Frequently asked questions

A modular home is a house that's built in a controlled factory environment, then transported to your site and installed — rather than being constructed entirely outdoors, exposed to weather and delays.

At Nordic Timbers, Our homes are built using CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) panels: solid engineered timber panels manufactured off-site to precise tolerances, then assembled on your property. This gives you the speed and quality control of modular construction, combined with the strength, insulation, and durability of a solid engineered timber structure — not a lightweight transportable box.

Because we control the whole process, not just one part of it. We design and build CLT panel homes specifically for the Queensland granny flat and secondary dwelling market. That means:

Engineering-grade material — CLT panels engineered for Australian structural standards, not project-home stick framing

Knowledge — we understand Brisbane council requirements, Queensland secondary dwelling rules, reactive soil conditions, and flood overlay considerations, because we deal with them on every project

Speed — factory-built panels mean weeks off your build timeline compared to conventional construction

CLT panel construction suits you if:

You're adding a secondary dwelling or granny flat to an existing property and want it done quickly with minimal disruption

You value energy efficiency and a quiet, thermally stable home

You want cost certainty — factory-built components mean fewer surprises than a fully site-built project

You're building on a site with time constraints (e.g. rental income, ageing parents moving in, tighter settlement timelines)

It may be less suited to highly bespoke, architecturally complex homes with unconventional geometry.

The trade-off: CLT panel homes are typically less suited to constant late-stage design changes once panels are ordered, since they're manufactured to a fixed specification. Good upfront design is more important than with stick-built construction.

We're happy to arrange a site visit or share detailed photos and floor plans of current and completed Nordic Timbers projects. Contact our team to arrange a viewing or to see our project gallery.

Our range includes three home models: Aurora (24 m²), Fjord (38.5 m²), and Horizon (54 m²). Compare their floor plans, 3D visualizations, and available interior images in the Modular Houses section to see which layout suits your needs.

No, at this moment it is not possible, these are standard modules designed to be as compact as possible for this area.

Our modules have non-extendable sofas in the living room, these sofas can be replaced with exactly the same extendable ones.

If You order one of the modules, you can choose the color shades. For those modules that are already ready, You cannot choose the shade.

Only if you want to expand it at the expense of the terrace.

Transport is not included.

Foundation is not included.

Each module has its own floor plan, which our specialists will send You if necessary,

Site preparation is required, all communications must be prepared.

Foundations must be prepared - screw piles or concrete.

Electricity, water and sewerage.

At this time, we offer standard modules, but be sure to contact our specialists and we will try to help You.

You can safely do this for site preparation and utilities.

For standard modules, yes.

We provide Australian Building Standards.

Because most of what damages a build's quality happens on-site: weather delays, moisture getting into framing before it's weatherproofed, inconsistent trade quality, and material sitting exposed on a job site for months.

Building CLT panels in a factory means:

Consistent, engineered quality — every panel is manufactured to the same specification, checked before it leaves the factory

No weather delays during manufacture — Queensland's wet season doesn't stop your panels being built

Faster on-site program — panels arrive ready to install, cutting weeks off the time your site is an active construction zone

Less on-site waste and disruption — fewer trades, less mess, shorter disruption to you or your tenants

Production takes 3-5 months depending on the workload of the factory.

House kit we can deliver Australia wide.

All panels are packed in films for safe delivery to Your place.

Yes, You need crane.

In most cases, yes — but for a secondary dwelling or granny flat in Queensland, many councils (including Brisbane City Council) allow smaller secondary dwellings under streamlined approval pathways, sometimes without a full development application, provided the home meets size, height, and setback requirements.

Approval requirements depend on your specific council, lot size, zoning, and any overlays affecting your property (flood, bushfire, heritage, etc.).

For an additional fee, we can assist you with approvals.

The client is responsible for obtaining all permits.

Yes. CLT is a solid mass-timber panel, which gives it strong natural thermal performance compared to standard timber-frame construction — it resists rapid temperature swings and helps maintain a more stable internal temperature through Queensland's heat and humidity.

Combined with correctly specified insulation, glazing, and ventilation (all designed to meet the National Construction Code's energy efficiency provisions), a Nordic Timbers CLT home performs well against comparable brick veneer or standard timber-frame homes, often with lower heating and cooling costs.

Yes. Our homes are designed and engineered to meet Australian building standards, including wind loading, bushfire attack level (BAL) requirements where applicable, and structural timber standards for the Queensland climate — including humidity, heat, and storm exposure.

CLT's solid panel construction also performs well structurally under wind loading and cyclonic conditions common in South East Queensland, when designed and certified for the relevant wind classification of your site.

Yes. A Nordic Timbers CLT home built as an approved secondary dwelling or standalone residence is designed and certified as a permanent, fully liveable home — not a temporary or relocatable structure. It's built to the same National Construction Code (NCC) standards required of any permanent residential dwelling in Australia, including plumbing, electrical, and structural certification.

A well-built CLT structure has a comparable structural lifespan to conventional timber-frame or masonry construction — commonly 50+ years — provided it's properly detailed for moisture management and maintained like any home.

Engineered timber's biggest durability factor isn't the material itself, it's detailing: correct weatherproofing, damp-proofing, and drainage at the design stage. This is a core part of how we engineer every project, particularly for Queensland's humidity and rainfall.

Yes. Timber, including CLT, is a fully code-compliant structural material under the National Construction Code and Australian Standards.

On fire performance specifically: solid mass timber like CLT chars on the outside in a fire, which actually slows fire progression into the panel and helps the structure retain load-bearing capacity for longer than many people expect — this is a well-documented, tested characteristic of mass timber, and CLT structures can be engineered to meet required fire resistance levels (FRLs) for residential construction.

Similar to any well-built home — periodic external maintenance (paint/stain recoating where timber cladding is exposed, gutter cleaning, checking seals and flashing) keeps a CLT home performing well long-term.

Our facades are finished with two layers of paint before installation, giving you a fully factory-finished exterior from day one — one of the lower-maintenance exterior finishes available for a Queensland home.

You contact our specialists and tell them about Your problem.

Yes we provide after-sales support.

The contacts section contains all our data.

We follow Australian quality standarts.

CLT is a renewable engineered timber product, and it generally carries a significantly lower embodied carbon footprint than fired brick or concrete — the timber itself also stores carbon rather than releasing it during manufacture, unlike energy-intensive materials like brick and cement.

On top of the material itself, factory panel manufacturing produces less on-site waste than conventional building, since panels are precision-cut off-site to the exact dimensions needed rather than trimmed and discarded on the job. Combined with strong natural thermal performance — which reduces ongoing heating and cooling energy use — a Nordic Timbers CLT home has a smaller environmental footprint both to build and to live in compared to a typical brick veneer or concrete home.

A few practical reasons Queensland customers choose CLT/timber over brick veneer:

Speed — a CLT panel home can be enclosed and weathertight far faster than brick veneer, which relies on sequential bricklaying and mortar curing time

Thermal performance — mass timber has better natural insulating properties than a single skin of brick veneer over a timber frame

Weight and foundations — timber panel construction is significantly lighter than brick, which matters on Queensland's reactive clay soils, often simplifying (and reducing the cost of) footing and slab design

Sustainability — engineered timber is a renewable material with a lower embodied carbon footprint than fired brick and concrete

Design flexibility — panels can be prefabricated to suit a wide range of layouts without the geometric constraints bricklaying imposes

Brick veneer still has a place — particularly where clients want a specific traditional aesthetic — but for secondary dwellings where speed, cost predictability, and site conditions matter most, timber panel construction is usually the stronger choice.

You can contact our specialists and send us Your project.

We will get to know you and answer You.