log cabins

[woody234]

does a 3 bedroomed logcabin/wooden house require planning permission, or is it classed as a temporary structre in france

[Pierre ZFP]

I'm sure the more knowledgeble will be along soon but I believe that just about every structure over 2 sq metres requires permission.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

I can't see you getting something like that through as a temporary structure. Quite honestly, with water, electrics & sewage connections it would seem laughable. For a three bedroom house you'd need a pretty substantial structure for it to be safe in high winds and then there's the small matter of foundations.

I know some people have built wooden homes as genuine temporary accommodation while building or converting a permanent home, but the logic there is that the law takes so long to work that by the time the bulldozer arrives you don't need the place any more anyway.

I know that the rules have changed a bit this year, but up until recently you could build a structure of less than 20sqm in the curtilage of an existing habitation on a declaration de travaux, but you're after something several times this size and IIRC you don't have an existing home.

The number of posts I've seen from you make me wonder if you have actually gone to your local mairie and asked about what you are trying to do. What happened to the barn conversion and the possibility of using your CU to support a PdeC for a new-build instead? Asking a whole load of isolated questions is not the best way to get advice -- try explaining your situation and then someone with more knowledge than me may come up with a solution.

[woody234]

I was thinking of selling the barn with permis de construire to pay of rest of the mortgage and then keeping the house, but my new idea is to have a wooden house built on the land next to the barn and then i could sell the house instead, because of the way my land is with bumby terrain and a funny shape, the only flat and best area to put a house on is the land next to my barn so if i sell my barn and the plot its on i will not be able to build a new build house, the reason i would like a new build house is because i think the cost of making the original house bigger  will be roughly the same  price as a new build plus new builds have better insulation, I have not gone to the local mairie so far because I am in the UK at the moment   

[Quillan]

It very much depends on what type of wooden unit you want.

The term 'log' for instance does not necessarily mean log as in round looking stuff. The newer versions are made of 70mm thick wood which looks like tongue and groove with one piece sitting on top of the next. This is a Scandinavian system and the wood supplier just supplies the wood in standard lengths with the tongues and grooves (there are two of each on each piece of wood for 70mm and above). The constructor, or kit supplier, then uses a special cutting machine which is computer controlled. You draw the plan on the computer and start feeding the wood in to the machine. It cuts and numbers it, the computer prints out the construction plan and you just assemble it. All the door and window apertures work out automatically as it's constructed. The system relies on part interlocking joints and long lenghts of  threaded metal stud that passes vertically through the wood.

I spent 8 days in Spain in 2006 looking at these sort of constructions and visited a factory down there. The thickness of wood depends on the type of building. Garages and shed seem to be 40mm and single tongue and groove where has houses seem to be 70mm although you can ask for thicker. The prices seem to start around the 8,000 Euro for 20M2 up to 200,000 Euros for a double level 5 bedroom house, for some of the really fancy houses you can pay over double that. My only comment is that because there is no inner skin, by that I mean you don't cover the walls on the inside with plasterboard etc, you do tend to go a bit 'stir' crazy looking at all that wood, I mean everything is wood and it's all the same colour.

On top of the approximate prices I have given are the concrete base, services, all your wiring and plumbing. You are basically getting a shell with windows, doors, internal walls and shutters. In some cases you may require scaffolding or crane hire. Try doing a search on Wooden Houses in google, there are now loads of companies producing them in the UK. Most of the companies imply that it requires just two people to construct a house using this system.

The negative side is that the wood is pine so it does need regular treatment.

The other type is timber framed which you can search on google for more information 'wooden frame houses' but I don't know much about these.

Anything over 20M2 in France will require a full building permit regardless of what it is built out of.