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

Doralnic is a builder of log houses from Vatra Dornei. In fact, the site where the wood is prepared and the houses are built is in Coșna, a few kilometres from Vatra Dornei, on the road to Bistrița. There you can find Dorin Văideanu, the man who set up the company, but it will be hard 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 about him. The fact that for years he has been planting far more trees every year than the equivalent in wood he consumes was what prompted us to write about him. Especially that he does it without being forced to and without talking about it. We found out about it by passing through the area by chance as he was preparing to plant.

Afforestation, team building activity

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

We had arrived in the area in the evening, so by 9am we were already at the site. They were all working, some on a house that will end up, after the mandatory settling time, in Constanta, and others clearing bark from trees. They were hurrying to clean the logs so that the high humidity of the bark on which it had rained for days wouldn't make the insects enter the wood. It had been raining a lot lately and Dorin didn't want to take any chances. Then he told us that because of the bad weather we found him in the yard because otherwise he would have been planting saplings.

I thought it was a local event he wanted to attend. In fact it was the company event that all the employees and their families attend every year. Dorin contacts the Forestry Office to get seedlings to plant in a logged area. Between 5,000 and 7,000 saplings are planted, and Doralnic's annual wood consumption is around 500 m³, the equivalent of 3,400 to 4,000 trees. Everyone goes with their families, including the children, as afforestation is a joyful event.

At the time of our visit the planting had been delayed for a week. And although the weather didn't improve much the following week either, that didn't stop them. Unfortunately, however, they were not able to go with their families. But they went as a team, wearing high rubber boots and proper attire, 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 a lot of discussion in the public space about tree felling and it often leads to totally unconstructive, even wrong, approaches. Wood has always been used for construction of houses, furniture, fixtures, 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 they are being massively deforested with no reforestation plans and no strategy.

You're not being green and saving the planet by using plastic chairs and tables instead of wood. On the contrary, you're doing far more harm. Wood is a biodegradable material that won't remain for hundreds of years, like plastic, to choke the earth. When it is no longer used, wood rots, feeding the earth. In addition, carbon dioxide is released in the process of making plastic 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 the mountains being left bare. The wood that is felled should be processed in the country and added value, not exported as logs. Although many find it hard to believe, such programmes already exist and for some time now, much more responsible logging has been taking place, with permanent reforestation. A big push in this direction is also coming from wood products importing companies, which are demanding 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 80-100 year old spruce wood for the log houses made by Doralnic, when its properties are very good. After 100 years spruce begins to deteriorate, to bore inside (galls appear) and in time falls under its own weight or due to wind.

The log houses made by Doralnic are built according to the Canadian system, the logs find so processed that, by drying, they settle very well. The result is a well-closed and insulated house. Natural materials are used for the insulation between the logs (sheep's wool Alchimea) and for their finishing (Kreidezeit natural oil). The appearance is very rustic, the bark is cleaned by hand with knives. The assembled houses stay in the Coșna yard for 8 months to dry and settle. Then the wood is cleaned, the house is dismantled, the logs are numbered and reassembled at the customer's premises. After assembly it is left again for a few months and only then is it 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 make many houses a year, he wants to make them very well. He does a lot of research and is constantly learning. From him I learned a lot about log houses, about joinery, cherting and insulation. He works sitting down and creates a special bond with the customer. I noticed this when I visited him on the building site in Rasnov. The client spoke so highly of working with Dorin that you had the feeling he was making his house his best friend.

On top of everything else, Dorin also takes care of the forest. He plants trees every year and has been doing it for a long time. I saw a piece of forest planted 15 years ago near the Coșna construction site. The trees had grown beautifully and gave you hope for the future. We hope that the next time we reforest, we'll be with them. We will certainly keep you informed.