American-style houses are considered one of the most popular in Russia for the construction of suburban structures. This is because such houses have been seen more than once in the movies, in pictures, and, perhaps, with our own eyes. These houses, in addition to their visual appearance, differ in mass. interesting features which are most often ignored in our country.
In this article, using the example of a photo of an American-style house, we will talk about all its features, origin and construction.
Origin of American style
The American style was finally formed in the 18th century and it is considered not only an element of the taste of the developers of that time, but also the comfort of the residents.
Americans feel much better in small private houses and believe that having their own personal independent territory is much better than crowding in apartments multi-storey buildings. In the USA, people live in families and it is not very convenient to settle from five to ten people in one apartment.
Also, the appearance of the style is based on religious principles. In Russia, people profess a completely different Christianity and do not think much about the design of their house, which fits the design of the local church.
In the US, people are used to being distant from others, as everyone shares their views on religion, politics. This is a country of freedom of speech, so all people are different and I want to live separately from annoying neighbors, which you constantly have to see in the entrance. In their opinion, only poor people live in apartments.
Today, the American style has grown to the peak of its development. Gradually improving, under the influence of changes in the world of technology, American homes have become even more interesting, comfortable and in some cases even non-volatile.
It is also worth noting that this kind of houses were built initially because of their environmentally friendly features, as well as the ability to buy those materials that are not produced in the country. Today, this restriction has been lifted, but classic version the inhabitants of the country still adhere to.
Key Features of American Style Homes
Before creating an American-style house project, everyone always thinks about what other advantages are there that are not yet known?
In fact, they are much more than just beautiful appearance, interior, and landscape design. The main features of the American-style house include the following:
- symmetry of the structure;
- low-rise;
- attached garage;
- multiple inputs;
- vast territory;
- eco-friendly finish;
- veranda, terrace or wide porch.
American houses are perfectly symmetrical, which means that there is one smooth whole structure, which most often resembles the shape of a cube. Americans prefer to build houses not in width, but in height to a greater extent, since they do not always have the opportunity to stretch the house for most site.
A competent ratio of the frame of the house to the site, as well as the proportional dimensions of the walls - are considered the most convenient option for housing today.
Main Feature american home lies in its small size. In general, it is not at all necessary to build houses with three floors, and a Russian resident knows this. Nobody wants to build high buildings, and then heat those rooms in which no one lives.
As a rule, the style lies in a profitable layout, where on the ground floor there is a connection to all communications, as well as a kitchen, a dining room, a bathroom, a living room and offices for work, if necessary. On the second floor there are bedrooms, as well as rooms for personal purposes. One-story American-style houses have fewer rooms and are not equipped with cabinets.
As with any other residential lot, American Cottages are also equipped with a garage. The only thing is that they most often attach it to the main structure, but if there is no need for additional space, then you can find houses with a built-in garage.
In our country, people are accustomed to metal gate, Americans, in turn, prefer shutters or doors that open remotely.
The layout of the American-style house is more complicated. In houses for large families, you can often find several bathrooms (on the first and second floors). It is simpler, more convenient, and if there is free space, you can use it for an additional bathroom.
Also, in such a house there can be two entrances - one front, and the second "service", which leads to the courtyard. Americans like to divide the site into several small areas so that there is somewhere to roam, even if the site itself is small.
As a rule, in Western states not much territory is allocated for personal needs for ordinary citizens. That is why for centuries people have been told that the territory needs to be zoned, which creates the effect of vastness.
On their plots, Americans prefer to do beautiful landscape design more than to plant a row vegetable crops. This must be taken into account when building a house, since a properly planned site, even a small one, can look much more interesting.
A distinctive feature of the American house from the Russian one is also the environmental friendliness of the finish. Today, more and more often, Russian owners have begun to decorate their premises with environmentally friendly materials, as they have become more affordable both in price and in quantity. Americans love cleanliness and pleasant fresh air, so the environmental friendliness of their homes was noticed hundreds of years ago.
As for the area around the house, various playgrounds are most often built here, terraces, verandas are attached, and a wide porch is made.
As a rule, a beautiful alley leads to the house in front of the entrance to the territory, and the house itself closely borders on the neighboring plot, separating its premises from the neighboring one with a simple fence. American-style home design is all about simplicity without being overly elegant.
American style room decor
Most often, the interior of an American-style house is decorated in cream colors. For this, any suitable tile is selected, as well as other materials that allow you to recreate classic style, which gives some zest from the past.
In this business, Americans are conservative and much less often you can find a high-tech interior or in other versions. You can often see different wooden structures which complement the interior well.
But the basis of the composition is lighting, which will bring the whole idea to life. Over the past decades, energy-saving light bulbs have been installed in houses in lamps, but ceiling lamps must always give yellow light to everything.
And yes, lamps are an important part of the decor. The more lamps and nightlights, the better. An American-style country house can be done without too much lighting.
Photos of American-style houses
The construction of frames came to us from America, where this technology prevails in low-rise construction. Its history comes from the very first colonies of settlements that appeared on these lands. It is not surprising that the projects of American frame houses so popular in our country. What are the features of this technology? We are all familiar with this style, from the films we watch so often at home. American-style frame houses are different simple forms, often have two floors, a veranda and a garage on the 1st floor. When the house is located on the site, much attention is paid to the landscaping of the site and good lawn in front of the house. An unconditional attribute of this style is a well-groomed low fence. As you can understand, this style requires a large area of \u200b\u200bthe site.
The internal layout of the house involves the construction of spacious and comfortable rooms. The roof usually has a complex shape, being a decoration of the house. Often has "cuckoos". Likewise, contemporary American frame houses can have shed roof with a large angle of inclination, complemented by a well-thought-out drainage system ( drainage system and snow guards)
Construction of houses on the basis wooden frame has a number of features that affect both the layout and the appearance of the house.
Projects of houses and cottages in the American style are houses characterized by a spacious layout, versatility and convenience. Such projects are mainly designed for, since almost every building is complemented by terraces and asymmetric facades. It is also worth noting the roofs, which, due to their decorative effect, give the house an unusual and original look. Very often you can have a sharp shape, with large angles of inclination.
Modern private frame-panel American Vacation home with pitched roof
The frame American house assumes, first of all, the presence of large areas. This style, which appeared back in the colonial era, first spread in states where people were engaged in farming.
Despite the fact that large areas make it easy to implement many of the most incredible design solutions, Americans still prefer to build houses, during the construction of which convenience and comfort come first.
Project one-story house american style The layout of the house in America is mostly horizontal, "in breadth." Such buildings have several wings, in which in each subsequent wing the ceiling height is lower than in the previous one. At the same time, each wing has its own, often strongly sloping, roof. The top floor, in most cases, is an attic, designed for bedrooms.
The project of a two-story American house with attic floor and garage Often in American homes you can meet, which smoothly pass into the local area. The boundary between the house and the surrounding landscape is even more “blurred” due to a large number doors and windows, which are a mandatory attribute of housing. In cottages where there is little light, windows and doors, Americans usually feel extremely uncomfortable.
Residents of America pay a lot of attention to the design of backyards adjacent to kitchens and terraces. A recreation area is traditionally located here, etc.
The layout of the American-style house is carried out according to certain rules, taking into account some features. Zoning of the interior takes place in such a way that the guest lingers in the hallway, passing by the gaze of the inner chambers of the owners of the house. For this reason, a guest area is often arranged next to it, where you can safely drink tea at the table, sitting on a comfortable sofa or chairs.
Read also
Japanese style houses
If the layout of the house does not allow making a grand place, then guests are sent to a common room, which includes a kitchen, dining room and recreation area. In parallel with this, the common room acts as a room for family gatherings. Typically, family meals take place either at the dining table or as close to the kitchen as possible. Guests, in turn, are taken at a separate table designed for dinner parties.
Typical layout one-story house When separating zones, they often use different kinds partitions (with the exception of the walls themselves), or pieces of furniture placed in the most suitable way for these purposes. In the kitchen areas there are kitchen islands with built-in washers or stoves. American style is, first of all, simple, but massive furniture of clear forms, with a predominance of one or two light shades.
American style kitchen Recreation area in common room includes home theater and . Ceilings are often equipped with additional light sources. IN one-story houses prefabricated lighting prevails, allowing the rafters to be left open. Americans rarely use stretch ceiling giving more preference to natural materials. Homes in the US are illuminated with tabletop and wall lamps that turn on at the same time. Ceiling lamps usually used only in the common room, and even then rarely.
American style interior The front part of the house is not complete without the use of floor tiles And parquet board. At the same time, in some parts of the house, these materials are joined with carpet, which allows you to significantly save your money on interior decoration. Under the bedroom, the owners allocate the largest room in the house, which is often equipped with its own bathroom and access to the terrace. Children have smaller rooms, the bathroom of which adjoins immediately to all children's rooms.
In this video you can see the layout of a typical private house, which is located in the US state of Texas.
The origins of the American style originate in old European houses - because after emigrating to the United States, the British, Germans, Italians, Poles and other inhabitants of the old world imported their architectural styles and directions that first took root, and then began to develop independently. It is the old European architecture, and in particular the English projects of the Victorian era, that is the foundation american style projects that combine simplicity and functionality. As a rule, American-style houses have light colors, large windows that provide natural light to the project, and a spacious covered terrace.
american house layout
Classic layout american houses also has some distinctive features. The rooms are usually large and spacious, as a rule, the kitchen area is combined with a dining and living room. There is a wardrobe, a laundry room, a nursery, an office and personal bathrooms in such a house. American-style houses must have a garage for at least two cars, the entrance to which is possible both from the outside and from the inside.
Characteristic features of American houses
Classic American-style houses have some special characteristics:
- Non-standard roofs. This characteristic is especially obvious if the house has several floors. In this case, projects have gable roofs with acute angle slope of a complex broken shape at several levels.
- The appearance of the building. A feature of this house is a bright facade, as well as the presence of a spacious terrace. Application natural materials- wood for finishing facades and shutters, natural or artificial stone when finishing foundations and pipes.
- The presence of a significant amount large windows. They help with lighting the house and visually increase the interior space due to the large amount of natural light. Due to the milder climate, a completely justified decision.
- Very well maintained adjoining territory with clear zoning.
American colonial style, pronounced in the architecture of residential buildings, in Lately becoming very popular among domestic developers. The reason for this is the combination of convenience, visual appeal and functionality of the building, where the living space is used with maximum efficiency. The American style home is ideal for active families, especially couples with children.
What is a private American home? It is usually spacious two-storey cottage frame type, with a roof of complex shape and a large number of windows. Most often, such houses have a symmetrical shape, many rooms, an open spacious terrace at the entrance. The second floor, as a rule, protrudes above the first, and is propped up by wide, even columns.
This style has other distinctive features:
- low foundation and lack of a basement;
- built-in garage;
- the presence of a spare entrance;
- lack of facade decoration;
- mansard roof;
- window frames have many bindings;
- a low porch, framed on the sides by a railing of a simple form.
The color scheme is rather restrained: pastel colors are most often used in combination with white. But bright contrasting colors in the decoration of facades are very rare. Concerning exterior finish: the most popular material is wood of various species and its imitation. Most often you can see facades sheathed with clapboard overlap, the so-called "American". Well, since natural wood quite expensive material, many use siding that imitates the same American, timber, wood chips. Also used in decoration a natural stone, especially sandstone, decorative brick.
Great importance is attached to the landscape surrounding the house. As a rule, the house territory is very well-groomed, open, the lawn occupies the central part. Flowerbeds with low shrubs and flowers can be located close to the house, along the perimeter of the terrace, on both sides of the porch, giving the building a very cozy look. And here climbing plants are not favorites, and see the walls completely entwined decorative vines possible only in a few cases.
American style façade
It doesn't take much effort to make your home look like an American one. Even if the architecture of your home is extremely simple, with the help of exterior decoration you can give it characteristic appearance, which we see so often in American films. The greatest expressiveness will provide a combination of materials and correct selection color range.
The best option is façade zoning using wood paneling and plasters.
How it looks in practice: the outer walls of outbuildings and bay windows are smoothly plastered, the rest of the walls are sheathed with an overlap board. The pediments of the house can also be distinguished by sewing up the siding “under the wood chips”.
Socle siding "under shingles"
If there is a high base, it is tiled with stone tiles or torn bricks. At the end, the skin is painted in beige or grey colour, platbands, corners, railings - in white to give a contrast.
Now let's consider the finishing technology in more detail using the example of a brick house.
Preparatory stage
For a high-quality finish, no less high-quality preparation of the base is needed. They traditionally start with the dismantling of all attachments that may interfere with finishing work.
With a metal brush, you need to process the masonry seams, thoroughly clean the crumbling areas.
If the wall is old, and individual bricks also began to crumble, they need to be knocked out with a chisel and hammer, and the recesses should be carefully cleaned.
Next, pick up whole bricks of the appropriate size, knead a little cement mortar(3 parts of sand and 1 part of cement M300 or M400), repair the masonry. The same solution closes cracks in the walls, through holes, small potholes and empty seams.
When the solution dries, the walls are treated with a primer with antiseptic additives. It is best to prime with a brush, so the composition is easier to distribute over all seams and recesses. If the surface of the bricks is dense and smooth, one coat of primer is enough, but for a porous, highly absorbent surface, 2-3 layers will be needed. After such treatment, the walls under the sheathing will be reliably protected from moisture and fungi.
Plaster surface
First you need to determine the areas that are not planned to be sheathed with clapboard. It can be not only the walls of extensions, but also the areas around the openings, along the terrace, ground floor. It is also possible that the facade is completely sheathed with wood, and the back of the house is plastered. It all depends on the imagination of the homeowner and his financial capabilities, because the cost of plaster is much lower than lining.
To facilitate the task, it is recommended to draw a sketch of the future cladding in several versions and choose the most suitable one. After that, the boundaries of the sections on the wall are marked so that the wood paneling subsequently overlaps the plastered plane by 15-20 cm. Marking is performed using a level. You need to start work with thermal insulation of the wall, and the best insulation under the plaster is foam.
Step 1. They are attached to a clean primed wall, which will act as a support for heat-insulating plates. To do this, determine the lower boundary of the finish, beat off the horizontal level, mark the drilling points for fasteners in increments of 30-40 cm. Drill holes in the wall, insert dowels, fix the base plate with self-tapping screws. At the joints, the plank is overlapped by 20 mm.
Step 2 Prepare glue for insulation: pour the dry adhesive mixture into a container with water, stir with a mixer until smooth, leave for 5 minutes to swell and mix again.
Step 3 They take the first plate of insulation, on the back side apply glue along the perimeter with a continuous strip at a distance of 2-3 cm from the edge. In the center of the plate, the glue is applied in small strokes or blotches. Next, the foam is applied to the wall from the corner, the lower edge is supported on the plinth, the plate is leveled vertically and gently pressed against the surface with hands.
Step 4 The next plate is attached close to the first, trying to prevent the glue from being squeezed into the seam. After laying the first row, proceed to the second, shifting the seams by about half the width of the slab.
To cut the foam, use a sharp mounting knife or a fine-toothed hacksaw.
When the entire area is pasted over with slabs, they are additionally fixed with dish-shaped dowels, drilling holes in the center of the slabs and in the corners.
The method of fixing the foam plastic with the "drowning" of the cap of the dowel-umbrella
Step 5 Further, all corner protrusions must be closed with perforated corners: a solution is applied with a spatula along the entire length of the protrusion, a corner is applied, leveled, pressed into the glue. Excess mass is carefully removed so as not to leave sagging.
Step 6 The solution is applied in a continuous thin layer (2 mm thick) on the foam plastic from top to bottom, a reinforcing mesh is applied, it is smoothed with a spatula to evenly drown it in glue. You need to smooth it very carefully, avoiding the formation of folds and voids under the mesh. Adjacent mesh strips are overlapped by 5 cm. After completing the reinforcement of the section, leave the surface to dry.
Step 7 After about 2 days, plastering work can be continued. Surface sanded sandpaper medium grit, sweep away dust with a brush and primer. After the primer has dried, the plaster mortar is kneaded and distributed in a uniform thin layer over the treated surface. You need to work very carefully so as not to leave stripes from the tool, streaks and other defects. The spatula should be periodically wiped with a damp cloth.
After a day, the surface must be rubbed again until it is perfectly smooth. For the best effect, you can make a liquid plaster mortar, apply it very thinly on the wall and smooth it with a polyurethane trowel. The movements are performed counterclockwise, with the same pressure, processing the wall in squares.
On this, while the finishing process is completed, painting will be done later.
Wall cladding
For such sheathing, you can use both a simple edged board and an “American” lining, which is distinguished by a wedge-shaped plank.
They are fastened in different ways, but the crate is placed in the same way in both cases. When choosing edged board you need to make sure that the material good quality and its humidity does not exceed 16%, so stock up on a moisture meter in advance.
Also, you should not buy wood if mold and blue stains are visible on it, there are cracks, a lot of knots. All boards must be even, have the same thickness and color.
The optimal width of the boards is from 130 to 180 mm, and the thickness is about 20 mm. For the frame, you will need a dry, even beam with a section of 50x50 or 60x40 mm.
You can mount a frame from a galvanized profile, but it will cost more, while a wooden beam will perfectly cope with the task assigned to it.
Advice. Before starting work, all lumber must be treated with an antiseptic primer and air-dried.
Step 1. Make markings on the wall under the frame fasteners. Since the sheathing is horizontal, the frame guides must be strictly vertical. If the sheathing will border on the plastered surface on the same plane, the extreme timber should be located close to the plaster. So, they take a plumb or level, determine the vertical, draw a line on the wall with chalk, and so along the entire wall in increments of 50 cm.
Step 2 Further, holes are drilled on each line at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other, dowels are inserted. They take the first beam, put it against the wall, control the vertical level. If the surface is uneven, pieces of wooden slats are placed under the timber until it is leveled. After that, screws are screwed in and the guides are fixed to the wall. The extreme bars are fixed first, then a nylon thread is pulled between them at the top and bottom, and the rest of the guides are leveled according to these landmarks.
Step 3 The next step is warming. It is advisable to use the same insulation for the whole house, because each material has different heat capacity characteristics. Therefore, if we used polystyrene for plastering, then we also choose it for cladding. Styrofoam sheets are tightly inserted between the guides, cut to size if necessary. Next, the material is fixed with fungal dowels, approximately 5 pieces per sheet. If there are gaps between the insulation and the beam somewhere, they need to be blown out with mounting foam.
Step 4 Start plating. To give her desired angle slope, along the lower edge of the crate, a wooden lath with a section of 20x20 mm is stuffed, having previously beaten off the horizontal level. After that, they take the first board, apply it to the crate so that its lower edge completely covers the rail. Nail the board along the top edge to the guides.
Overlap sheathing - block diagram
Step 5 Sheathing boards should overlap each other by 20 mm, and in order not to measure the required distance each time, you can use a trim template wooden lath appropriate thickness. This template is applied to the already fixed board in the upper part, an indent of 20 mm is marked with a pencil, and the same is repeated on the other side. Now it remains only to attach a new board to the marks and nail it to the frame.
Step 6 Before attaching the topmost board, the border of the sheathing is determined, the horizontal is beaten off and a 25x75 mm rail is screwed along this line. They try on the edge board, if necessary, cut it in width and mount it end-to-end with the rail. At the end, the joint line is closed with a board with a section of 150x25 mm. If the roof overhangs are hemmed with spotlights, the edge board is attached close to the spotlights, and the joint is closed with a wooden lath.
Step 7 Two are stuffed vertically in the corners wide boards with a section of 150x20 mm, closing the gaps at the ends of the skin. Window and door openings are also sewn up on the sides with boards of the appropriate width in order to completely cover the end part of the sheathing.
If the factory lining "American" is chosen for finishing, the workflow will be even easier. The design of the panels facilitates quick and convenient fastening sheathing on self-tapping screws or with the help of kleimers.
Finishing the gables
Gables can also be sheathed with clapboard, but it is better if they are slightly different. And one of the finishing options is siding with wood chips imitation. Chips and shingles give the building a special flavor, they are perfectly combined with other materials, but the process of their manufacture and installation is quite laborious. For this reason, natural chips and shingles are almost never used, but their imitation is very popular and in demand.
Woodchip vinyl siding is a lightweight panel 46-48 cm wide and up to 1.23 m long. The thickness of the material varies between 1-4 mm, depending on the type. Plinth panels thicker and stronger, but mainly wall siding is used for sheathing gables.
Step 1. A vertical crate of 40x40 mm timber is mounted on it. The distance between the guides should be equal to half the length of the panel, that is, about 60 cm.
Step 2 The ebb is fixed first: the bar is cut to length, applied to the bottom of the crate, aligned horizontally and screwed to the guides with screws. The starting bar is mounted on top, the J-profile is screwed on the sides close to the roof overhangs. The upper ends of the profile are cut at an angle to fix these strips end-to-end.
Step 3 The panels are cut from the ends at an angle (for convenience, use a template from improvised materials), the first panel is applied to the starting bar and the ends are brought into the J-profile. Align the skin horizontally and screw it with screws to the guides.
Advice. As in the case of conventional siding, fasteners must not be overtightened so as not to cause deformation of the panels. There should be a gap of 1 mm between the screw head and the vinyl.
Step 4 Panels in one row are interconnected by an overlap of several centimeters. They have additional end locks that hide the joints and give the skin a natural look. The final panel is trimmed so that its edges freely fit into the grooves of the J-profiles to compensate for thermal expansion.
If there are openings on the gables, additional jumpers are made in the frame along their perimeter, after which the slope strips are attached along with other additional elements. With this siding, you can sheathe not only the pediment, but also bay windows, balconies, one of the floors or the entire house, the basement - the choice depends only on your preferences and capabilities.
Finishing
Chip siding does not require additional finishing, and therefore work with gables is considered complete. As for the walls, there is still painting to be done to give the house the most attractive look. Plastered walls have a patchy, dirty color and shouldn't be left that way, while wood paneling requires more protection, which a coat of paint will provide.
In principle, wood can be treated with a colorless impregnation or varnish, leaving the natural color of the material. But such a finish is more typical for country music - one of the areas of traditional American style. Therefore, for the walls you need to choose some nice color of a muted shade. You can choose the same color for both wood paneling and plaster walls, or paint them in different shades, it all depends on your imagination. The main thing is that the colors are combined with each other and in harmony with the sheathing of the gables.
For plastered areas, water-soluble paints based on acrylic and silicone are best suited. They are the most durable, resistant to fading, moisture and temperature extremes. It is convenient to apply them with a roller or spray gun. Before painting, the walls must be swept with a brush to remove dust, and primed. The paint itself is applied in at least 2 layers - so the color will turn out deep and uniform.
Wooden sheathing can be painted with alkyd enamel or the same acrylic paint. Oil paints it is better not to use, because they require frequent updating, and with a large staining area, this is very expensive. It is recommended to paint with a brush, carefully rubbing the composition along the fibers. Special attention should be given to the joints and ends of the skin. As a rule, 2-3 coats of paint are required to obtain an even shade, depending on the absorbency of the wood.
