UKlogcabins blog page

Read useful info here about our cabins and garden buildings.

Ask us a question and we'll do our best to answer you as soon as we can by posting a blog in this page.

20 May 2023 By Keith Lynch

Garden sheds Horsham

Come a view our garden sheds Horsham display site in Sussex. We have a number on display including basic sheds, pressure treated sheds, tall workshops, heavy duty storage sheds. Whatever you need your shed for, we have the solution – we sell sheds for every requirement.

Small storage sheds on display at Horsham

Our shed range starts with small tool tidies and garden stores. Sometimes you only need a small shed to store a few garden tools. Nothing fancy or big but you don’t trust what you see on the internet. You can come and visit our shed showground to see what you are buying. We are sure that you won’t be disappointed, especially as our sheds include installation as well!

Apex and pent sheds on display at Horsham

Everybody who sells garden buildings, sells both pent and apex sheds – some good, some best avoided! If the price seems too good to be true……you know the rest! You’ll probably end up with 4 fence panels for the walls. And roof so weak that it starts bowing at soon as it’s built. Our sheds from Shedlands are truly value for money. They are the best value for money available – strong sheds aren’t the cheapest, but ours are by no means the most expensive either (far from it).

Workshop sheds on display at Horsham

Everyone has a different idea of what a garden workshop is. Some may say it’s just a large shed – not always the case as well sell small workshops as well! On the other hand, some customers are looking for a taller than average shed with good access via double doors. We definitely sell these, we have a couple of different workshop sheds on display. One of them being our Easibuild workshop which is the strongest garden shed that you will find.

Many shed options available

As with all of our sheds, we offer a pressure treated option, thicker cladding options. Also, and unusually with sheds, a factory painting option as well. There are many colours to choose from –

Shedlands paint colour chart — Paint colours available for your garden shed (factory painting or tins to buy)

Stronger framework – our sheds come with 38x50mm framing as standard. But, we can offer 50x50mm or even 50x75mm framing upgrade options for really strong sheds.

Cladding options – all of our sheds come with 12mm shiplap cladding as standard. However, there are other options available at very economic rates. Pressure treated Tanalised 15mm shiplap, 18mm shiplap and 19mm loglap cladding –

Tanalised garden sheds from Shedlands — See our garden sheds Horsham

Window and door options. Our sheds come with standard layouts but you can change these if you want to suit your particular garden layout. Adding extra windows or doors is also an option as well as wider doors (single doors or double doors).

9 May 2023 By Keith Lynch

Renovate your log cabin or buy a new log cabin?

Renovating your existing garden cabin could save you a fortune. Hortons are experts in all things to do with log cabins – we can renovate your log cabin. We can refurbish your existing log cabin to look as good as new (or sometimes better). The most common jobs that need doing are –

Rotten logs

The most common problem is that the bottom logs have gone rotten. There could be a number of causes for this – lack of maintenance. Rain splashing back onto the cabin from an over-sized base. Leaves or dirt piled up against the cabin wall and many more reasons. Pretty much every cabin company will say that this is terminal and you need a new cabin. Any tradesman that visits, and who knows about interlocking log cabins, will have 2 thoughts. Either say that it’s not possible to change these logs. Or that they could cut the logs out and splice new pieces back in. Beware of contractors who say they can fix it. Ask if they have worked on log cabins before and how they intend to change the logs.

We have the solution, we can renovate your log cabin walls properly –

Hortons UK Log Cabins CAN change the logs. We have specialist tools and equipment that actually jacks the whole cabin up! Meaning that we can drop the bottom rotten logs down from underneath the walls. It is then a simple case of fitting the new logs back in from underneath. Then letting the cabin back down onto the floor again. Using this method we can even add logs to your log cabin to make it taller, which may make it a lot more useable. Running machines and gym equipment, for example, usually needs a good amount of headroom. Another course of logs may make all the difference between having to be careful not to hit your head on the ceiling or not.

No other company has this purpose built equipment to jack a log cabin up in order to repair or replace rotten logs. So beware of anybody saying they can do this – you might end up with a pile of fire-wood in your garden! This is because when lifting a cabin up, it will push and pull itself out of square. And there is no easy solution, no matter how you try. It won’t go back down onto the existing floor. With no easy way of resolving the problem other than bringing heavy plant (diggers etc) in to physically push and pull the cabin into position. Probably causing all sorts of damage in the process.

What are the limitations?

It doesn’t matter how large or heavy your garden cabin is. Each one of our air jacks can lift 5000kg and we use a number of them! However, it is not just a case of jacking the building up. Cabins need to be square and level, which it won’t be if we just randomly jack it up. Our equipment keeps everything in line and square. But we can also fine tune to the nearest millimetre whilst lifting.

Repairing a log cabin, new replacement wall logs and floor — 1 – log cabin lifted up and suspended on “stilts”, floor, floor bearers and rotten logs removed.
2 – New damp proof membrane installed.
3 – new wall logs installed, new floor bearers and floor boards laid, cabin set back down. Just re-hanging the windows and doors, adjust them and it’s all ready to go and will give many more years of enjoyment

Leaking roof

Fix a leaky roof. We can strip the existing roofing material off of the roof and replace to suit all budgets. Felt roll, felt shingles (10 year guarantee), EPDM rubber roofing and many more options are available.

Sometimes the roof has been leaking so long that the roof boards or even the roof structure has suffered and started to rot as well. We can totally strip the whole roof off and build a new roof with your choice of roofing material.

Repairing a damaged roof. Sometimes there is localised damage on a roof (a tree branch has fallen onto it for example) – we can patch a roof if needed.

Doors and windows

Doors and windows don’t work / are rotten / need adjusting. We can undertake any of these tasks. We sell a range of windows and doors. Timber as well as uPVC windows and doors and even aluminium joinery including bifolding doors. If you need to replace your windows and/or doors anyway then we can offer much more. Rather than straight replacements, we can even change the layout to make it more suitable for your needs.

Rotten or bouncy floor

The floor has gone rotten. If you are lucky, it is just the floorboards that have rotted which is a relatively easy fix. If you are less lucky, the floor bearers have also gone rotten. This is probably caused by an inadequate base and/or no damp proof course installed when the cabin was originally built. But, the problem being that the whole cabin is built on top of these bearers. We can use our lifting equipment to lift the cabin up off of these rotten bearers. And then replace them and lay a new floor as well. In extreme cases, we can lay a new concrete base under the cabin whilst it’s jacked up in the air. Before laying a new damp proof course and new floor bearers. And then lower the cabin back down onto this new base structure and finally laying new floor boards.

Renovate your log cabin can be the best option

All of the above sound expensive (some are and some are not so much). But all are cheaper than buying a new cabin. This is especially the case when factoring in the cost of demolishing your existing garden building. Plus getting rid of it. Even before the adding in the further costs of installing the new cabin and all of the other associated costs that come with it. Not forgetting the extra hassle and disruption as well. Build costs, painting costs, installing new electrics, possibly a new base, etc all add up.

Enquire about how we can renovate, repair and improve your log cabin

1 January 2023 By Keith Lynch

uPVC windows and doors for Log Cabins and Garden Buildings

uPVC double window — uPVC “French Casement” double window

After extensive research and development, we are now able to offer uPVC doors and windows with our cabins. Our doors have half glazed, fully glazed and full panel door options and also tilt & turn options for our windows as well –

The obvious main advantage is that they require virtually no long term maintenance. No more painting them every few years (hooray!). This option does cost a little more than wooden joinery. But you will save a lot of time and money over the lifetime of the building. There are numerous colour options, so we can match the colour of your building.

The advice over the years that it is not possible to fit uPVC windows or doors to log cabins. This is because the wall logs need to move freely (which all log cabins do). Therefore we have devised a method that allows for the logs to move when fitting our new uPVC windows and doors.
We also sell a wide range of timber frame garden buildings. This is much more straight forward. It is easily possible to screw any uPVc items into the holes in the walls in these particular buildings. However, even this is not that straight forward if you use standard uPVC frames. Waterproofing them can be tricky as you end up with “butt” joints all round. It can look ugly so you have to add a number of trims inside and outside to make them “neat”. We have designed our uPVC joinery frames so that they don’t need any of this! Simply push them into the holes and fixed with screws! No extra trims or waterproofing required as this is all integral to the frames already!

There are numerous colours to choose from –

Colour options for log cabin uPVC windows and doors — Colour choices for Hortons uPVC windows and doors

9 February 2025 By uklogcabins

Log cabin videos

Log cabin videos plus summerhouse and garden office videos (including installations and final walk-around videos of completed buildings)

This page contains our full library of log cabin videos. It shows a whole range of things that may help you either decide on what building you require. Including actual construction videos and further videos of more specific things that you may find interesting.

We sell a whole range of different buildings, so we have sub-divided this page into different sections as follows……

Section 1 = Installation videos of Hortons log cabins (single skin and Twinskin)
Section 2 = Walkaround of completed Hortons log cabins
Section 3 = Hortons Easibuild framed buildings (garden offices,sheds, workshops and garages)
Section 4 = Lugarde summerhouses
Section 5 = Bertsch Holbau pergolas and gazebos
Section 6 = Miscellaneous items to help you build and maintain your garden building

Section 1 (timelapse videos of the installation of Hortons log cabins)

If you are going to build one of our log cabins. Please view these videos in conjunction with our log cabin installation guide

Log cabin videos of a Twinskin Basildon 7.5m wide x 4.5m deep log cabin. A concrete base, as shown here, is best including our damp proof membrane (DPM) kit. Plus our Kingspan insulation kit to the roof, walls and floor. This gives all round insulation making it usable throughout the year – ideal for a warm garden office. Click here to view prices and available options for this large log cabin.

1 minute (really quick) version –

OR this is the longer version (9 minutes) so you can see more detail –

Single skin 35mm 4m wide x 12m deep large log cabin with 3 rooms. The video shows the building of this cabin in our display ground near Horsham, West Sussex. This log cabin assembly video of the Stroud log cabin shows just how easy our log cabins are to build. Nearly all the parts are ready to just slot in (for the walls) or fix (roof & floor). With just a few items that need cutting on site (skirting boards, fascia & barge boards). Click here to view prices and available options for this large log cabin.

Installation of our Twinskin Maidstone 4x4m log cabin onto a concrete base previously laid by our customer. Fibreglass insulation kit for the roof, walls and floor for all round insulation. Therefore making it usable throughout the year. Click here to view prices and available options for this 4×4 log cabin.

Section 2 (Hortons log cabins)

Our showground 35+35mm insulated Twin Skin 7.5m x 4.5m pent roof Basildon log cabin. All house quality ISO windows, factory painted and EPDM maintenance free roofing. Click here to view prices and available options for this big insulated garden log cabin.

Finished Hortons Basildon 8.5m x 4.5m log cabin. Our customer didn’t need any of the standard side windows, all double glazed and felt shingles. Click here to view prices and available options for this large garden cabin.

Finished Hortons fully insulated custom 8.5m x 6.5m twinskin log cabin classroom. This building fully complies with UK building regulations. For structural and insulation values (roof, walls, floor and double glazing) for habitation. It therefore easily passes for use as a classroom. Click here to view prices and available options for our range of insulated log cabin classrooms.

Section 3 (Hortons Easibuild framed buildings)

This is the installation of our Easibuild cube garden office in our showsite from start to finish using timelapse. It’s modular construction make it very quick and easy. It is modular meaning that we can manufacture it to any design, shape and size. Click here to generate your own contemporary garden office quote including many different options .

This is the video of the installation of our Easibuild Garden Room in our showsite from start to finish using timelapse. It’s modular construction make it very quick and easy. Because it is modular (like all Easibuilds), it means that we can make any design, shape or size. Click here to generate your own Garden Room quote including many different options .

Our Easibuild heavy duty garden workshop shed is quite unlike any other sectional building you may have seen before. The construction is half height panels making it easy to lift as the panels are lighter. But it is still heavier than other so called extra strong workshops! This also means that you can easily take it through a house or garage if neccessary. These are all made to order to the nearest millimetre at no extra cost. Click here to generate your quote including many different options available for our strong workshops.

Easibuild heavy duty garden workshop shed with a pent roof. It has house quality windows and doors to give it a summerhouse look and the warmth of a home office. This customer wanted to insulate and line the walls himself, hence the insulation boards stacked inside. Click here to generate your quote including many different options available for our strong workshops.

Section 4 (Lugarde summerhouses)

2 videos of the Lugarde PR17 summerhouse which has the feature bifolding doors. This is a very popular choice and always attracts customers walking around our showground.
Video 1 is a timelapse of the construction process (installing in our showground)
Video 2 is a walk around of the finished summerhouse.
The Lugarde configurator link on our web page allows you to change the size and configuration to suit you, updating the price accordingly. Click here to open our PR17 summerhouse page and use the configurator to see the many different options .

Lugarde 3m x 2.5m wooden gazebo with sliding glass front wall which you can open the building up when the weather allows. The roof is EPDM rubber roof. Click here to view prices and available options for this timber garden gazebo.

Finished Lugarde 3.6m x 3m wooden gazebo with solid rear wall panels. This gazebo includes balustrading and a hipped roof covered with felt shingles. Click here to view prices and available options for this large wooden gazebo.

Section 2 (Bertsch Holbau gazebos)

Bertsch Holzau Helena 3 – 5mx3.5m octagonal gazebo installation

Section 6 (Miscellaneous)

How to remove / change / replace a pane of glass in a Hortons log cabin door

How to reverse the door latch for Hortons Log Cabin door locks

How to fit Hortons tilt & turn window handles (with hidden screw holes)

How to fit Hortons double doors with sidelights

These log cabin videos are to help our customers understand the products that they show an interest in. Please bear in mind that we can modify, customise or change any aspect of any cabin to suit your requirements.

3 March 2024 By Keith Lynch

Timber Greenhouses

We supply beautiful hand crafted, modern timber greenhouses. Our versatile range can be tailored to your individual requirements and is available to customers nationwide. We take great care in manufacturing our greenhouses which are installed by our expert installation technicians. In this way we are confident that your new Coppice Collection greenhouse will be installed to your complete satisfaction.
At Coppice you will find a dedicated team of specialist craft people committed to every stage of the design, build, delivery and installation of your greenhouse. Our friendly team have in-depth product knowledge and will guide you through every stage, from initial enquiry to installation.

The Ashdown Timber greenhouses range

Taking on the standard garden building in a greenhouse form, our Apex Timber Greenhouses give
you a modern transition. Our unique innovative clip system installation allows ease throughout the installation process, as well as giving you the ability to relocate your greenhouse with minimal effort.
The Ashdown apex timber greenhouse has 44 x 44mm thick pressure treated framing of which we coat prior to leaving our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber throughout the seasons.

Standard Ashdown features:
44 x 44mm pressure treated R4C framing *
clip installation system
3mm toughened glazing
3-lever mortice lock
chrome handle
chrome hinges
2 shelf staging with brackets
2 opening windows
1695 x 720mm door, right-hand hinged

Optional features:

painted colour options
auto-opener system
double-paned door
boarded 11mm thick pressure treated dwarf walls *

*We coat prior to leaving our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber throughout the seasons. Oil treatment will needs re-applying each year

The Burnham Bolt-on Timber Greenhouses range

This adaptable timber greenhouse will add functionality to any garden. The Bolt-On Greenhouse is a ‘bolt-on’ addition to your current garden building (height dependant), allowing for versatility within your existing space.
The greenhouse includes one door of which allows you to enter the main greenhouse area, whilst the back panel fits onto the exterior of your existing building. The Bolt-On is made up of 44 x 44mm thick pressure treated framing with half boarded panels built from our premium 11mm pressure treated cladding, of which we coat prior to leaving our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber throughout the seasons. *.
Whilst the boarded panels are very elegant, we also offer an alternative glazed panel option, which will give an indoor-outdoor space illusion.

Burnham Bolt-on wooden greenhouse and shed

Standard features:

44 x 44mm pressure treated R4C framing *
boarded 11mm thick pressure treated dwarf walls *
clip installation system
3mm toughened glazing
2 shelf staging with brackets
2 opening windows
1695 x 720mm door, right-hand hinged
3-lever mortice lock
chrome handle
chrome hinges

Optional features:

painted colour options
3mm toughened glazing dwarf walls
auto-vents fitted
storage apex building upgrade available **

Thetford Octagonal Greenhouses

This stylish greenhouse offers your garden a contemporary, yet modern building whilst being able to fully utilise your space. The Octagonal Greenhouse lets in as much light as possible with full 360 degrees toughened glazing, offering an elegant, yet functional space. This building includes multi-storey shelving which maximises your planting area, as well as 7 opening windows allowing extra ventilation for your growing needs.
The Octagonal is made up of 44 x 44mm thick pressure treated framing with half board height panels built from our premium 11mm pressure treated cladding, of which we coat prior to leaving our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber throughout the seasons. *
Whilst the boarded panels are on trend, we also offer an alternative glazed panel option which will give an indoor-outdoor space illusion.

Standard features:

44 x 44mm pressure treated R4C framing *
boarded 11mm thick pressure treated dwarf walls *
3mm toughened glazing
chrome handle
chrome hinges
multi-shelf staging with supports
7 opening windows
1870 x 900mm door, right-hand hinged

Optional features:

painted colour options
double-paned door
double-paned panels
3mm toughened glazing dwarf walls

Hatfield Lean-to greenhouses

The Lean-To Greenhouse operates as an addition to your current garden structure, allowing you to build
onto an external wall or fence (fence specification must be suitable).
This greenhouse has the versatility to open up as garden a room directly from your home. The Lean-To allows you to choose which gable-end your door is located for your personal preference.
Having auto-openers as standard within this greenhouse allows you to be worry-free when concerned regarding temperature, as our auto-openers work on a hydraulic system which ventilates the greenhouse dependent on the internal temperature, all of which are fully adjustable.
The Lean-To framing is 44mm x 44mm thick pressure treated framing with our half boarded panels from our premium 11mm pressure treated cladding, of which we coat prior to leaving
our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber
throughout the seasons. *

Standard features:

44 x 44mm pressure treated R4C framing *
boarded 11mm thick pressure treated dwarf walls *
clip installation system
3mm toughened glazing
1 shelf staging with brackets
2 opening windows with auto-vents
1695 x 720mm door (either end), right-hand hinged
3-lever mortice lock
chrome handle
chrome hinges
3mm toughened glazing dwarf walls

Optional features:

painted colour options
fully glazed

*We coat prior to leaving our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber throughout the seasons. Oil treatment needs re-applying each year

Gisburn Combi Timber Greenhouses

This versatile, modern timber greenhouse will add style to any garden. Featuring a storage space within
the building, this greenhouse offers more than just your standard growing space.
Our ability to provide combination rooms means that we are perfectly happy to create a space as well as
separate storage for other items. The Combi Greenhouse has 44mm x 44mm thick pressure treated framing of which we coat prior to leaving our factory in a microporous oil treatment that allows the timber to breathe, whilst protecting the timber throughout the seasons. *
The building includes 2 doors, one of which allows you to enter the storage space, whilst the other door allows access into the main greenhouse area. The option is available to change this door to a sliding door** which allows the building to utilise all of its space, whilst being easy on the eye.

Standard features:

44 x 44mm pressure treated R4C framing *
standard pent building with 11mm cladding for storage space
clip installation system
3mm toughened glazing
1 shelf staging with brackets
1 opening window
hinged door divider between storage area to greenhouse

Optional features:

painted colour options **
auto-opener system
1695 x 720mm gable-end door, right-hand hinged
boarded 11mm thick pressure treated dwarf walls *
3-lever mortice lock
chrome handle
chrome hinges
additional opening windows to roof *
storage pent building upgrade available with sliding door **