talopaketit

Back to roots

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:29:57 +0100

A lot of people move away from their homes when they grow up. People move after a job or a study place or then just because they get bored of the same scenery. When people move, they tend to expect many things out of the new place where they are moving. People usually have expectations of happiness, an increase in income and having more activities that they can be doing during free time. Moving always has its ups and downs. Moving means starting something new and some say that new is always better, but for some it might also mean letting go of everything they have.

Roots is something that people grow when they live in one place for a long time. First roots seem always to be the strongest ones. First roots are usually associated with the person you become. You are who you are because of what happened where you were born and raised. Roots are also the thing some people start missing when they have settled to their new location. Missing the place where you were born and raised is natural because most of the memories are likely to be good and most of the things you remember are usually the best ones. How many people then end up moving back to their roots and at what stage does this happen? I know a few people who moved back to their roots and settled there with their new families. In all cases they were married and recently had had children.

One of my friends had enherited a piece of land and he decided to buy two pieces of ready house packages (in Finnish: talopaketit) from Rautia and to move there with his family. The change was big but the family got a good place to live in and my friend could handle his work online.

I think that for urban family that wants to move away from the hassle, buying a ready house package is the optimal choice. You can really give your touch to the house but all the critical building and assembly phases are done by professionals. You get a good idea on the internet what it is like to build a ready house package.

What options are there in the countryside?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:42:38 +0100

I feel that everyone is talking about the glory of the countryside and how it should be re-branded and given the glory it deserves. Countryside itself has not lost its magic. The people just moved to city after their jobs and then the rest of the countryside people could not stand to be alone and be left behind of all the reasonable development due to small population. It is a shame. We don’t have enough population to populate the countryside so well that there could happen some sort of development. I hope that some day we will have a flood of people who come not as refugees by wars or economy but for the environment. We have so much nature and beautiful countryside that should be utilized but no-one can really do anything because nobody wants to live there.

Countryside definitely offers options for living. You can build your own house or if you don’t want to spend years in struggle, you can also buy a ready house package (in Finnish: talopaketit). I feel that everyone is struggling with the idea of doing something in the rural areas. By doing something I mean something to improve our nature and keep the rural areas up to date. Lately I have also noticed that a small group of people has started to move towards countrysides to work from there. The only problem in that is the poor internet and cellular connections. For most of our work, that is crucial. I could easily move to the countryside if I were offered a ready house package and a good spot of land somewhere where there is water around. For me to move, it would also require a high speed internet connection and a flawless cellular network. I’m not being picky but these are the things I need for work and that is a fact.

But now when even thinking about countryside, I immediately have some reservations. I realize that I might not fit in, there might be problems with the connections in future and what if I don’t find ‘the right one’ there? These are all questions that one that is planning to move to the countryside has to deal with.

Moving away from the city

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:57:13 +0100

Moving is always hard. The whole family has to adapt to the new situation and leave their lives in the previous place, always at least partly behind. Moving is usually due to one person’s needs. If one gets a new job offer, which is a must-take, then it most likely is time to move and the others are the ones who have to adapt.

When you live in the city for your whole life, you get used to a certain lifestyle. You don’t really need a car, even though we have one. All the services are near by and people are very friendly. If you want to go and see a movie, that doesn’t take you half a day. All you need to do is walk few blocks and buy the tickets. So many lovely coffee houses and bakeries, restaurants and markets. City life at its best is being together in different places. Browsing around the city and finding new things to do. Exploring the culture in the city and taking the best of what the city has to offer.

None of us had no complaints about moving to the city. But when I got a job offer from a bit further away, it was too good to be disregarded. We immediately agreed that we would all move to ‘country-side’ and this had many positive impacts. We always hoped for a bit more space and now we certainly will have the extra space. We decided to buy a ready house package (in Finnish: talopaketit) after consulting my new colleagues. They said it is by far the easiest and still the most reliable way of building your own house. I have no reason to believe otherwise. So, I took the whole family and we went to the local Rautia in our new location. The staff was really nice and they didn’t treat us as the city people. They had a huge selection of house packages and we could then choose everything according to what we really wanted. We love to do outdoor sports so we decided that there has to be enough space for all the gears and activities.

Moving away from the city is not that bad after all. At least you get more space and peace of mind.

Live up to the new dream

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:02:16 +0100

People dream about many things and dreams tend to change. Dreaming is the same as setting goals but dreams are usually the goals that you set up further away and you have to work quite a bit to get there. Dreaming starts already from young age. Children dream about very different things compared to adults. Some dreams come true sooner than the others and some dreams fade away, being either impossible or then suddenly irrelevant.

Family is one of the most common dreams people have. That is the result of people living happy lives and relating most of the happy memories with their families. Family is the foundation on which one can start building his meaning on. When talking about foundation and family, dreams won’t get you too far. You have to have the foundations of life in condition when you are starting a family, otherwise it may not turn out to be something that you dreamt of. By foundation I mean the basic needs a family has: a steady income, a house where there is enough space and experience of life together with loving people. These are the basic foundations. Most of them you can do yourself without even realizing it. Having enough space to live means that you have to measure your needs. What are your family’s hobbies, are you planning to havepets, do you need a garage etc. All this affects your choice of living.

One choice that is becoming evermore popular is to get a ready house package (in Finnish: talopaketit). Ready house package is not something that you just order, close your eyes and hope for the best. It is a way for you to build your dream house around your life without doing too much of the actual work. You get to plan everything from the kitchen to the color of the roof and you can really look after the needs of your family. You get good designers, for example from Rautia, who listen to your needs and measure the house according to them. The designers will guide you into planning the house of your dreams and truth to the matter is that it saves you from many problems on the way. The houses are of good quality and durable so you can rest assure that every aspect will be thought of.

What do you get out of reality TV?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:59:51 +0100

I don’t understand people who watch TV and relate all the things they see to their own lives. It used to be taught at home that TV isn’t real but what do the parents say nowadays when most of it seems to be real.

I have somehow been dazzled by the evolution of reality TV which started from the TV show Survivors and likeminded survival series. The essence of these shows is to send a bunch of people who don’t know each other to extreme circumstances where there is very little food, very aschetic premises and a lot of sun. The production team of course knew that this would sometimes lead to not so wanted results. Nowadays, however, reality TV has its ups as well. We have a lot of very good shows running and this revolution started from cooking shows and continued to various subjects and now I have found the ultimate reality TV show which actually might turn out to be useful for many: Build Your Dream House. In this reality TV show people order ready house package (in Finnish: talopaketit) and then the show bases on following these three different families in different phases of the building process. Ready house package is a great solution if you are not quite sure whether you have the will or the power to build your own house by hand. It is also very suitable and even recommendable if you have small children.

This reality TV show offers a good and honest view from the families’ perspective. There is still thousands of things to do and build even after you have bought a ready house package. Designing and thinking through the whole house as a process seems to be also quite time consuming.

I like this show and I like the idea of telling people what it is like to build a house. I hope that as many as possible get the spark from this and maybe start to browse the ready house packages and land offers. House packages you can find i.e from Rautia and I think they have the most versatile options and you still get to influence a lot on the outcome.

Easy building – or is it?

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:37:22 +0100

If you are willing to try out building items on your own, internet might just be your best friend after your local Rautia. Internet is full of great advice on building almost anything.

I tend to browse internet just for fun and from time to time I end up having built something new for my apartment. Last but not least I built a whole new kitchen table and I got the inspiration of the internet. But is it easy to build a house?

One of my friend just moved and bought a piece of land. He was pondering between building the house himself and quitting his job or then ordering this ready-made house package (in Finnish: talopaketit) from Rautia that comes with keys-in-hand mentality. He chose the ready house package and found out that he can actually influence a lot more than he originally had thought. Everything from the floor to the ceiling could be chosen and he actually even went to visit the factory where they build the house. When the house came with a big truck and was ready to be installed, he was there. He was there working and he saw everything he had planned and dreamed the house to be. That my friends must be the new black.

I scanned different medias and sources and found actually the best information about ready house packages from Rautia’s websites. Cool thing about the those is that you really can put your own vision into the house and then just someone else builds it.

Living in the suburban area can’t be that bad either. I know many perfectly happy people who travel to city on a daily basis to work and for hobbies but then they always return to home some 30 km away where building and living is a whole lot cheaper. There has also been a wave of change in the communal activities and feeling around communities. People are starting to care again and housing communities in the suburbs are filling with young and active people who are reviving the old culture of caring and living and helping the community in all aspects. Go to your local Rautia and check out what they have to offer, browse the web for close-by suburban land prices and then ponder, could this be it?

Building a house in the suburban area

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:26:27 +0100

In Finnish it is called Kipukoukku and it does not even have an English name, yet. Kipukoukku is a stick that has one turning part and two carved sticks. It costs at its best nearly 50 euros and can’t be found very easily. It is claimed to have a big impact on your health and muscles’ wellbeing. It gets its power from your arms weight in rest-mode so it doesn’t even consume too much of your energy. You just place the stick where you want on your back to make the muscle better and leave your arm hangning on the Kipukoukku.

This, I think, is a result of building (in Finnish: rakentaminen) with your own hands. When people do this since they are children they easily adapt the ideology that when something is wrong, you can actually fix it with your own bare hands. This is a result of one’s parents or grandparents passing on the skill and it is very important to do so. When a child learns how to fix something that is broken instead of buying a new one, it has a huge impact on the nature, environment, wallet and most of all the child itself. When you build and succeed in building something yourself with your own hands, you treat it as a success in life, which it definitely should be. Not many people know how to build different things so they can’t get this feeling of success.

Building is also fun. You can get inspired in so many different ways. One of the best could be to drop by in your local K-Rauta and just browse around and in between the shelves. When something comes into your head, you can immediately start gathering the materials you need and before you even know it, you are building your next thing. The staff is usually very nice and will also give some tips and tricks on building and adapting new building styles from different parts of the world.

It is never too late to start building with your own hands. You do’nt need a manual - all you need is courage, tools and a piece of wood to create your first Kipukoukku. And you might have saved 50 euros while doing it.

Funding the dream home project

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:22:53 +0100

The most perfect building lot has been found, and the nicest of prefabricated houses (in Finnish, talopaketit) selected. The next issue is to think how the whole house building project is funded.

Use an expert

Even in the single-family house construction project, cost estimates should be based the expert analysis. Non-professionals tend to forget some integral parts of the project, and overestimate the amount of their own work. The expert can prepare a reliable cost estimate and thus give a realistic view of the needed funding.

Dismiss the amount of your own work

Your own work is often see as a way to reduce the cost. More advisable should be to think that as a financial leeway. When the builder has the ability to finance the construction process without any need for doing work by oneself, there will be no shortage, even though the amount of own work is not fulfilled for example due to an illness, accident or changes in everyday work conditions.

Good bad bank loan

Most of the builders of their own house do not have finance for the house ready, but decide to get the bank loan instead. The bank obliges security collateral for almost all loans they will give; when building the house, collateral is usually the house to be built. If necessary, additional collateral like bondsman or government guarantees can be used. Other valuable assets can be used as well.

Currently, the vast majority of house builder select Euribor as the loan reference interest rate. Another common option is a bank-specific prime interest rate. Currently, interest rates are historically low and it is evident, that at some point they begin to rise. The house builder should be prepared of this, or use interest rate ceiling. The interest rate ceiling assures that the interest rate does not increase above the agreed level.

Insurances in condition

Building a home is a major financial risks. One should consider all insurances for the project, starting from the ones for the bank loan. The other insurances worth considering are the insurance for illness and unemployment, accidental permanent disability and even for death, as unpleasant as the idea of that might feel. Every home builder should also take care of building insurance and statutory insurances, and if there is work to be done by oneself, personal accident insurance and developer should take care of their own accident insurance and the insurances of other voluntary workers.

Stone house, wooden house or element house?

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:24:08 +0100

Single-family houses have traditionally been constructed from tree, concrete, brick or ingot. The chosen material affects for the costs and the valuation of the house, so the decision should be considered carefully. With prefabricated houses (in Finnish, talopaketit) the chosen frame material will affect at all stages, so the amount of work will increase or reduce according the chosen frame.

When thinking about the frame of the house, one should first check the planning regulations for the area. In some areas, only one possibility might be permitted. Finance can set limitations for the frame materials, as well skills of the workers available. Allergies of the family should be known, and manufacturers’ catalogs checked for possible emission categories of materials. One should also consider own preferences and the own idea of comfort living.

Stone or wooden house
Nobody can tell which is more favorable, the stone or wooden house. Here are some issues to consider before the decision is made.

A simple, standard-height building is cheaper when made by wood elements, if the purchase price is only compared. The stone house does not require as much maintenance as the wooden house and it is usually more airtight and better sound insulation than wooden house. The stone house has a large thermal mass, which - according to studies - saves energy 5-15% compared to the more lightweight house. Large thermal mass is wormer in winter and cooler on hot summer days. Stone house is more resistant to moisture and has usually a better fire safety than wooden one. Generally the stone house is perceived as the quality product, which can affect to the retail value of the house. That, however, depends a lot on the location – in some areas, the wooden houses are seen as the more typical for the place.

Well planned house is half done

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:29:22 +0100

Building your own house is still a dream for many Finns. That is still possible in Finland – there are plenty of land available and single family houses are included in municipal planning even in bigger cities. There are also a big variety of prefabricated houses (in Finnish, talopaketit) offered in the market. However, none of these factors will nullify the need of careful planning before starting the house building project.

Single-family house construction is demanding project.

The process of building the single family house is similar to any construction project. The best advice is to use professional help in every level of a building project. Construction professionals’ knowledge and experience can help avoid the big mistakes at different stages. Use the professionals from the very beginning, and remember to pay a reasonable compensation for real experts.

Try alternatives to a computer - not on site.

The planning stage is the best time to compare different alternatives and think about the pros and cons in every decision. Experimenting the alternatives on your computer does not cost anything, while making changes during the construction can be pricy and some changes are almost impossible, or extremely expensive to make.

The shape and the size of the house, and structural solutions determine most of the costs in a project. Other issues influencing to the project costs are desired quality, building technique, chassis materials, the place of construction and execution time.

Probably the most common utopia during the construction process is the amount of work that can be done on one’s own. It should be critically considered how much you and your family can participate in the house building project. How much can you really save with your work? Costs are met every time, but the cost savings only rarely. For example, participation as an assistant will do little or no further cost savings. Do not overestimate your own input in money.

Plan before the start, check your plans constantly

Making important decisions too late make the project difficult and can cost lot of money. Making the decisions too early and with incomplete information can lead to the same. The person leading the house building project should be aware of decisions needed in different stages of the project. If you are not, choose professional for that position.

The plans are subject to change along the way - prepare for those. Any change will most likely affect the costs as well. When the project has started, the change will usually mean extra work and additional costs of supplies.