Why does a house need walls, if the roof is enough?
Avrame started its activity in fall 2016. Avrame offers its clients A-shaped houses which are almost as easy to build as installing IKEA furniture.
The founder and CEO of Avrame, Indrek Kuldkepp, began to think about A-shaped houses when he sold his big and so-called ordinary house. "I paid for bank loans and I thought to myself that I would no longer want to be a slave in this life. After that, I began to explore how I could build a house ready with my own money, "he reminded.
Now, Kuldkepp lives in a three-storey house and does not pay one cent to the bank.
More than that, he does not pay for water or electricity, although both of them are available. The water gets to him from the well and the electricity is produced by solar panels on the roof. In other parts of the world, such buildings are called ''off-grid'', that means that they are not connected to the central heating, water or any electricity grids.
"Every morning, when I wake up, I can now think of what would I like to do today. Not that it's time to get busy and start earning money to pay all the bills that were collected last month," said Kuldkepp, who has nearly twenty years of experience in the wooden buildings production and sales business.
In addition to Kuldkepp, works in Avrame team four more people.
According to the CEO, Avrame's main desire is to spread the message to the world that the house building does not have to always approach as usual. For proof of his story, he demonstrates an A-shaped house that has emerged between the forests of Rahinge in Tartu, where Kuldkepp has now lived for almost a year.
Low cost building
The biggest advantage of A-shaped houses is that the construction costs are much lower. "If in the case of an ordinary house, firstly, the wall constructions are erected and then the roof will be built, we will do these two steps at once. We do not build our walls, "explained Kuldkepp.
The second big saving is that the A-shaped house does not require a conventional tile foundation. The building is based on only three foundation bases and its pouring is nearly two times cheaper. When compared to a regular house where the square meter costs EUR 1000-1200, the A-shaped houses square meter will cost EUR 600-900.
Kuldkepp emphasized that house's low cost does not come from buying lower quality materials. "We are not trying to make the house cheap, we are are trying to make it affordable. In English it's cheap vs affordable, "he said.
According to the sales manager currently has three product lines in the Avrame catalog: campsites, garden cottages, smaller summer and dwelling houses, and large dwelling houses. A total of nine models.
Kuldkepp added that Avrame houses are just as prefabricated as a wardrobe bought from a furniture store.
As Avrame itself is simply a product development company, all the necessary details are ordered from the cooperation partners. Among them are, for example, timber manufacturers , windows and doors company, roofing company and seller of building materials.
"When the contract is signed, we will send production drawings to the factory, which will order the material, cut out the pieces and pack them. At the same time, we will order windows and doors from the second place and roofing material from third place, "Kuldkepp described. If the customer is from abroad, everything is packed in a sea container and the goods are going.
According to Kuldkepp, their homes are particularly suitable for countryside settlements, and one of the target groups is DIYers who want to do most of the work by themselves. "I also did everything myself, and it is the best way to save costs.
One thing is construction, the second thing is assembly, "explained Kuldkepp.
Once the foundation is complete, the assembly of the building with three or four men takes only a couple of weeks. The whole house is ready in a couple of months. "This requires good planning. However, as it is standard houses, it is possible to prepare all water and electricity projects. The more you plan, the less it costs, "Kuldkepp repeated.
New direction
According to Kallejärv, house-building in the wood industry is moving from year to year to more sensible and rational solutions. "We are also moving in that direction with our houses. There will be a new generation who does not want to take big loans to build a house, because the interest costs are the kind of burden people dislike. There is a lot mote to do in life, than paying home loans, "he said.
Kuldkepp gave a positive assessment to Avrame's first year of operation. "It's going well. We just started selling at spring 2017, and now we can say that a dozen houses have been already sold, "said Kuldkepp. It has been North and South America and Asia as it's target market. Already, the company has representatives in Japan and Korea.
"Our focus is not so much on sale today, but rather on talking with potential sales partners, and this list is long. Interest is globally very high, "added Kallejärv.
The original article in Estonian was first published in Tartu Postimees (9.10.2017)