The path from a tree to a perfect house

A modern log house is a truly ecological choice. It is an effective CO² sink and thus helps prevent the impacts of climate change. The entire chain from natural forests to a healthy house where generations can live is sustainable.

Wood, the building material that has been loved and used for generations, has been technically redesigned by Honka to meet the expectations of modern living. This is a safe and sound process that begins in renewable forests and ends in a carefully designed and built log house results in better environments for living and working.

Wood from sustainably managed forests

More than 70% of Finland’s land area is covered by forests. These forests grow faster than they are cut. We use renewable wood from Finnish sawmills as raw material for our logs. Our raw material is PEFC-certified, and we aim to increase the percentage of FSC-certified wood whenever more of it becomes available.

Did you know that more than 70 % of Finland is covered with forest? Living in a Honka log house, you can be sure that for each tree felled to manufacture the logs used for construction, a new sapling was planted, and in time the saplings will grow into a forest.

The massive wood raw material used for Honka log houses comes from selected Finnish partners – local forestry and sawmill companies. This ensures consistency and control over the raw material’s origin and quality.

As Honka’s Karstula mill is located in the middle of Finland, the transportation distances of the raw material remain short. This is one more step towards minimising the ecological footprint of our log houses.

Log house factory with unique technology

Honka log houses are manufactured in an industrial–scale factory situated in the middle of Finnish forests. The combination of innovative state-of-the-art technology, dedicated and experienced people and effective production processes make sure that the fire– and earthquake–safe, healthy and ecological Honka log houses are also produced in an ecological way.

All incoming wood material is used for log houses and the rejected material is used for bioenergy. The used adhesives retain the wood’s natural ability to breathe and do not release odours or harmful substances into the air. We will switch to use renewable electricity in all of the company’s own premises during 2022.

Effective manufacturing means quick deliveries

First of all, every house is produced by order. The needed wood raw materials are pre-processed: finger-jointed, glued, sorted, cut and marked for each delivery. The individual parts of the house are included in the overall production plan and the frame of the house is produced in one go.

The industrial–scale manufacturing of log house frames takes place on two separate production lines. Around 1 000 log houses are produced every year – this means frames for roughly 5–6 houses every workday. Each log is marked for a specific house waiting to be delivered. The same applies to other wood materials needed for each house.

Many parts of the houses are acquired from selected partner suppliers. These parts include windows, doors, stairs and even fixtures when they are included in the order. These items as well as the listed hardware store materials for building the house are all coded and compiled into a complete delivery package.

Delivering the material for building a healthy house

Every step of the production and delivery process has been planned carefully in order to ensure that the customer receives everything that was promised. When the frame and other goods included in the agreed upon delivery are ready, the final phase of delivering the material to the building site may begin.