I am thinking of buying a summer house to use as an office in my garden. There is a range called Billy Oh that are quite a bit less expensive than the rest. Even so the one that my wife has set her heart on will set us back around £3000, so before I go ahead and make a mistake I would like to ask if anyone has any experience of these.
Billy Oh Summer Houses
- Thread starter Scoffy
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StevieB
Established Member
Yes, I have one of their summer houses as a shed. Its OK, far better than a shed would be, but I would hesitate to use it as an office. I have a small (4m x 2.5m) one in 28mm timber. The back wall bows like twittery when you put it together - whatever the instructions say make sure you screw down the first course ot the bearers all the way round, not just at the corners. If you are going for the 44mm thick one it may be better.
I don't have an internal wall and insulation, which I think would be essential if you wanted an all year round garden office as opposed to a shed. If that is not included in your cost then you might want to investigate the extra cost. To be honest, if you can see a summer house near you for comparison purposes then I would highly recommend it, just to get a good idea of the structure. The other thing to watch is that they recommend you do not attach stuff to the internal walls, since the planks expand and contract - by a considerable margin according to the blurb.
In terms of the build, it was a doddle - just slap the planks together and tap with a RUBBER! mallet - the cutouts were OK. The whole structure was a bit flimsy until the roof trusses went on, which stiffened things up a lot. I would say a 1 man build until eaves height, then possibly a 2 man build depending on the style of the roof since the apex comes pre-made as a large triangle and can be heavy. Roof was OK to fit on my own.
Watch the roof covering - they do not include it in the price. In the end I sourced EDPM membrane from elsewhere, which has a 50 year lifespan and is much better than felt. I used contact adhesive, but that was a big mistake - get water based adhesive is my advice as covering the roof, even with 2 of us, was a real pain and there is no margin for error.
Painting - I went with Sadolin super-dec in the end - not cheap, but worth every penny as it flexes as the wood expands and contracts, unlike gloss paint which will crack.
Steve
I don't have an internal wall and insulation, which I think would be essential if you wanted an all year round garden office as opposed to a shed. If that is not included in your cost then you might want to investigate the extra cost. To be honest, if you can see a summer house near you for comparison purposes then I would highly recommend it, just to get a good idea of the structure. The other thing to watch is that they recommend you do not attach stuff to the internal walls, since the planks expand and contract - by a considerable margin according to the blurb.
In terms of the build, it was a doddle - just slap the planks together and tap with a RUBBER! mallet - the cutouts were OK. The whole structure was a bit flimsy until the roof trusses went on, which stiffened things up a lot. I would say a 1 man build until eaves height, then possibly a 2 man build depending on the style of the roof since the apex comes pre-made as a large triangle and can be heavy. Roof was OK to fit on my own.
Watch the roof covering - they do not include it in the price. In the end I sourced EDPM membrane from elsewhere, which has a 50 year lifespan and is much better than felt. I used contact adhesive, but that was a big mistake - get water based adhesive is my advice as covering the roof, even with 2 of us, was a real pain and there is no margin for error.
Painting - I went with Sadolin super-dec in the end - not cheap, but worth every penny as it flexes as the wood expands and contracts, unlike gloss paint which will crack.
Steve
Distinterior
Established Member
I have a FinForest summer house, and they do make various sizes.
The quality was good and its been up for 6 years now with no problems.
Here's a link to FinForest and the one I built.
http://www.shedsandlogcabins.co.uk/log- ... /joki.html
Tim.
The quality was good and its been up for 6 years now with no problems.
Here's a link to FinForest and the one I built.
http://www.shedsandlogcabins.co.uk/log- ... /joki.html
Tim.
StevieB
Established Member
Scoffy":14sgj1pq said:
There was nothing wrong with the quality of the timber, so what would you want bespoke that you couldn't get ready made? Generally I would only get one made if you wanted something different such as extra wide doors, or windows in different places etc. There are also other companies to try, I seem to recall looking at Dunster House as a same price alternative, but there are also a lot of more expensive cabin manufacturers out there!
Steve
I looked at the Billy Oh range but went for a similar priced building:
http://logcabin-supermarket.co.uk/4m-x- ... -log-cabin
Quality was good, but I have seen the same model sold under different names.
It may be worthwhile checking out other suppliers as I am sure that an identical model would be available elsewhere & possibly local for you to view
Also watch for delivery times as some need 8 weeks to be imported
http://logcabin-supermarket.co.uk/4m-x- ... -log-cabin
Quality was good, but I have seen the same model sold under different names.
It may be worthwhile checking out other suppliers as I am sure that an identical model would be available elsewhere & possibly local for you to view
Also watch for delivery times as some need 8 weeks to be imported
Spindle
Established Member
Hi
Have you looked at the products offered by Dunster House?
http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/log-cabins
From the research I've done they appear to be very competitive - not bought one yet but at least one forum member has one.
Regards Mick
Have you looked at the products offered by Dunster House?
http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/log-cabins
From the research I've done they appear to be very competitive - not bought one yet but at least one forum member has one.
Regards Mick
Be careful when comparing prices - sometimes you are not comparing like with like. Sometimes one will appear good value until you find that the roofing, floor, double glazing/toughened glass and so on are all extras.
Spindle
Established Member
phil.p":3swghyf6 said:
Hi
Couldn't agree more, (add insulation, material thickness and double skinning to the list) - that's where Dunster score.
Regards Mick
porker
Established Member
I have a Dunster House Summer House. Can't remember exact size but about 4x4m with a porch. I went to their place in Bedford to look before I bought and was happy with the quality. Can't remember the price but around 3.5k if I remember rightly. I wanted it as a home office so got a double skin with insulation and double glazed door and windows. It would be easy to insulate the roof but I didn't. Also worth insulating the floor. Took about a day and a half to build and then needed treating. Everything was delivered on a flat bed including all fixings, roof materials (membrane and shingles) including preservative. Been up about 3 years and been very happy with it. For a home office I would go for a double skinned and insulated build. It makes a real difference to temperature inside in Summer and Winter.
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