Doralnic, the manufacturer of log houses that annually plants 20 times more than it consumes

Doralnic is a builder of houses in bușteni in Vatra Dornei. In fact, the building site where the wood is prepared and the houses are built is in Coșna, a few kilometers from Vatra Dornei, on the road to Bistrița. There you can find Dorin Văideanu, the man who set up the company, but you'll be hard-pressed to identify him among the workers. He works side by side with them, like a teammate. But that's not the only thing that impressed us. The fact that he has been planting many more trees each year for years than the equivalent in timber he consumes is what prompted us to write about him. Especially since he does it without being forced to and without talking about it. We found out about it when we happened to pass by as he was preparing to plant.

Forestation, a team building activity

At the beginning of the month we had planned to visit some companies in the northern part of the country. As we were passing through Vatra Dornei we called Dorin to see if we could find him. He is always present on the site where he is reassembling the log houses he makes, so it's hard to find him at home. We've met him on construction sites around the country - as we did in April in Râșnov - but now we were hoping to find him at home. He told us that he was in Coșna that week so we arranged to meet.

We had arrived in the area in the evening, so by 9 in the morning we were already at the construction site. They were all working, some on a house that will, after the obligatory settling time, end up in Constanta, and others clearing bark from the trees. They were in a hurry to clean the logs so that the high humidity of the bark on which it had rained for days would not cause insects to enter the wood. It had been raining a lot lately and Dorin didn't want to risk it. That's when he told us that because of the bad weather we found him at the construction site because otherwise he would have been planting seedlings.

I thought it was an organized event in the area that he wanted to attend. In fact, it was the company event, which all the employees and their families attend every year. Dorin gets in touch with the Forestry Office to get saplings to plant in a logged area. Between 5,000 and 7,000 saplings are planted, and the wood consumed annually by Doralnic is around 500 m³, equivalent to 3,400 trees. Everyone goes with their families, including children, and the afforestation is a joyful event.

At the time of our visit planting had been postponed for a week. And although the weather didn't improve much the following week either, that didn't stop them. Unfortunately, however, they were unable to go with their families. But they did go as a team, equipped with high rubber boots and proper attire, they cleared the hills and planted the little dandelions. And they were really happy (we prove it with photos 🙂 )!

Time to talk more about sustainable exploitation

There is much discussion in the public space about cutting down trees and it often leads to totally unconstructive, even wrong, approaches. Wood has always been used for building houses, furniture, furnishings, fences, fences, doors, windows and many other necessary items. They cannot be built unless the tree is cut down. The main problem is not that trees are being cut down for use in the timber industry, but that massive deforestation is taking place without reforestation plans, without a strategy.

You're not being green and you're not saving the planet by using plastic instead of wooden tables and chairs. On the contrary, you do far more harm. Wood is a biodegradable material that won't remain for hundreds of years, like plastic, to suffocate the earth. When it's no longer in use, wood rots, nourishing the soil. In addition, the process of making plastic releases carbon dioxide as the tree grows consuming carbon dioxide.

The solution is to have plans for logging and reforestation so that the wood can be used in industry without leaving the mountains bare. The cut timber should be processed in the country, to add value, not exported as logs. Although many may find it hard to believe, such programs already exist and for some time now, much more responsible logging has been carried out, permanently reforesting the forests. A big push in this direction is also coming from companies importing wood products, which require documentation that the wood comes from sustainably managed forests.

Houses produced by Doralnic

Dorin Văideanu is among those who have understood the correct and rational way to exploit wood. He uses spruce wood 80-100 years old for the log houses made by Doralnic, when its properties are very good. After 100 years spruce It starts to deteriorate, to develop holes in the inside (galls appear) and over time it falls under its own weight or in the wind.

The log houses made by Doralnic are built according to the Canadian system, the logs are processed in such a way that they are dried to make them sit very well. The result is a well-knit and insulated house. Natural materials are used for the insulation between the logs (sheep's wool Alchimea) and for their finishing (natural Kreidezeit oil). The appearance is very rustic, with the bark being cleaned by hand with small knives. The assembled houses sit on the Coșna site for 8 months to dry and settle. The wood is then cleaned, the house is dismantled, the logs are numbered and reassembled at the client's. After assembly it is left again for a few months and only then finished. The finishing is so well done that, even if it is done with oil, for 8-9 years the house does not need refinishing.

Dorin doesn't want to do many houses a year, he wants to do them very well. He does a lot of research and is constantly learning. From him I have learned a lot about log houses, about jointing, chertizing or insulation. He works sitting down and creates a special connection with the customer. I noticed this when I visited him on the construction site in Rasnov. The client spoke so highly of working with Dorin that you had the feeling that he was making his best friend his best friend.

On top of all that, Dorin also takes care of the forest. He plants trees every year and has been doing it for a long time. I saw a patch of forest planted 15 years ago near the Coșna construction site. The trees had grown beautifully and gave you hope for the future. We want to be there for the next afforestation. We will certainly keep you updated.