Frequently Asked Questions

The area where you will build your unit needs to be perfectly level to ensure that your unit will not sag or settle unevenly over time. 

Depending on the size of your unit you will need to construct the appropriate foundation or base. 

Any units over 100 sq.ft. will typically require a building permit and your municipality will likely determine what kind of foundation you require. Typically these foundations would be a concrete pad or concrete footings. 

Any units under 100 sq.ft. don’t typically require a building permit in most municipalities, and as such will not need as extensive of a foundation. We generally suggest building a wooden base that rests on concrete patio stones or level gravel. The unit would then get built on top of this wooden base.

PacRim Log Structures would be happy to provide site preparation, foundation and base building services to ensure that your unit has a stable and effective base. 

This generally requires a site visit to determine what your site looks like and the best course of action for your property and the size of the unit, prior to quotation.

The most important thing to remember when building a base for your unit is efficient weight distribution. Over time the unit will settle and it is important that it settles evenly or you will run into issues with other parts of the unit becoming off center or out of alignment. Over time the unit will compress and if the unit is off near the base, that will only magnify as the move farther up to the roof. 

The unit package will come with 2″x3″ joists, however we don’t find that these always offer enough support. 

We typically suggest building an additional row of joists. We use 2″x8″ or 2″x6″ pieces of wood and build a square the same dimensions as the unit foot print. We then add a row of joists 12″ – 16″ apart on center, running opposite way of the floorboards to offer further support. 

This base would then sit on concrete patio, deck blocks, or on piles of 2″x6′ or 2″x4″s

Your unit will come with 3/4″ roof boards as part of the package, however we suggest protecting these boards to ensure they are not affected by the weather.

We suggest a 29g Allclad Metal roof that is offered in a variety of colours, however there are multiple gauges and metal profiles that can be ordered as well.

If you would prefer to have a shingled roof, we suggest using asphalt duration shingles that are offered in a variety of colours to match your home’s roof colour. 

We work with local building suppliers to provide a high quality product at the best price, that is custom ordered to fit your unit. We would be happy to provide you with a tailored quote especially for your unit, at the best price.  

Because these units are pre-manufactured and milled in Europe, they are not built with Canadian requirements for R-factor.

The only insulation these units have will be the thickness of their walls (28mm, 40mm or 70mm). Depending on what you are using this unit for, you can decide to add on further insulation in a variety of ways:

– Installing rigid insulation sheets under the floor boards

– Installing insulation sheets on top of the roof boards, and underneath metal or shingle roofing

This tends to be sufficient enough insulation for most of our smaller units under 300 sq.ft. depending on what they are being used for. 

For any units being used for residential applications, you may be required to insulate the walls to ensure the structure meets CSA building codes. The factory does manufacture a 28mm interior wall board that you could add to any of our 70mm units. You would then install insulation in between these wall boards.

You are more than welcome to pick up your unit, however we encourage you to ensure that the method you are using is capable of carrying your unit based on its weight and dimensions. 

Due to the length of these units, they are very fragile and can easily cause damage to the package contents if loaded or unloaded incorrectly. We suggest using an open, flat trailer to transport so they can be loaded from the side. Loading into an enclosed truck can be very difficult and can often cause the package to bend or the pallet to break.

Our crew will load the unit for you by forklift to ensure it is loaded carefully, however it is the customer’s responsibility to strap the unit down and ensure the unit is secure for transport.

We work with a local Nanaimo trucking company to deliver our units in the safest and most cost-effective way possible.

Utilizing a flat deck truck with a hijab crane, this allows the driver to drop your unit onto your property with ease while keeping the package fully wrapped.

This service is roughly $150/hr + ferry fees if necessary.

For deliveries outside of Vancouver Island + Lower Mainland:

We work with LTL carriers such as Van-Kam or Canadian Freightways to ship our units across Western Canada. 

Depending on the size and weight of the unit, these carriers typically cannot deliver directly to your property as their power tailgates cannot carry the weight of the unit so they are unable to offload onto your property. The unit would need to be delivered to one of their major depot service centers and held for pick-up. You’d then want to hire a local company with a flat deck or crane truck to deliver it further to your property. 

We would be happy to provide you with a Rate Quote from an LTL carrier to any major service center in Canada upon request. 

It is the responsibility of the customer to procure any building permits required for the construction of your unit. 

Each municipality and jurisdiction is different and will have different requirements so we encourage you to go to your local building permit office to learn what these are for your specific piece of property.

Typically, most municipalities do not require a building permit for any unit under 107.6 sq.ft. (10 sq.m) however this should still be confirmed. You’d also want to ensure that you are building your unit within the correct setbacks. 

We do offer Project Management services that will take care of your building permit needs.

Because these units are manufactured in Europe, the factory does not provide snow load or roof load information for these units as per Canadian equivalents.

We encourage you to speak to a local structural engineer to determine these values to ensure you are receiving accurate information to our climate and seismic zone.