I'm currently on a skiing holiday in Austria. It's snowing/whiteout conditions and whilst my friends are enjoying early Après Ski in the Moose Bar, St Anton, I'm back at the chalet still recovering from last nights drunken mayhem. It strikes me that as well as doing ski resorts really, really well the Austrians also do house construction pretty neatly. I can't see the roof tiles of our chalet as they're covered in snow but the roof timbers are really, really substantial (to take the weight of all that snow) and made from an engineered, laminated softwood by the looks of things. The outsides of the buildings are clad in shingles (cedar or larch possibly) - I'm going to presume that Germanic efficiency means the shingles are sourced from local forests. The front door is a heavy, metal, well fitting piece of engineering (no expanding and getting stuck in wet weather). The garage door where the skis are stored is a heavy timber double door affair that is supported on a rail/guide system (no sagging or not closing properly). The bottom of the door is clad and sheathed in what looks like copper to prevent the bottom of the door getting wet and rotting. The lock is fantastic - a really pleasing, solid handle and deadlock system... indoors things are just as neat although basic - this is a holiday let after all. The windows are all of timber constructions and of course double glazed. There is not a hint of uPVC in sight - anywhere in the resort.
Clearly, construction methods here have to withstand extremes of conditions, so the heavy duty aspects are understandable. But it is the sheer quality of components and attention to achieving longevity that is so impressive. It's all worth bearing in mind next time you ask your builder for a roof repair and he uses some lame uPVC barge board quickly nailed into some weedy rotten timbers that really should be replaced...
Chris Chambers is the owner of Proudhouse Property Management and Wigglies Electrical Services. Creating exciting and innovative homes.
www.wigglies.co.uk
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