Garden buildings/summerhouse/log cabin etc?

[Daniel B]

Hello everyone,

we are blessed with having a substantial garden, and would quite like to have an 'outside room' that we can use as a gym, and also as a workshop, either one side of the room, or a seperate room within the structure.

Size wise, looking at something around 4.5m square, unlikely to go bigger than that.

I've had a look around online, and the choices are huge!
I see some that might be suitable, on a slightly smaller scale, available from around £1800, and others that I assume are better, but I don't know why!

I see some come with plastic glazing, and I think I would be wanting one with glass, but bizarrely this rarely seems to get a mention on a number of websites I have seen.

So I was hoping that as the number of websites and companies is huge, I am hoping that quite a few members will have at least researched it, if not bought one, and would really appreciate a heads up on what you discovered, as in the level of finish you went for, whether you managed to get glass, whether the perspex is a disadvantage, what the upkeep is like, and if you built it yourself how it all went?

I look forward to reading your replies!

Many thanks

Dan

 

[PE]

Hi
Did plenty of research into this area last year for our revamped garden.
As you say there is a massive choice of log cabin type buildings and it is hugely competitive so play one against the other pice wise.

If you want a standard off the shelf type building you will need to probably go 4m x 4m or 5m x4m, however most of the cabin suppliers will do bespoke buildings although may charge slightly more for that.

Firstly decide on how much room you have for the building taking into account boundaries (needs to be 1m away according some councils) and any planning issues (if over 4m tall or 3m with a flat rood) then decide on your budget allowing for building a base (concrete/slabs/sleepers etc whatever is best for you) and then you will know what you can afford.

The budget end cabins will often have thinner flooring and roofing wood material (such as OSB) and as you say perspex windows and probably mineral felt roof covering

Spend a bit more and you'll get glass (4mm thick/toughened/double glazing etc) , thicker walls (44mm or more) and thicker floorboards and roof boards and roofing shingles. Don't forget if you are using heavy machines etc you will want a strong floor

We ended up going for a sectional building in the end with toungue and grooved tanalised external cladding, insulation and then pine internal cladding, also matched on the roof which was also insulated and then shingled. We got all this sprayed and erected for slightly less than it would have cost afor a bespoke 45mm double glazed log cabin that we would have had to put together and treat, just as a guide

Size wise get the biggest you can afford, especially if you want more than one room in it (4.5m square is a reasonable size but your gym equipment may take up more than you realise if you want to be able to use it freely

Also plenty of people on here who have built their own so do a search for cabin, shed, self build etc

best of luck and let us knwo how you get on