one summer it was possible to work more intensively.
Moreover, if the quality of the summer wood was the same as that of the winter one, then the wood would be harvested in summer. Working in the summer forest is much easier than wading through snowdrifts.

2. In winter, it is easier to harvest and transport timber.

I agree about the export.
But about harvesting... If at least one of the "argumentators" tried to work on a tree felling knee-deep in snow, he would very quickly forget about his "argument".

3. In terms of mechanical strength, summer wood does not differ from winter wood.

Sorry, but durability doesn't matter to us. We are building walls, not ceilings in the Bolshoi Theatre. When using wood for the manufacture of lumber, in my opinion there is no difference when it is harvested.

4. The humidity of the winter coniferous forest is greater than that of the summer.

So what? After debarking, by spring, the moisture content of the logs will decrease and will be much lower than that of a fresh forest cut down at this time. If the debarking of the forest is completed in early March, then by the onset of warm days the forest dries up so much that it is not afraid of either “blue” or mold.

5. Due to lower humidity, a log house from a summer forest shrinks less.

Very well pointed out!
But since absolute humidity summer forest differs from the winter forest by only 10 - 12%, then the difference in the shrinkage of the log house will be ridiculous and will amount to as many as a few millimeters!

6. Cracking in the winter forest is greater than in the summer.

Excuse me, but this is BAD! Under the same storage and drying conditions, the opposite is true.

You can find a lot more "arguments", even in serious construction magazines, but they are all far-fetched and the ears of summer wood sellers stick out of them.

To be honest, the defenders of the winter forest write no less absurdities. They can be found about the narrowing of annual rings in winter, and about the freezing of moisture in trees through the bark, and about drier winter coniferous forest, and about the fragility of the summer forest ...

Everyone thoughtlessly repeats the clichés invented by someone once, and a reasonable answer to the main question “what is the difference between a winter forest and a summer forest and which is better?” no.

Well, let's try to figure it out ourselves, with the help of forestry scientists.

What is the most important quality for scaffolding?

We open the textbook "Wood Science" by L.M. Perelygin: “Under unfavorable service conditions (which are the conditions in which the walls are located - V.S.), which include variable humidity and ambient temperature, the wood collapses rather quickly. The rate of destruction is determined by the natural resistance of the given rock.”

This means that the main quality of the timber is the natural resistance to physical and biological destructive factors, that is, the resistance of wood to decay.
Not only durability (service life), but also the atmosphere inside the log house depends on this. The processes of decay emit harmful substances that adversely affect the health of people in this log house.

We read further the textbook by L.M. Perelygin:
« The resistance of wood is largely determined by the content of resinous substances in it. So the resistance of pine wood under the same service conditions is higher than spruce and fir wood, which is explained by the different resin content.

The main component of pine resin is levopimaric acid (content 34 - 37%). The concentration of this and other acids determines the antiseptic properties of the resin.

It has been found that fresh resin collected in summer contains less levopimaric acid than resin collected in winter. This is due to the summer increase in metabolism and the processes of intensive evaporation of needles.

A similar picture with the content essential oils.

Therefore, since the concentration of resin acids and essential oils in winter resin is greater, the antiseptic qualities of winter resin are higher than those of summer resin.

And again Perelygin:
Influence of forestry factors. Influence of felling time.
“With regard to resistance to decay, a tendency was found to decrease for wood cut down during the growing season (spring-autumn). This is explained by the higher content of organic substances in the wood in an easily digestible form ( nutrients)».

Another quote from the book by E. Yu. Lundberg, "Building Art". “In relation to tree damage, winter felling has the significance that the amount of nutrients in winter is the smallest; A summer felled tree rots more easily because it contains nutrients in a more diluted form and is generally richer in nutrients.”

Well, now everything is clear!

In coniferous wood, which is harvested in summer, there is an increased content of nutrients, and a reduced concentration of natural antiseptics - resin acids and essential oils. Therefore, the SUMMER CUTTING WOOD HAS LESS RESISTANCE TO ROTATION than the winter cutting wood.

Putrefactive bacteria and various kinds of fungi (including molds) need nutrients in order to develop. And since the content of nutrients in wood harvested in summer is much higher, and the concentration of natural antiseptics is less, then decay will be more intense.
Thus, wood harvested in summer has a shorter service life than wood harvested in winter.

That's it. The casket, as it turned out, opens quite simply and everything falls into place.

Before the revolution and in the first years of Soviet power, not only timber, but also sawlogs were harvested exclusively in winter. After felling and debarking, softwood logs were stored in warehouses for at least a year. And after that they got down to business.

But when industrialization began in the Soviet Union (preparation for war), it took a lot of timber and constantly. That's when they forgot about seasonality in logging. And the scientists summed up the theoretical basis for this (they would try not to let it down!), Or they simply hushed up the difference between the winter and summer forests.

But then it was right and justified. A great country was being built.

And now we are building for ourselves, for our children and grandchildren. Therefore, we have the right to know the truth, at least in order to make an informed choice.

Summarizing, we can say the following:

For the construction of a log house, winter-cut pine is best suited, as the most durable and rot-resistant tree!

And if you do not have the opportunity to purchase pine for your log house, purchase other coniferous wood (spruce, fir), but definitely winter felling!

I deliberately do not talk about cedar because of its high cost.

It can be said about larch that, firstly, it is difficult to process due to its high density, and secondly, for the same reason, it has increased thermal conductivity.
In general, earlier larch, given its high resistance to decay, was used only for specific purposes:
they laid several crowns directly on the ground without a foundation, which were used as an unheated room (basement) under the floor of a dwelling;
Used for a crown crown in the presence of a foundation.

Another positive quality for the winter forest.
Since sap flow stops in trees in winter, logs or boards from such a forest emit very little resin when heated, which is especially valuable for heat-stressed bath conditions.

And now about the specific timing of the felling of the forest.

In Belarus, coniferous timber was previously harvested in December-January. The bark must be removed before the arrival of spring (the deadline is the first decade of March) and stacked for a year or two to dry. Built from dry wood.

Alexander Sobolev talks about Russian traditions in his wonderful book "Wooden House". Here are a few quotes:

“The quality of wood, the durability of a building or a product made from it, also depend on what time of the year the tree is cut down. »

“According to tradition, the forest began to be harvested from the winter Nikola, from December 19th. In some places it was believed, and not by chance, best time for harvesting one month…”

"By folk omens the timber was cut down on the new moon: the forest cut down on the damage of the disk of the moon rots"

“Here is what they wrote in an old Russian magazine in 1867: “... pine trees cut down for four identical years, from one place and soil during December, January, February and March, after making four ceiling beams from them, showed by their load that the tree , felled in January by 12, in February by 20, in March by 38 withstood less severity than felled in December. »

After reading the rationale for choosing a winter forest, a logical question arises: "How much more durable is winter wood than summer wood?"

I managed to find the answer again from Alexander Sobolev in the book "Wooden House":

“Of two pines of the same place and one year, buried in damp soil, after eight years, the pine felled in February was completely rotten, meanwhile, cut down in December, after 16 years of lying in the same damp soil, turned out to be quite healthy…”

That is, a tree harvested in December is TWO times more durable than a tree harvested in February. Since February is the month preceding the growing season, the persistence of the summer forest can be considered the same.

So, The durability of winter harvested timber (December-January) is presumably twice as long as that of summer harvested timber.

When logging in the summer, in addition, there are two more serious problems.

First: The damp summer forest turns blue very quickly. Even timely debarking and stacking often do not help.
Second: A damp summer forest is likely to be attacked by insect pests.

In conclusion, I want to tell one story from my youth in the construction team.

In the late 70s of the last century, in one of the rotational camps of Strezhevoy, we built a canteen from round timber. In violation of all safety regulations (students are forbidden to work on felling trees), the forest in the taiga felled themselves. Mostly fir and pine, spruce came across, but rarely.

The carpenter led the students, his name was Vasily. He himself was from somewhere in the central regions of Russia.

So, Vasily lamented about the forced summer felling of the forest. He spoke like this: “In winter, the forest sleeps. And if you cut it off, then it will remain sleeping, but alive. A structure built from such a forest will also be alive. Cutting the forest in the summer, we kill it. And the structure of such a forest will be dead.”

We, the then Komsomol members, laughed at his superstitions. And now, in the age of the esoteric craze, no, no, and I’ll think: “Maybe there really is something in this?”

Eco-friendly construction. Homestead: I plan to build wooden house from round logs. Everywhere it is written that it is necessary to make a log house exclusively from the forest harvested in the winter. he's the best. However, few places say how to determine whether it is a winter forest and how to check sellers

I am planning to build a wooden house from logs. Naturally, the first thing that arose was the question of ordering a log house. I shoveled a bunch of books and everywhere it says that you need to make a log house exclusively from the forest harvested in the winter. he's the best. However, there is little where it is said how to determine whether it is a winter forest and how to check the sellers.

Of course, conscientious carpenters harvest wood in winter, and in spring and summer they cut log cabins and collect them. However, what prevents unscrupulous producers from harvesting wood in the summer, when it is easy to do it, putting it in storage and selling log cabins from it all winter and half of the next year under the guise of winter wood. Let's try to understand this issue together.

To begin with, a little theory, or why the winter forest is so good:

In winter, the trees come to a state of rest, they are prepared for a long winter. The pores close, sap flow and growth stops, excess moisture is discharged through the root system.

Therefore, with the further operation of products from such a forest, we get the following advantages:

• when the logs are heated, resin will not be emitted from them
• the wood is denser and drier i.e. less prone to warping and cracking
• the material goes through a long period of natural drying, since several months pass from the moment of harvesting to the summer heat
• winter timber is harvested at low temperatures, which means that the wood retains its natural light appearance longer and is less susceptible to infection by fungi and insects.

Now let's move on to practice - how to recognize what is being sold to you by the type of winter wood.

I must say right away that it is difficult for a non-specialist to do this, but it is possible.

There are several ways:

First- it is better to see it once - it is ideal to go to the site where log cabins are made and look at the unskinned wood from which the house is made. If you see dirt on the bark, this indicates that it was cut down in the summer, if dark spots appear on the saw cuts, this indicates that the forest was in the rain. Winter forest, when properly stored, as a rule, does not turn blue. In summer, in the winter forest, the bark has dried up and partially flies off.

Second- choose proven ones. Everything is clear from the name, for sure you turned to the carpenters from whom your friends or acquaintances have already placed orders. Conscientious sellers should have the addresses of those to whom they have already delivered log cabins or even mounted them. Take an interest in the reputation of suppliers and a lot will become clear.

Third- order time factor - for an additional guarantee, it is worth buying a forest, a log house of a wooden house or a bathhouse in winter months starting in January or February, at least in the spring. The reason is simple - it is at this time that the harvesting of winter wood begins, and sawn wood in the summer, as a rule, has ended. Therefore, at the end of summer, in the fall, it's time to deal with the project of a wooden bathhouse or house and choose suppliers and carpenters. Because it will take from one to two months to develop a project sketch, select an internal layout, refine details, and draw a so-called log for a residential building. In the meantime, the winter forest will also arrive, from which it is necessary to build.

Fourth- trust but verify. If you were offered a ready-made log house under the guise of a winter one and there is no way to comply with clauses 1 and 3, at least carefully inspect the goods. There should not be deep cracks on the logs - this is not only a sign of a summer forest, but also indicates a violation of the drying technology. Logs should dry slowly, naturally, and the longer the better: the tree needs to dry out not only on the outside, but also on the inside. Those. if you are offered a box of a house made of summer wood, cut down during the same period, then in a dry summer the outer southern walls will dry out very quickly, while the inner and northern walls will dry out more slowly and a large number of cracks will form due to internal stress.

You should be especially wary if the manufacturer offers a wooden house box covered with an antiseptic. Here they can say that they cut it last season, they didn’t sell it, therefore they treated it with a septic tank (and maybe with bleach to pass it off as a new one). At the same time, such grief carpenters will prove that they cut it in winter. But why do you need unnecessary problems - it is better to control everything and get a quality log house.

Fifth- instrument control. Some authors advise putting one drop of iodine on a saw cut log. Because in winter wood starch more tree in this place should turn blue. Next, you can measure the moisture content of the log at a depth of 10-15 cm, but this requires a special moisture meter device.

These are the ways to determine winter wood for construction exist. Each of them is not particularly effective, however, if you apply them in combination, then the probability of getting a high-quality log house for a wooden log house or a house made of timber is quite real. published

how to distinguish a log house from a winter forest from a summer one? and got the best answer

Answer from Vladislav Seleznev[newbie]
The forest is mostly cut in winter because it is dry in winter. The summer forest is damp, obviously worse. Summer wood cracks much more in the process of shrinkage. Look for cracks.

Answer from Mon Turkeys[guru]
If this is a log house, then it is almost impossible to distinguish a winter forest from a summer forest in a dry state. Except that.. .
....iodine!
if you drop iodine on the cut, then there will be 2 shades
if it is brownish red, the tree is summer
if the blue tree is cut down in winter.
And if it's a sawlog:
1. Visually. The winter wood as a rule does not turn blue (at normal storage on laying). In summer, in the winter forest, the bark has already dried up and partially flew off. Summer forest after harvesting should be taken out of the plot within a few days. Otherwise, it starts to hurt (bugs are different, blue, fungus). It is better not to build a house from such a forest.
2. Measure the moisture content of wood at a depth of 10-15 cm. You need a fairly expensive moisture meter.

Answer from rub.schik[guru]
You won't be able to tell!! If the log house is treated with an antiseptic, then it will stand for a long time and look beautiful!! And not processed from any forest will turn blue and blacken. And if they tell you that a log house is from a winter forest, then they are simply trying to breed you)) A winter forest is one that is cut down at a time when there is no sap flow in the trees, and in such winters that now it is all like summer !!