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18 October 2025 By uklogcabins

uPVC fascia boards

uPVC fascia boards can transform one of the most vulnerable parts of garden buildings. The roof edges can be a troublesome part of garden buildings. We offer maintenance free, fix-and-forget options. Timber fascia boards and barge boards around the edge of the roof can need more maintenance than anything else on a garden cabin. But of course, being the hardest part to maintain, they are the least likely to be painted and maintained. They are exposed to all weather conditions. Timber only lasts a limited amount of time under these harsh conditions. Whereas you will only need to wipe the uPVC ones with a damp rag every so often to keep them looking pristine.

Rot free fascia boards installed on garden cabin

Log cabin fascia board construction

The method of roof construction for log cabins means the barge boards are a 2 part construction. There is the main barge board which finishes the roof edge off neatly. But then there is a secondary part to it. This other part is the barge cover fillet. This plants on top of the barge board to form an L shape. This then covers over the edge of the roofing material (commonly felt shingles). The function of this is to stop the wind getting under the roofing material and blowing it off, or blowing rain under the roofing material.

Replace timber barge boards with uPVC fascia board for a long life
Typical barge board construction for a log cabin. The top cover fillet is constantly exposed to the weather and has a limited lifespan
Timber fascia boards have a limited life - uPVC last for ever!...No more maintenance
It is common for leaves and pine needles to collect against the timber which makes it more vulnerable as it stays wet for longer
L shape barge board for log cabins
uPVC barge boards are L shaped and have an integral cover fillet

Colour options for our fascia boards

The answer is to use something that doesn’t rot and ideally keeps it’s colour, and therefore is zero maintenance. This is why we offer uPVC fascia boards and barge boards as an upgrade for all of our log cabins, garden rooms and garden cabins.

Hortons offer 3 different “standard” colours of uPVC fascias –

  • White (flat white colour)
  • Light oak (natural wood colour with grain effect)
  • Black (flat black colour)
uPVC colour choices for Hortons Log Cabins

However, we can supply many more colour options if you want to colour match them with your garden cabin. Green, different shades of grey, various shades of woodgrain effect brown, etc. Although more expensive at the outset these uPVC options will actually save you money over the lifetime of the building.

Maintenance free options

Modern garden rooms are far more user friendly these days. We offer much more than maintenance free fascia boards. All of our buildings can be zero maintenance if supplied with our upgrade options –

  • uPVC or aluminium windows and doors (Guaranteed for 10 years but expected to last more than double that)
  • EPDM rubber roofing (guaranteed for 20 years with a life expectancy of 50 years)
  • Composite cladding (Hardie Plank is guaranteed for 15 years with a life expectancy of more than 30 years. And it’s Class A fire rated as well!)
  • uPVC fascia boards
  • uPVC plastic guttering

Of course the above options are only worth the expense if your building is constructed properly to start with! We offer various damp proofing options. Unlike many companies, we offer a damp proof kit with all of our buildings. Our floor construction is made specifically to invisibly “wrap” the whole floor. We don’t just lay a flat damp proof membrane (DPM) or strips of damp proof course (DPC). This is because rain can simple get on top of them. Which means that the timber bearers end up sitting in water as it cannot escape. Our system “dresses up” all around the outside of the bearers, so everything remains dry even if the area floods. We then cap it all around the outside with a timber fillet. This protects it from UV damage and mechanical damage (strimmers etc).

All of our log cabins for sale have the option to upgrade to the uPVC fascia boards – just look under the “Roofline” option and tick the colour you require.

We have more options if you would like more information on maintenance free garden buildings.

Filed Under: Garden cabin repairs and upgrades Tagged With: log cabin maintenance, Log cabin repairs, maintenance free garden cabin, rot free log cabin, uPVC fascia boards

22 September 2025 By uklogcabins

Garden cabin column corners

Garden cabin column corners help protect the most vulnerable part of an interlocking cabin – the corner joints. Regardless of the type of joint used and how tight the joints are, a driving rain will penetrate these joints to some degree. Even tight joints can be vulnerable to capillary action.

Hortons carry out repair work on log cabins all the time. Nearly every log cabin that we repair has some deterioration around the corner joints. The worst being at the bottom as these are much more likely to catch rain. And also be vulnerable to rain water bouncing back up off the ground. This is quite often 2 fold –

  • Rain purely hitting the ground next to the cabin and rebounding against the cabin walls.
  • Rain water running off the roof, hitting the ground and rebounding against the cabin. This is a concentrated amount of water and will have a big detrimental affect over time, especially if there are hard surfaces around the cabin. An over-sized base or pathway running alongside the cabin, for instance.

Adding guttering will make a huge difference to the long term life of your cabin. This will stop the water cascading from the roof.

Column Corners

However, you can take other steps to help alleviate this. The easiest starting point are our column corners. This “boxes” the corners in to stop the weather getting to them to start with. Column corners need to be fixed using sliding joints as log cabins rise and fall through the seasons. Therefore we use slots to still allow the logs and cabin to move up and down. If you build your cabin in a very exposed position, column corners will help to protect them. Driving rain will penetrate into the joints. Painting your garden room regaularly will definitely help. You should makes sure that you work multiple layers of stain or paint into the corner joints as a minimum. Not weatherproofing your log cabin corner joints means it will start to show signs of damp in the corners.

This is a standard log cabin corner –

Standard log cabin corner joints

This is the same cabin but now fitted with column corners and guttering –

Column corners fitted and protecting the corner joints

As you can see, the column corners now protect the end grain (another vulnerable part of a log cabin), which will make the cabin last much longer. Note the slotted fixings at the bottom to let the cabin rise and fall through the seasons. We quite often fit these to log cabins that we are repairing, such as this Twin Skin –

Twin skin log cabin fitted with column corners

We also fitted uPVC windows and doors to this cabin as well as painting it.

It is more obvious with older cabins that they require column corners because there are signs of dark wood. These dark areas are generally a symptom of damp penetrating into the corners from outside. This then shows on the insides of the corners. Another tell-tale sign are dark patches on the skirting boards….

How to solve damp corners in a log cabin

These dark patches might not be very obvious if you decorate the cabin walls inside, as this masks the discolouration. However, if there is the slightest sign of damp showing through the paint then rest assured, damp is getting through.

Filed Under: Garden cabin repairs and upgrades Tagged With: Damp corners in log cabins, Protecting a log cabin against weather, Winterised log cabin

24 August 2024 By Keith Lynch

Adding an extra window to your log cabin

Hortons UK Log Cabins can upgrade your existing log cabin in numerous ways. One of the simplest is adding an extra window to your log cabin. Whether that is to get a better view or to introduce extra light into the cabin (or replace).

This customer sent us a photo of her existing log cabin which didn’t get any morning sun. Therefore she asked us to add an extra window so her studio could benefit from this extra light. You can see where there was a picture hanging on the wall which was the required size and position for the new window….

New cabin window to replace painting on the wall
External face of the log cabin where the new window is to be cut in
External face of the log cabin where the new window is to be cut in
New window installed into cabin
Internal view of new cabin window fitted
External view of new cabin window fitted
External view of new cabin window fitted
Internal view of new cabin window fitted with drip rails
Internal view of new cabin window fitted with drip rails
New window installed into cabin
New cabin window ready to use

As you can see, this enhances both the external look of the cabin and also the internal space which now looks much lighter. Adding an extra window to your log cabin is not expensive and is relatively quick and easy to do. After a couple of hours, the job is complete (this job in the photos above took about 1 hour).

Options for new cabin windows and doors

We can also add uPVC joinery to your existing log cabin, all shapes, designs and sizes of doors and windows. Beware of double glazing companies saying they can just insert new or replacement timber or uPVC windows and doors into your log cabin! They are almost certainly not aware of the movement and settlement cycle of a log cabin – not allowing for this will cause all sorts of problems with your cabin (gaps in wall logs, gaps around the windows and doors, leaking walls, etc).

Filed Under: Garden cabin repairs and upgrades Tagged With: garden cabin joinery, New log cabin window, replacement log cabin window

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01403 888 222

Visit our contact page:
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The Log Cabin Showground
Handcross Road (B2110)
Plummers Plain, Lower Beeding
Horsham
West Sussex, RH13 6NX

Our log cabins are designed with easy installation in mind, whether you will be installing the cabin yourself or using our installation service.
Our experience means that we have developed our cabins over decades ensuring stability, functionality and longevity. There are many of our cabins over 20 years old and still going strong!

About Us

We supply high quality log cabins and wooden garden buildings. With experience providing outdoor timber structures to customers across the South of England and the rest of the UK, we are happy to provide you with any advice you need.

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Resources

  • FAQ page for garden cabins
  • Installation guide for Hortons UK Log Cabins
  • Raised timber base kit installation
  • Building regulations and planning permission for log cabins and garden buildings
  • Damp proof membranes for log cabins
  • Log Cabin Maintenance Service
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  • uPVC windows and doors for Log Cabins and Garden Buildings
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Contact Information

01403 888 222

Visit our contact page:
Click here

The Log Cabin Showground
Handcross Road (B2110)
Plummers Plain, Lower Beeding
Horsham
West Sussex, RH13 6NX

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