What Authorizations do I need for the construction of my Wooden
House?
If the building in question
is destined to be inhabited, you need to obtain a Building Permit like any
other house.
It is necessary therefore
to call upon an Architect or an Engineer for the elaboration of the project, for
the technical relations , and everything else that is required to gain the all
clear from the Town Hall. We will provide you with the information regarding the
technical and statical features of our product.
Do the houses
you produce include the Rooftop and the
pavement?
We furnish the pavement,
composed by supporting beams and treading surface. We do not furnish the
pavement for the “humid” areas, as are the kitchen and bathroom areas. the
wooden structure must lean and be anchored on a cement foundation.
Regarding the roof, we
supply a structure that includes supporting beams, internal wooden panels,
cohabitation layer, containment fillet, a hollow to support the circulation of
air and interrupt the thermal bridge (ventilated roof). The external cover is
not included in the price but may be purchased separately from us and, according
to the clients wishes, it may be in galvanized and plated steel, canadian
roofing tile, etc.
What do I need
to know about the electric wiring?
It must be made clear that
the wiring is not included in the supplying costs. Local laws must be kept into
consideration before beginning work on the wiring. Usually there are two
options:
Visible:
The cables will pass through apposite fittings made of non-flammable material
and will be installed directly on the walls, each with its respective plugs and
switches.
Hidden:
All the wiring will run through an insulated gap in the walls. In case of walls
without insulation the wiring will run directly inside the walls, so that only
the plugs and switches are visible.
What about
the water and canalization systems?
The Hydraulic system has
analogies with the electric wiring.
For the first floor, all the pipelines
may pass under the floor.
What can
happen in case of an earthquake?
The reaction of our
buildings is amazing: our construction methods foresee that, in case of strain,
the load of each wall, both external and internal, does not lean only on the
supporting columns as in traditional housing. If the shock is below 7 degrees on
the Mercalli Scale, it is totally absorbed; If the shock reaches the tenth
degree on the Mercalli Scale, our houses may sustain some damage in the
foundation. The event of a collapse is unlikely. Once the shock wave has
subsided, the damaged parts of the structure may be replaced.
How long do
these houses last?
The maintenance, mostly
external, is variable depending on the climate of the geographic area in which
they are placed: In optimal conditions, maintenance will be necessary in a large
span of time; in harsh climates the house will need a regular maintenance. In
any case the preservation will be reduced to a recoating of the outer finish,
done with an transpiring apposite varnish, that protects the wood from the rough
weather and the ultraviolet rays of the Sun.
If our houses are
maintained with care, they have a minimal lifetime of 100 years. Not by chance,
in the United States, Canada, and here, Northern Europe, most of the houses are
built in wood.
