Summerhousess

I've been beavering away at this online and one of the complications is that sites differ as to what they say is width (I would say the front/back of the building and what is length (I would say the sides of the building). I am getting very confused - and the prices vary enormously!

lucky I can't help I'm afraid, but isn't there a big garden centre near you with some you can go and look at and ask questions? We have one about 10 miles from us with quite a few you can go and pick around in.

We have recently been looking at log cabins for our garden. They vary in thickness of wood, the thicker ones can be all year round buildings. Tuin came out as one long standing reputable company, and we visited their small premises near Norwich and were impresses - no heavy sales pitch either. They are imported from Holland. They are untreated wood, so you have to apply own choice of preserver/paint etc.

Just thought this might be useful, as many companies didn't have good reviews. Ignore please if not relevant.

luckgirl is there no way you could employ a carpenter to make it safe?
It could be a cheaper option.

Yes - we have had two carpenters in and both said it would be such a huge job that we would do better to get a new one. It is basically structurally unsound - the floor, the uprights, the window surrounds, the lot!

DH saw our summerhouse for sale in a local garden centre. It's recently been painted a fetching shade of woody purpleness. It looks quite at home in it's little corner.

lucky if you have an independent garden centre locally it would be worth a visit and a chat with their garden building person. We were considering a garden building and had some excellent advice from a tiny local garden centre. Ordered through them the buildings arrive flat packed at the garden centre and if the customer wants ready painted. The garden centre bring the building along and do the installation. We finally decided to extend the conservatory instead but they did install two very sturdy and pre painted sheds as well as removing a huge, very solid, extremely ugly, heavy shed. We did nothing and certainly didn't paint hem on arrival. There are suppliers you can access on line that will provide the same, we felt we wanted to see them and the garden centre had a display. Hope you can find something that works.

Good idea - I will try that; but I think our local centre only delivers and does not install. I will try going over the border into Wales and see what they have.

My OH rebuilt our Summer House over the winter and we have relocated it to catch the evening sun which we do not get in the house. It was not an expensive one to start with and is is now nearly 30 years old. BIL a joiner helped with some of the replacement, and we have had a new roof, additional supports and at a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Lucky girl some modern tradesmen prefer to work on new jobs, what a pity you can not find a traditional make do and mend it craftsman who would just replace bits that actually need replacing. I know some people do overprice when they don't want a job.

We bought ours online from Taylor's Garden Buildings. They will put the building together although we did ours. They do quite a few different designs, might be worth having a look.

After doing a lot of research, I bought mine last autumn on line from A1 Sheds and Summerhouses, very pleased with it, good customer service, and delivery and erection is included in the price. It's tanalised, pre-treated, so doesn't require any maintenance for some time...I feel if you paint the wood, it will weather and will need regular attention, something I am unable to do
Sorry it is behind the trellis !

Can't seem to load the photo...sorry

Photo !!

Here is a better one 5 months later

Thanks - we have been looking at A1 and it is good to have a recommendation that their service is good.

We have been told by a builder friend (who is too busy at the moment to do the job for us) that trying to renovate the existing one is a huge job and would cost us nearly as much as a new one. We trust him to give us a fair judgement - and he would not be doing the job, so has no vested interest in giving us wrong advice. I can see that the uprights are rotten.

Thanks also for the Taylors recommendation - I will look those up.