Summerhouse
18 comments
We have always liked the idea of a summerhouse in our garden, but never got around to buying one. So when I came across a mass of timber boards being thrown into a skip, I came up with an idea and I couldn’t resist myself…
Admittedly, at first I didn’t know how I would make a summerhouse out of these boards, but after some head scratching and planning I realised that if I ‘ship-lapped’ the boards, this would make a waterproof outer.
If I would have known at this point that 4 routers would burn out, my hands would blister and my garden would be covered in sawdust for months… I probably would have passed on the ship-lapped option. But after some hard work and persistence, I managed to ship-lap all 180 boards.
Once the boards were ready, I started on the ground works, firstly digging out approx 4 ton of earth to ensure the summerhouse was positioned at the correct height.
After a little help from the children, I was finally out of the ground with a solid base ready for the summerhouse to proudly sit on.
I then stared to build the floor followed by frames, When I placed the first 2 sides up, I also started increasing the layers of ship lapped boards to help strengthen the structure.
The last 2 frames went up followed by the ship lapped boards.
Being scared of heights, the roof was by far the least enjoyable part of the build. Ok, its only 3 meters high, but that’s high enough for me. In fact, my legs were wobbling whilst laying the roof and felt.
But after a break in the weather, I finally got around to finishing the outside boards and installed the door.
Now I’m just waiting for the glass to arrive whilst finishing off the interior. Once finished, I will upload the final pictures.
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A few more pics now that the inside is nearly finished, 26/04/13;
Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading.
Stephen.
18 Apr, 2013
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Comments
Thats just brilliant, very strongly made and such an addition to the garden.
Will you insulate the inside?
Something like insulating board would be a bonus and extend the months you can use it especially with a little heater in there with a frost stat.
Have fun!
19 Apr, 2013
You have done a fantastic job there, I really admire the fact that you did it all yourself, and especially the roof as you don't like heights. It looks really good, well done.
19 Apr, 2013
Congratulations on a fantastic job well done! I'm scared of heights too so I can well understand your trepidation at doing the roof. Hope you have many happy years of enjoyment of your lovely summerhouse.
19 Apr, 2013
Wow Amazing, It looks great and made by you, lots of hard work but Well worth it. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Are you treating/painting it..
19 Apr, 2013
Thank you for all the nice comments.
I will be insulating the cavity with 50mm foil backed Kingspan boards and leaving a 25mm air gap between the insulation and walls. Once I’m watertight, I also have a wood burning stove to install that my brother kindly give to me.
When I started building the summerhouse, I was planning to paint it using Cuprinol colours, however after working with the wood for so long, I don’t think I want to cover it up in a colour anymore. After doing some research, I found some wood protection oil called ‘Osmo’, it contains UV protection to prevent the sun greying the wood, its colourless and you only need one coat. So my dilemma is… do I cover the wood in a colour (the benefits are, the summer house would look brand new and fresh. On the negative side, It would need two/three coats) or do I use a colourless protection oil (benefits being you get the natural product/look but on the negative side, the wood looks ‘patchy’ due to the greying process that has already started). ??? This is a really hard one for me to get right.
Your comments would be appreciated.
19 Apr, 2013
Personally I found oil a problem as it didn't really last but I have not used the one you mention
Find cuprinol good it soaks in well, a lightish wood colour may make the panels blend
But then I like natural wood, depends on your taste and the garden
19 Apr, 2013
I rather like the natural wood, gives it a 'log cabin' feel and you could always add some colour with hanging baskets. I think it looks great and a wonderful way of recycling the wood you found.
19 Apr, 2013
I really admire the great effort you`ve put into your project it looks so well made and will last for years, it would have cost a fortune to buy.
19 Apr, 2013
My beloved Bamboo fencing is going greyish. I thought about scrubbing it down to get it the natural colour again. Really want to keep it Bamboo colour.
Would appreciate any advice/thoughts ?
19 Apr, 2013
You can buy Bamboo wash and treatment Diane..
http://www.bambootreatments.com.au/treatment.php
I do like the cream in wood treatments StephenW, Someone here has just used it, Ill see if i can find the Blog.
19 Apr, 2013
Stephen, If you scroll down to bottom of page click on S. then summerhouses in the menu, you will see some nice colours there from goy members, or you can copy and paste this link from the net...Some great ideas..
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=summer+house+colours&num=20&client=firefox-a&hs=qQv&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=I3hxUbGIAofXPOyXgKAI&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=622
19 Apr, 2013
What a brilliant job you have done I love the natural colour of the wood I,am sure there must be some sort of wood treatment you can use that would keep the natural colour enjoy using your summer house !!
19 Apr, 2013
Thanks for all the comments. I will definitely be hanging some baskets Jaykaty, I've never had any before, so I'm looking forward to attempting them. Thanks for the info Youngda.. although I love the idea of colour, for now, I'm just going to oil the wood. Although I may introduce a little colour at a later stage.
20 Apr, 2013
This is fantastic I love what you have done. But I think it is bigger than allowed without planning permission? Have you looked in to this especially the height, size and the closeness to your boundary?
27 Apr, 2013
Hi Drc726, we looked at planning permission before building the summerhouse and we are within the reg's excluding the distance from the hedge. The hedge over years has become very deep but is being removed and replaced with a fence very soon. Once removed, all sides will be just over 1m from any boundary. The height is within 3m and also the height from ground is within 30cm. It actually stands 29.5cm from ground height. It also well clears the 5m distance from the house and is not half the size of the total garden area.
27 Apr, 2013
Thats great, very pleasing to see how much can be done without planning permission.
27 Apr, 2013
Fantastic !
22 Jul, 2013
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Fantastic and fabulous ! Congratulations !
19 Apr, 2013