Frost line varies greatly depending on where in Sweden you are, as does soil depth, and there are several ways to go about things. In the 70s there was a build

Frost line varies greatly depending on where in Sweden you are, as does soil depth, and there are several ways to go about things. In the 70s there was a building boom of brick houses with live-in basements. You can't go around the outskirts of any town or large village without seeing estates of them. However, modern house building has swung back towards wooden housing and I much prefer wood, and was costing a wooden house. The foundations for wooden houses don't have to be very substantial relative to brick. A very modern way to do things is to lay a large 'raft' of thick polystyrene sheets and then pour a thin but reinforced concrete skin with underfloor heating buried in the top of it. You have thicker bits of concrete providing 'beams' around the edges and under any load-bearing walls etc. Another approach is to have a 'creep space' under the house so the first floor is a bit higher than the ground. Anyway, the walls are studwork - normal pine - with fir used for the outside panel, which runs vertically rather than horizontally, with thin strips covering the vertical edges. Very simple, very pretty, lots to paint. Very thick insulation etc. I live in an old house that is 12" high 4" thick timring with vertical panel on front. The materials - if you self build - are not very much at all! House building is not material cost, its time or paying for someone else's time cost. There's a lot of buzz about green houses. Its particularly trendy to have tovtak again. The most striking difference between Swedish and English houses that the Swedish house is much warmer but much cheaper to build and run. Go figure!