If you are already pondering over this question, it’s quite apparent that you do imagine yourself living in an A-frame house sometime in the new future.
Yes, A-frame houses are unconventional when viewed from a construction standpoint, and it is natural for a potential buyer to be concerned regarding their home insurance.
Here are certain points which should be enough to convince you to go ahead with your plans of building your desired A-frame home.
It’s just differently-shaped
The A-frame shape is iconic and has been implemented all over the world for a long time. While minor design modifications have been made in many cases, the very essence of its clean and aesthetic design has garnered a lot of fans over the decades.
An A-frame home in its cleanest avatar looks like a large letter ‘A’ from its front and back with a large sloping roof reaching ground level. The roof and floor resemble the 3 sides of an equilateral triangle. The front and back walls are usually equipped with large glass windows to allow maximum natural light to enter.
They are mostly associated with holiday homes in the alpine countryside as they blend in beautifully with their surroundings. Initially, they were made popular in the 1960s as cheap prefabricated kits offered by many companies, however they weren’t as sophisticated as their modern counterparts which come with varying sizes and floor plans.
A long-standing issue with earlier examples of A-frame homes was the difficulty in insulating them properly. This made them unsuitable to reside in all year round. Fortunately, this is something that has been largely resolved thanks to use for modern insulating material making them largely “weathertight”.
Modern implementations in construction methodology and use of more robust materials have made A-frame homes more durable – This is primarily due to strict conformations made by us at Avrame to stringent fire and damp proofing regulations. These make our affordable A-frame homes as safe as any conventional modern building.
But does an A-frame home require special insurance?
A-frame home is structurally different than regular cement, or wood homes. Therefore, you should check the differences between a regular home insurance policy and an A-frame home insurance policy. You should also consider an insurance company with experience in timber framed homes so that you are able to find a plan that is affordable and suits your needs.
Yes, it’s timber framed but so what?
There seems to be a stigma concerning timber-framed houses in the insurance market which is a primary cause for potential buyers to have second thoughts in going forward with their purchase.
The standard for residential properties is construction out of bricks and mortar or stone. Non-standard properties include Timber, steel framed or Wattle and daub constructions.
It is a fact that certain insurance companies refrain from granting you a home insurance policy for non-standard properties or charge a hefty premium citing concerns like structural integrity and material longevity. Do understand that these issues were more prevalent in older properties.
Granted that A-frame homes back in the 70s weren’t particularly renowned for their durability, we have made substantial progress in that area since then. At Avrame, all materials are chosen to ensure that you have a decent, hassle-free living experience:
- The wood for the structure is kiln-dried to reduce moisture induced damage as much as possible and bear the CE mark – ensuring that it complies with quality standards.
- Flexible screws used in flat trusses makes your home more resilient to environmental forces such as earthquakes or storms
- The largest part of an A-frame home is the long sloping roof and hence the most important structurally speaking. Therefore, we use quality roof panels by Ruukki, who offer a substantial structural guarantee period of fifty years.
- Windows are made from high quality PVC which are optimal in strength and require less maintenance
- Tyvek Solid 82g/m2 membrane offers decent protection from bad weather conditions such as snow.
- Flat truss system maximises the insulation efficiency.
Despite being affordable, our careful choice of materials makes your Avrame home last long as well. A win-win for you!
Feeling reassured? Here’s how to proceed:
Avrame homes are offered as kits which can be shipped to wherever you want them to be. They are highly versatile and can be built on both new and existing foundations. They are available with varying configurations so decide what kind of purpose your home will serve – whether it’s going to be your permanent residence or some sort of holiday retreat for your family.
Do contact your potential insurance providers around this point so that you may comply with their demands or make necessary changes prior to construction. This allows more room for modification.
Modern A-frame home by Avrame is a minimalist and iconic alternative to most modern conventional homes. Despite being affordable, they are built to last and therefore not difficult to insure as other dated non-conventional properties.
Get started with your project
Decide on a model of interest, choose a location and begin arrangements for a construction permit. You can source the plan sets with most popular modifications from here. Those drawings can also be personalised according to your needs later on.
The plan sets are an absolute must have item while working with your budgeting (builders can’t give accurate quotations without it) and permitting.