Very early days of exploring options as this would be to go in the garden of a house we haven’t bought yet, but does anyone have any experience of this type of thing?

http://www.waltons.co.uk/4m-x5-5m-greenacre-garage-log-cabin

Would be for bike storage/workshop etc. The obvious thing is it doesn’t look too secure. Any other issues/better ideas etc? Having read the rate my brickie thread this seems a simpler option. Will it be damp? Too cold? Would I be able to run power to it? I’m a DIY numpty btw.

I assume it would need a decent concrete base.

Cheers!

I might buy me one of those and go hide in the woods for a few weeks. I think I’m in danger. 😉

Looks nice though. Running power to it wouldn’t be a problem. Being all wood construction means fixing an extra layer and insulating on the inside would be a doddle. I reckon it would need the concrete base for sure. It would be good fun to build too.

Was looking(online) at that very shed today as a workshop space.

If you do go for it keep us posted

100mm Celotex with Plaster board bonded to it is easy to fit and would make it very cosy. For bike security you could use ground anchors, decent (Almax) chains and a decent burglar alarm with remote alarm (eg via GSM).

They have similar log cabins on tiger sheds. They may have other designs you like better or be more competitive on price

http://www.tigersheds.com/product_list.asp?cat1=8&cat2=0&order=0&records=1&view=all

diagonal braces on the doors wrong way

Heres my 44mm logabin form Cabinville. You’ll need a concrete base, the windows and doors are not very good and will leak water for the 1st year while everything settles. I put a gas stove in which runs on propane, this speeds up the timber drying. The knots will need sealing with silicone after you’ve preserved / painted too as these wick the water through and cause lots of condensation. I’m going UPVC on windows and doors soon as it’s has settled / dried which should make a big difference and more secure. Its also fully alarmed.

[/url] IMG_0001 by Konastoner, on Flickr[/img]

I helped my bro put up a similar garden summer house from Dunster. It was the double skin insulated version. It went up easily and is now warm and snug. The roof overhang may be significant here. Obviously windows and doors might be vulnerable. Do they offer more secure versions for the folk who use them as garden offices?

Yes they need a concrete base. The one I put up was bolted down to it, IIRR. Bro ran power into it, he has those skills.

Thanks folks, I’ll look into some of these other options too. It’s sounding promising though.

I helped a friend build a similar one for his garden a few years ago. Very solid construction and relatively easy, if you follow the instructions. Handy if you’ve some scaffold or a couple of those ladder/platform things.

The roof overhang may be significant here.

diagonal braces on the doors wrong way

Any chance you two could elaborate on these statements? Not quite following you. Cheers!

diagonal braces on the doors wrong way

Any chance you two could elaborate on these statements? Not quite following you. Cheers!

He means that the diagonal bracing inside the doors should be low at the hinge side, and high at the other side.

That way the brace is working in compression and not relying on fixings into the end grain of the braces to stop the doors from sagging.

It’s a while since I worked on it, but I seem to remember the roof extended about a foot over the sides, back and front. It would have kept driven rain off, mostly.

And there’s something about planning permission, maybe you don’t need it, or they can’t object, for less than 2.5m tall garden buildings. It ought to be worth checking.

Yep, if you are near a boundary you’ll be limited to 2.5m high without planning permission, which a lot of these wood buildings are taller than. You can risk it without if your neighbours are unlikely to complain. You may also need building regs.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/outbuildings/

I needed planning for mine but it was straight forward, and went through with no issues.
2 people can get it built in a day, but the shingles take ages to put on. All in mine was fully complete with electrics, gas stove, floor, carpet and painted within a week.

Oh it don’t look it but mines a 6m x 5.5m

2.5m high

You don’t need planning as long as the building is more than 2m from the boundary (is that near?) and the eaves aren’t any higher than 2.5m, and the max height (i.e. the ridgeline) isn’t any higher than 4m.

So none of these, as long as they are not closer to the boundary than 2m, need planning permission:

http://www.tigersheds.com/product_detail.asp?prod=125

I’d just to add some experience, in case it’s useful. It was double skin with insulation in the middle, ISTR 3.5m x 2.5m, and the weather wasn’t good. Bro had tarps to keep the rain off the as-yet unused stacks of timber and to cover the part-built structure. He had lengths of planking to go across between the walls under the tarps, and lots of rope, stakes and bricks to hold down the tarps. We worked in gaps in the weather. It stayed dry inside.

Forgot to keep tabs on this. Thanks everyone – really useful info. Anyone got any more pics? 🙂