Corner log cabin in Chobham, Surrey

Similar to one of our existing garden office buildings the Carlisle log cabin but not quite big enough we produced a unique version to our customers specification.

The log cabin is complete with adjoining store and is intended to be used for occasional dining and running a pottery and porcelain painting class.

We insulated the walls, floor and ceiling and fitted underfloor heating as well as plenty of sockets for all the art equipment.

Concrete base in place and we are ready for the log cabin assembly to begin.



Having arranged the timbers assembly can begin. Windows and doors are slotted into place before the walls get too high.



Up to roof height. As this is a bespoke cabin and it is a double hipped roof it takes a little bit longer to assemble than standard log cabin kit roofs.



The roof framework is complete and roof boards are ready to be fixed down. Again ths is quite time consuming as each board had to be cut with a 45 degree chamfer with this roof style.



Roof boards and bitumen roof tiles in place, we can finally concentrate on the interior. Our client required the ceiling, walls and floor to be insulated and also required underfloor heating.

Battens are fixed to the walls on 600mm centres and 50mm thick rock wool slabs are fitted between them.



I created a wooden frame surrounding the actual window frame which had a 12.5mm rebate on the outside edge. This would therefore accept the 12.5mmm plasterboard creating a neat finish around the windows. In thoery you could plasterboard the return into the window and finish the edges with corner tape but this seemed like a neat and effective and quick solution to the problem.



Tape and jointing is finished and the underfloor heating is in place above the floor insulation.
We use the "Warmup" system which consists of a heating element in a foil layer which is ideal for laminate floors. The system has a temperature sensor fitted beneath the floor and power is supplied through an RCD controlled socket. The temmperature is controlled by a control panel which can be mounted anywhere in the room. Finished with oak effect laminate flooring it will then be ready for painting.

Walls are painted with two coats of magnolia emulsion. You should be able to make out the temperature control for the underfloor heating on the far wall.





The finished window frame worked very well.

Ligthing has been added and we can start to pack up tools.





The exterior is paineted with two coats of osmo wood stain & protector. This provides a durable long lasting finish which should not need retreatment for at least five years. Osmo paints are not cheap this cabin need 3-4 pots of paint at £45 per tin and it takes a full days labour to apply two coats.

A School Log Cabin by Cabin Living

Our log cabin installation for this month is for Elizabeth Selby School in Tower Hamlets just off Bethnal Green Road.

Quite a jounrey getting into Central London and quite a project too!

We were first approached with a request for a log cabin to maximise the space available. They had very specific ideas about the size and needed two classroom spaces which had their own external doors and one partition door. Having found there was not an ideal solution amongst our standard range we suggested the option of a bespoke cabin to match their precise specification.

Following a consultation process we agreed the final design and production began. Here is an initial sketch of the design used in the preliminary stages.



Below is an example of one of the CAD drawings we submitted to our client for approval prior to manufacture.




And below we have the images of the installation process.

Having completed the concrete base for the log cabin the previous week we were ready to start the assembly.



The first task is to organise the timbers and work with the plans to get the basic framework underway.



Many of the timbers in this log cabin were in excess of 8 metres. This is a two and sometimes three person job.



Door frames go in before the walls get too high and similarly windows after two or three wall timbers are in place either side.



Standard wall thickness on our bespoke log cabins is 44mm with double glazed windows and doors. Doors are triple hinged and can be adjusted very easily in three different planes. As well as 44mm walls we can also offer 70mm or dual walled log cabins 44+50+44mm with a cavity suitable for 50mm wall insulation such as Kingspan insulation or Celotex.



Up to roof height and just about to line up the roof joists before fixing them down. They are not lined up yet! A roof of ths size and type is quite different to the standard cabin roofs used in most pre-manufactured kits which tend to slot together very easily. This particular roof was a bit more time consuming.



Finally topped out with tongue and groove we can now make a start on tiling the roof.
As standard we use bitumen roof shingles which we find produce a very attractive finish at a reasonable cost.



Roof tiles on and it is time to lay the floorboards and prepare to insulate the interior. We will be using Celotex insulation for the floor followed by 18mm plywood prior to the final floor covering. The roof is insulated with rock wool slabs and has plasterboard suspended between the roof joists. Wall insulation is another option either by drylining the interior or by building a log cabin with twin walls and a cavity.



A view of the interior as the cabin nears completion.



Insulated roof plasterboarded and painted.



Unique to this cabin we fitted an access panel so that a drain cover could be accessed if required. This involved creating a frame around the manhole cover during the base construction and then creating a frame in the floor to accommodate the insualtion. Finally an access panel was fitted with a recessed handle.



The finished product. 8 metres x 4 metres of additional classroom space with an internal partition and two access doors.



The exterior is painted with Osmo wood stain and protector. We normally apply two coats to provide a more even finish and several years of protection. In this case the shade red cedar was used which ties in well with the Victorian brickwork behind.

View our log cabins

We hope the classroom cabin is a fun learning space for all who use it.

The Cabin Living Team