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Here are some of the Douglas Modular Buildings and Gazebos that we offer as set kits, the great thing about these modular buildings is that you can personalise them yourself with your own adaptations once they arrive. You could add … Continue reading
Hello and welcome to what we hope will be a useful guide towards the ongoing Log Cabin maintenance.. yes it may come as a surprise to some but just like a lot things in this world, log cabins do need to be given some attention every now and then to ensure they operate as intended.
As much as we would love to provide you with a completely self contained product that requires zero maintenance it simply isn’t possible with this sort of building.
Please expect to have to perform the odd bit of aftercare.
Firstly lets just have a brief recap on how our log cabins are made so we can all get in the right frame of mind, by now you may have already installed your log cabin which means you will of already read our comprehensive online Installation manual, Or perhaps you’re still in the planning phase.. Either way we would suggest viewing the above to gain more clarity and perspective on the whole project.
Before I started working here, When I thought about “log cabins” I would immediately cast my mind to the wooden buildings seen in films made from round tree logs sitting in a snowy forest somewhere nice and peaceful.
Snowy Log Cabin
Who wouldn’t want to buy one of these right!.. although you may need to make some life adjustments or sell a kidney to stump up the funds for this sort of project.
Our Log cabins are made a little differently and we like to think more financially and garden friedly, they consist of flat solid wall logs in a range of different thicknesses, stacked ontop of one another which then interlock in the corners with Wind and Weather Proof Connections.
TUIN Log Thicknesses
These wall logs will in most cases rest on what we call Foundation Beams to bring them up and off your base, These foundation beams as a minimum will be pressure treated for longevity.
Basic Foundation Beams
After the walls are up you then turn your attention to the roof, These come in different styles and sizes of course but the principle around them is the same. You start with the purlins/rafters then the roof boards are fitted on top to create the solid wooden surface to fix your roof covering to.
Lauren log Cabin being built
Then low and behold!.. you have yourself a whole new building ready to be used for whatever you can imagine. looking for Inspiration?
Completed Lauren log cabin
Easy Right… for some more information about fitting out buildings please also visit our Fitting Tips page.
So there we have it, thats the building up and ready to use but how do you keep it looking and performing as it should and what other considerations should you be thinking about to keep it a fully functional, problem free living space.
Perhaps the best way to go through some of the key points will be to break the cabin down into six areas .
The base is the first thing that gets laid and is critical for both the longevity of your building and its actual construction, i’m not here to talk about what base you should or shouldn’t use as all these details can be found with in our Base Support page already and in reality theres very little you should ever need to do to maintain it which is lucky as it becomes very inaccessible with a lump of a log cabin sitting on top.
However something to look out for would be subsidence, Let’s say you have a concrete slab, or a compact base with slabs on top.. with the weight of the cabin on top has it sunk it some places?.. hopefully not but its worth keeping that in mind to check if you find yourself with a misbehaving building.
Or perhaps you have built the cabin ontop of a raised Timber Platform and under the weight of the building one or more of the corners have sunk throwing out the top level like this unlucky customers did.
A sinking timber base
Luckily for this customer the timber base was fairly accessible from underneath so he was able to add additional support to bring it back level
Another important aspect of a base is damp proofing, using a Damp Proof Course ( DPC for short ) or a Damp Proof Membrane ( DPM ).
A DPC is generally used underneath your foundation beams, its purpose is to protect the underside of your foundations from rising moisture seeping up through your base as well as providing protection against ingress from the outside.
There are other ways to achieve the same level of protection, My favorite is to use a TAR product, painted on both the underside of the foundation beams and on top of the base that they sit on.. applying this thickly will also service in sealing the perimeter helping prevent ingress.
A DPM is used underneath the concrete slab or ontop of it, This will again protect the underside of the cabin/floor from moisture that tries to rise up from and through your base into the building.
Advice on damp proofing
Preventing this moisture from rising up within the building is very important, it can cause unwanted growth with in the building as well as other Unwanted Issues.
Mold with in a cabin
Ventilation does play a big part in preventing this as well which we will cover in a moment but if you notice that a once dry and mold free cabin starts to experience these types of problems then a review of your damp proofing may just be in order.
Now these are also very important and often in truth the cause of great confusion at first with our more traditional shed building customers.
So just quickly, Unlike a shed where you would expect to see a row of bearers all running the same direction with a floor built directly on top..
Typical shed base
The Foundation Beams service a different purpose for this type of building. they only span under the perimeter of the cabin (as well as any internal walls that might be featured).. What they DO NOT do is span in the middle where the floor goes later on.
Their purpose is to raise the first logs off and away from the base which in turn protects them and provides added room in the middle for a floating floor
We have different types of foundation beams to offer but they all serve the same purpose and will generally sit on top of your base with a DPC in between. This will generally be enough to keep unwanted ingress from entering your cabin but where two foundations beams butt join together you should think about enhancing these connections with a decent sealant/sealer.
Well here we go, We are starting to get into this now as once the walls are up you can finally start to get a good feel for your log cabin, as we mentioned before the walls are made from individual logs stacked ontop of one another to from a very solid wall, They interlock in the corners with fancy Wind and Weather Proof Connections which go along way to ensure that your cabin remains water tight… But as we also explain this isn’t where the story ends and you cannot just leave the logs as as they are and expect the building to be watertight which leads us swiftly onto a very important part of maintaining your log cabin which is TREATMENT
So let’s start by asking a question.. What is Wood?
Wood is basically a Sponge and this is how you must treat each individual part of your cabin, if you zoom right into the endgrain you will see that it’s made from straws all joined together which was once used to draw water and nutrients to the parts of the poor tree that once needed it.
Close up of timber
You can easily see from these pictures that when we look closely, wood is full of holes and it’s these little buggers that will be causing a problem as they all fill with water or, drain of water as seeing as we killed the poor thing there is no tension of water to rely on.
For an untreated piece of wood especially this is happening constantly, it’s trying to reach the same moisture content as the surrounding air. This is known a Relative Humidity and is a measurement of the amount of moisture in the air around us.
In the summer the wood will expel moisture and shrink, In the winter they will absorb moisture and swell which will loosen and tighten the joints where the logs interlock.
A lot of customers will fairly just assume that “treatment” is only applied to safeguard the wood, stop it from rotting ect but in truth this is just one of its benefits. Treatment is also there to try and limit this natural movement as much as possible , We want to limit the amount those sponges can absorb and expel moisture by clogging up the straws contained with in.. we do this by reaching the recommended depth of microns.
A decent treatment should provide the following benefits
More information on Timber Treatment specifically can be found within the other support articles we offer
I hope the above all makes sense as it then leads on to the ongoing maintenance of your cabins walls. They must be treated and they must be treated well, please do not expect to only have to treat your building once throughout its life time and Please Please Please use a decent treatment in the first place.. To many times have we had angry customers over the phone shouting, screaming at how dreadful it all is and how disappointed they have become….to only find that they hadn’t applied enough coats, hadn’t kept up with the re-treatments or instead used a lets say “less expensive” brand in the first place.
We recommend our own Tuin Treatments or specific ones found locally such as Sikkens, Sadolins and Kingfisher which we know work well at achieving the desired depth of penetration.
You will not cut the movement out entirely which is fine because the building is designed to handle a certain amount without any fuss.
So as the logs of the cabin move ( which they will ) you may then need to re-treat certain areas of your walls, Paying particular attention to the end grain and interlocking notches where they join another wall, these are the most vulnerable parts. You will also need to make note and follow the manufacturer’s guidelines in terms of reapplying dates.
This part is mainly aimed towards landscaping and storage rather than the cabin itself.
I’ll start by repeating one of our bold statements that we confidently make about the properties of timber, .. Wood will never Rot … we promise… Well, we also go onto say that so long as it is always ventilated, . so if it gets wet and is then allowed to dry it will be fine.
but what if it can’t dry?, What if air can never reach some parts of your cabin due to overgrowth, shrubbery, stacked rocks, Muck ect…
What if you decide to store things right up against the side of the cabins wall such as logs for a burner and leave them there for a few years while they season..
All of a sudden the wood will not be able to breath, vent and dry, Water could then sit there all winter which will eventually cause you all sorts of grief
Please be mindful of your walls, Make sure they are free from direct contact with anything which could cause a water trap, keep on top of your gardening in those hard to reach areas as if you allow overgrowth to take over it can really ruin your day… you may even decide to call us.. complaining about the timber quality in the first place… “sorry but its wood” we will tell you.. “it only rots if its not allowed to vent” we will try and explain… you won’t like that.
Daisy log cabin
As we know by now the walls of the cabin move as the logs Expand and Contract throughout the seasons, the design allows for that just fine.
But what if you want to fix something to the wall like a mounted TV bracket or some shelving to store those garden tools.. I always tell people they can do whatever they like to these types of buildings so long as they follow the golden rule which is.. “You must always allow for vertical movement with in the logs” further explained with in our Dealing with Expansion and Contraction page
Another consideration for some, if your cabin happens to feature vertical posts that supports a canopy or large overhang you will need to periodically check that the adjustable post anchor that we supplied is set at the right height to match the rest of the cabin.
So let’s say you happen to own a building like our Kennet log Cabin
Kennet Log cabin
Remembering that the wall logs expand and contract, that front post will need to be adjusted from time to time as the seasons change because it will not move to the same extent, This is achieved by simply adjusting the nut that sits beneath the smaller plate on the anchor.
Post anchor being adjusted
I think the best way to approach this section will be to start by gently reminding you that just like the walls, The doors and windows are predominantly made from wood, you remember all of those straws?.. Sponges.. yup this wood is no different
Sure,..the doors and windows tend to be made from timbers which are laminated together which does improve their strength and reduces the possibility of movement but its still wood and it still has those straws.
The correct treatment of the wall logs is very important.. but I would personally say that the correct treatment of the doors and windows is even more so and here’s why
Unlike the logs, The doors and windows do not have the same luxury of being fully and always supported.. The wall logs are locked in place and would do well to move in any unexpected sense.. but the same cannot be said for the swinging doors and windows… they are only connected to the cabin via hinges which means if the level of treatment isn’t correct or sufficient you may eventually encounter unwanted warps or twists to occur making them much harder to operate.
When first delivered the doors and windows normally arrive deep with in the pallet, This is on purpose as it provides needed support and compression while in an untreated state to prevent warps and twists… but at the very least the pallets are always banded tightly.
How our doors and windows come packed
You then unpack the doors and windows, Please store them flat and again under compression until ready for installation and treatment. While in situ you need to be very attentive with your treatment and often customers will not give them the attention they sorely require. Treatment should be applied both sides evenly and heavily.. To many times we have had customers upset because their doors have warped and to find out after that they didn’t treat it fully or correctly..
A twisted/bowed door
Luckily, even the most twisted door can be corrected with the simple application of a Turn Button or Key,.. you would have already seen these in action in gardens throughout your life time i’m sure as we explain within our other Support Page so don’t panic too much but like most things prevention is better than a cure.
Please keep on top of your door and window treatment.
Let’s move onto those hinges that we mentioned earlier, The doors and windows will come with their own style of hinges so you can operate and use them.. A lot of the time they are cup hinges that look similar to this
Hinges commonly found on our buildings
Now remembering what we discussed before, while treatment will limit the amount those pesky straws can absorb and expel moisture.. it will not cut it out entirely. You will at some point need to adjust the hinges of your doors and windows so please expect to do so, We go into more detail about this with in our other Support Page
A lot of the windows we send are top hung which operate from the inside via a simple Window Stay, we have all seen them and they do the job nicely
Its always easier to pre-treat the windows and doors before they are fitted so you can be sure of full coverage but sometimes this isn’t always possible. or perhaps it’s just time to recoat them following the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Top Hung Window
If you find yourself having to unhang this type of window from the cabin please be aware of an important Safety point before you proceed. The hinges are only designed to keep the window in place with in the constraints of the supplied window stay which means if you lift it up further, the hanging part which contains the glass could slide off. Be ready to take the weight and seek help from another if needed.
Window Stay Limitations
While on the subject of door/window furniture, let’s also talk briefly about the actual locking parts, The cylinder, mechanism, latches ect
These are pretty much self contained but some considerations should be made such as occasionally adding some lubricant with in the metal workings so everything operates as it should.. you don’t want the metal parts seizing up.. also consider oiling the exposed elements to keep rust and corrosion at bay.
Also think about fitting a traditional hook and eye’s for your doors so that during use you can keep them securely open, what we don’t want is the wind catching your new doors and smashing them against the walls… thats how things break which nobody wants.
Hook and Eyes
That’s about it for the actual hardware, but what about the glass that lets in that sought after natural lighting.. what do we possibly need to consider in terms of maintenance.
The panes of glass are dry fitted into a rebate contained with in the door or window, this is all done prior to delivery as it’s much safer to transport while in place.
The panes of glass can always be accessed if ever needed, they’re only held in by wooden beading which can be Removed With ease as we show with in our Glass Support Article
How the glass is held in place
There’s a few things that we need to think about and one of them which is often not really considered is the seal between the glass and that wooden beading.. is it sufficient?
Going back to treatment by this point you will have fully treated both sides of your window or door right up to the glass.. This alone will typically be enough to prevent water from encroaching between the two surfaces and finding a way into the cabin.
You may also ask yourself, Surely they will come pre-sealed in some way right.. why wouldn’t they be…..?!
Well actually no, they do not. The glass is just dry fitted inside the rebate of frame… thats not because we couldn’t be bothered or we’re just trying to save a few pennies on some silicone here in the office to keep the accountants off our backs. It is dry fitted for good reasons!
Firstly, While the packing team do their best to pack the pallets in the safest way possible, we are talking about several tons of a log cabin being moved around and transported over huge distances by several hauliers so things can happen and your glass could arrive damaged ( rare but possible ) .. its glass.. it can break!
For those of you that have used silicone before you will know that it can act abit like glue at times.. so in the unlikely event that you receive your cabin and some of the glass is broken its then an absolute nightmare and down right dangerous to go around and dislodge the broken shards from the inner frame and in the past when units were delivered pre-sealed we received right ear falls from angry customers and rightly so.
Hopefully you agree and can see why we do not send them out pre-sealed, So once you have treated the frames in full and you then go on to notice ingress, all you need to do is either run some sealant along where the glass meets the exterior beading… or if you want you can remove the beading and silicone where the glass directly fits into the inner rebate instead.
Sealant being used
Moving on slightly, Let’s think about how the frames actually fit into the walls of the cabin for a moment
Back to Movement again ( sorry ) The door and window frames are made with dry, fixing free U-channels which slot over the wall logs which means they will not constrict anything as it moves.
The U-channels are formed by what we call fascia boards… some call them architraves.. they’re basically just planks of wood screwed to the frame to create the U shape. These cover up the all important expansion and contraction gaps which are left above and to the sides of the frames ( please do not in-fill these gaps with anything )
Log cabin doors and window installation
So a few things we need to consider in terms of ongoing log cabin maintenance,
Have the inner sides of the fascias been treated correctly, fully? ..Well they should be as they also play a good part of sealing the outer perimeter of the frames.
Have you accidently sent fixings through these fascias which then also penetrate the moving wall logs underneath?.. if so please remove them as you will be preventing those logs from moving with the rest and you will most likely end up with gaps in between those logs.
Or, Perhaps you have noticed gaps around the door frame but are pretty adamant that there are no fouling fixings.. Try loosening the fascias and then re-tightening them.. if that doesn’t work then send us some pictures so we can have a look with you.
Maybe you have treated the underside of these fascias but you have noticed some signs of ingress? In this situation we may just need to enhance the seal between the two wooden surfaces.. Removing the fascias and adding silicone or draft excluders will normally cut that right out .. Just let us know and we are happy to send you some FOC.
We can provide an array of Log Cabin Extras to complement your log cabin and their requirement depends mostly on the circumstance
Before we touched upon the importance of Ventilation which helps prevent moisture from building up within the sealed cabin, If you are not constantly in and out of your building should consider adding Air Vents to allow a continuous flow of air in and out of the building.
Also think about what you store within the cabin, White goods especially kick out a lot of moisture so be sure to install vents to combat that.
We also offer Storm kits as an extra, These are spring loaded metal rods which are used to ensure that the roof of the cabin remains tied down to the rest underneath, most applicable to those in very exposed areas or for those cabins with large exposed canopy/overhangs… please consider the application of a Storm kit
Shingle Glue is an option to consider, Very handy again for customers in exposed areas but generally if you are installing in the winter it is suggested to safeguard the shingles until you summer next rolls around.
We highly recommend Guttering for your log cabin, Not only will this help filter roof water to the desired location it will also serves in protecting the walls and perimeter further down from unwanted ingress and splash around the base.
We also sell a product which is very useful for coating the inside of the walls, Its called Impregnation Fluid on the website and is a very powerful Anti-rot, insecticidal treatment which you could consider, Please note that in inside of your doors and windows will need more than just this product alone.
The roofs on these cabins should really be pretty self contained, so long as the roofing material was installed correctly there isn’t really that much you should ever need to think about.
Just keep an eye on any unwanted growth ontop, Moss can sometimes start to build up which should be removed as and when you can. Overgrowth can prevent the surface from ever drying out fully… also if you happen to install the cabin in the winter and moss manages to build up before the summer comes back around it could limit the amount of heat that gets to the tiles which is needed to bound all the those bitumen strips together.
Build up of moss
It will also be a good idea to periodically check underneath the roofs fascias for any nests which long term could start damaging the wood.
before those fascias are even applied they should be pre-treated as they are hard to reach once installed, Just like the other parts of the cabin you will need to revisit the treatment after a set timeframe and these higher parts are easily forgotten about and missed.
We hope this helps and we are happy to answer any unanswered queries that may come to mind, Please also revisit our installation manual for much much more.
As the drastic change of seasons starts, you may find yourself weary of starting your Log Cabin build. It’s during these times where you should keep a close eye on the weather reports and strategically plan your build around those few days of mediocre weather.
Just as these customers have done, in this post we will see Mrs R’s process of building her Ulrik Log Cabin, completed with pictures to show us the process.
Mrs R writes as follows:
We went for the Ulrik 3.8 x 3.8m cabin as it wasn’t too big but a nice size for our garden.
The delivery came mid-morning and took about 3 hours to unload and put in some order for the build. It started to rain (typical) but we managed to cover all the parts.
The build is on a raised concrete base and so we opted for the free composite foundation beams that were on offer at the time of purchase. They are never going to rot.
The following day the job was started. I must admit it looked a bit daunting but definitely exciting. Once the first few beams are down and making sure it’s as square as possible the build is pleasantly easy. We had very little issues with bent or warped timbers, some needed a little persuasion, however.
As each timber was put in place it was treated to a generous splosh of wood preservative including all the joints. This made the build a bit slower but whose rushing. We didn’t go mad with the camera probably because we forgot but we did manage to take a few snaps along the way.
By the roofing stage (day two) the kids had deserted me. This was to be expected, besides there was little help they could offer. Again, this is straightforward just a lot of nails to bang in… Tongue and groove complete. It starts to look like a cabin – Nice!
We went for the free shingles (green) which we thought would look better than felt. My husband had never laid shingles before found it to be not difficult. The only hassle is working on the roof and its angle. The shingles can be unforgiving on the knees.
The wood that was first treated with preservative now gets a “ten Year” guarantee undercoat from Sandtex.
Had to send the kids down the side of the cabin as it was a bit of a squeeze to paint. They had more paint on them than the cabin! What colour to paint it though?
We went for Bay Tree green, again by Sandtex (10yr) with a Grey Stone satin trim.
Two coats of each.
Wasn’t going to bother with guttering but its surprising the amount of water that comes off the roof, and we have had some rain as of late.
With the outside complete apart from a bit of paint for the guttering fixings it was time for the inside.
The electrics first. We had already run in some armoured cable when we done the base. This was now connected to an RCD consumer unit with a separate breaker for a ring main and a lighting radial circuit.
The electrics complete and certificated. The inside was stained with Ronseal 10-year Natural Oak in satin twice. Now it was time for the floor.
2 x 2 beams, insulation in-between and moisture resistant T & G flooring followed by a light oak effect laminate top.
The floor complete it was just kitting it out. Of course, the T.V went in first. The kids said we can’t get Netflix. So, I had to get a Wi-Fi extender that works a treat thank God.
A cheap sofa and chair from DFS, a small coffee table in the middle. The table under the T.V was made by my daughter whilst in her last year at school. Very nice – it has LED lighting as well ☺
A beer chiller (of course) and some blinds etc.
That’s my review over. Still some bits to do but almost there. Hope you enjoyed taking a look. It was a lot of work but very enjoyable and anyone can do it.
Have fun!!
Who could resist a helper as cute as the dog! Thank you to Mrs R for sending in this review filled with progress images, now that the WiFi has been sorted to reach the cabin, I can see myself spending hours in this Ulrik Log Cabin!
Looking for some more Log Cabin inspiration? You can find more reviews like this at: Tuin Pictorial Customer Reviews.
Is the Ulrik Log Cabin too big or too small for your garden? We have hundreds of Log Cabins in our range to choose from.
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Our Garden Dreams Veranda Gallery This is just a small example of what can be created with our German made and specified Garden Verandas. Please ask us for more details, please also see our Garden Veranda product category for base … Continue reading
One of our customers was very generous in sending a review of their Lauren Clock House Log Cabin (previously known as the Special Ben), with plenty of images to show you guys the installation progress! We do love receiving images here at Tuin, so thank you Mr F for sending this to us!
Mr F writes as follows:
We were both extremely impressed with the quality of the material and the thought and precision that had gone into the preparation of the kit of parts.
The 1st of 3 packages arrives, expertly manoeuvred by Barry, the truck driver. Each load was 20ft long and weighed about 1.7tons. By the second image there was a total of 5 tons of shed. Due to a lack of planning on my part they were going to remain unwrapped for about 2 weeks as the ground work was completed.
Work starts on the base about 08.00hrs. Quite a bit of soil had to be removed to
give us a level area. A load of scalping is delivered to the pit, in all, 12 tons was used to form a base for the cement.
Kharn, the builder, with his whacker plate consolidates the scalping and the
shuttering is leveled. We finished at 20.30hrs – a long day but the pressure was on as we had booked the ready mix lorry for 08.00hrs the next morning.
Impressive work in just one day Kharn!
Day 2 at 07.55hrs, 13 tons of cement arrives… A small dumper truck was used to bring the cement to the site and frantic tamping continued for over 2 hours until all appeared level – very hard work!
A couple of days later and with the concrete hardened the rear bank was ‘landscaped’ and a trench for gravel dug at the base.
Monday, Day 1 of construction at about 08.00hrs. The lower beams had been treated the day before and the black items are lengths of the plastic base material. The walls progressed nicely and the plastic base strips have just been cut to fit and slid under the lower logs. Note the log which will eventually be fitted above the door, has been temporarily positioned to keep things square despite the gap in the front wall.
How the joints between the front and rear wall and the middle wall were to be made was a mystery to us but the long logs with vertical holes near the joints gave us a clue and answered the question, ‘what were the square pegs for?’.
The square pegs or ‘wall dowels’ had their corners and ends rounded slightly which still resulted in a satisfying tight fit but with less chance of splitting the logs. The 3 on the left have been treated with a belt sander. About 1 minute per peg and about 60 pegs in total. A pencil mark at the halfway point was useful when banging in.
Don’t worry Mr F, these can confuse most people!
About 12 hours after we started and we realise that it’s quite a big Log Cabin!
The Lauren Clockhouse Log Cabin is one of our longest products!
Day 2 and the roof is progressing well. For the first 2 days of construction there were 3 of us working with lots of carrying from storage area to site and quite a bit of head scratching as we searched for various specific logs. Three pairs of hands were useful as we positioned and fixed the heavy purling.
A start is made nailing the tongue & groove roof boards into position. Much later and all of the boards are fixed. Rain was expected so we protected the roof. Probably no need to but it made us feel better.
Day 3 was mainly spent nailing floor boards. The nail gun chose a bad time to fail and resulted in much manual hammering. Day 4 was mainly spent fixing shingles to the rear. A slow job but looked good when done. Ladders R Us.
Day 5, the small gable comes in 3 pieces which we screwed together at ground level then lifted into position. Inevitably, it complicated the fixing of shingles on the front and it was quite late on the Friday before we finished. On days 4 & 5, some time was spent hiding from the heavy showers which slowed us down a little.
We used some heavier timber to trim the base of the roof to provide a substantial mount for guttering. Note the notches required to fit it around the left, right and middle wall. With a bit more thought I could have cut the timber longitudinally to a better shape for the gutter brackets but now I’ll have to custom make a mounting for each bracket.
End of day 5. It looks like the finished product but still needs a lot of detail work and much brushwork. The most important pieces of paper. A list of contents annotated by me with the log positions and the detailed diagrams showing each log position.
Happiness is 3 empty pallets. Progress would have been quicker if I were able to unpack and lay out in piles all the various bits of timber. The sheer quantity of wood (and the animals in the field) precluded that, so quite some time was spent rummaging for specific pieces as required. The timber had been cut very accurately and we found that the lengths on the plan, accurate to the millimeter, were very useful in identifying the required log.
True happiness indeed!
As garden buildings go, this was a big project and I wasn’t too surprised that the main build took 5 days. Kharn, a professional builder, and I were very impressed with the quality of the material and the accuracy with which it had been prepared. The joints were well thought out and accurately milled although we were dealing with significant lumps of timber and found a club hammer, with protective wood, more useful than a mallet! Even a sledge hammer was found a use in squaring-up the part built walls. Apart from the nails in the floor and roof boards, and the wall dowels, virtually no other fixings were used. The wall logs and purlins stay in position because of the clever joints while the entire building sits steady on its base because of its weight. The packing had been very well done and, as far as I am aware, no parts were missing. Indeed, the supply of plain wood parts seemed generous. Although
there were 450kg of shingles we were a little concerned that we would run out. With 378 shingles we finished the roof with 2 remaining – very well judged by the manufactures.
Overall, I’m a very happy customer and, more importantly, so is my wife! An outstanding product at a bargain price. As the Americans would say, ‘A lot of bang for your buck’. Many thanks for the excellent service and the experience of the build has got my builder friend thinking of buying a smaller version for himself. I hope to have the staining and guttering done soon and will send you a picture of the finished item.
Thank you again Mr F for a detailed and informative overview of your installation process for the Lauren Clockhouse Log Cabin. It looks great and we can’t wait to see your pictures for when it’s completely finished! I hope you and your wife enjoy your log cabin!
Other customer experiences, build articles and tips can be found at: Pictorial Tuin Reviews.
We have recently received this review from Mr B of how he installed the Rosenhiem Log Cabin for the perfect shelter for his hot tub! Thank you for showing us your impressive work with the installation of your Log Cabin, we hope you enjoy the Rosenheim and your gift for many years to come!
Mr B writes as follows:
We decided on Tuin for our log cabin after a long 6 months search for the best cabins and every time Tuin kept coming back to the top of the list so we decided with the start of our extension build and the need for the cabin for the hot tub we would finally bite the bullet and order.
We were not disappointed!
Day 0 : Base Construction
As we were having an extension built we paid the grounds workers to lay us a flat 4m x 4m concrete slab. I had originally planned to build a deck base but once I worked out it would need to support over 3 metric tonnes I decided my construction skills may not quite have been up to the job and that the cement slab would be better (plus as it turns out cheaper!)
Sometimes getting help for installing makes it less stressful!
Day 1 : Day of Delivery
8pm we received a phone call from a nice Dutch lorry driver to say that he had managed to get most of the way onto the housing estate we lived on but couldn’t get all the way in his massive 44 foot lorry! I walked down to help unload and escorted him as he drove the Moffett carrying a very long 5.3m package. Unfortunately whilst our drive was 4m wide it really needed to be 4.10m for him to have been able to place it neatly on our drive so after a conversation with our neighbour the cabin was stored across our drive and the neighbour’s garden. A cuppa later and nice Dutchman was back on his way.
Day 2: 6:15am – Day of Construction
Woke up early as keen!
All here and ready to go!
It takes a long time (1hr 45mins) to move all that wood just 10m to the back of the house but important to get it all close to hand and sorted by type.
Day 2: Approx 10am
It’s starting to take shape – fortunately I was able to second one of the builder’s apprentices to lend me another pair of hands so once the foundation beams were all set up and checked to be completely level the logs went on very easily. In the entire build only had two mildly warped beams that needed a little extra persuasion.
Day 2: Approx 1pm
Roof beams all on now and just starting to fit the roof boards. We had opted for an extra side window that you can see here so we had cut out the logs as we went (watch out for jigsaws they are sharp! – My cabin is now permanently marked with the blood of my endeavours!)
Day 2: 3:15pm
Roof boards all on and time to call it a day as wanted to start a fresh putting the roof felt tiles on.
An impressive days work!
Day 3: 8am – 4pm
Long hot day in the blazing sun but got all the roof tiles on – takes a little time to get the first row level and done but then they all just flow from there. Nice sturdy roof that easily took my 15st.
Second Day of Installing
Day 4 – 6 – The paint job
This was the worst job of the entire task. As we were using it for a hot tub cabin we had been warned to use impregnation fluid (2 coats) on the inside – as this is clear it is very hard to see where you had done so had to be methodical . Once that was on two coats clear treatment on the outside and additional 2 on the inside – Took approximately 36 hours of effort (2 of us at it ) – Don’t underestimate the amount of time this will take! But would completely recommend the treatment from Tuin as whilst it took a long time it went on easily and created a perfect finish.
One additional thing that is worth mentioning is that read all the blogs and suggestions on the main site – and follow the instructions – don’t be tempted to not!
Finally the cabin was finished and we could commission the hot tub and start relaxing. The rest of the photos show the end result – we are very pleased so much so that we have recommended Tuin to lots of our friends who are starting to make their own enquiries and I am sure will shortly be Tuin owners.
Tada!
A perfect fit!
The Rosenheim Log Cabin turned out to be a perfect fit for a hot tub! I personally love how the lighting from the hot tub really sets the mood inside- the ideal atmosphere for a relaxing session!
Thank you to Mr B for sending this in! We always love to see how many ways a Log Cabin can be put into use!
Interested in more reviews like Mr B’s? Find more on the: Tuin Pictorial Customer Reviews.
We have received a customer review from Mr P of their experience with installing their Julia Log Cabin. Thank you for sending this in! We love how the bar turned out- It’s a great idea!
Mr P writes as follows:
Back in February I purchased a Log Cabin from Tuin.
Several months later I have completed the project, turning it into a bar and brewery. Very pleased with it and your customer support and thought I would share some pictures with you!
We love the bar and brewery Mr P! Thank you for sending in your images, we hope the brewing turns out well!
Other customer experiences, build articles and ideas can be found at: Pictorial Tuin Reviews.
