Round wooden houses

Many wooden houses are made in Romania and many of them for export. Romanian builders have become very well known in Europe and there is no shortage of orders, and the variety is great. Some manufacturers are building prefabricated wall houses, made almost entirely in the factory and assembled at the customer's premises, but also manufacturers of round wooden houses. Today I'm going to tell you about two of those who build round wooden houses.

I wanted to find out from the manufacturers of round wooden houses how they come to make such houses, if they have orders, where they get them from, how their work is appreciated outside, how they make the houses, how much they make in the factory and how much they make for the customer. Especially since this type of house is not specific to our country. I'm not saying that round wooden houses have not been built, but it's not specific.

Round log houses are typical of Canada and the northern United States, where there are forests where you walk for days and don't even get halfway through. For the people who settled the place, it was easiest to cut down the trees and quickly assemble them into houses, then go looking for gold. A few trees there were nowhere to be seen in the vastness of the forest.

Our houses were made of a wooden structure reinforced with wattles fixed with clay. This formed the walls. The planks that made up the "face" of the wall were nailed to them.

Log Home extended visit

But back to the present day. As I told you, I was in the area just to find out more about round log houses. I knew that this type of house was being built here and I wanted to find out more directly from the producers. So I went to Vatra Dornei to meet the owner of the company Log Home.

When I arrived at the meeting, the man was negotiating with a family to build a gazebo and a well. Before I fully realized what was going on, I was also invited, rather carried away, to join the group for a couple of viewings of Log Home homes being built in the area. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. It was actually very educational, just a bit unplanned. That's how I ended up running late for meetings I still had with other manufacturers. Some, unfortunately, I didn't even meet. After seeing an inn, a dwelling house and a restaurant in the making, I went to the factory where I saw how they were building two houses for foreign customers.

He told me that if I write something, he doesn't want to be in the spotlight. He insisted it's not him that's important, it's the team. "They build them. That's what you should write about." That's how I met the engineer Claudiu Cozan, the main craftsman Irimescu Mihailă, the secondary craftsman Mateiu Alin and the wood peeler Elisabeta Vornicu. They have been making round wooden houses for over 15 years and are well known in the area.

From them I learned that they make round wooden houses with a diameter of more than 30 cm. The assembly is done by cherting, without metal fittings. I had first heard of chertizing, the process of machining wood so that two pieces can be joined together. In this case, the logs are machined at the ends so that they join perfectly. In the joint area, thermal insulation is put in to make the house perfectly insulated. At least that is my understanding.

The logs are cleaned of their bark by hydraulic processing, not by chipping. This leaves the wood smooth and scratch-free. Once the house has been built, the wood does not need any further processing and can be left smooth, both inside and outside.

Although I had planned to leave Vatra Dornei before noon, I hardly managed to leave at 17. And not before having a soup with my host. I couldn't refuse. And even if I did, I don't know if it mattered. It was the sort of invitation that seemed hard to refuse without the risk of offending the host. After all, we'd been working together all day. 🙂 Now it was time for dinner. We reluctantly parted, not before promising her that I would stop by again. As an aside, I called him today to ask him one more question. What do you think he asked me? When I'm coming to Vatra Dornei.

House factory in Poiana Stampei

And that's how I ended up calling Cristian Chiforescu at 17:00. I was on my way to Gherla. In the morning, we agreed to meet around noon. Things were dragging on in Vatra Dornei, so I didn't keep my word. I admit I didn't expect him to answer. Not only did he reply, but he was waiting for me at the company's headquarters in Poiana Stampei, even though I was late. I admit I was glad.

Cristian's signature, Poiana Construct House, is based in Poiana Stampei, right on the national road that connects Vatra Dornei to Bistrița, on the Bârgăului hills, an area that I consider the most beautiful in Romania.

As soon as I arrived, Cristian invited me into the showroom. What does this showroom look like? Well, I would have stayed overnight in the showroom, and I'm very serious. It's a round wooden house where, when I walked in, there was a fire burning in the fireplace, it smelled of wood and it was a warm, very cozy atmosphere. I said to Cristian, jokingly, that I would like to take a nap on the bench next to the fireplace. Take my word for it and if you're in the area, come in for a drink. The people are very OK and if you hurry, you might even catch a fire in the fireplace. 🙂

Unfortunately we didn't have much time to talk. But he still told me about advantages of wooden houses, especially the round wooden ones, about the fact that we should not only think about the price but also about what you get for the money and how and how quickly the investment pays for itself. He has been making houses since 2005 and has built for both domestic and foreign clients.

The design is free of charge. The houses are built and subdivided according to the client's needs. The overall design and architecture is agreed with the client and, of course, within budget. They also use natural insulation and the house is eco-friendly.

In terms of costs, he told me that because the beneficiaries want to keep the wood visible on the outside and inside, there is a saving on finishing. There is no more plaster, plaster, paint and other such materials. And so you discover lower costs when building round timber houses compared to masonry.

Even though it was late, low light, people were in the process of loading a house to the customer. About how the process of making a round log house goes, I can tell you that the house is built, timber by timber, beam by beam, then each beam is numbered (marked). Then it is disassembled, loaded log by log into the car/trailer, hauled to the customer and put back together.

It was late and I had to be on my way and they had to load. Cristian and I agreed to come back another time to talk more over a glass of wine. The wine proposal came from him and it was the decisive point.