March 2024 - KAGER

Comparison of wooden houses

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A KAGER HOUSE AND OTHER WOODEN HOUSES

What makes a Kager house special compared to other wooden houses? To answer this question, we compared the main aspects that affect the quality of a wooden house and living well-being.

1. Custom-made homes

Each Kager wooden house is completely custom-made. We develop each project with absolute care, from foundations to finishes, to create your new home exactly as you have always dreamed of, without compromises.

Most companies in the wooden house sector create catalog houses with standard stylistic and functional solutions. Some manufacturers offer custom-built homes starting from predefined modules, with limited customization possibilities.

2. No restrictions on furnishings

Kager construction technology requires that each wall of the house has a structure capable of supporting suspended wall furniture. This allows for furniture design without constraints, with hanging solutions on both internal and perimeter walls, and the ability to change their layout as desired.

In many wooden houses, the furniture layout cannot be customized by the buyer because not all walls have sufficient capacity to support hanging furniture. For example, the kitchen must follow a predefined layout, preventing future changes to the furnishings.

3. Accessibility of the facilities

Thanks to the system compartment solution introduced by Kager and present in all our homes, it is possible to easily access an internal area of the walls dedicated to electrical and plumbing systems. This ensures that all subsequent maintenance or modifications to the systems do not cause concern.

In most wooden houses, the electrical and plumbing systems are arranged in specific positions depending on the house model, leading to technical difficulties and risks to the wall structure during subsequent maintenance or modification. Some manufacturers offer the system compartment solution as a paid option.

THE DETAILS THAT REVEAL EXCELLENCE

4. Natural materials

Kager uses completely natural materials for the thermal insulation of the walls. Wood fiber is a natural, breathable material, free from glues or added chemicals, offering the best thermal insulation performance.

Most wooden houses built throughout Europe use insulating materials derived from petroleum. These materials offer a compromise between cost and thermal performance but have a strong environmental impact and prevent proper wood transpiration. Some builders offer walls made from natural materials as a paid option.

5. Fire resistance

Fire resistance in Kager wooden houses is ensured by the adoption of a special technical sheet inserted in all internal and perimeter walls, which slows the advancement of the combustion front while protecting structural parts. The fire resistance of Kager structures is certified by Holz Forschung Austria, an independent European certification body.

Many companies, to keep costs low, produce wooden houses without this safety feature for all walls, resulting in partial resistance that does not guarantee structural integrity in case of a fire.

6. Breathability of wood

Using wood fiber as a thermal insulator means vapor barriers are not used in Kager house walls. Vapor barriers are synthetic materials with high thermal insulating power that prevent necessary wood transpiration. Wood, being a living material, requires adequate ventilation to resist environmental humidity over time.

Vapor barriers are standard in the wooden house sector because they guarantee high thermal insulation with limited dimensions and costs. However, they create ideal conditions for condensation and mold formation, risking the wooden structure’s durability.

7. High quality laminated wood

Kager construction technology uses only laminated wood for house structures. This material offers significant benefits in terms of resistance and stability over time, allowing greater design freedom without needing support pillars and metal carpentry in load-bearing structures.

A high percentage of wooden houses use solid wood for structural parts. Although this product is certified with the same reliability and safety level as laminated wood, it implies various design constraints due to its tendency to develop cracks and deformations.

8. No-gas houses only

All Kager wooden houses are built without a gas connection, reflecting Kager’s innovative character in both system technology and the casing. Most of the energy used comes from renewable sources.

Most manufacturers offer gas connections as a standard solution. When this complicates the customer (e.g., land not reached by a methane pipeline), the no-gas option is subject to a fee.

9. 35-year guarantee

Due to the high construction quality, Kager offers a thirty-year guarantee on all structural parts of its wooden houses. Almost all companies in Europe offer only the minimum ten-year guarantee required by law.

10. CE certification on the entire production process

Kager boasts CE certification for the entire production process, the most authoritative certification currently obtainable in Europe. Wooden house manufacturers typically obtain CE certification only on individual materials, not the entire production process.

11. Transparency policy

Kager commits to developing and proposing transparent, complete, and detailed estimates to offer certain costs and maximum transparency. We only indicate the products that have been selected for the project and that meet the customer and technical designer’s requirements.

One of the most common problems for those entering the wooden house world is the difficulty in understanding estimates from different companies. The complexity of the regulatory landscape and the tendency to provide partial indications on the technologies used often lead to difficult interpretation, risking significant variations during construction with a clear impact on final costs.

12. History

Kager is a company specialized in wooden houses, active in Europe for over 30 years. Choosing a builder who has contributed to the wooden house sector’s success guarantees safety and reliability throughout the process, from the contract to after-sales assistance.

The wooden house sector is growing in Europe, with more customers choosing to invest in green building, leading several companies to enter this market. Many companies, without a strong product culture, purchase and resell catalog products guided solely by price.

Seimic safety in real world – Kager House

 

The importance of seismic safety

To ensure safety, especially in today’s world, a house must guarantee high seismic resistance. Kager wooden houses, developed with decades of research, leverage the resistance and elasticity of wood to provide seismic resistance unparalleled in traditional masonry constructions.

A concrete example

The Kager wooden house shown in this image was built in the municipality of Argenta, in the province of Ferrara, just 42 km away from the epicenter of the 2012 Emilia earthquake.

Kager-antisismiche-houses-earthquake-emilia-2020
THE 2012 EARTHQUAKE
EFFECTS ON THE BUILDING

How a Kager wooden house reacts to an earthquake

In the event of an earthquake, a Kager wooden house can excellently absorb the seismic waves, even of high magnitude. The characteristics of Kager construction technology allow for optimal controlled deformation, and the elasticity of the wood enables the structure to return to normal without consequences once the stresses have ceased. A fundamental role is played by the lightness of the structure, which results in smaller forces compared to a brick house.

Wooden-houses-seismic-safety-earthquake-Emilia-2012-Kager-Italy

«The surrounding houses were full of cracks, chimneys had collapsed, a disaster.
My Kager house, on the other hand, had not suffered any damage.”

 Max Salani
Owner of the Kager house in Argenta

Max-Salani-house-Kager-Emilia-earthquake

The owner’s story

The earthquake had its epicenter in the municipality of Finale Emilia, just 42 km from Argenta, where a Kager house is located. Despite the extensive damage to buildings in the area, the Kager house remained unscathed. The homeowner, who was inside his home with his family at the time of the earthquake, recounts his experience: “The house was swinging, shaking, but I thought: ‘It’s an earthquake-proof house, it will resist.’”

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