House Harju

A cost-effective home for a self-build family

A couple of years ago. the Rantanen family found a plot of land that was just what they had been looking for. Once the land was reserved, the family made their way over to Honka and selected the Harju model as their future home. Just as they had always planned to use Honka’s services, they also knew they would build their log home themselves.

Honka’s Harju model proved the right fit for the Rantanen family. However, they wanted to introduce some changes. The positioning of the shower room and sauna doors was changed and a second shower added. The alcove between the two bedrooms was substituted for a walk-in wardrobe and the upper section of wall between the kitchen and hallway was removed to allow more light into the area.

I have been aware of Honka my whole entire life. I never even considered using any other company. It’s really important to us that the logs are breathable and that there is no plastic in any of the structures. We lived in a terraced house once that had lots of ventilation issues and mould. We wanted to avoid that at all cost.

Jari Rantanen, customer and builder

The foundations were completed in May, coinciding with the arrival of the delivery from Honka. The log frame was assembled in the two weeks. While the flooring was setting in June and July, the team set about painting the external walls, tiling the ceiling and placing orders for the housing technology and the indoor materials. By July, the exterior was complete and work was focusing on the building interior. By the end of October, the final touches were in.

As the Rantanens wanted an energy efficient home, they chose a 204-mm log. Their home is heated with a ground source heat pump and, thanks to the underfloor heating, the children love playing on the floor. So far, the heat-storing fireplace by Tiileri has served as an attractive design feature.

• Building type: Residential home
• Living area: 106 m2
• Year of construction: 2012
• Rooms: 4
• Heating system: geothermal heat pump + underfloor heating
• Wall structure: 204 mm log
• Location: Middle Finland
• Honka id: 010149