Delivery and installation, step by step

A 30m² module crossing four borders, a ferry, and a country lane to arrive at a Cavan field on a Tuesday morning. The logistics rarely fail catastrophically — but they fail in small annoying ways that add weeks. Here's how to keep them on track.

The standard timeline (from "signed" to "moved in")

Most Baltic providers operate to roughly the same rhythm. Times below are for a single-module home up to 30m². Two-module 40–60m² builds add 2–4 weeks at the manufacturing stage.

Week 0

Contract signed, 10% deposit transferred. Your manufacturing slot is now booked.

Weeks 1–2

Design finalisation. Final spec sheet, colour selections, optional add-ons. Last chance to change layout.

Week 2

Production starts, 40–50% payment due. Materials committed to your build.

Weeks 3–10

Factory build. Frame, insulation, exterior cladding, interior fit-out. Photos at each milestone if you ask for them.

Week 10

Pre-shipping inspection. Some buyers fly to the factory for this — many providers offer factory tours. Highly recommended.

Week 10

30–40% payment due before the unit leaves the factory floor.

Weeks 11–13

Shipping. Truck → port → ferry → Irish port → final-leg truck. See routes section.

Week 13–14

Site preparation final check. Foundation cured, access cleared, services trenched up to slab.

Day X

Crane day. 4–10 hours on site. Module lifted onto foundation, weatherproofing finalised.

Days X+1 to X+5

Connections + commissioning. Water, electricity, sewage hooked up by local trades.

Day X+7 to X+14

Snag inspection. Final 10% payment after snag list is closed. Move-in.

So a realistic order-to-moved-in timeline is 14–18 weeks. Builds in winter add 2–3 weeks (factory holiday closure, weather risk on crane day). Two-module homes 16–22 weeks.

The four shipping routes from the Baltics

Where the factory sits determines how the module gets to Ireland. None of the routes are short — that's why transport is €3,000–€10,000.

Route 1 — Klaipeda, Lithuania → Dublin (direct)

The shortest, cheapest, and most reliable route. Klaipeda port has direct ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) ferry service to Dublin operated by a couple of carriers, weekly sailings. Total transit ~5–6 days door to door. This is why Lithuanian providers are systematically cheaper to land in Ireland than their Estonian neighbours.

Route 2 — Riga or Liepāja, Latvia → Karlshamn → Hamburg → IE

Latvian modules typically route via either the Riga or Liepāja port, ferry to Karlshamn in Sweden or directly to Travemünde in Germany, then road across to a UK or Dutch port, then ferry to Dublin. 7–9 days transit. Used by BalticHaus, ECOSPACE, ARMA.

Route 3 — Tallinn, Estonia → Stockholm or Rotterdam → IE

Estonian modules face the longest journey. Tallinn → Stockholm by ferry, then road across Sweden to Helsingborg, ferry to Denmark, road through Germany/Netherlands, ferry from Rotterdam or Zeebrugge to Dublin/Cork. 8–11 days. Worth confirming the route with your provider — some use the more direct Tallinn → Travemünde ferry which shaves 2 days.

Route 4 — Polish providers (Aurora, REDUKT) → UK → IE

Polish factories ship by road across Germany, Belgium, France or via Dutch ports, ferry from Cherbourg or Rosslare-bound services from continental Europe. 6–8 days. Closer to Lithuanian timing.

Brexit reality: any route through Great Britain (Holyhead → Dublin, for example) needs customs documentation. Most reputable Baltic providers route through direct EU-to-IE services to avoid this — but check. A surprise customs hold-up can sit a module in a UK lorry park for 5–10 days.

Manufacturing window — when to actually order

Baltic factories have a strong seasonality. Most buyers in the Nordic/German/Irish market order in spring for late-summer delivery. This means:

January–March orders deliver June–August. Most popular window. Book early — best slots fill by early February.
April–June orders deliver September–November. Still fine. You'll have crane day in better weather than mid-winter installs.
July–September orders deliver December–February. Higher weather risk on crane day. Some buyers prefer this for tax timing.
October–December orders deliver March–April. Quietest factory period. You may get a discount, but also slower customer service over the Christmas/New Year window.

Site access — the underrated dealbreaker

The single most common cause of "delivery delays" isn't the factory or the ferry. It's a low-loader truck that can't get to the field.

What the delivery company needs at minimum:

Tarmac road or compacted hardcore all the way to the crane setup point. Mud and soft ground stops a 30-tonne crane truck.
3.0m+ width clearance on the entire approach. Country lanes with overhanging hedges typically need cutting back before delivery.
4.5m+ vertical clearance. Low bridges, low-hanging electricity wires, and stone gate arches stop trucks.
Crane setup space — typically a 10m × 10m flat area within 12–15m of the foundation, free of overhead obstructions.
Reverse-out room or a turning circle. A truck that can't turn has to reverse back the way it came — often impossible on rural lanes.

Most reputable providers (or their logistics partner) will do a site survey ahead of delivery — either in person if you're paying for it, or via Google Street View and photos you supply. Push for this. The €200–€400 survey cost is the cheapest insurance against a €3,000 abortive-delivery charge.

Rural Ireland gotchas we've seen mentioned in forums: stone arch entrances on heritage properties (no clearance for trucks); single-track lanes with no passing places (impossible to turn around); cattle gates installed across the avenue (need temporary widening); land that's perfectly dry in August but waterlogged in November (don't book a November crane day on bog soil).

Crane day — what actually happens

A typical 25–30m² single-module delivery looks like this on the ground:

07:30 — low-loader truck arrives at site. Driver checks ground conditions.
08:00 — crane truck arrives separately. Outriggers extended, stability checked.
08:30 — module unstrapped, lifting eyes attached, slung.
09:00–10:00 — lift over foundation, alignment, set down. Modules have integrated lifting brackets at the corners.
10:00–13:00 — bolt-down to foundation, weatherproofing seals checked, exterior trim finalised.
13:00–15:00 — first inspection by buyer (or buyer's representative). Photos of any transit damage.
15:00 — trucks leave, site is yours.

Two-module homes typically run a full 8-hour day with two cranes (one larger crane is also possible but rarer and more expensive).

What can still go wrong after delivery

The module is on your slab. You're not done.

Transit damage: dents in exterior cladding, scratched windows, water ingress during shipping. Document everything within 48 hours with photos. Most providers cover transit damage explicitly in their contract.
Service hookup delays: ESB Networks can drag connection out by weeks if your application paperwork has any holes. Apply 12 weeks before delivery, not 4 weeks.
Foundation settling: screw-pile foundations occasionally settle in soft ground. Watch for door/window alignment issues at week 6.
Bill of materials surprises: optional extras ("oh, that heat pump wasn't actually in your contract") — refer back to your written spec sheet.
Snag list quibbles: kitchen worktop scratch, paint touch-up on the bathroom door. Build a list, send it in week 1, expect resolution by week 4.

Three things to do before you sign anything

Confirm the route. Get the shipping route in writing from the provider. Any route via UK ports adds customs risk.
Book the site survey. Either pay the provider for an in-person survey, or do a thorough photo-survey yourself with measurements at every constraint point along the approach.
Apply for ESB and Irish Water the day you sign the contract — well before manufacturing is complete. You can't afford for the module to land on a site without power.

Next: contract and sign-off

Knowing how delivery works is half the picture — the other half is what your contract obliges the manufacturer to do when it doesn't go to plan. Contract checklist (in the hub for now) →

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