The best handcrafted log house builders are competing again in Räpina

On 22 May, during the Räpina Good Home Days, we will find out who are the best handcrafted log house builders in Estonia. Professionals, students, and also ‘axemen’ using traditional handicraft tools will all take part in the eleventh vocational competition.

Professionals and also students learning the profession will be taking part in the eleventh handcrafted log house vocational competition. The best technique and speed must be shown when making one of the most important parts of the construction of a log house – corner joint and a groove of a log.

Winner of the competition 2020 – Veiko Palm. Photo: Kaie Kiil/Estonian Woodhouse Association

One of the organisers of the competition, Lauri Kivil, the Managing Director of the Estonian Woodhouse Association, confirms that the competition of building a corner notch is the only one of its kind in the world. ‘Estonia is the European Champion in export volumes of wooden and log houses, and the third in the world. Our strong export is primarily based on high-quality products. The purpose of our competition is also to continue developing the skills of our masters and presenting them to ensure that the position of Estonian exports would stay the same globally,’ Kivil says.

The year 2020 gave many people the chance of telecommuting, which significantly increased the number of people moving to rural areas. When building a country house, the first choice of people is often a traditional log house. According to Kivil, the trend is clearly seen also in the turnover numbers of handcrafted log house builders. ‘Certainly, many log house builders are in the middle of a relatively intense production period and according to many building factories, the current order numbers are the highest in the past ten years.’ At the same time, Kivil is convinced that regardless of the busy period, builders from at least ten companies making handcrafted log houses will come to test their skills along with the whole class of log house building students from the Hiiumaa Vocational Schools. 

We welcome all spectators to come and cheer on the competition!

 For competitors:

Eleventh vocational competition for handcrafted log house builders on 22 May at 10.00 am in Räpina, in front of the Räpina Loomemaja

The vocational competition for log house builders will take place within the Räpina Good Home Days, which includes, in addition to the vocational competition, a fair where you can buy plants and home ware and take part in open air sport events for the while family, and a cultural programme. 

The vocational competition is organised by the Estonian Woodhouse Association and Cluster along with log house manufacturers of Southern Estonia and Hiiumaa Vocational School. 

The vocational competition for log house builders is supported by the full application project of the Estonian wooden house export cluster within the Estonian Wooden House Exporters Cluster Programme of Enterprise Estonia funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Sponsors of the vocational competition:

     

www.estonia.ee 

 

21.4.2021 / News