On a cold and frosty early December morning I took a visit to a small village in Cambridgeshire to photograph our fantastic Gretel Log Cabin with Shelter.
Purchased almost a year to the date, you’d think December would be a strange time to be thinking about buying and constructing a Log Cabin. However, late autumn / early winter is the best time to make any garden purchases. This is because timber is usually at its lowest price so you’re more likely to get even more value for money. As our blog explains, there are many advantages to buying a garden product in November, December and January including having everything ready for the warmer months. The cold weather certainly didn’t put Mr Penny off. Thinking well in advance he bought and built the cabin in December of 2021. What better way to keep yourself warm than a bit of physical exercise constructing your very own log cabin!
The Penny family enjoy many occasions outside enjoying their summerhouse and outdoor seating area. With the added lighting and infrared heaters, they are able to enjoy the outdoor shelter at night and in almost any weather. This cabin is ideal to entertain their extended family and guests in style.
The cabin doesn’t hold back on features. It has a huge 5.4m x 2.5m gazebo area. A lovely 4 sided pyramid roof. Strong and sturdy 45mm interlocking spruce wall logs. Double glazing throughout. Double doors and two opening windows. It also has a nice 2.5m x 2.5m corner cabin area.
The Build
DIY
As with all of our cabins, the Gretel is designed to be built by the customer themselves. With it’s interlocking log design and slot in window and door frames, it’s no trouble, even for a part-time DIYer!
As with many of our customers, Mr Penny build his patio to the measurements of the Log Cabin. Not stopping at the boundary of the cabin, Mr Penny decided to cover a large area of his garden with patio slabs. He also built a few attractive planting beds made from brick to complete his patio area.
Foundations
With a nice solid and level base, Mr Penny was able to get straight on to laying the foundation beams for the Gretel Log Cabin. These foundation beams come as standard with all our cabins and are essential to keep your bottoms logs from sitting in water. Once beams are laid Mr Penny located the half/ starter logs and screwed them directly into the foundation beams. Now is a good time to ensure the building is square. It’s also recommended to check the cabin is square throughout the rest of the building process.
Building up the walls
Once the foundations to the cabin are ready, the fun part begins. The building up of the log walls. This is done by simply laying the interlocking logs on top of each other and malleting them in place as you go. (No Screwing required!) This is always the most satisfying and quickest part of the build. It is however easy to get carried away. As Mr Penny was building up the walls, he continuously consulted the plans to make sure everything was it it should. Once around 6 logs high either side of the window and door openings Mr Penny installed the windows and door frames. Again, this is simply done by slotting them into place and malleting into place. (again, no screwing). Once happy that the windows and door frames were in place, Mr Penny continued to build up the logs around the frames as well as the rest of the walls. Two support posts are then put into place at the end and towards the center of the gazebo.
Roofing
Now the rafters can be installed, this can be tricky for a single person, however Mr Pennys’ son was available to give him a hand. The rafters interlock the top logs of the walls and then screwed into the ridge board which is located in the center.
(4 sided pyramid roofs can be a little tricker to install but our installation guide makes the process easier)
The 16mm tongue & groove roof boards were then attached to the rafters using nails. The roofing membrane is then placed onto the roof and cut to size ready for the roofing shingles.
The customer opted for our black straight cut shingles which are a lot more appealing to the eye than standard felt. Although this is by far the most time consuming part of the build, it’s certainly worth it.
As with all of our log cabins we offer the choice of either standard roof felt or chose from a range of IKO felt shingles as roofing options.
Many of our customers opt for the IKO shingles, as these have a much more appealing look to them, superior in quality and they last much, much longer. They also come in a number of shapes and colours to match your particular style.
Finishing touches
Doors can now be hung and fittings and fixtures added.
Although the customer has not added any guttering, we do recommend it. Guttering helps direct the water away from the cabins walls, windows, and doors to increase the life of the cabin. We offer guttering sets and parts on our website.
Treatment
Another time consuming part of a log cabin build is the applying the paint/treatment. The customer finished off his Gretel Log cabin with 4 coats of Cuprinol pale jasmine wood treatment, however we recommend a higher quality treatment option. Treatments such as the Sikkens, Kingfisher, Sadolins brands. We can also provide a range of stains such as our Embadecor Timber Stain. Available in 14 different shades to suit your style..
We also have useful log cabin treatment blogs available which include do’s and don’ts when it comes to the treatment care of your log cabin.
Gretel Log Cabin with Shelter – Feature Video
The Transformation
Mr Penny was kind enough to send over some images of his garden before he began work to it. When moving into the property the outdoor area was overgrown and had been neglected for years. The transformation is certainly evolved the space, which is now modern looking, functional and orderly. Have a look at the difference Mr Penny has made in the comparison images below.
Gretel Log Cabin with Shelter – Image Gallery
Other uses for the Gretel Log Cabin with Shelter
Of course, with all our log cabins, its uses are vast and variable. The Gretel Log Cabin features one of our largest gazebo / shelter areas which opens up its many possibilities.
Outdoor dining/seating area. The Gretel log cabin gazebo stretching out to almost 5 and a half meters makes it a fantastic place for a bit of as fresco dining. The Perry family have enough seating to fit 6 people, with room to spare!
A BBQ shelter. Let’s face it, the British weather can sometimes be unpredictable. A large area to shelter from the elements is always a must have in any modern garden space. The Gretel Log Cabin provides this in spades, with plenty of room for your guests to huddle under its shelter for when the inevitable rain comes.
A Hot Tub shelter with changing room. Another great use for the gazebo area. Relax in your very own hot tub in the privacy and protection under the Gretel’s useful cover. Useful for keeping garden debris and bird droppings away from your beloved jacuzzi. Also the indoor area can make for an excellent changing room, so you don’t have to trundle off across the garden into the house. Why not make it warm and cosy with a garden building heater and some suitable garden chairs.
A Garden bar/pub area. Another fashionable option is to turn the Gretel Log Cabin into the ultimate place to entertain your guests. Similar to the Charlotta Log Cabin Garden Bar the cabin area could house one of our excellent log cabin bar tables and matching shelving unit to store and serve drinks from combined with a few bar stools. Then continue the theme outside in the gazebo area with some picnic tables and benches to seat your many guests.
Gretel Log Cabin Reviews
We can go on forever about how good the Gretel Log Cabin with shelter is but don’t just take our word for it. Here at TUIN we receive many excellent reviews about many of our cabins, the Gretel is no exception. Here are just a few.
Other featured Log Cabins similar to the Gretel
As a content creator for TUIN I have the gratifying task of visiting our customers and their beautiful log cabins. On my travels I have captured a few other cabins similar to the Gretel. Here are a few.
The Charlotta Log Cabin with gazebo is another of our popular cabins because of its additional outdoor shelter area. This one has been converted into a garden bar and outdoor seating/dining area.
The Charlotta features a 2.74m square internal area with a log thickness of 28mm, a single pitched roof and a gazebo measuring 4 meters long.
The Christopher Log Cabin with gazebo is again similar to the Gretel, however it has a larger internal space of 2.9m and a smaller 2.65m outdoor shelter. This cabin is also being used as a lovely summerhouse.
In Conclusion
All our cabins which feature an outdoor area are always a big hit with our customers. With its varying adaptability, extensive space, and stunning good looks it’s easy to see why. Mr Perry has done a wonderful job at completely transforming his garden area into a peaceful and tranquil place him and his family can enjoy for many years to come.
It was nice to hear that Mr Penny was “over-the-moon” (his words) with the quality or cabin and service from our sales team and delivery courier.
