Garden Therapy Rooms – Ava Log Cabin

At the turn of a new year I had the opportunity to visit the fantastic Ava Log Cabin which is being used as a Garden Therapy Rooms in Norfolk.

The Ava Log Cabin features thick 70mm logs, a 28mm floor and roof and measures 8.44 x 3.47m making this an excellent choice for additional living space or providing a personal service such as the Milestone Therapy Centre.

Nestled between Stalham and Ingham in Norfolk, England the Milestone Therapy Centre offers all sorts of therapy services including sports massage, reiki therapy, crystal healing, reflexology, pilates and Tai Chi.

The size and layout needed for Mrs Chilson’s business were an important factor when she was looking for a suitable cabin. She also wanted it to be able to adapt for future use.

The Ava Log Cabin was an ideal choice for her as it was the perfect size for her needs. She has also adapted it from the original layout by creating an additional room between the larger room on the right and the shower/toilet room. She uses this as a small kitchen / reception area.

The 70mm thick logs were also an important factor as she wanted to create a warm and inviting space for her customers. The thick logs work well as a natural insulation and are wind and watertight.

Mrs Chilson was also impressed by the quality of the timber as well as its value for money.

Prior the the construction of her new log cabin, Mrs Chilson ensured there was a solid base for it. A 10 cm thick concrete slab was laid with a steel mesh for reinforcement making sure it was level throughout. A solid level base is paramount to a long lasting log cabin without isuues.

The delivery of our log cabins are completed by highly skilled drivers who make it look easy. With the property being on a main road, the courier thought best to park the large truck in a safe place and use the forklift to drive cabin to the customers driveway, certainly not a usual sight to see.

With the cabin being so large, the parts were packaged into two 8.5 meter long pallets. The pallets also contained the doors, windows, flooring and roofing, everything Mrs Chilson needed to complete the build.

The customer had a timber frame built onto the concrete base to the exact size and requirements for the Ava Log Cabin. These foundation beams are essential to keep the first logs off of the wet ground.

Prior to the building up of the logs, the customer consulted the cabins plans to get a good feel of the layout and process.

The starter logs were then put down and screwed into the foundation beams. The logs were then built up and malleted into place (no screwing).

Once a around 8 logs high either side of the openings, the windows and door frames are slotted into place. The walls were then built up around them.

As with all of our cabins, the roofing joists are easily slotted into place using the same technique as the wall logs. Roofing boards are then secured into place ensuring there is a sufficient gap between them for expansion.

The cabin was then topped off with the very attractive green half round shingles.

Mrs Chilson has added a number of solar panels to the roof of her cabin to make her business more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

The Ava Log Cabin comes with 28mm flooring as standard. These tongue and groove spruce timber boards are laid as a floating floor, with 5 – 10mm expansion gap around its perimeter and nailed into floor joists.

Mrs Chilson also had insulation put into her flooring for extra warmth.

To gain an extra room, Mrs Chilson decided to put up a partition wall between the shower room and larger side room. Partition in log cabins can be built in the same way as regular stud walls, however it needs to be “floating”. As to not directly attached it to the rest of the cabin to allow for contraction and expansion.

An “expansion slat” can be used for this purpose and more details can be found in our expansion & contraction in log cabins blog

To finish off the cabin Mrs Chilson applied 3 coats Demidekk Ultimate: Colour 186 – Ulagra.

Although this brand isn’t officially recommended by us, we have had other positive reviews from customers who have used it on their cabins with good results.

Here is an example of a solar panel installation on a similar cabin.

To make her business more environmentally friendly, Mrs Chilson had a number of solar panels installed onto her cabin. The panels cover both sides of her cabin to soak up as much sun as possible as it moves through the sky. Additional panels were also installed onto an adjacent building to maximise its potential.

Adding solar to a cabin is a great alternative to putting them on your property because they are less visible and planning permission is easier. You can also use it to add capacity to your existing solar setup.