by Mark Bailey | Oct 23, 2014 | How to guide, Timber building videos
How are large garden buildings delivered?
GardenLife have been involved in the design, manufacture, delivery and installation of summer houses, timber offices, log cabins, pavilions and other garden buildings for many years, and when it comes to delivery, we’ve always been able to ship our products to the desired location. Tight turnings, narrow driveways, tall hedges and trees, limited access to gardens – these issues have never stopped us from delivering a garden building as close as possible to the build site.
It’s understandable however, that investing in such a substantial structure can lead to concerns about packaging, shipping and the delivery day itself. For that reason, GardenLife filmed the delivery of one of our biggest garden rooms, to show how straightforward deliveries are (even those involving large garden buildings, such as the Laggan, measuring 6.4m x 3.5m).
Secure packaging
One question commonly asked, is how are garden buildings packaged? As you can see in the video above, all GardenLife buildings are delivered flat pack, and before they leave the factory, all the parts are carefully positioned on timber carrying frames and shrink wrapped in water proof plastic. The carrying frame helps ensure that timbers remain completely flat during the shipping process, and the plastic wrapping helps keep all the wood dry (which means you don’t have to worry about building the summer house the second it arrives). Smaller buildings often fit in one package, but the larger timber buildings (such as the Laggan) come in three carefully wrapped parcels.
Careful delivery
GardenLife always contact customers to arrange a convenient day for delivery, and we ensure that our buildings are only ever dispatched using a Hiab truck with a front-mounted crane. This allows the delivery driver to get close to the delivery site, but even when obstacles stand in the path of the truck, the extending crane allows the driver to lift each package over hedges and fences, or around trees and buildings. You can see in the video above, the experienced driver is able to lift large sections of the building over hedges (whilst keeping the crane below overhanging wires) and then carefully position the timbers in a confined area not much bigger than the package itself.
GardenLife take care of wrapping up your garden building, keeping it dry and flat. We always ensure we deliver at a convenient time, with advanced notification of the delivery date, and our experienced drivers and crane operators ensure that your new garden building is delivered safely to your chosen construction site. If you have questions or concerns about delivery please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call on 0131 660 6333.
by Mark Bailey | Oct 10, 2014 | GardenLife Magazine
Desperate to get your kids away from the TV this half term? Here are some holiday tips
Children of the 1970s and 1980s may remember being forced to watch a TV show called Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go Out and Do Something Less Boring Instead? Various precocious children (including Ant and Dec) would suggest alternatives such as craft and magic tricks. Their ideas never seemed that interesting.
The 2010s version would probably involve switching off Snapchat or the PlayStation, but otherwise the parental agenda remains similar: enticing the kids away from the screen and into the great outdoors during school half term. GardenLife have therefore pulled together some holiday ideas that parents (and their children) have recommended; hopefully they will be of use this half term, and during future school holidays. So without further ado, here are some ideas on how to keep kids entertained during school holidays:
Best holiday activities for under-sevens
If you want to drag a younger child away from CBeebies, create them their own garden playhouse – some garden canes and a big bed sheet will work a treat, or if the budget allows, how about a wooden playhouse for more prolonged enjoyment? Paint it in the bright colours that bedeck children’s TV programmes, and theme it according to the child’s current obsession – whether that’s pirates or Peppa Pig.
The other attraction of a playhouse is that children can spread out their toys without colonising your sitting room, and spillages won’t ruin your sofa. Kids love tree houses too, but not all of us have trees big enough to support one (or the DIY skills to build one). The perfect solution is a playhouse on stilts!
Best way for kids to burn off energy outdoors
Opinions vary about trampolines. Children tend to be enthusiastic, but adults worry about safety. Most accidents happen when more than one person is on the trampoline, so set some basic rules about how it is used. One thing that isn’t debatable however, is that using a trampoline is great exercise!
Best garden entertainment (other than a trampoline)
If you don’t like the noise from a trampoline, how about a kids timber play frame? They’re safer than a trampoline, but more interesting and sociable than a single slide or swing. Adding an element such as a tower or a ladder greatly increases the possibilities for pretend games, and if installed on a lawn or rubber play mat then they are extra safe. Be on the lookout for play equipment built to European safety standards EN71-1 and EN71-8, and if you’re environmentally conscious, check for the FSC symbol. All GardenLife play equipment meets such safety standards and is FSC certified, being built from sustainably managed timber.
Best for a break from taking selfies
Parents tend to like the idea of projects, and children will buy into them as long as they don’t sound too worthy. As nearly all kids have mobile phones with cameras, a photography project can be as quick or protracted as you like, with ideas such as:
- a photo safari in the country, the local park or just the garden
- a challenge to take photos of 10-20 different types of insects, birds, flowers or anything else
- a family photo competition for the best nature/wildlife photos
- a competition to take the most unusual photo (such as textures or unusual views)
Best ideas for a change of scene
Camping holidays are great, but vulnerable to weather. And many of the best camp sites are booked weeks in advance. Far easier is some spontaneous backyard camping (or glamping). Children can sleep out alone, without parents getting in the way, and there’s no need for them to struggle with camping stoves or carrying their own food. They simply turn up in the kitchen for breakfast.
If you want to push the boat out, you could always invest in a barbecue hut. The kids would love something like this come rain or shine, plus adults can take over in the evening and use the hut for BBQs and parties.
Best way to sell the idea of a walk
Most children find walks boring unless there’s a purpose or some entertainment. Team up with friends who have a dog, and that’s the entertainment taken care of, especially if it likes fetching balls. Older children may even be may able to earn a few pounds by doing some occasional dog walking for friends – an even better way to persuade them to go outside. Alternatively combine the photography project mentioned above with a hike outdoors.
If you want other ideas for ways to get children outside, take a look at the National Trust’s great list of 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾.
![Build your own shed of the year]()
by Mark Bailey | Sep 15, 2014 | GardenLife Magazine
There may be too many property programmes on TV, but the annual Shed of the Year competition, just finished on Channel 4, is worth watching. It’s feel-good TV, a tribute to British eccentricity and resourcefulness. It’s also a tribute to the joy of the ‘project’– whether it’s a mosaic of 50,000 shells in an air raid shelter, building a pub in your garden, or pursuing a dream of building the perfect birdbox.
How do you build a Shed of the year?
Many of the buildings in Shed of the Year are self-built, using salvaged materials. But not all of them. The winner of the 2014 Summerhouse/Cabin category was a flatpack cabin, turned into a beautiful ‘Caribbean retreat’ through paint colours, fabrics, plants and holiday mementoes. So a cabin from our website could be a great starting point for a future Shed of the Year entry.
It could also be a great starting point for a new job, hobby or way of life. As Sid, a shed graffiti artist who won the Workshop category in Shed of the Year 2014, said, ‘A shed has given our family a whole lot of freedom … it’s a nice lifestyle we’ve got’. Sid also said, ‘Sheddiness is all about being different, individual and quirky’. And even if you don’t have the time, tools or skills to build your own Gothic folly, a flatpack garden cabin can still be unique and personal.
Start with flat pack or self assembly
How about building your very own perfect garden bar, for cocktails, home-brew, or family barbecues?
The Cumber flat pack garden bar, with its fold-down counter, can be customised in various styles from beachcomber to 1950s Americana, and our Lochy self build garden pub also has a large serving hatch at the front, and is popular as a garden drinks bar. And one of our customers is using the Lovat summerhouse as an elegant drop-in Pimms Bar at a holiday park.
Or perhaps you have just retired and finally have time to devote more time to a hobby? Take a look at Tweed Extra with windows on eight sides and 360-degree views – it would make a wonderful hide for watching birds and other wildlife in comfort, or an observatory for amateur astronomers. Or Grace, with a large covered area where a shed graffiti artist like Sid could use spray paints without fumes building up, but without having to worry about rain.
Customise an existing garden building
Adding further scope for individualism is the fact that at GardenLife we can customise many of our designs. This includes adding windows, increasing window sizes, or increasing wall thicknesses. We even have a full bespoke design service if you want to personalise further.
So think of the designs on our website as just the start of a process. Just because a design is labelled as a summer house, it doesn’t mean you have to use it as one. And if you see a cabin that is almost what you’re looking for, but not quite, then ask us about customising it.
And most of all, let your imagination run free. When you see a garden building on a website, it’s sometimes hard to visualise how you could personalise and decorate it. So use events like Shed of the Year or the GardenLife Pinterest page for inspiration – whether you prefer the ease and convenience of a flat pack design or want to search in a skip for materials to upcycle, you’ll find some amazing ideas.
by Mark Bailey | Sep 4, 2014 | How to guide, Timber building videos
Self assembly timber garden office video
If you’re looking to start a new business from home, or if your current home business is in desperate need of additional storage or meeting space, you could consider a timber garden office as an alternative to a portakabin, a costly house extension or renting office premises at another location. Renting office space and extending the house are expensive ventures, and a portakabin isn’t the most attractive location to run a business from. However, a timber garden office can prove highly cost effective; a low purchase cost (when compared to extending and renting), quick self assembly and minimal ongoing maintenance.
Portakabins and house extensions require planning permission, and although this might still apply with the siting of a timber framed office in your back garden, if you can position your garden office a couple of metres away from the boundary, and buy a design that’s 2.5m in height (or less), you may be able to avoid the hassle of obtaining planning permission altogether.
GardenLife Log Cabins specialise in a whole range of different timber framed building styles, all of which are designed for self assembly (even for those who aren’t great at DIY). Despite this, GardenLife also stock a number of modern timber garden rooms and offices that feature a modular Quick Fit design, which is perfect if you’re not that confident with DIY, but still want the pleasure (and reduced cost) of a self build project.
The self assembly timber garden office video above showcases what is involved in constructing the Fiona contemporary garden office. The self build Quick Fit kit for this garden office is delivered with the bulk of the elements already pre-assembled; walls are provided as modular wood framed panels that simply slot together, and the windows and doors are already built, as are the roof frames and apexes (the only separate parts are the foundation joists, floor boards and roof boards). As you’ll see in the video, the tools that are required are a hammer, screwdriver, drill, saw, spirit level and staple gun (although you can use tacks on the roofing felt if you don’t have a gun).
The self assembly video shows two professional installers completing the installation process in about six hours (with a couple of hours for unpacking and organising the parts). So if you’re not a DIY regular, a day in the garden should be all you need to self build your own timber garden office; far less stress, hassle and cost than an extension. If you’re still not sure about undertaking the task, don’t fear, GardenLife can arrange installation for you, just get in touch to find out more.
![The best foundations for a summer house]()
by Mark Bailey | Aug 18, 2014 | GardenLife Magazine, How to guide
The vast majority of GardenLife’s buildings come with a pressure treated timber base, but one of the fundamental rules for any garden building is that you need firm, level foundations onto which you can secure your base. If the ground beneath the summer house or log cabin is uneven, the screw holes on the walls may not meet up properly, and the walls may distort, with individual timbers opening up or bowing outwards.
Uneven or unstable foundations can store up future problems too. Subsidence may cause timber walls to warp, making doors and windows fall off square. You may also experience problems with leaks and damp.
So, preparation is everything when it comes to choosing the best foundations for a summer house or log cabin, and there are various options available, the main ones being:
- concrete
- paving slabs
- timber decking
Unfortunately each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, so there is no single right answer, and some foundations suit different garden building types and sizes.
Concrete foundations for a summer house?
The usual advice for concrete is to put a 7-10 cm layer of concrete above 7 cm of compacted hardcore. Having the foundations raised slightly above the ground level encourages water to run off rather than pooling around the base of the summer house. If you’re planning on buying a smaller summer house, concrete foundations may be a little excessive as you may be able to use paving slabs or decking instead. Concrete foundations are however suitable for larger, heavier timber garden buildings such as log cabins and more sizable garden offices.
Pros: Concrete foundations are permanent, stable and non-shifting – this is especially important for larger buildings. It also allows for very sturdy anchor points to which you can secure the timber base. The concrete can also provide the floor for workshops, storage sheds and garages (which can make the purchase of a garden building cheaper, as there’s no need for a timber floor).
Cons: Concrete is not an eco-friendly option as its production causes a significant release of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). Other disadvantages include the fact it is relatively expensive compared to other bases (especially if you have it laid professionally). And finally, it does not allow water to drain away, so the timber at the base of the cabin may suffer damp problems. Nevertheless, despite the problems, concrete foundations are a popular and low-maintenance option for log cabins, and the potential problems with damp timber can be avoided with careful maintenance of the building and sensible treatment of the timber.
Paving slab foundations for a summer house?
Paving slabs can be laid on a base of sand and cement, with anchor points at the corners. The slabs should be evenly laid, and firmly butted together. Having them raised slightly above ground level will help water to run off. Paving slabs are best suited to smaller garden buildings and are not recommended as a foundation option for large log cabins.
Pros: A foundation of paving slabs is relatively easy to lay, and they can make an attractive patio area in front of a summer house or log cabin. Like concrete, they are low-maintenance, and stable, however, they are easier to remove than concrete if you want to redesign the garden.
Cons: Like concrete, paving slabs don’t allow water to drain away, so there can be problems with damp if rain pools around the building. However, using wood preservation treatments on your summer house can protect against damp and rot. If the ground below the paving slabs is not stable (if they’re placed directly onto grass, gravel or soft soil), they may subside, causing problems with warping.
Timber decking foundations for a summer house?
It’s possible to build your cabin on foundations made of secure, level timber decking, with a weed-proof membrane between the ground and the timber. The timber must be pressure-treated to withstand damp. Concrete anchor points at the corners can be used to secure the building, or the pressure treated timber base can be screwed directly into the decking foundations. Timber decking is attractive and works well with summer houses and log cabins of most sizes.
Pros: The decking can be used to create a verandah area, so it can look highly attractive. Ridged decking allows water to run off, helping prevent damp problems around the walls of the building. The space underneath the decking allows air to circulate and prevents damp from rising.
Cons: Timber decking may not be suitable for larger cabins. A small area of decking in front of a summer house may not cost much, but to extend decking under an entire garden building (where it will be completely hidden) can push the price up. Even with pressure-treated timber, regular maintenance and wood treatment will be necessary, with an annual wash a treatment with decking oil necessary.
If you are considering purchasing a timber garden building and need some advice on the best type of foundations for a summer house or log cabin, get in touch and we’d be happy to help!
by Mark Bailey | Aug 14, 2014 | Bespoke garden buildings
Project Name: Unique garden office design
Location: Edinburgh
Client Brief: GardenLife Log Cabins were tasked to provide a unique version of our 70mm Laggan timber garden room for use as a private office and studio all year round. The client requested 88mm laminated logs for extra insulation, living house quality windows and doors, as well as a slightly narrower design to fit within the parameters of garden. Thinner logs and wall timbers can be used for garden offices, but if you want to ensure warmth in the middle of winter, and also keep heating bills down, 88mm laminated wall timbers are the best option (and also incredibly strong and robust).
Technical Specifications: Whilst some customers require a completely unique garden office design, in other circumstances we can modify existing office designs to suit budgets and/or time constraints. In this instance, a customized Laggan garden room (with 88mm laminated timber walls and living house quality windows and doors) was the ideal solution.
Completion time: For this particular projected all we needed was 8 weeks from confirmed order to completed, watertight building.
Concluding notes: The client has been very happy with the contemporary design – it provides a lot of light and is a great space to live and work in (and the office is used for both work and play)!
If you run a business, or are thinking about expanding your premises or setting up from scratch and would like unique timber office design, just get in touch and we’d be happy to chat things over with you.
![Modern log cabins versus traditional log cabins]()
by Mark Bailey | Jul 30, 2014 | GardenLife Magazine
Modern log cabin DIY kits take traditional timber designs and make them easier, cheaper and more convenient
Friends in the US sometimes talk about their plans to build a traditional log cabin, either as their main home or a holiday home. It seems to be part of the American dream – along with owning land and a great pick-up truck.
The cabins my friends in the States hanker after usually look like something out of Huckleberry Finn or Little House on the Prairie, with whole logs and maybe a wooden stoop or a covered porch. And, impressively, they plan to build them from scratch – sometimes even sourcing the logs themselves.
It’s admirable but quite an undertaking. It requires not only huge DIY skill and ambition, but also extensive amounts of workspace – not something we have in the average British garden.
Traditional log cabin style
The practical and visual attractions of traditional log cabins are indisputable. With good-quality timber, they’re warm, well-insulated and robust. And treated with preservatives and maintained properly, they’re highly durable.
A ‘traditional log cabin’ can take many forms. It could be a sturdy US-style log cabin – somewhere to grill steaks or mess around with fishing equipment. Or an Alpine chalet with steeply-pitched roof to prevent snow build-up. Or a Nordic-style barbecue hut with an internal grill and sauna-style benches round the edge. The designs may originate overseas, but they travel well: they all look great in a British garden.
Modern log cabin construction
Modern log cabins add some state-of the-art convenience to the tried-and-tested appeal of traditional cabin designs, especially when they are supplied as a DIY kit. I’m sure Pa from Little House on the Prairie would have welcomed the weatherproofing that comes from laminated door frames or rubber window seals. Or the convenience of tilt-turn window mechanisms and 3D door hinges.
I’m equally certain the Saami reindeer herders in Finland who ‘invented’ the barbecue hut (or kota) centuries ago would have leapt at the chance of some double-glazing, or an extractor that stops the build-up of smoke from the barbecue grill.
And developments such as wifi have extended the uses of the modern log cabin. For example, a traditional log cabin design can now accommodate a very twenty-first century digital business or home office.
Modern log cabin DIY kits with traditional style
The other great advantage of modern log cabins is ease of construction. I’ve seen various books and courses about designing your own traditional log cabin or garden building, and what always strikes me is the overwhelming range of choices you have to make, right down to what sort of screws to use. These choices are as off-putting as the amount of time and DIY expertise required.
Modern log cabins take all the best ideas from traditional cabin building, such as using real timber, but then they strip away the obstacles. If you buy a GardenLife log cabin DIY kit, (including the popular log cabin style garages) all the fixings and components are supplied, so there is no need to spend days in hardware stores, trying to source the right screws, bolts, latches, locks, shingles, floor beading or other elements required to build a cabin in your own back garden.
Moreover, with modern log cabin DIY kits, all parts are pre-cut and fit together with perfect accuracy. So, the cabin just takes a day or two to build, rather than eating up a few months’ or even years’ worth of weekends. It’s an altogether easier, cheaper and more practical way to achieve the daydream of building your own log cabin – whether you want designs like Tyne, Whiteadder or Erne, which wouldn’t look out of place in the backwoods of North America, or something like the Scandinavian style Kim or Greta barbecue huts.
Traditional log cabin construction photo credit: http://www.outdoors.org (photo taken by by Gary Dethlefsen)
by Mark Bailey | Jul 22, 2014 | How to guide, Timber building videos
Timber summer house construction video
Planning to build your own timber summer house or garden room this year? This helpful video from GardenLife shows time-lapse footage of how the Wye clockhouse style summer house was built by our construction crew. The first stage requires laying out all the individual parts of the summer house; timber wall logs, windows and frames, doors and door frames, roof purlins, roof boards, floor boards, shingles and fixings.
GardenLife summer houses come with clear instructions, and the installation process (once the base is fixed in place and level) is similar to building with Lego, with tongue and groove timbers simply slotting into each each other. The door frame can be assembled and slotted into place when the walls are about 60cm or two feet hight, and when the timber walls reach about half the total height, the window frames slot in, the windows slide onto the hinges and the walls can be completed.
In the timber summer house construction video purlins are added to the roof next – these may require a little trim to ensure the top of the purlin is level with the roof line. Once the purlins are in place, the roof boards go on, again slotting together in the pre-cut grooves. Shingles are added from the bottom of the roof line upwards, and there’s a handy trick to ensure that you end up with a professional tile-effect finish on the roof.
When adding the floor boards leave a 5mm gap around the edge of the floor (to allow for natural movement and swelling in the timber), then cut and position the supplied edging strip to cover the gap. At this stage in proceedings your summer house will nearly be complete, and you will just need to add window latches and drill a couple of holes for the door bolts.
Don’t forget, as soon as the weather looks like it will be dry for a good few days, it’s time to get some timber treatment on. Good quality wood preserver that stops rot, insects and fungus is essential, and once this has had time to try (or even a second coat), you can then think about applying a couple of coats of trade quality exterior paint or log cabin oil. GardenLife are happy to provide advice on the best types of summer house timber treatment, and can also recommend eco-friendly timber treatments too.
![Bespoke timber office building]()
by Mark Bailey | Jul 10, 2014 | Bespoke garden buildings
We’ve put together some more notes and photos on a GardenLife bespoke office build (following the launch of our bespoke garden building design service).
Project Name: Bespoke timber office building
Project Location: Dalkeith, Scottish Borders
Client Brief: Design and build a log cabin suitable for all year round office use for 2-3 persons, large enough to allow for desk space, filing and storage space, featuring a separate internal room and a terrace with a roof overhang.
Technical Specifications: This timber office was designed and built using 88mm thick laminated timber. This type of timber (as opposed to thinner log thickness’s) provides living house quality, as well as excellent insulation qualities and a robust finish that will last for years. The windows and doors that GardenLife used were also living house quality. Building designs, plans and 3D renderings can be viewed in this PDF [3.7MB].
Completion Time: The office was designed, built, insulated and occupied within three months of the start date.
Concluding Notes: The client was very happy with their new timber office building, and given their small company it provided a great environment within which to work. The office is both cool in summer and snug in Winter, due to floor and ceiling insulation that’s designed to keep temperatures regulated.
Thinking about designing your own timber office or garden building? GardenLife’s bespoke timber building design service could be perfect for you. Feel free to get in touch with your plans and questions and we’d be happy to help.
by Mark Bailey | Jul 2, 2014 | GardenLife Magazine
Most of us in the real world want to keep the price down when we buy a garden building. And because many timber garden buildings look more or less similar in website pictures, it’s tempting to think they’ll be similar once they’re built. But it’s important not to confuse a short term saving with long term good value.
Why are cheap garden buildings false economy?
Once you take delivery of a garden building, the difference between good and poor quality quickly becomes apparent. And as the months and years pass, that difference becomes even more conspicuous. An apparent bargain can quickly fall prey to leaks, rot and warping. Shaving too much off the price of your summer house or garden log cabin may reduce its durability and usability , and in time, repair costs and heating bills will all add up.
Why is timber wall thickness important in a garden building?
Log thickness is a major determinant of quality, insulation and robustness, so you should avoid purchasing any timber building with walls thinner than 16mm (although 18mm is better, and 28mm or higher is recommended if you intend to use the building through spring, summer and autumn). Thinner timbers rot, warp, distort and appear to age much faster than thicker timber walls too. You may initially save money on a thin walled summer house, but it’s unlikely to last long, and will require much more in the way of upkeep, maintenance and repairs.
Wood density is also a mark of quality, and denser woods therefore cost more, but last longer. Trees grown slowly in cold climates develop a closer, denser grain than trees in warmer Mediterranean countries. By seeking out timber grown near the Arctic circle – in countries such as Estonia (where all GardenLife’s timber is sourced) – you should end up with a much warmer garden building, and a stronger, longer-lasting one.
Low-quality timber is more likely to suffer from distortion over time – perhaps because corners have been cut during the drying process. As a result, you may find that walls or ceilings begin to bow or sag; door and window frames twist; or doors and windows become increasingly difficult to open or shut. Such problems can be avoided by using slow-grown, kiln-dried timber.
How can I check the quality of the timber in a garden building?
To check the density of the timber and general sturdiness of a garden building, Which magazine recommends that you stand inside it, jump in the centre of the floor, and push against the side and roof panels: “You should feel firm resistance rather than flexing”.
Once you’ve recovered your breath from the jumping, you could carry out a second test: if you look up at the roof purlins (the horizontal beams which support the roof) there should ideally be thicker purlins running from apex to apex. This should make the building more solid, durable and resistant to the British weather.
Why should I pay extra for a pressure-treated base?
Any untreated timber that comes into contact with the ground is vulnerable to rot and decay caused by moisture seeping into the wood. GardenLife garden buildings use pressure-treated wood for the foundation joists and base, lengthening the life of the building. You can save money buying a cheap summer house or log cabin without a floor, but the building will have a far shorter lifespan as a consequence.
Another vulnerable area of any timber garden building are door frames, which can take a battering from rain and weather. So too can the support posts on timber gazebos and carports. Using laminated timber for door frames and support posts can prevent problems with warping, twisting and rot. It may add a few pounds to the price, but will assure you a more attractive and durable structure that is likely to last much longer and require far less maintenance and upkeep.
Why should I opt for a garden building with a roof overhang?
In a rainy climate, leaks are the bane of many a shed-owner’s life – they can come from anywhere: through the roof; via warped door frames or windows; from water seeping through ill-fitting timber. The best way to avoid leaks is to seek out better-quality timber and construction. For example, laminated door frames are less likely to warp. Another tip is to look at the roof overhang – well-built garden buildings, especially log cabins, will have an overhang of at least 5cm or more. Smaller than this and rainwater will simply run down the sides of the walls, making it more likely to gain entry inside! Again, you can save money and buy a cheap building with no overhang, but the walls will require far more maintenance to ensure they do not rot.
Why should I consider garden building security?
If you use a garden room or workshop to store garden equipment, tools, bikes and the like, it’s likely you have hundreds of pound worth of kit in there – the average garden shed contents are worth around £1,000 (a lot more than people often think). A flimsy, insecure garden building is an open invitation to the light-fingered, and also a false economy. Better to look for a building with a combination of robust wood; well fitting door and windows; and sturdy cylinder locks – all of which are standard on GardenLife buildings. The extra cost will probably be less than the excess on an insurance policy, and certainly less than the cost of replacing stolen equipment. It will also help protect against the stress of dealing with a break-in.
Buy a cheap garden building or invest in affordable quality?
So, if you are browsing “bargains” online and think you see a high quality garden building that is also cheap, you now know which pitfalls to watch out for (especially if you expect long term value from a low price purchase). As with everything in life, you get what you pay for, so if you would like to enjoy your summer house, garden room, log cabin, garage or workshop for decades to come, consider the above pointers before making your purchase.
