Orkney Garden Office in Dover

Our second Orkney log cabin installation of the year which is in Old Whitfield, near the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent.

Prepared the 100mm concrete base yesterday so we were ready to start assembly today.

The cabin unpacked and sorted into lengths ready for assembly.

The front walls can be reversed during assembly as in this case where the porch/ doors are on the right rather than on the left as shown in our website picture

Roof joists and deck in place at the end of day two.

The double window can be switched with the narrower single window during assembly if preferred.

A Garden office in Ascot - The Carlisle log cabin

Last week we completed our first Carlisle Cabin of 2013 in Lower Ascot.

A petite but beautifully formed 3.5m x 3m garden office. The Carlisle is new to our 2.5m high log cabin range.

Here's the Carlisle delivered onto the driveway and unpacked ready to be moved into the garden

the cabin kit is moved and the area cleared

The base is laid out -  a little under 3 tons of concrete needed here.

Tanalised bearers topped with damp-proof membrane

Cabin shell completed

First fix electrics and floor insulation

Roof  insulation between the rafters with a plasterboard finish - this is our normal 50mm Celotex insulated finish, allowing the rafter timbers to still be visible

The new consumer unit in place together with electric sockets, lighting and network - hard-wired Cat5e to the main house.

Doors and windows fitted and adjusted

Compact, tidy and ready for use - a haven of peace but a fully functional work space at the end of your garden.

Bingley - and a whistle stop tour of Salts Mill-Saltaire

2nd 'Low' Liverpool cabin of the new year 

Our week gets off to a rather snowy start as was predicted - This time we are just east of Bingley - Gilstead Hall, an 18th century hall divided into 3 homes with fine crenellations!

Day 1

its a steep driveway with limited access - we weren't sure we'd drive out so easily!

The garden wasn't a lot easier! - the whole cabin was transported through to the back garden via the customer's kitchen (their suggestion!) access was always going to be a major headache...

The cabin arrived late due to the weather, so we got it all into the garden ready for a fresh start the next morning...

Day 2

everything went through the open doorway on the left - everything!

The 44mm solid Pine 'logs' stacked in place - ready for the 'off'!

8.45am

The bearers go down and the first row of timbers are set down on top - so glad the base was already laid!!

11.15am

We had the cabin built to rafter height (about an hour on from this picture) before the snow came in with a vengeance, and by the time we had got the roof half on, in came the coldest sleet I can ever remember together with very high winds - that was enough for one day!

Day 3

A lunchtime view on day 3 from what used to be the original Hall's tennis court upto the cabin - hard to believe the day before gave us snow, sleet and high winds - today broken cloud, blue sky and a log cabin looking splendid in its new elevated position.

this one has the full 'works' - roof insulation (50mm Xtratherm boards) followed by plasterboard ceiling (taped and jointed), floor insulated (50mm Xtratherm), underfloor heating, electrics and Cat5 networking - with double glazed windows as standard, we think the customer is going to have a toasty new office.

sunshine at last - snow seems almost a distant memory

Day 4

Electric underfloor heating element, bonded to a reinforced fabric mesh and coated in tear resist foil to keep heat in the floor - there's 50mm of Xtratherm below that and 18mm solid pine floor beneath that!! 

a splendid new Canadian Elm laminate floor over the top of the electric underfloor heating mat - electric cables are left loose for the electrician to complete his second fix tomorrow.

This is what 4 days of hard work and numerous cups of tea can achieve!

A majestic sight - on a majestic site!

Later that day....

we had an earlier than expected finish due to the improving weather and so took a quick trip down to Salts Mill - Saltaire  before it closed for the day

we had just enough to time to enjoy a brisk tour of the Hockney exhibition and the rather grand elevations of Salts Mill (a world heritage site no less).

Here's one of my Hockney faves...anyone know this period?

A great interior view of the 2nd floor of the Mill - erm.. no, that is not a Hockney on the left! but a wonderfully colourful (and huge) mill interior perspective none-the-less - wish I could remember the artist....

We say 'farewell' to the hills and dales of West Yorkshire, and head home south

Iver Heath coming up shortly and we are installing our 2012 best seller the Cheltenham -  stay tuned and thanks for stopping by !

Living Props - Guest toilet log cabin

One enquiry we often get is can you fit a toilet in a log cabin or garden office. The answer is yes. In this case there are four!


One of our final projects of 2010 was the installation of a log cabin to be used as a guest toilet block on the premises of Living Props Ltd a company specialising in landscape props and plants for Pinewood studios, films, TV and major shop displays.

Features include:

4 toilets, 4 toilet cubicles, 2 sinks, Underfloor heating, Water resistant laminate flooring, Floor and Ceiling insulation, Double glazed windows and doors, central partition, seperate access for ladies and gents.



The living props team prepared the ground including hard core and had already placed a septic tank close to the cabin base.

The concrete base was tackled in two phases completing the central portion of the base first on day one followed by the wings and decking area supports on day two.

Cabin arrival and time to sort the timbers into their various lengths ready to start building.

Pressure treated floor bearers are laid first and damp proof membrane is attached prior to the first wall logs being positioned.

Following wall assembly the roof boards are fixed to cover the building interior

Day two of the cabin build itself and it is necessary to build the decking area to add the porch support timbers which then makes it possible to fit the remianing roof boards.

Roof complete just before another snowfall.

Ready to start work on the inside which is welcome considering the conditions outside!



50mm thick insulation for the floor.

Similarly 50mm thick insulation is added to the ceiling and plasterboard is fized to battens between the roof joists. Leaving some exposed roof joists are in our opinion a more attractive feature than boarding right over the top.

New for 2011 we now have a Winchester log cabin complete with integral central partition but in this case the partition was added as part of the installation process to create the ladies and gents toilet areas.

Toilet cubicles supplied via NFC Contracts

Under floor heating and water resistant, thick oak laminate flooring is fitted prior to adding the toilets and cubicles.

The heavy snow that grounded flights at Heathrow just a few miles down the road!

Cabin complete other than a few bits of plumbing and electrical connection.

Toilets in log cabins and garden offices from Cabin Living