Building a Sunhouse

Ekological precut houses

Sunhouse homes are produced with a precut system: the components of the houses are cut to the right length and shape at the factory, making the building process at the worksite fast and convenient. Houses built with the precut method are energy-efficient and compact.

Structures of Sunhouse buildings are made from Finnish wood. We’ve chosen to use materials that cause a minimal amount of emissions to nature and are optimal for healthy indoor air quality. In our houses, air barrier paper and wood fibre insulation are used instead of air barrier plastic and mineral wool. 

A breathing house structure makes sure that the humidity of the inside air is always naturally in balance, making Sunhouse a safe and healthy option even for asthmatic and allergic persons.

 

Genuine wooden homes

Using ecological materials is important for us and our customers. Finland is the land of green gold – forest and we value wood highly.

Sunhouse homes are genuine wooden homes. We use only wooden materials in our wall structure, which lets air humidity flow through the structure. This gives your home healthy inside air, high level insulation and a naturally prefect balance of air humidity.

Wood has a small carbon footprint and it is a recyclable, renewable and versatile material. As trees capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, our wooden houses can be seen as small carbon storages. One 120m² Sunhouse wooden house absorbs approximately 50 000 kg of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent up to 500 000 km of travel emissions.

 

The architectural design agreement is made either at the initial meeting or soon after that. After this, the architect will visit your building site for the first time.

Architectural designing process starts with the site visit. During the visit, the ground and topography, location, views, vegetation, nature elements, neighbors, limits of the site and light conditions are explored. This information will help to decide the best possible locations for all designed buildings, road, parking lot, garden, dock, technical solutions, and all other functionalities.

Your hopes and needs regarding the building and premises are equally important at this point of the planning process. All the observations that the architect has made are reviewed and combined with your plans regarding the dream home.Hence this can be seen as the most important phase of the building process, since the size, style, and functionalities of the building are now defined. Important decisions about the house affecting the budget and schedule are made on site during the day of the planning discussions with the architect.

As a result of the planning, the architect will present you with the first drawing of the building based on all the information gathered before. For the first time, you can actually visualize your future home standing at the premises.

After some time, as a result of the planning phase, the architect will present you with the first drawings of the building based on all the information gathered before. For the first time, you can actually visualize your future home standing at the premises, in 2D and 3D drafts.

 

1.5 Material choices

Materials define the atmosphere and quality of your home

Our material selection consists of natural, practical and durable elements. You can decide all the materials for your own future home. Materials outside the house package can be specified with your interior designer.

Interior design can be divided into five phases.

• Fixed furnitures (kitchens, cupboards)

• Lightning an power outlets

• Room-by-room surface materials

• Toilet and bathroom fittings

• Loose furniture plans

  

 

1.6 Offer and ordering

Order agreement with the sales representative

The precise price for your house package is calculated after the first drawings are made. If some of the materials for each room are still not chosen, the price can be calculated based on our standard delivery content. This way you can continue planning the indoor materials and order them as a supplementary delivery when you are ready.

The Sunhouse house package is ordered with your sales representative. The price, the payment schedule and delivery times and locations are agreed upon while making the order. At this point, the head designer should also be decided for applying for the construction permit. Other parties, such as foundation, electrical and HVAC designers and building contractors, should also be appointed before applying for the construction permit.

The house package includes all the essential parts you need for the construction work.

 

 

 

2. Delivery

Plans are now ready and the order of your house package has been signed: it’s time to step into the delivery phase of your building process. The main drawings of the house and other special plans are finalized and the construction permit application must be delivered to the authorities. After the permit, your future home is being manufactured and eventually shipped to the property. Continuous communication with your chosen professionals is now the key to making progress as smoothly as possible.

It’s not unusual that the feeling of hurry and anxiety take over, as the actual construction phase is getting closer every day. What do I still need? What can I do by myself and what not?

The more carefully everything has been planned in advance, the more trouble-free your mind is. Remember that your Sunhouse sales representative is ready to answer all questions you might be pondering – this is not their first rodeo.

 

Delivery phase includes

•  Main drawings

•  Submitting a building permit application

•  Structure planning and other special plans

•  Manufacturing and delivery of your house

 

2.1 Main drawings

Main drawings, that include the technical drawings of your house, are made right after the house package order has been signed. These include the floor plan, general layout plan and cross-section and facade plans that are all needed when applying for the construction permit. The draft planning made earlier is taken further as technical information is added to the drawings.

Main drawings are included in the Sunhouse house package price, excluding general layout plan. Sunhouse offers these plans according to a separate price list.

 

 

2.2 building permit application

Principal designer

Planning of a building demands for tight cooperation between different professionals. Finnish law requires that a Principal designer must be appointed for a building project, whose job is to make sure that all necessary plans are compatible.

When you are building a Sunhouse house, the main architect is usually the Principal designer. These tasks are not included in the house package prices and require a separate contract.

How do I apply for a building permit?

One of the main tasks of the principal designer is to help you in the application process. A professional principal designer  is used to fill up the official forms and is an important support at this point. In addition to the main drawings, waste-water plan, energy certificate and a foundation construction method statement must be provided for the authorities. The soil investigation should be executed already at the planning phase since the soil can have a rather significant impact on the building plans.

The time of the application process varies depending on the building location. Generally, the approved permit will be received within a few months. After this, the rest of the professionals for the worksite can be chosen. Your Sunhouse sales representative is happy to help you find the right persons for your construction site.

 

 

2.3 Structural planning and other special plans

Structural plan

When your project has received a decision about an approved permit, Sunhouse will begin the wooden structural drawings for your house. These drawings include detailed plans for all wooden structures of your house. Based on these, the house components are produced and later pieced together at the worksite. The structural plan is included in the price of the house package.

 

Other special plans

We want to make sure that the building project is as effortless as possible, and all needed plans and professionals are easily available for our customers. All other special plans required can be purchased via Sunhouse.

• Foundation structural plan

• Electricity plan

• HVAC-plan

• Interior design

 

2.4 Production and delivery of your houSe

The house package will be finished usually within 12 weeks from the order and production will get started right after your project has received a construction permit. During these 12 weeks, the property should be prepared and foundations made. You also have good time to plan and make other purchases – such as necessary connections, kitchen furniture and for instance fireplaces.

Sunhouse delivery manager will contact your building site regularly to make sure that house materials are delivered in time to the property right after the foundations are made.

Usually, the house package materials are delivered to the worksite in 2 or 3 shipments to ease the construction. Multiple shipments remove the need to store materials at the worksite.

 

Example of a 3-phase delivery

 

1. The house frame is shipped at first, together with other wood materials, attachment materials, and wind protection panels. Outside structures of the house and terrace are usually delivered in the first shipment.
2. The second shipment takes place approx. 2 weeks after the first one, and includes windows and doors.
3. The last shipment includes the rest of the materials: indoor structures and interior design materials.

Precut house package materials are ready to be installed and packaged in waterproof materials. The materials are delivered with a semi-trailer, thus the road to the property should be also ready before the house package delivery.

When a building is located on an island, materials are first shipped to the departure dock, and then to the destination by water with a ferry. Materials can be packaged in smaller pieces when shipping to an island, so they are easier to handle during the delivery.