Chalet houses in Adjara: design and construction

The chalet came from the Alps as a herdsman's house: the stone lower part stood in snow and damp, the timber upper part was warm and light, and the roof with its deep overhangs kept the rain off the walls. This logic fits Adjara almost exactly, because timber here also needs protecting from water both from below and from above. This page is about the house type itself; building in the mountains, with the snow, the road and off-grid services, is covered on the page about building in mountain villages.

What a chalet is made of

A chalet has a recognisable set of parts, and each one has its own job:

• a plinth or the whole ground floor in concrete, clad in stone on the outside;
• an upper floor and attic in profiled timber or timber frame;
• a shallow-pitched gable roof that projects well beyond the walls and balconies;
• gallery balconies along the long side;
• a gable glazed towards the view, of the mountains or the sea.

The stone lower part lifts the timber clear of the ground, splashes and snow, holds back the soil if the house stands on a slope, and is a convenient place for rooms that are damp or hot: the boiler room, a storeroom, the garage, a sauna. The living rooms are usually upstairs, in the timber part.

Roof overhangs and balconies

The wide overhang is both the chalet's main feature and the main protection for its timber upper part. The further the roof projects beyond the wall, the less driving rain reaches the timber and the longer the facade finish lasts. The projection is set by the architect and the structural engineer: at the gable the overhang is carried by projecting purlins and the ridge beam, and along the eaves by the rafters or brackets.

A large overhang catches the wind from below like a sail. On exposed hills above the sea and on mountain slopes we calculate the roof fixings for uplift and tie the rafters to the walls with steel angles and straps. Gallery balconies are carried on cantilevered beams, and the ends of these beams are protected from water, because end grain draws in moisture more than anywhere else. The balcony floor is laid with a fall away from the wall and with gaps between the boards, so that water runs off instead of standing against the timber.

The lower floor: concrete, stone and the joint with timber

We build a chalet's plinth of cast-in-place concrete or of blocks in a concrete frame, and clad it on the outside with natural stone set in adhesive. Solid load-bearing rubble stone masonry is beautiful, but in a seismic area it is hard to reinforce and to tie securely to the floor slab, so in our houses stone serves as cladding. Large, heavy slabs high up the wall are also fixed with anchors, so that they don't come away in a tremor.

The most vulnerable spot is where timber meets stone. The first course of timber or the sole plate is laid on waterproofing over the concrete, and the cladding is finished with a drip flashing so that water running down the wall doesn't get in under the timber. The timber upper part is anchored to the slab: in an earthquake the heavy base and the light top move differently, and the structural engineer calculates the joint between them separately. Timber also settles, and we allow for this at the openings, at the staircase and where it meets the stone part.

The gable and large windows

A chalet is turned with its gable towards the view, and the triangle of the gable is often glazed in full. For these windows we use thermally broken aluminium, which can carry large, heavy glazing units. Why it is more practical than plastic for big openings is explained in the comparison of aluminium and uPVC windows. In a timber wall the window is fitted into a settling frame that lets the wall move down; otherwise the settling would crush the window frame.

A large window weakens the wall in an earthquake. The wall sections between windows and the corner posts at the gable are checked by the structural engineer, and sometimes the glazing is mounted on a glulam beam or a steel frame. South- and west-facing gables overheat the house in summer. The same wide overhang helps here, and where it isn't enough, external louvres or awnings do the job.

Profiled timber, glulam or timber frame

A classic chalet is built from solid timber. Glulam hardly settles and keeps large openings true, and for a chalet with a glazed gable it is what we recommend. Kiln-dried profiled timber is cheaper but settles more noticeably, and the windows, staircase and finishing have to wait until the walls have settled. This difference is described in detail in the comparison of glulam and solid profiled timber.

There is a more affordable route: an insulated timber frame clad on the outside with boards or planed cladding. From the outside it looks like a chalet, there is almost no settling and the price is lower, but you won't have a timber wall inside, only lining. We decide based on the budget and on whether you want to see timber in the rooms.

Where a chalet suits Adjara

A chalet is most at home in the mountains and on wooded hills: in Keda, Shuakhevi and Khulo, near Goderdzi, and on the slopes above Chakvi and Kobuleti. There the timber upper part suffers less from salt, and the overhangs shield the walls from rain and wet snow. Snow lies longer on a chalet's shallow roof than on a steep one, so the structural engineer calculates the rafters and purlins for the snow load at the plot.

A chalet can be built right by the sea, but it costs more to maintain. The salty wind eats into the facade finish and fixings faster, so on the seafront we use stainless fixings and plan for more frequent facade renewal. On a narrow town plot, large overhangs and balconies may not fit within the setbacks from neighbours required by the zoning rules, and we check this at the sketch stage. If you want timber and a steep roof without large overhangs, take a look at an A-frame house or a barn house: these are different forms with weak points of their own.

The fireplace and protecting timber from fire

A chalet almost always has a fireplace. In a timber house we start the fireplace with the construction details and choose the model afterwards. We pour a separate concrete base for the firebox, keep at least the clearance to the timber walls that the firebox manufacturer requires, and cover the wall with a non-combustible shield. Where the chimney passes through the timber floor and the roof, we install non-combustible fire-stopping and photograph it before it is closed up. Options for fireboxes and surrounds are collected on the page about fireplaces and bioethanol fireplaces.

All timber is treated with preservative before installation, and whatever stays exposed inside, the rafters, beams and walls near the fireplace, also gets a combined fire-retardant and biocide treatment. Outside we use oil or a wood stain: when it is renewed, it doesn't have to be stripped back to bare wood. The schedule of facade inspections is handed over together with the handover file.

How much a chalet costs in Adjara

A turnkey chalet costs from 2,880 to 3,600 ₾ per m². The price includes a concrete plinth clad in stone, a timber upper floor, a roof with wide overhangs, panoramic windows, heating and finishing. A fireplace is not included: a turnkey wood-burning fireplace, with firebox, chimney and cladding, costs from 9,600 to 14,400 ₾. The design and surveys are also priced separately.

The timber moves the price more than anything else. A turnkey glulam house starts at 3,000 ₾ per m², a glulam shell alone at 1,980 ₾, and a turnkey profiled timber house at 2,040 ₾. Glazing in thermally broken aluminium costs from 780 ₾ per m² of window, and every metre of gable shows in the estimate. A timber frame with board cladding instead of solid timber, stone only on the main facade and a simple roof without bay windows or turrets all bring the cost down.

We send a preliminary estimate from a sketch and photos of the plot within 24 hours on business days. The final cost is set on the basis of the design, after a visit to the plot and once the estimate is agreed.