Log Cabin Garden House Iris 3.9m x 3.0m

We love the cabin, but you have to guess with all the finer details by looking at others pictures. The instructions for the main frame are "OK" but everything else not so much. The cabin is a 5 star, but its a 4 with the crap instructions.

Product is reasonable value for money. You need to check materials as quite a number of the planks are/were bowed. Directions for installation are reasonably poor, so having a good understanding of how to build is rather important. Definitely more support under the floor and have joists closer together for a more solid finish. Support/framing is necessary around the windows and doors otherwise they are rather flimsey. Reasonably good value for money

We purchased this shed to create a sleepout and the end result was excellent, but a there are certainly a few caveats to keep in mind with these kitsets. Kit Materials Delivered on a long palate. The quality of the kiln dried spruce was generally good, though somewhat brittle, and not all of it was straight (see construction below). A few of the tongues were damaged. Double glazing is a nice feature and is a luxury on a kit this cheap (needed to meet EU standards). The main thing that lets the kit down is the quality of the hardware – the door and window latches are as cheap and nasty as they come, and ours were rusted and jammed on delivery. Easy enough to replace but you should factor this into your budget. Design & Construction Generally, pretty easy to erect, though a total novice may struggle – the instructions are pretty minimal and the drawings are tiny. A completely flat and square foundation is key or everything else will be out of alignment and won’t fit together. If you are putting the shed on piles rather than a slab note that the floor joists are quite far apart and only 70 x 45, and the plans call for them to be mounted flat on the long edge – so will flex under load if not well supported. For mounting on piles I recommend adding 2 or 3 extra joists to bring them closer together (cheaper), or decrease the spacing of your bearers (more expensive). I also mounted mine standing on the short edge for more rigidity. If you need piles I recommend screw piles as a quick method – I used ‘Stop Digging’ who installed piles and bearers and provide excellent service. A dead blow hammer will make your life easier as due to everything not being perfectly straight, a lot of ‘persuasion’ was required at times. A couple of the large roof beams (rafters) were twisted and required some creative application of torque to fit. The biggest design flaw in the Iris two window cabin is that the small sections of ‘log’ that sit between the windows and door frame are not fixed to anything – they just stay in place held loosely in position by the window & door frames. This means the whole front wall is not particularly rigid and can flex and rattle. It also means that settling of the small pieces can leave a gap in the wall. This wasn’t an issue for us as I framed the interior (fixing those small pieces to the frame) – see below. Upgrades: I significantly upgraded the basic kit - Replaced door and window hardware - Framed the interior to allow for behind wall power, data and insulation. - Underfloor, wall and ceiling insulation. - Gib and paint interior, added kickboard and scotia. - Carpet - Corrugated iron on roof with guttering - Roof and exterior walls painted to match house. - Exterior steps and planting If you care about longevity of the structure I would recommend iron on the roof. The tar paper provided is a barely adequate way to waterproof the roof and I won’t stand the test of time. I also highly recommend framing and lining the interior if you plan to use this as a living space as opposed to just a shed. It was a bit of a hassle but well worth it to make it look smart, hide power and data behind the walls, and to insulate – the small space becomes unbearably hot in direct sun and would be unusable in summer without roof insulation. The fiddliest part of lining it was reframing the windows and door. I reused the timber from the inner surface of the windows to create frames and window ledges. Verdict We’ve ended up with a well finished and functional studio/sleepout that is very sympathetic to our main house. The quality of the kit isn’t amazing, but it’s a cheap way to get the lumbar and double glazing, and is pretty quick to get up and water tight. Then, if you are prepared to spend extra time and $ upgrading, you can end up with something that doesn’t look like a cheap kitset for a lot less $ than a custom build.

Wow, arrived before schedual, easy to put up (1 weekend) couldn't fault the service. Did go out and buy our own window stays they as there ones a little flimsy. Trade tested were very helpful, and we couldn't fault them...Love my cabin, it is used as my craft room.

I am so happy with this garden house and also with the company. I can highly recommend both.

Overall, reasonably satisfied with the product although there were several problems some of which relate to freight and delivery. 1.Some crush damage to window top lip from strapping. 2. Delivery was not door to door despite incremental cost of delivery from Christchurch to Hanmer Springs of around $300. Packages were offloaded by forklift at local hardware store and packages had to be broken down to be transported to site. Consequently, any restraining of timbers as they dried (were they too wet?) was lost. They were stored under cover (garage before assembly, but some logs and beams were significantly twisted by this time making assembly difficult. The net result is a lozenging of the front wall which has virtually no shear bracing. 3. One "extra" long log was both distorted and damaged on the tongues to be unusable. 4. There was one end wall log short, fortunately made up for by having an additional "extra" long log from which the missing long log could be made. 5. The thickness of the floor boards was not consistent.

Great product, looks awesome finished