# Prokat Houses Kefalonia



## ratzakli (May 20, 2012)

Hi

Has anyone had a Prokat house built? I am looking at the possibility of having one built on Kefalonia but wondered what your experiences might be?

Any tips would be very welcome. 

Thanks

Stuart


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## concertina (Oct 18, 2012)

*prokat houses*

hi L hope someone who has put up a prokat will reply,I have seen them go up around where we have recently built and having gone through the nightmare of building I do wish that we had gone for a prokat now.There are many different types of prokat,they differ in their construction methods,what I dont like is the fact that they are single skin I believe,single skin means freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer,although they say there is an insulation in the construction but that wouldnt be good enough for me,I need to see inner and outer walls with a hemp type of insulation attached to the inner wall,all the electrics and plumbing would be between these walls.You need to get the best type of prokat that you can, you can stipulate what you want and what size and shape to the company making it,a little prokat with double skin and added stone on the outside would be a dream cottage for me,stone is fairly cheap in Greece.As you would need some kind of concrete base its actually a good idea to put a lovely semi basement of concrete,depends on how much money there is,we have a semi basement and its so cool in the summer and warm in the winter,you could place your prokat onto the basement,our mechanic told us that for earthquakes a semi basement is very good.We made sure that we had a special black membrane wrapped around the basement concrete walls before the soil was pushed back around the house in the hole,we have absolutely no damp.There is a very rich woman turned up in our village,bought a huge piece of land but put a prokat on it,she used our mechanic for a semi basement of concrete with the prokat on the top,our semi basement has its own entrance and is great for visitors to stay in.Of course licenses are required for all of this but if you stay small then the bill is not too big.


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## ratzakli (May 20, 2012)

Thanks Concertina.

Just to give me an idea, do you know what size the semi basement was and how much it cost to put in? Did that include the septic/drainage tank as well?


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## concertina (Oct 18, 2012)

ratzakli said:


> Thanks Concertina.
> 
> Just to give me an idea, do you know what size the semi basement was and how much it cost to put in? Did that include the septic/drainage tank as well?


well the semi basement will be the same as the floor area of the house without the veranders.ls your land on a slope or flat,a slope will give you better drainage for the basement but the law here says that a basement must not look like another floor because you dont have a license for another floor,if your license says 2 floors ok,so front and back soil level must be the same if you call it an apotheeki which is cheaper for the license,we didnt make front and back the same and now that problem becomes atheroto(illegal)for tax reasons we managed not to put the apotheeki meters included,we said it had no electrics,but it does.Its all a bit complicated,the cost is not so much for a semi basement and well worth it if you can stretch yourself,your mechanic will give you a rough idea,the mechanic will advise best way to link the top prokat with the basement.If you are in the countryside you are permitted to have a soakaway for your septic drainage which is open rings of pre-moulded concrete placed on top of each other,we have 3,you can put more,just link up plastic tubes for all the drainage from your house,well I have washing machine going into the garden,dont use clorine etc so that you dont kill off the bacteria which live in the septic area and break down the poo.If you are in a village you may have to a tank which gets emptied,you pay every month.or there may be central drainageThe cost to dig the hole and place the concrete rings is small,just remember where it is.Somtimes they try not to put the membrane around the basement,its special hard plastic or they try to put like plastic bag quality,we did it ourselves because we didnt trust them and doubled the layers,Im paranoid about damp(damp houses in uk)Try to put your septic drainage rings on a slope away from the house.We did put a shower room in the apotheeki which the council saw but didnt mind because they do come to check your house when you declare it finished.But your mechanic will direct you,ours was a bit hopeless once the concrete was pored.I have seen on Utube steel containers put onto a concrete semi basement looks good.


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## ratzakli (May 20, 2012)

Our plot is in a rural village away from the resorts and there is no mains drainage or communal tanks so all the houses have their own soakaways. Often, they seem to be placed within the foundations of the house. 

That is a good tip about using chlorine - I never considered it before (I like to use a fair bit of bleach to clean things so it may need a rethink!).

I'm not sure how much experience the local mekanikos has had with pre-fab/prokat houses so I need to talk to him about them.

Thanks again for the info.


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