Log cabin repairs Archives - UK Log Cabins - standard or custom garden buildings

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

Repairing log cabin walls – is it possible to replace rotten wall logs in a log cabin?

The simple answer is yes BUT it’s not something for a DIYer or even a “professional” handyman. We have specialist equipment and decades of experience carrying our log cabin repairs and in all things “log cabin”. Click here if you would like to know more about us.

Analysing the problem (we don’t just guess what work or repair in needed!)

The usual logs that need replacing are of course the ones at the very bottom. This is where they get wet from rain splash back dripping off the roof. The bases are all too often oversize. This then creates a “shelf” for rain to drip onto from the roof. Or even just heavy rain that lands on it, causing splash back. When timber gets wet over a longish period it also causes any paint to peel off. This exposes the bare timber and making the situation even worse.

Replace a rotten wall log in a log cabin — Does this look familiar? If so, then you need to do something about it – if it’s still solid timber then treat it with a wood preservative and then paint it with a waterproof timber treatment. If rotten then this should be replaced sooner rather than later as it will only ever get worse.

It may not be just the wall logs

The next in line is the floor of the cabin – all too often, cabins are built straight onto the concrete base. There is no form of damp proof course or membrane. So although customers think that it is only rotten wall logs at the bottom of their wall(s), it is very often the case that the floor bearers have gone rotten as well. Leading to a comment such as “I thought the floor was a bit bouncy over there”!

Avoiding a bodge job repair (that will only make matters worse)

Log cabin walls are built from the ground up. Fully interlocking into the logs above and below as they go up. That means it is not possible to just simply remove and replace a log. Someone not knowing this would probably just try to repair the log cabin wall by cutting the log in question out. They don’t necessarily think about how they would get a new one back in. This probably resulting in a bodge with glue, filler and screws that would end up leaking.

Hortons have the knowhow (and the right equipment) to carry out log cabin repairs

Hortons have developed a method to carry out these log cabin repairs where we actually lift the whole cabin up above the rotten logs. How is this possible??? We use hydraulic rams! We lift it high enough to be able to simply lift the log in question up out of the notch joints in the corner. The gap needs to be about 150mm to do this. Then we just slot the replacement log into place. Then simply lower the cabin back down again for a seamless repair.

How to replace a wall log and floor in a log cabin

Do everything once and do it right

We can also easily replace rotten floors / floor bearers as well whilst the cabin is up in mid-air. Cabins are always built off of the floor bearers meaning that they are trapped under the walls, making them very tricky to replace. In order to get to the floor bearers, we need to lift the floor boards first. Unfortunately nearly all floor boards are nailed down and it’s almost impossible to avoid damaging them when taking up, so new floor boards are usually required. However, the good thing is that we can take advantage by also laying a full damp proof membrane (DPM) over the whole area to stop this ever happening again (see a video of how we lay our DPM here).

Our log cabin repairs are as good as new – Sometimes even better!

By the time we have finished, the cabin is in a great state of health and will last more many more years to come, just look at the corner log cabin below being repaired. This is a list of things that were carried out in this cabin repair –

New damp proof membrane
New replacement bottom logs around the whole cabin
New timber base ring beam and floor bearers
New floor boards
New windows and doors

We give our customers peace of mind as well as many more years of use for their log cabin!

This is not a job for the fainthearted! Unless you are a real expert, we don’t suggest that you even think about trying it.

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