We've been thinking about buying one of those garden log cabins, perhaps
about 4M x 3M in size. Has anybody in here actually bought one of these and
set them up themselves.

Samples of the sort of cabin I'm referring to can be seen he
http://tinyurl.com/ndrfy Please note I am not referring to this particular
make - I am just using this link as an example.

A few possible problems that worry me are - will the timber shrink after a
while and cause problems (leaks, draughts etc) - are they likely to warp
after time and affect the way the battens fit together closely (doors,
windows not fitting etc). Also, as far as I can make out none of these are
pressure treated. Is this likely to be a problem. I notice most other
garden timber products (decking etc.) are all pressure treated, even
although they need to be surface treated after construction - why not these
cabins.

Any advice or examples of personal experience in constructing/maintaining
these cabins much appreciated before I part with the hard earned cash.

Many thanks,
Neil

"neilr" wrote in message
...
We've been thinking about buying one of those garden log cabins, perhaps
about 4M x 3M in size. Has anybody in here actually bought one of these
and set them up themselves.

Samples of the sort of cabin I'm referring to can be seen he
http://tinyurl.com/ndrfy Please note I am not referring to this
particular make - I am just using this link as an example.

A few possible problems that worry me are - will the timber shrink after a
while and cause problems (leaks, draughts etc) - are they likely to warp
after time and affect the way the battens fit together closely (doors,
windows not fitting etc). Also, as far as I can make out none of these
are pressure treated. Is this likely to be a problem. I notice most
other garden timber products (decking etc.) are all pressure treated, even
although they need to be surface treated after construction - why not
these cabins.

Any advice or examples of personal experience in constructing/maintaining
these cabins much appreciated before I part with the hard earned cash.

Many thanks,
Neil


Put something similar but slightly smaller in about a year ago.The one thing
i found is dont expect it to just slot together and be perfect,they do need
a bit of work done during construction but nothing major,a keen DIY'er will
have no probelsm.Found we had to do some slight filling in where joints
didnt meet fully,however ours is an octagon shape so maybe more prone to
cracks . Try to get one with pressure treated timeber,ours is and we also
gave it three coats of good sadolin to give it full protection.On the whole
though a very worthwhile buy,so long as you get the footings ready for it
then the reast isnt to tricky.But if you get one with a cone shape roof be
prepared for a few bangs on the head with stray legs ;-)

Good luck.

JB

Jonbhoy wrote:

"neilr" wrote in message
...
We've been thinking about buying one of those garden log cabins, perhaps
about 4M x 3M in size. Has anybody in here actually bought one of these
and set them up themselves.

Samples of the sort of cabin I'm referring to can be seen he
http://tinyurl.com/ndrfy Please note I am not referring to this
particular make - I am just using this link as an example.

A few possible problems that worry me are - will the timber shrink after a
while and cause problems (leaks, draughts etc) - are they likely to warp
after time and affect the way the battens fit together closely (doors,
windows not fitting etc). Also, as far as I can make out none of these
are pressure treated. Is this likely to be a problem. I notice most
other garden timber products (decking etc.) are all pressure treated, even
although they need to be surface treated after construction - why not
these cabins.

Any advice or examples of personal experience in constructing/maintaining
these cabins much appreciated before I part with the hard earned cash.


Put something similar but slightly smaller in about a year ago.The one thing
i found is dont expect it to just slot together and be perfect,they do need
a bit of work done during construction but nothing major,a keen DIY'er will
have no probelsm.Found we had to do some slight filling in where joints
didnt meet fully,however ours is an octagon shape so maybe more prone to
cracks . Try to get one with pressure treated timeber,ours is and we also
gave it three coats of good sadolin to give it full protection.On the whole
though a very worthwhile buy,so long as you get the footings ready for it
then the reast isnt to tricky.But if you get one with a cone shape roof be
prepared for a few bangs on the head with stray legs ;-)

I bought a 5x5 one last year, so it's now about a year old. It was easy
to put up, with each 'log' slotting into the other; took about a day for
two of us to build. Roofing it with felt shingles - expensive, but nice
looking - took the best part of a day, treating the exterior - it was
completely untreated - took most of another day. Flooring took half a
day, with a hired floor-nailer, and the electrics, etc, again, most of a
day.

Since then, it's settled slightly - the plastic conduit that I installed
needed trimming this year, as the logs settled, and yes, the roof joints
have opened up by 2mm or so. However, upon inspection a moment ago,
they're relatively tight again - maybe down to 0.5mm.

No leaks, no warping. Doors and windows still open/close easily enough
(or rather, no worse!). I paid a couple of guys to dig out the
foundations, to mix and lay the concrete, and to cart away all the
excess earth, as it is dug into a slight incline - obviously with plenty
of clearance. There have been a couple of places where resin has leaked
out of the wood, but that's only to be expected, I guess. Some knot
holes went all the way through, and needed a small squirt with some
brown sealant - there's probably 4-5 of these.

Very warm in the summer; very warm in the winter. I regret not putting
any kind of insulation under the floor before I laid it, as the heat
tends to 'layer' in there. This wouldn't be a problem with a heater or
fan to move the heat around.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Paul

"neilr" wrote in message
...
We've been thinking about buying one of those garden log cabins, perhaps
about 4M x 3M in size. Has anybody in here actually bought one of these
and set them up themselves.

Samples of the sort of cabin I'm referring to can be seen he
http://tinyurl.com/ndrfy Please note I am not referring to this
particular make - I am just using this link as an example.

A few possible problems that worry me are - will the timber shrink after a
while and cause problems (leaks, draughts etc) - are they likely to warp
after time and affect the way the battens fit together closely (doors,
windows not fitting etc). Also, as far as I can make out none of these
are pressure treated. Is this likely to be a problem. I notice most
other garden timber products (decking etc.) are all pressure treated, even
although they need to be surface treated after construction - why not
these cabins.

Any advice or examples of personal experience in constructing/maintaining
these cabins much appreciated before I part with the hard earned cash.



Jonbhoy, Paul - thanks for the replies - that was just the sort of issues
that concerned me. They sound fairly good/safe buys, although I notice
substantial differences in price between different makes. The Ebay traders
seem to be offering the best prices (as you might expect) but you don't get
to see the goods before buying in many of these cases.

I'll do a bit more asking around before choosing a particular make, but
seems likely I'll be going ahead anyhow.

Thanks again,
Neil

Jonbhoy, Paul - thanks for the replies - that was just the sort of issues
that concerned me. They sound fairly good/safe buys, although I notice
substantial differences in price between different makes. The Ebay traders
seem to be offering the best prices (as you might expect) but you don't get
to see the goods before buying in many of these cases.

I'll do a bit more asking around before choosing a particular make, but
seems likely I'll be going ahead anyhow.

At the risk of sounding like a plug, have a look at
http://www.dhleisureandgarden.com/ - I bought my cabin from them, but
the best thing was that they had LOTS of different cabins, all built,
for you to go and look at. That really helped me decided what I wanted,
rather than looking through a catalogue or web site.

Regards
Paul

"Paul Boakes" wrote in message
...
Jonbhoy, Paul - thanks for the replies - that was just the sort of issues
that concerned me. They sound fairly good/safe buys, although I notice
substantial differences in price between different makes. The Ebay
traders seem to be offering the best prices (as you might expect) but you
don't get to see the goods before buying in many of these cases.

I'll do a bit more asking around before choosing a particular make, but
seems likely I'll be going ahead anyhow.

At the risk of sounding like a plug, have a look at
http://www.dhleisureandgarden.com/ - I bought my cabin from them, but the
best thing was that they had LOTS of different cabins, all built, for you
to go and look at. That really helped me decided what I wanted, rather
than looking through a catalogue or web site.

Regards
Paul

I totally agree with Paul . Websites are great for giving you an idea but
find one that has distributors where you can go and see them built.Will give
you a much better idea on the quality of wood,possible problems during
construction,type of base they have used etc.When ours arrived we had one
glazing unit that was cracked and a cross member that was missing.Because we
went for a company thats been trading a long time we called them and within
24 hours replacements were sent FOC.Ebay may be good for bargains but the
problem is the slightest part thats wrong or missing you may end being on
your own with.Also if its your first time building one you may run into a
slight problem and most major companies have a good advice line you can
call,again an ebayer usually wont offer that.Worth paying that little extra
just for piece of mind.

Good luck,

JB