Relocation of log buildings

Relocation of log buildings
Location Finland Tags log buildings, log construction, wooden construction, recycling, sustainable development, ecological building, wood

Practitioners and people who know the tradition well

Even seemingly major damage to log structures can be repaired during relocation.

The fireplace had collapsed through the outer wall. Even fairly extensive damage can be easily repaired during relocation.

Small log structures can be transported intact on a flatbed trailer.

The floorboards are removed and numbered. The same is done for the panels and mouldings.

Logs are numbered, for example using small plywood tags. In that case, wax crayon markings last better than marker. Even more durable numbering can be achieved with stamps punched into metal plates.

Numbering method for the walls of a building being relocated.

Using a timber truck speeds up the dismantling of the log frame.

The foundations of the relocated building must meet modern requirements.

Modern tools and machinery, such as a tower crane, make the assembly of the log frame easier.

The community/communities behind this submission

INTBAU Finland ry Kaarina / operates nationwide

The aim of INTBAU Finland ry is to promote discussion on how to create better built environments for people through tradition-based construction, architecture and urban planning. High-quality, durable and ecological materials should be used to create timelessly beautiful buildings and environments with a long life cycle.

Lapua-seura ry

The Lapua-based association Lapua-seura ry owns the Ränkimäki house museum and Hietala riverside cottage, which it maintains and develops. The buildings have been relocated. Its aim is to work for local culture and the environment and to strengthen local spirit.

Rakennusperinteen Ystävät ry Turku / operates nationwide

Rakennusperinteen Ystävät ry is a nationwide organisation that seeks to promote the preservation of traditional building heritage and traditional building skills. Its aim is to ensure that old buildings and cultural environments are preserved in a way that does not destroy their original character or the distinctiveness and atmosphere that have developed through different historical layers. The association recommends the relocation of a log building as a last resort for saving the building.

Rautajärven seudun kylät Oy

The social enterprise Rautjärven seudun kylät Oy, operating in Pälkäne, promotes the vitality of the eastern Luopioinen area. In the Torppakylä project, buildings were surveyed, and one semi-detached house was built from two dismantled crofts.

Seurasaarisäätiö – Fölisöstiftelsen sr - the Seurasaari Foundation

Seurasaarisäätiö works in Helsinki as the background organisation of the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, promoting and safeguarding Finnish living cultural heritage. Through the Emil and Lempi Hietanen Science Fund of Seurasaarisäätiö, it also supports ethnological research through grants.

Stundars rf

Stundars rf maintains the Stundars Open-Air Museum in Mustasaari, one of the largest open-air museums in Finland. It includes nearly 70 log buildings relocated from different parts of Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. Built heritage and the care of buildings are among the museum’s central areas of emphasis, both through the maintenance of its own museum buildings and as a source of inspiration and information for visitors and property owners.

Next to the Stundars museum area there is a planned residential area where around twenty families now live. The area consists only of relocated Ostrobothnian log buildings dating from the nineteenth century. At their original locations they had been under threat of demolition, but in their new setting they form one of the most beautiful residential areas in Finland.

Suomen saunakulttuuri ry

Suomen saunakulttuuri ry is known for Saunakylä in Jämsä, where a group of historical smoke saunas has been relocated. These relocated saunas have been restored, and continue to be restored, for active use.

Talonpoikaiskulttuurisäätiö rs

Talonpoikaiskulttuurisäätiö works nationally to support a vibrant rural culture. It safeguards traditions but also promotes and makes visible new peasant culture.

Virkkalan perinneseura ry

Virkkalan perinneseura ry operates in Kaustinen and carried out the relocation of the so-called Kraatarin talo in Kaustinen in 2016–2017. The building is a log house once owned by the Wirkkala artist family and built in 1868. Over the years the house had been left empty, but thanks to diligent professional work and voluntary communal effort it rose again, fully restored, as part of the Pajalantie streetscape in the church village of Kaustinen. Today the building is a heritage house and museum that has gained a new life as a local hobby space, used for family celebrations and for theatre and music activities.

Bibliography and links to external sources of information

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Flyttning av gamla hus, Gudmudsson Göran, Gysinge Centrum för Byggnadsvård 2006.

Siirrettäväksi syntyneet - dokumentti, Talonpoikaiskulttuurisäätiö 2019.

Purkaa vai korjata?: Hiilijalanjälkivaikutukset, elinkaarikustannukset ja ohjauskeinot, Huuhka, Satu; Vainio, Terttu; Moisio, Malin; Lampinen, Emmi; Knuutinen, Mikko; Bashmakov, Samuel; Köliö, Arto; Lahdensivu, Jukka; Ala-Kotila, Paula; Lahdenperä, Pertti (2021-02-18)

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Vanhan talon uusi elämä, Helsingin Sanomat 19.4.2025.

Hirsitalon siirto vaatii osaamista ja pitkää pinnaa, TM Rakennusmaailma 4.8.2018.

Näin siirretään talo Pukkilasta Pakilaan!, Ilta-Sanomat 10.4.2011.

Vanha hirsitalo purkuun ja pinoon - ja pystyyn uutena mökkinä, YLE 15.7.2013.

Onko tässä Suomen historian hurjin kuljetusoperaatio?, Iltalehti 14.8.2025.

Hurja muutos: Rapistunut pohjalaistalo nousi uuteen loistoon, Maaseudun tulevaisuus 15.11.2020.

Hirsitalon siirtäminen – osa 1, Saatsi arkkitehdit 5.9.2023.

Hirsitalon siirtäminen - osa 2, Saatsi arkkitehdit 30.10.2023.

Hirsikehikko ja sen siirtäminen, Domus Classica.