After spending a huge amount of time researching Log Cabins (much of the time spent learning a huge amount from this website!) I decided to place an order with Tuin. I was a little worried that the prices seemed too low to be genuine, especially when comparing to other suppliers, who were sometimes twice the price for a similar product. All of the reviews seemed to be very positive, so I thought it was worth taking a chance.
Following Richards advice, I placed an order in late November 2021 to take advantage of the lowest prices. The Cabin is to be used as a home office as well as a family room, so 70mm walls seemed to be a good idea, and they did not work out to be much more expensive than other options.
The Cabin was due to be delivered at the beginning of March (I selected the last available delivery slot when I placed the order, hoping the weather would be OK by then!), so we had plenty of time to get a base sorted. I decided on a solid concrete base as we have a bit of a slope in the garden, and as we keep chickens the rats can sometimes appear, so didn't want to have any chance of problems with them under the cabin. I had considered getting the shovel out and trying to lay the base myself, but was very glad that I got some professional help - 8 tonnes of soil came out, and about 10 tonnes of hardcore went down for the sub base. They took half a day to do what would have taken me all year! We then had concrete pumped from the front of the house as there is poor access to the garden.
On delivery day, the communication from the driver was very good - He stopped as requested at the end of the road and used the forklift to cover the last 1/3 of a mile to the house down quite a narrow lane. Everything was placed exactly as I asked for, all very quickly. I was not planning to start the build for another month, and was very happy to see how well everything was wrapped up and protected from the weather - there were no issues at all with leaving it on the drive for this time.
I took a week off of work to get the Cabin built, hoping to at least get it up and watertight in this time. Day one was spent unpacking all of the pieces and transporting them to the back of the house. I had ordered the 1" thick flooring - and those packs are heavy! In total it took 3 people just over an hour to get everything moved. I then started laying out the foundation beams (I ordered the composite beams, and very happy with them) and got the logs built to the bottom of the windows before calling it a day (the weather was not great so it was a short day).
By 10am on day 2, the walls were complete up to eaves height, mainly working on my own. I had pinned each page of the drawing pack to the fence and it was really obvious which piece was needed in every location. I had some help from my Dad for a few hours and we had all of the roof beams in place by 4pm.
Day 3 was spent fitting the roof boards, and it took 2 people on ladders and one person on the ground pretty much the whole day - it's a big roof! I was really surprised how long it took us to get this completed.
Day 4 was spent fitting 50mm PIR insulation and roof shingles on the roof - this again was a really slow process (not helped by a fear of heights!), working alone I got about 2/5 of the roof finished in 6 hours.
Day 5 was more insulation and shingles - getting into a rhythm meant I was able to finish all but the apex, but at that point I ran out of shingles. I was able to get the roof watertight due to the PIR and insulation tape, so this wasn't a major concern. I emailed Tuin and they sent another pack of shingles for free. I had also asked for advice on the Apex, as I had the "half round" style of shingle, which the packaging suggested should not be used on the Apex. They said this was not a problem, but said they could send a pack of straight shingles anyway (again, for free!). First class customer service!
Once the Cabin was watertight, the floor was the next challenge - this took about 2 full days, working on my own. Again, I used 50mm PIR under the floor, between the floor beams.
For the paint, I've used Sadolin Superdec - and have bought 12.5L of the main colour, as well as 5L of white for the Doors/Windows/Trim - this has given coverage of 2 coats, and gives a really thick coating. Before painting, I used 10L (2 coats) of Clear Cuprinol Wood Preserver (this went on well with a sprayer).
I still need to finish the floors (these will be coloured and waxed) and get the cabin connected to the mains electricity. One concern that I had was how to wire the lights without ugly cables / trunking running around the cabin - the solution that I've gone for is a fabric covered "Twisted" cable, which is held by porcelain cable holders, for a more traditional look. This will also allow for movement as the wood expands/contracts.
Overall, I could not be happier with the Cabin, or the service provided by Tuin. I would not hesitate to r
