From timber frame to finish in 7 months

We arrived in Sibiel unannounced. We were on our way to Cluj, to nZEB Weekafter another shoot in Cisnădioara. We decided to stop off in Sibiel, at the house Andrei is building, to see how the work is progressing. However, we arrived too late in Cluj to film anything that day.

We met Andrei and Smaranda 7 months ago when they told us how they found a nice place in Sibiel and are building a wooden house in the middle of the orchard. The wooden frame of the structure had been erected and work had started on the insulation on the roof and all around the exterior of the house.

Now, Andrei and I had spoken on the phone a week ago. We knew that he was very busy working on the Waldkinder kindergarten in Sibiel and we didn't think we would find him on the construction site. That's why we had planned to talk to Nicu, from the team of craftsmen, to see the state of the work and to find out from him how much longer it would take.

We were surprised to find the house almost finished inside and out. On our last visit Andrei told me his plans, but I didn't feel very optimistic that he would be able to stick to them. As usual in such cases, we depend on budgets, and Andrei was looking for solutions.

Now, from the outside, as I told you the house looked almost ready and Andrei was also present. On his way out, it's true, but he made time for us, too, to tell us what has happened since our last visit and when he thinks they will move into their new home.

I leave you to discover for yourselves, in the video, his impressions at this stage of the work. Something else I want to emphasize. It's something that may not be clear from the video, but it surprised me. It surprised me because this doesn't often happen to me. Without asking for his opinion about the team he worked with - the one led by Nicu - Andrei felt the need to talk about it. He also seemed somewhat surprised that he had found a team which, throughout the construction phases, had done more than it had promised, at a sustained pace, always respecting the self-imposed quality level.

I wanted to emphasize the above because it proves to me, again, that it can be done. Quality materials, know-how (sorry, but it sounds best in English, this one with respect for technology may be in Romanian but it doesn't tell the whole story), Șoflete and others like him (we're including us here 🙂 ), all this makes people (and here I mean both builders and beneficiaries) build faster, healthier (for them and for the rest of us) and better. It can be done!