A constant rise in the investors’ and builders’ concern about wooden housing

Wooden housing has existed for ages in Poland. We are able to see examples of wooden buildings in almost every village and in every town. However, the greatest rise in wooden housing took place in the beginning of the 1990s, when emigrant Poles were coming back from the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria and Scandinavian countries, where wooden housing is remarkably popular. The economy transformations that took place in recent years, the growth in trade, new technologies and building materials, also influenced the popularity of wooden housing.

Obviously, it is not possible to introduce new technologies to the market with no media support. There is no doubt that the “Murator” publishing company, which has been spreading that technology through its magazines and books, is playing an important role, as well as the three-year activity of the American-Polish Building Institute Foundation (Fundacja Amerykańsko-Polski Instytut Budownictwa), created in order to propagate the American housing. Today, the objective has been taken over by the Frame Housing Centre (Centrum Budownictwa Szkieletowego), and, also, the recently called Wooden House Association “Wood Now” Wood Promotion Foundation (Stowarzyszenie Dom Drewniany “Teraz Drewno” Fundacja Promocji Drewna), a basic aim of what is to popularize wooden products for the Polish society.

Estimated number of housing companies

The number of wooden housing companies is not easy to estimate precisely. The information acquired by the Frame Housing Centre says that about 250 light frame housing companies exist, including ca. 30 companies that produce prefabricated houses (so called “finished houses”), and over 100 companies building houses of wooden logs. However, among the log businesses, one should distinguish building houses of solid logs, isolated logs, i.e. logs that require thermal insulation, and layer logs. Almost all of the companies prepare ready-finished houses, thus following the general trend. Only several businesses work as developers. Most offer tailor-made houses. They are constructed of domestic materials, but every year there are several houses that are built using American, Swedish or German wood. The EU accession by Poland certainly made the wooden housing branch even stronger. In the European countries frame housing makes about 25-30% of unifamiliar housing and is getting more and more popular.

What is a problem for wooden housing in Poland

Pointing problems might be not the best way of convincing people to choose the wooden technology. However, it’s worth mentioning, that the obstacles are not limiting and one should believe, that as the technology makes progress in Poland, the issues below will not be a problem for both the investors and the development companies. The order of the problems following does not depend on their importance.

“The thinking barrier” – many Poles doubt, that a wooden house may be long-time persistent. It is commonly thought that a house should be built for 100-200 years, just like a “stronghold”, despite the fact, that the style and architectural or technological possibilities may change.

There is no information about wooden housing in building schools. Only several schools and universities present wooden housing as a well-tested technology. Many schools only teach treat wooden housing as a curious detail. There is a lack of thorough knowledge and experience among building professionals – this involves problems during the stages of both planning and constructing. Many architects, development companies and building supervision officials see building of a wooden house only as assembling a wooden construction, not regarding the question as a whole. The issues of humidity and acoustics are totally unfamiliar to them.
There are no national technical or assemblage requirements for the construction process, for either light-frame, prefabricated or log houses. However, the work over important requirements is in place. Nevertheless, more and more wooden house designs are available on the market, ready to be used. Also, most of the development companies offer their own services of designing a wooden house or redesigning a traditional house into a wooden one.

Summary

Today, the wooden housing branch is developing rapidly in Poland, as a result of more and more builder companies being on the market; companies, that do not suffer from a lack of orders – the number of wooden houses being built is growing. Compared to the 1990s., the quality has improved greatly. The companies keep training their employees and obey the technology discipline, considering their market status and reputation, but it also has been forced by the operation of the “Wooden House” Association, which has prepared development requirements for its members. Scientific and certifying institutions, observing the growing importance of wooden housing also help to improve the quality by working on standards that are to be in force in Poland. This is a duty caused by the European Union membership. The work of wooden housing promotional organizations, support by media and specialized research centers doesn’t only speed up the growth in wooden housing, thus setting it well on our market, but also helps to improve overall quality and lets the customers verify their choices.