I am afraid I am not finding much time to be on Ciao these days but with a new puppy in the house I ...
I am afraid I am not finding much time to be on Ciao these days but with a new puppy in the house I have some doggy related products to review from time to time.
Member since:11.10.2006
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I have wanted a log cabin for years but previously there have been other things which were more urgent. However last Winter I decided it really was time to replace my ailing Summer House as the floor was rotten and something had clearly taken up residence in there and was happily making bedding out of the padding on my garden furniture, also the roof was leaking and it was beginning to show its age. To be fair it was in the garden when I moved here over 20 years ago and it was far from new then so I thought it had done pretty well. Having said that rather than waste it I advertised on my local Freecycle and it is now being repaired and rebuilt as a children's playhouse so it hasn't gone to waste!
Looking for a log cabin
Having disposed of my old shed I started to look around for a replacement, I trawled the internet, wandered around the local garden centres and did quite a bit of research. There was huge amount of choice out there and even the thickness of the planks they use varies. I did think about getting one of the thickest planks and then, as I only wanted it for a garden feature and don't plan to use it as an office etc, I decided that the standard 28mm planks would be perfectly adequate. There is also a huge variety of styles and sizes but I didn't want anything too big or too fancy so I had managed to narrow it down.
What I then decided to focus on was delivery times, with my old Summerhouse gone and all the contents in my garage
I wanted something before the Winter set in. Many of the online sites were quoting up to eight weeks delivery and I am not known for my patience. About half a mile from my home there is a fencing contractor, David Clarke Fencing, who had a rather nice log cabin as his office so I thought I might as well enquire close to home. Sure enough he did sell them and had details of the range he could get. The range he sells are from a company called West Bank Timber Ltd and he said I could expect delivery within a week to ten days which was just perfect for me. I selected the Lausanne from the range with a single door size 2.4m square, it cost £754 plus VAT and he agreed to deliver it for nothing so I placed the order.
Getting ready
That gave me time to sort out a base for the Log cabin. It needs a sound level base and whilst I thought of a concrete base I was persuaded that perhaps 50mm thick paving slabs would be a better option and just as serviceable. Although I am quite practical and I do enjoy doing jobs around the house I decided for this I would leave it to a professional as I wasn't confident I could get it level enough and that is key with this type of building.
I managed to find someone who would lay the base for me on a Saturday morning in a couple of weeks time which was ideal. I rang Mr Clarke, the supplier, and he agreed to deliver it on the Friday before the base was being laid. He is so close to me that he was able to bring round his forklift and a trailer and unload the whole Log Cabin on a pallet still plastic wrapped from the factory.
Putting it together
The main reason I wanted a log cabin is that I liked the way they go together. The planks interlock and you build the cabin in layers which are staggered at the corners. That means there are a lot of pieces - almost 200 pieces in fact - so the first job was to unload the pallet and bring everything into the garden. I did that while the chap was preparing the base as I was hoping that once he had finished he would help me put the floor in place.
The floor came in three pieces which interlock together and the walls are built off a small overhang at the edge of the floor. the side walls start with a narrow plank to give the staggered effect as you build up the cabin. We had to leave a space in the planks for the door to be slotted in when we had built the walls up by a couple of feet. Fortunately he had the time to stay long enough to help me lift the door into place and place the windows as both of these tasks are really a 'two man' job and I would have struggled to do these on my own - partly because I am too short and also because they are quite heavy for me.
You do need to take care to follow the instructions as you go, once the planks are slotted together they are hard to take apart so you don't want to make many mistakes. We used the drawings provided to count the number of rows before the windows needed to be placed and then again to work out when to use the longer planks for the roof overhang. The planks were light enough for me to manage all of them on my own so in my view this is a fairly straightforward job for DIY - obviously easier with two people for some of the jobs. I had help up to putting the windows and doors in and then my guy had to leave however he promised to come back the following day to help me with the roof.
We found that everything was cut perfectly so that everything fitted together without any problems. There were a couple of points during the construction where we needed to insert a screw just to keep something stable as we built it up and these were the short pieces adjacent to the window and door, these are fine once the tie planks at the top are in place so the screws can be removed on completion but it just helped us to keep everything in line as we built. I finished the walls quite easily and even managed to get the gables in place on my own. The gables are insecure until you put on the roof beams and I managed to get two of them in place on my own. I struggled with the centre beam so I asked a neighbour to help with that which took no more than a couple of minutes.
As I had to wait for the man to help me with the roof the following day I used the afternoon to put the base coat of the timber treatment on to the body of the cabin and fix the ironmongery to the windows. The windows and doors come ready hung and fully glazed all you need to do is fix the door handles and window stays and the window cills.
The roof was fairly straightforward, there were four roof panels to go over the main body of the cabin and then the overhangs are completed using loose boads which you nail in place. Two rolls of roofing felt and felting nails are provided on the basic cabin, shingles are available at extra cost but I didn't bother with them.
My opinion
I am really pleased with the finished cabin, it is very sturdy and substantial and is a vast improvement on its predecessor. It was very straightforward to put togther and the timber was cut perfectly making assembly easy. The only cutting necessary was on the end roof planks and on the skirtings which cover the joint between the floor and walls both of which are easy enough if you have the right tools.
Would I recommend it
Yes I would. All of the components were included and there were no problems with any of it. The pallet was well packed to protect it from the elements and to protect the glass in transit and the instructions were fairly clear although I might have appreciated a few more pictures. It is a straighforward DIY job to put together although you really do need two people for some parts. We had wonderful weather over the weekend which helped as it is not recommended that you erect these buildings in rain. I am delighted with the finished cabin and would recommend West Bank Timber Ltd log cabins, the delivery was as promised and everything I needed was included apart from the nails for the roof boarding.
Pictures of Lausanne Double Door Log Cabin
Lausanne Single Door Log Cabin
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Looks lovely, you just need a nice pair of gingham curtains! Seriously, this would be much nicer than my old garden shed. :)
paulpry118 21.08.2009 14:21
We have a two roomed log cabin in our garden. One room is a play room for our daughter and the other room is divided in half, 1 half was for my husbands motor bike and the other half is a shed. It was very expensive but my daughter uses it nearly every day during the summer to play in and we are able to keep a lot of her junk in it which keeps the house a lot tidier.
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