Tag Archives: 45mm

40/45mm Log Cabin Inspiration

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At Tuin, we offer hundreds of Log Cabins as standard, these are also split up into various log thicknesses. Each with a certain use in mind.
This blog series will cover each log thickness we offer along with showing you how customers have put these customers to use.

Previously, we covered 28mm Log Cabin Inspiration. In this post we will cover 40mm and 45mm Log Cabins.

The 40/45mm Log Cabin category These are considerably more substantial than the 28mm thick log cabins which we offer. They have a far higher strength level and an increased rigidity, at this thickness they start to become a building you can use all year around with additions such as roof and floor insulation.

Aiste Log Cabin Pub

The Aiste Log Cabin is a customer favourite. Made from 40mm thick logs and double glazing, this 5m x 3m log cabin is most used for garden pubs and summerhouses.

Yorick Log Cabin Summerhouse

The Yorick Log Cabin is the ideal studio for your garden. Measuring at 5.0m x 3.80m, the front of the cabin is complete with large double glazed windows to let in natural lighting – Making the Yorick the ideal setting for a craft studio, garden office or summerhouse. Please note that the storage annexe is sold separately.

Justine Log Cabin Office

Measuring at 5m x 2.5m in 40mm logs, the Justine Log Cabin. The Justine is a popular choice to be used as a garden office, ideal for working from home. Make sure to add Log Cabin Insulation to ensure the cabin is suitable for all year around use.

Clockhouse Log Cabin

A classic style that everyone thinks of when they imagine what a log cabin should look like – This Clockhouse Log Cabin measures 5.5 x 4m and is constructed using 45mm interlocking wall logs. Perfect for a classic summerhouse, ideal in any garden setting.

This concludes the overview for 40/45mm Log Cabins, as shown, they are the ideal log thickness for summerhouses, garden pubs and temporary home offices.

Available in various styles and shapes. Take a look at our 45mm Log Cabins.

Preparing Your Log Cabin For The Winter

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Hello everyone!

I’m sure you’ve noticed right now, but winter is coming, which for the UK means plenty of cold mornings, rain and, if we’re lucky, some snow. I feel like most people would love to just stay at home in a cosy room all day when it comes to winter, almost like hibernation, and one way you can find your area of peace and warmth is within your Log Cabin.

But before we continue, this post will be about the interior decor of a Log Cabin- If you want a building that will suffice through the groggy weather than you will need to be prepared. We recommend for all year around use at least a 40mm Log Cabin should be considered, although when thinking of logs it’s all about the heat capacity. So for a slightly more expensive cabin, such as our 58mm Log Cabins or 70mm Log Cabins, you would save money in the long run when it comes to heating and keeping the heat in the building. Insulating your Log Cabin will also aid greatly when it comes to keeping warm in the colder months.

We also highly recommend that you learn about expansion in Log Cabins and how timber naturally acts within the damper months. Although the process of expansion is normal for timber, there are a few ways that you can help prevent this, this especially includes treating your Log Cabin correctly, with the most suitable products for timber buildings.

Now, let’s say that you have/are getting a Log Cabin, and are all ready for the winter months. What else could you do to build that warm and cosy sanctuary you envisioned? The rest of this blog should help inspire you on how to complete the interior of your Log Cabin.

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Many of our customers use a woodburner to provide heat into their Log Cabins, and it’s a great idea! So long as it’s installed correctly, so if you are thinking of installing one please use a qualified installer in the process. The important things to consider is the natural expansion and contraction of the log cabin and that the flue needs to accommodate this without restrictions.

If the idea of wood burners within a wooden building concerns you – Why not try out an electric heater? A electrical convection heater is known to be enough to heat a Log Cabin, a great example is shown within our Emma Log Cabin.

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Another example is this Piet Log Cabin that has been turned into extra accomodation, it just oozes with comfort- Complete with a bathroom, small kitchen area and a double bed, all of which are kept warm with the use of an electrical convection heater. These two cabins also have another common feature – Fluffy blankets, they are truly a winter necessity.

With the use of additional logs that match your Log Cabin, or the use of cladded panels, there’s not much to stop you taking our standard kits and customising them to your preference. As shown with the Piet above and also with this 45mm Hendrick Log Cabin.

Measuring at 5m x 5m, there’s plenty of ‘play room’ for you to add internal walls giving users of the cabin their own privacy when it’s needed, especially when it comes to the bathroom. You may not think that 5m x 5m is that big, but you will be surprised at this example of the Hendrick- Featuring a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

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Prefer sleeping higher than the usual bed? The Berlin Log Cabin features an upper level that’s just right to put a bed in and the bare necessities- I love the little window on this upper level, could you imagine being able to look at the sky so easily while you’re in bed?

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Did you know that we have a few buildings for these moments in mind? For example the Camping Barrel, to help you sleep in style or work in comfort. Featuring two separate rooms to help you keep what you need, in the area you need it in.

Log Cabin Camping Barrel

It also seems that this owner put the bed in a higher position in order to gain some extra storage space. A brilliant idea

I realise as I’m typing this, not everyone likes to spend all of their days in bed, but a seating area can still be inviting and cosy. For example, this colourful Blackpool Log Cabin:

Blackpool Log Cabin Office

Used as an office/study, these customers used contrasting colours to help brighten up the inside of their Blackpool cabin- With the blankets, cushions ready to be used for the winter.

Another colourful example is this Yorick Log Cabin, with the feature length windows giving in plenty of natural light, the light is also used to make the cushions on this corner sofa stand out! Not to mention that the sofa does look perfect for a social evening. Monopoly with a cuppa, anyone?

Yorick Garden Office Log Cabin

Corner sofas really are a great way to utilise space in your cabin, and sometimes (especially for smaller cabins) less is more. For example this Daisy Log Cabin, featuring just the necessities for a lovely evening.

Daisy Log Cabin

The colour scheme for this cabin is also a wise choice, the wider wall colour will help add more visual space.

… Is it too early to mention Christmas?

Yorick Garden Office Log Cabin

Hear me out though, a sofa, table and a bar?! That is some impressive space utilisation.

Another beautifully made seating/study area is this Ukrik Log Cabin, that contradicts the earlier posts – Soft interior works too! It’s all about finding a colour scheme that suits your tastes, as well as finding enough chairs to get everyone in, since we’ve proven that space won’t be a problem for some of these cabins.

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And of course, what would be a post by myself if it didn’t include a Shepherds Hut or two? It’s one of the main reasons why I love these so much, even though they look plain and simple on the outside, there are so many ways in which you can transform a Shepherds Hut! The majority of these examples are from our Gypsy Caravan model.

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A Log Cabin can easily be turned into a cosy area with a few things. Of course, there is making sure you are prepared for when log cabin expansion naturally occurs, along with having the most suitable log thickness and insulation for the job. Once the fundamentals are down, then you can start playing with a colour scheme that reflects you and your personality, picking the heating source you’d prefer and of course, finding all of the fluffy blankets and cushions that you can.

How are you preparing for the winter? We’d love to learn how in the comments below!

Annabel Log Cabin Review

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The Annabel Log Cabin is known for its sleek and modern design. Take a look at this customers overview of their installation proccess for the Annabel Log Cabin.

The customer writes as follows

Bought an Annabel Log Cabin in the summer and thankfully the weather was kind and allowed me to get it all up and painted without too much interruption. Overall, very pleased with the cabin – spacious, robust, easy to build and looks great. Delivery was quick even under the Covid problems and the driver was great – he did a great job of getting it down our narrow cul de sac and right up to the top of the driveway which meant I didn’t have so far to carry everything round to the garden. I have added some description and pictures of the build.

This is the site prior to preparation. It had quite a slope on it so needed to remove a lot of soil to get a level starting point. Also had to remove some of the fencing and move another area to give about 50cm clearance all round and have good airflow.

Annabel Base Prep

The site levelled off and ready to dig out the foundations.

Rather than trying to lay a concrete base and struggle to get that flat, I chose to lay concrete foundations (about 200mm deep) and then laid medium density blocks on top to give a level and solid base. You can see the damp course for under the concrete.

Turned out to be relatively straightforward to get the blocks down and level. I used adjacent blocks and checked across to other blocks as I went along to make sure it was completely level all the way round.

Laying the base for the Annabel Log Cabin

I used the composite foundation beams. They are a little tricky as they are not very straight and level but that improves as you build up the walls and some weight comes onto the beams. You just need to nudge them into the right place but when they have enough weight on them so as not to move the overall cabin – I did this when the walls were pretty much complete.

You can see the start of the walls here – just needed to make sure everything was square especially for the first five layers or so. I used a large square but found that measuring the diagonals was the better way. That also helped make sure the space for the door was correct.

Building the walls is really easy – it is just giant Lego! The walls go up really quickly – I had the walls up within half a day. One thing to watch is making sure the wall segments between the windows and door remains vertical and even. That said, when I came to paint the cabin, I took the windows and doors out so it was then easy to nudge them back into place and get them perfect. I used a further layer of damp proof under the foundation beams – probably overkill.

In the second image, this is the cabin fully assembled with the roof and facia boards all in place. I did have to cut some additional blocks to support the facia boards at the front and back to make sure they were strong and rigid. All looking good!

Annabel Log Cabin Installation Process

I used a rubber roof which was easier to lay than I thought. I put a drain in one corner which in hindsight was probably not the best solution – while it drains OK, there is a small pool of water always left. Perhaps a better way would be to fit a gutter at the back to catch the water over the whole width. The rubber comes up the side of the facia boards which are set slightly higher than perhaps normal – and the rubber folds over the facia boards a little. I then used some timber as a capping to firmly hold the rubber at the edges all the way around.

This is the cabin now fully painted and the fencing all back in place to finish it off. Prior to painting I treated the whole cabin – inside and out – with a wood preserver. There were two coats of undercoat and two top coats. I used Sikkens paint throughout – a little expensive but wanted to make sure it was going to be well protected and would last given the investment in time and money. Painting took ages – a full day to paint one coat – was pretty glad when that was finished. I did try using a roller but it wasn’t great at getting into the chamfers between the logs so settled on a brush.

Annabel Log Cabin Painted

I removed the windows, the doors and the door frame which makes both them and the cabin easier to paint. I also used clear varnish on the inside of the cabin to seal it thoroughly.

I then sealed all around the bottom of the cabin with clears builders silicone sealant – between the foundation beams and the foundation and between the foundation beam and the bottom log – and that stops any water from getting through.

Annabel Log Cabin Paint Details

As I live is right on the edge of the Peak district, it is very windy so I took the precaution of fitting the storm braces. We did have a few windy days and nothing moved.

As this is primarily being used as a workshop / storage unit, I opted to use the plywood boards from Tuin – really solid and much cheaper than elsewhere. These were all set on medium density blocks on a concrete foundation which makes them stable and rigid. I also treated each board with wood preserver. If we choose to change the use at some point in the future it would be easy to fit insulation, lay a nicer floor and so on.

I would definitely recommend reading through the instructions and all the helpful advice on the Tuin website before you begin – it made it so much easier as the instructions that come with the cabin are rather limited. Overall, put in the effort to get the foundations right, building the cabin is much more straightforward and quicker than you think, painting was easy but it is a big area so does take some time but the end result is really satisfying. Now just need to sort the rest of the garden but perhaps that’s a job for next summer.

Thank you so much to this customer for this overview of the installation process for their Annabel Log Cabin. A real transformation with a striking colour scheme to match the sleek style of the Annabel.

Interested in more reviews like this? You can find more with a range of cabins at: Tuin Pictorial Customer Reviews.

Clockhouse Log Cabin Customer Walkthrough

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This customer review and walkthrough was certainly a delight to receive, while I will try and do this well thought out structure justice in this blog. All credit goes to Mr M for this detailed walkthrough of his installation of the Clockhouse Log Cabin.

Mr M writes as follows:

This blog is intended for information purposes only and should not be used for formal instruction or standards in anyway. I’ve produced this blog to capture and share some of my ideas in building the Clock House log cabin from Tuin. I am not a qualified builder, electrician, carpenter or any other trade, nor am I an expert in log cabins; this is my first build. I love making things and I consider myself to be a “reasonably competent” DIY’er.

Our requirements

We are a family of four, my wife and I and our two teenage boys, living in a reasonable sized house. We wanted to extend the house to give us more room and some breathing space, but lockdown happened and things changed. My wife and I are fortunate that our jobs remained, but the two of us working from the dining room table is not a viable option in the long term. The house extension was unaffordable for us and too high risk in these uncertain times, so we decided on a garden building of some description.

Some friends recommended Tuin so we made some investigations and sketched out what we wanted. Basically, we had three requirements;

1) Home office for me permanently and a second desk for Elaine and the boys to use
2) Chill out/TV/gaming area
3) Home pub/bar area for socialising

Tuin offer a massive range of options so we sketched out a few layouts and matched these to some Tuin designs. We settled on the Clock House as it was the right size, and looked attractive. We really didn’t want a “box” in the garden.

With the dimensioned plans of the Clock House on the Tuin website, I sketched out a layout as shown below. For reference I use Microsoft Visio for these sort of sketches.

Clockhouse Log Cabin Layout

Layout of Clock House showing plenty of room for home office, pub/bar and chill out spaces

With this settled we then researched all the various options for the project, the main ones detailed below:

A. The base
There is some excellent information on the Tuin website regarding the base options. For me, this is the most important aspect. Get this wrong and you’ll struggle with the build and longevity of the cabin. I decided on a concrete base for three reasons (i) we have a slope in the garden which can be easily dealt with by a bit of digging; (2) I believe concrete is a great way of dealing with damp by the application of damp proof course and damp proof membrane, and (3) I am an old school engineer and wanted a solid structure to build my cabin on!

B. The roof
Easy one this for me. Clock House a nice pitched roof so the shingles option was a no brainer. We opted for the free shingles offer from Tuin.

C. The floor
Lots on information on the website regarding the floor, but fundamentally this choice boils down to affordability and intended use. I plan to use the cabin all year round as my home office. It’s a large structure so, in my mind, the floor should be substantial. I also want to do it once only and have it last for the life of the cabin. I therefore decided the floor options from Tuin were best for us. After a little googling I calculated you can’t buy that quality wood for those prices from a timber merchant, so again the Tuin option was a no brainer. I ended up going for the 25mm floor. Probably overkill for our needs but for an extra few hundred I felt this was worth the peace of mind.

D. Insulation
As we intend to use the cabin all year this was a necessity. Once again the Tuin website provided great information. I decided on 50mm insulation boards for the floor and roof, a damp proof course to go under the foundation beams and a damp proof membrane to lay on top of the concrete base.

Constructing the base

I’m not going into the details of laying a concrete base as I am in no way qualified to do so. There is lots of stuff on the internet on how to do this. My biggest challenge was how to get the base perfectly flat and level as it is quite large at 5.5m x 4m.

I had a load of old decking boards laying around so I selected the straightest and flattest and used these to construct the shuttering. A couple of day’s hard graft digging by hand and laying the shuttering got me to a good position.

Clockhouse Prepping Base

Preparing the base. All done with lots of old wood, some decent hand tools, a long spirit level and plenty of string. Chickens are optional!

It’s really wise to use string as the basis to work out your levels. If you look closely at the picture you can see how I’ve used it. The shuttering is held in place by wooden stakes. Once I was happy with the level I screwed it all together using battens to ensure it wouldn’t move. Next, in went some hard-core. Again I had some old blockwork and patio slabs so I smashed these up and used them as the bottom foundation layer.

Clockhouse Base adding Hard Core

Hard core going in. Be careful not to move the shuttering

Finally, in went the scalpings. I needed approximately 1.5m3 so I ordered 2x1m3 bags. Many wheelbarrows later and lots of tamping by hand with a tamper from Screwfix the base was prepped for the concrete.

Continuing the base adding scalping

Scalping’s in and tamped down hard and flat. Note the re-enforcements to the shuttering I added to ensure no movement when the concrete was poured.

Finally a week later I had the readymix concrete delivered. 3.5m3 all to be borrowed in manually. With the help of two friends and #1 son we did this in approximately 45mins. The next hour was spent levelling and tamping down to a flat smooth surface.

Base Concrete Laying

Pouring, levelling and tamping. Take your time, get it right. There is no going back from here!

Taking Delivery

One week later the log cabin was due for delivery. Slight hitch from the hauliers in they they were a day late. No biggie, just a little frustrating although perfectly understandable during lockdown. The huge articulated lorry arrived. We are lucky in that we live on a quiet road and we have room in our front garden for the drop off of the pallets. They are massive and a little daunting if I’m honest.

Clockhouse Delivery

I checked over the pallets for damage and found a few scrapes and minor splits in a few logs. I took photos just in case but they turned out to be very minor and did not affect the build in any way.
The next task was unpacking and carrying the logs to the back garden. I was staggered at the volume of wood. It took 2 hours to unpack and lay out but by doing this properly it certainly helped the construction. I tried to lay the logs by size and shape, and the order they would be assembled.

Clockhouse Part Checking

Erecting the main structure

Several reads through of the instructions and lots of YouTube videos later I was ready for the build. To be honest, the instructions were not great. I am mechanically minded so I managed to understand them, but I did wonder how non-technically minded folk would fare with this build.

First job was the foundation beams. I’d opted for the black composite beams as opposed to wood. They’ll last forever and they actually look really nice. They were actually quite twisted and bent due to how they were strapped to the pallets but once they were laid out they were easy to straighten with a little pressure.

I spent a good hour positioning the foundation beams the base, measuring the diagonals to ensure they were square then cutting to length. It’s vital these are positioned perfectly, and once done, I laid down the first row of logs. Once happy I carefully lifted them to place the damp proof course underneath. One final measure and I was ready to build.

Clockhouse Foundations Installation

DPM under the foundation beams

Happy with the foundation beams I started the main structure. With the help of #1 son we were up to the final logs within a couple of hours and ready for the gable ends and purlins. So far this was very straightforward. One tip is make sure you install the windows with the way they open in mind as they are left and right handed.

Clockhouse Log Cabin Installation

Up to now, I was really happy. All straightforward and simple and safe to erect. The gable ends and purlins were a different proposition though. With hindsight, I should have borrowed/rented some scaffold of some description. Doing this with ladders was a real challenge and I found it extremely difficult to stop the gable end logs from moving. In the end I used a nail at each to pin them together which helped a lot but was not ideal. The purlins were also slightly twisted which made it even more difficult. On reflection I wonder if the whole gable end structure should have been assembled with screws then installed as one unit?

With all the purlins now in, we were done for the day. No matter how hard I tried I could not get a perfectly straight row of gable end logs. The picture below shows the run out. With some careful persuasion I did rectify it to a degree but I could not get it perfect.

Roof Purlin Installation

Gable end run out which I did improve but only slightly. Main structure all completed. Very pleased!

The Roof

What’s the best way to describe installing the roof? Real hard graft! Simple as that. The Clock House has approximately 120 roof boards. I put 2 nails in each purlin per board. That’s 1200 nails! If you are not used to this sort of work, and I am not anymore, it’s just hard going and very laborious. I had a ladder with a roof hook which was ok but I’ve lost count of the number of times I went up and down that, even with help from #1 son! I did consider hiring a nail gun, but decided not to as that would add an element of rushing to the job, hence more likely to make a mistake. It eventually took a full day to complete nailing the roof boards.

Clockhouse Roof Installation

#1 Son giving me a break nailing the roof boards. The ladder angle looks awful! I think that’s just a photographic effect!

Now for the insulation board and the shingles. This was the most worrying part of the job for me. I’d never laid shingles before and was a little anxious that it would look horrible and I’d be stuck with it for the next 10 years. Lots of internet research that evening and I felt prepared.

First up was the insulation boards. 50mm boards from BuildBase as recommended by my builder friend. Easy job. I purchased 5kg of 65mm clout nails also from BuildBase. To help retain and conceal the boards I used the long planks that made up the pallets the cabin was delivered on! A trim up and a light sanding and they were perfect. My overall plan was that everything other than the main construction and essentials was to be re-cycled so this was a great start!

Insulating the Clockhouse Roof

Insulation boards up and nailed in place. 1 on each corner and 1 in the centre of each board. Note the pallet plank sits nicely to retain the insulation boards.

Now for the shingles. First job was to mark a line for the first row. I used a string line and spent time getting it spot on. The first row went up and looked really good. I found a really good YouTube video from IKO which showed it done really nicely. From there on, it was just a matter of taking my time over each one.

Log Cabin Shingle Installation

Once all the shingles were up I decided on a capping run to really finish it off. Again lots on YouTube here. I looked at lots of pics on the Tuin website and noticed that very few had done this. I think it looks great as once finished you cannot see any nails on the whole roof. Very pro!

Roof Shingle Capping

Cutting the capping shingles was very straightforward. The finished product looks really neat and adds additional protection.

It took me a full 1 ½ days to complete shingles; 2 ½ days for the roof in total. The main challenge was the pitch of the roof is at such an angle that I couldn’t stack anything up there easily. Hard graft and time consuming but I was delighted with the finish.

The floor

Another nailing epic begins! At least I was not working at height. First job was to lay out the floor joists and cut the insulation to fit. This is where the nice flat concrete base was beginning to pay dividends. I’d ordered the 26mm thick flooring from Tuin and for some reason (I think I saw it on a blog somewhere) I was expecting the floor joists to be 70mm. It turned up with the standard joists at 45mm so I had a small problem to overcome as my insulation boards were 50mm thick. To over come this and in the spirit of recycling I decided to cut shims from the shingle offcuts to raise the joists by the required amount. Perfect.

First the damp proof membrane went down. A few quick calculations and I worked out that by running the joists front to back at 500mm spacing’s I’d get a perfectly symmetrical layout with efficient use of the insulation boards. Although Tuin recommend 400mm minimum, in my opinion 500mm is ample for 25mm thick floorboards.

Clockhouse Flooring Installation

Final calculation for the floor was the length of the boards. I wanted a nice symmetrical look so I calculated 3 lengths to align with the joist spacing and leave 10mm clearance around the perimeter. This resulted in the joists being symmetrical to the building when laid staggered. I’ve tried to show this in the following pics. The cuts align beautifully with the door opening to give a really nice finish. I really took my time nailing the boards, aligning the nails to add to the finish. I was well pleased with the result!

Clockhouse Flooring Installation

After pinning the beading around the edges, I was done. I decided to lay the beading flat and used a mitre joint. The floor in total took 1 complete day.
Final task was to seal between the base and the foundation beams as added protection.

The electrics and network

Clockhouse Log Cabin Electrics Installation

Now I was structurally sound and waterproof I could begin the electrics and internet network. I sketched out my plans and had ordered the components so was ready to go. It’s really important to plan this layout carefully. Mine are shown in the following diagrams.

Finishing off

The last few jobs before kitting out and furnishing were treatment of the wood and fitting the Clock House feature. Regarding the treatment, we opted for the Embadecor in Walnut. Three coats on the outside. Looks lovely as you can see.

Clockhouse Treatment And Clocktower Installation

Scaffold is essential to install the Clock House feature. I borrowed one from my local builder friend.

Finally the Clock House feature. There were no instructions for this so I decided to assemble it on the ground and install it using scaffold. Far too heavy for ladders! We fixed it with 3 x 100mm screws at the front just under the eaves on the outside of the cabin, and 1x100m screw at the pack point from the inside of the cabin. This is a really tricky task requiring very careful placement and measurement.

At the time of writing I’m 3 weeks in to the project. I’ve been working from home in the cabin for a whole week now and it’s brilliant. I’ve spent every spare hour on this project but it’s worth it. My first desk is in and I’m constructing the bar from left over floor joists, the delivery pallets and some wood I salved from a recycling yard. A second desk, a sofa, TV and a few pictures and we’re there! But before all that we are going to paint the interior with Embalan timber paint which Tuin kindly swapped for us for the two tins of walnut stain we didn’t use.

Clockhouse Garden Office Finish

Conclusions

The quality of the Tuin product is exceptional, as is the customer service. I would thoroughly recommend them.

The Clock House is quite a complicated build. The roof and Clock House feature do add additional levels of complexity so you might wish to consider this if you are self-building. That said, I managed it by careful planning and taking my time.

The layout plans I drew up were invaluable. Although I tweaked the ideas as the build progressed, it’s vital you have a basis to start from.

For me, the concrete base is a must for a cabin of this size. Every day I look at it I’m glad I went down this route. I personally could not imagine this log cabin in a similar setting on any other base type.

Overall, I don’t think you can beat this project for value for money. The utility and space it has provided the family is fantastic.

Thank you so much to Mr M for this extremely in depth overview of the installation process for his Clockhouse Log Cabin. A real transformation providing multiple uses within this Log Cabin, certainly sounds like a hit for all members of the family!

Interested in more reviews like Mr M’s? You can find more with a range of cabins at: Tuin Pictorial Customer Reviews.

Log Cuts in Log Cabins

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This short article is the second in my timber series which tries to explain the types of timber we can use in log cabins. In this post I will try to explain how we can muck about with the timber to give you a really good price, but is it really good quality? Do you really want it?

The first in the series is here: Types of Timber in your Log Cabin

Timber Mills

I’ve already spoken about Spruce and Pine and their differences, now we can look at the actual log.

Logs arriving at the mill

Logs arriving at the mill

When the felled logs arrive at the mill an assessment is carried out on the best way to cut them for what ever uses have been specified. There are numerous different cuts for various reasons. It not simply a case of slicing them up. Wood is very expensive and the various parts of a log are worth varying amounts of money.

Parts of a Log

So lets look at this log:

Parts of a tree trunk

Parts of a tree trunk

There’s a few parts to it, each has it’s own properties and of course monetary value. It makes sense that the most valued part of the tree is the heartwood, this is the strongest part. It’s far more dense, it has less knots in it and is where all the full ‘goodness’ of the wood is.

This is the bit we like and are most interested in. This is the part that we make all of the posts from in the gazebos so we can be sure of the full strength, of course it does cause a few problems sometimes. Please see this post about the inherent problems of using this heartwood that sometimes a customer may see as a defect: Crack and splits in timber. However if we didn’t use it, and we used a different section and make a higher profit, your gazebo would not be half as strong. We’d be laughing to the bank but would you want that?

The heartwood is also the part Tuindeco will use for the log cabins but more on that a little later, lets keep looking at the log.

Best Bit of the Log

Lets look at our log again, we now know that the best and most expensive part is going to be the heartwood.  So as a mill we might look at this log and think to ourselves how we can cut it to provide the strongest piece and of course make the most money giving the highest grade of timber. Perhaps we’ll cut this from it:

Best and strongest part of a tree trunk for logs

Best and strongest part of a tree trunk for logs

With this we can take the most expensive piece and sell it at a premium and meet the Swedish Timber Grade of I – IV. We still have the rest of the log to play with and we can cut it up for all sorts of different uses meeting lower Swedish timber grades, maybe we could cut it like this:

Cuts you could possibly apply to a log

Cuts you could possibly apply to a log

There’s lots of technical terms we can use, Flitches, Deck, Board Scantlings etc. I’ll not bore you even more than maybe I am now.

Basically it means we’re cutting up the log to make the very best use of it. We’re cutting it to grades and to what we can get for it according to the buyers requirements and maybe their budget.

I found these images very interesting on the various cuts that can be found within a tree for various purposes:

Various types of cuts available from a log

Various types of cuts available from a log

As you can see there are lots of different ways to cut it, it gets even more technical and in another post I can blabber away about how we cut it to ensure knots do not fall out (Re-Sawn). Or how we ensure the very heart is cut to remain totally straight throughout the length of the final log cabin log.

Log Cabin Differences

I’ve seen another supplier of log cabins talk about differences in various log cabins. They are however completely missing the point. Double glazing and locks, roofing materials and sizes really are not the point when it comes to the buildings.

The ONLY thing that matters is the type of timber used, the quality of it, where it is from and where it is cut from within a log. And of course the moisture content (another post will deal with this) Moisture content makes a HUGE difference to the timber used in a log cabin.

Windows and doors, fancy locks, glazing, roofing etc is very superfluous and will not have any bearing on the quality or longevity. The timber is the important part and in my opinion the only part to worry about when you are researching or buying a log cabin.

The Log Cabin Cut

OK, lets assume you’re out to buy a log cabin, you’ve got cash to spend and maybe you can go direct to the timber mills and maybe even you can go direct to the factory. First I suspect you want the best timber, we’ve already talked about timber before: Types of Timber in a log cabin. and maybe you can get to the forest to select the best trees in the right location.

BUT now you can make it even cheaper and really get the price to where you want it. Maybe you are a UK supplier out to blast the market with you super duper best price log cabin

So why not use these cuts from a log and ask them to make the logs from them? This would be super cheap, probably about 20 – 40% cheaper :

Logs you could take from a tree trunk

Logs you could take from a tree trunk

Blimey, you’d make a killing! Your Log cabin would be way cheaper than anyone else, You’d sell LOADS

This is exactly what some suppliers will do, the outside of a tree is about 20% less weight than the inside, it makes for a cheaper building and certainly looks right on paper. You can even quote a Swedish log quality (above V but would you know the difference?). Kiln dried, really super duper! All the customers would think they have the UK’s best deal! WOOHOO!

By the way, I heard a quote recently from a very good friend in the industry. He said: “I can make a log cabin to any price you want. You want cheap? You will sell hundreds in the first few weeks but never answer the phone again!”

We would like to answer the phone this year and next and the year after……

But really what do you want? If you were at the mill and knew all of the above what would you really want?  Maybe this cut or are you not that bothered?

Inside cuts for a log cabin

Inside cuts for a log cabin

Timber Series

Following on from this I intend to write a short series on timber in log cabins, you really wouldn’t believe the differences and the ways we can play with wood to get to the prices you the consumer wants but, do you really want it in the long term?

The first in the series is here: Types of Timber in your Log Cabin

The following will be added to this blog over time:

  1. How we can cut a timber log to make a cheap log cabin.
  2. Moisture content in timber, machining and the impact of the content.
  3. Timber calculation to cut costs you can work out yourself and see where you maybe opting for a bargain while adding to a companies profits.
  4. More expansion information for log cabins.
  5. The pitfalls of thinner logs, barge-boards, windows and doors.
  6. Drying processes – kiln dried versus natural drying.

Gunda Log Cabin Timelapse

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Our Gunda Log Cabin measures to 4m x 4m, the ideal size for a summerhouse. And it’s easy enough to install, once you have a level base ready- See this customer who sent in a timelapse of their install, attached with this was some build notes from them.

I thought I’d add some notes and thoughts to go with these photos, as it’s been such a great experience.

The Customers Garden Before

The ‘garden before’ pictures are the bottom of my garden, it’s a wasted horrible bit of garden.
I’d been a bit nervous about the delivery, knowing it was going to be a large truck coming up a narrow’ish road, and it was. A very big truck. But the driver was brilliant and it could not have gone better. He even turned the truck round with ease, no dramas as I’d feared.

The cabin was delivered bank holiday Monday, but we weren’t building until the following Saturday, so I hand balled all the parts down into the garden on the Thursday night, stacked them into logical piles on pallets and put tarpaulins over it all ready for Saturday.

Friday night was spent reading the instructions over and over, and watching Richards video on how to build the thing. I’d watched it at least 10 times before we built, and even a couple of times since to make sure I got it right (apart from the door!). I can’t go on enough about how useful all of Richards videos, articles and blogs have been. I’ve soaked it all up and re-watched some of them mid-way through the job just to double check things as we went along. We started building, 2 of us, at about 8.40 Saturday morning. In the afternoon we got the roof boards on, and you’ll see in the video, even my other half went up on the roof to get them coated (I used OSMO from Brewers, quite expensive, pity I didn’t find the voucher for Brewers on your website until this week).

Roofing was started on the Sunday afternoon, I spent Sunday morning stood looking at it not quite believing we’d got this far. It took Sunday afternoon to shingle one side of the roof, then I booked. Wednesday off to complete it all as bad weather was due last Thursday. I got the 2nd side and the ridge done by 4pm last Wednesday. And it belted it down all day on the Thursday and not a single leak. I did order some IKO Shingle Stick from another supplier (sorry) but glad I did – used it on all the ridge tiles and edges, plus any tiles that felt a bit loose.

The floor still needs fitting, but I’m stuck for time for a couple of weeks now with work, and I’m still kicking myself for getting that door frame wrong – and you can see it in the video. I can’t praise the support and service from you guys enough, plus the support page on the website and the quality of the product. I’m really pleased with it.

Timelapses are always soothing to watch, thank you to the customer who sent in this timelapse of their Gunda Log Cabin. Looking for some more Log Cabin inspiration? You can find more reviews like this at: Tuin Pictorial Customer Reviews.

Is the Gunda Log Cabin too big or too small for your garden? We have hundreds of Log Cabins in our range to choose from.

Wolfgang Log Cabin Feature

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On the Wolfgang Log Cabin product page, we like to give you the nitty gritties of the product in terms of dimensions, technical installation tips and the best feature of said product.

But, on this page we let our previous customers voice their opinion on the Wolfgang Log Cabin and let them show you their thoughts, ideas and pictures! So here goes.

The Wolfgang Log Cabin

Wolfgang 45mm log cabin with integral shed

A unique style, manufactured using 45mm interlocking logs with straight cut logs (not diamond as may be shown later), the Wolfgang Log Cabin features a wide, low pitched roof for a cosy and homely feel. Other features include the side annexe for storage purposes, double glazed windows and doors and a height of 2.5m- Making it suitable for most UK gardens without planning permission, always check with your local council though! Overall the Wolfgang Log Cabin measures to 5.3m x 4.5m

Reviews:

With all of these features, you can really see why we love the Wolfgang and our customers agree too- with an average customer rating of five stars. Here are a few excerpts from some of the Wolfgang Log Cabin Reviews:

“I can now understand why there are so many 5 star reviews for tuindeco products. Delighted with my purchase of a Wolfgang cabin. High quality workmanship and excellent service. I would highly recommend this company.”- Mr. R O’Donnell  

“Superb piece of engineering! The only way it could have been easier is if it had been a pop-up version! Would highly recommend this cabin.”- Mr. C Wood
“Wolfgang Log Cabin 5.3m x 3.0m/4.5m double glazed. The whole experience from order to delivery and installation has been positive with emails and queries responded to quickly and promptly providing a stress free process. Overall this has been a trouble free build and the quality is fantastic. I would recommend this Cabin and Tuin to anyone. Enjoy your build.”- Mr. P Martin
We also have a more detailed report of the Wolfgang, written by Richard, of the timing it will take to install the Wolfgang depending on your confidence and experience:

Installation:

The installation for the Wolfgang Log Cabin is a simple process, so long as you keep organised. You can find loads of information in order to be fully prepared for installing your Log Cabin on the Essential Installation Manual as well as plenty of other Log Cabin Fitting Tips throughout the blog, from our expert (practically), Richard.

Here is one of our favourite installation sets of images:

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Installed:

And when installed and treated/painted… Its just a showstopper… Here are just a few of our favourite customer installs:

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Videos:

We have also received a few videos, so you can experience the Wolfgang Log Cabin from all angles, simply click on one below to start watching:

Customer Pictures:

If you would like to see more photos from customers please click on the picture below – Note: This will take you to our customers photo gallery hosted by Google Photos. Pictures may show older models or customer own modifications.

Customer pictures of the Wolfgang log cabin

The 45mm double glazed wolfgang, paired with Roof and Floor Insulation is a recipe for a perfect summerhouse!

The Wolfgang Log Cabin

Wolfgang 45mm log cabin with integral shed

For more details such as measurements and the breakdown of what comes within the self build kit, please look at the Wolfgang Log Cabin product page.

If the Wolfgang isnt quite what you imagined for your garden, discover the Clockhouse Log Cabin and the Lukas Log Cabin.