Two days - New House ...

In under two hours this morning the builders added the upper storey of the house they started assembling yesterday. By evening, the roof was going on. The interior plastering, wiring connections and plumbing work will begin on Monday. The owner expects to be in at the end of October, the main delay is the installation of a very sophisticated 'heat pump' for the heating system. This draws heat from the air and the ground and uses it to warm the interior of the house. Vorschprung durch technik wieder ...

Talking to the owner and the team assembling the 'kit' I have learned that the firm that makes them and assembles the reult on site is based in Austria but deliver and work all over Europe. The 'kit' is to 'owner's specification' so each one can be produced as an individual layout and event the footprint can be adjusted to your requirements. They can supply a basic plan, which a buyer can modify and adjust to taste, and then, once the contract is signed, they build it in their factory. During that period - usually six to eight weeks - the groundwork is completed, the foundation prepared and then the assembly schedule prepared. 

Watching this exercise has been fascinating. The first semi-trailer arrives on site early and the team get to work. Just before that truck is unloaded, the second appears and that is just finishing its delivery when the next arrives. The piece being fastened in place in the last picture above is number 410. There are a total, I'm told, of 530 pieces to this house ...

Looking at the way everything interlocks, is secured in place and the whole is connected to the ground, these are going to be good solid homes for years to come.

Oh, and our local IKEA sells its own 'kit' house with a similar arrangement for the assembly thereof. Construction is certainly moving on from where it was in the old days.