August.  All I can think of at the moment is, August and how poor the weather has been so far.

Given the time of year I was expecting to be spending my weekends and evenings, during the week, having barbeques and sipping chilled wine in the sun and evening sun, but no, rain, more rain and the occasional thunderstorm and no barbeques.

We don’t have a conservatory at the moment, although my wife intends to slap one on the side of the house before we move, which will probably be a year after we have enough money to have such an extravagance. We have a hexagonal gazebo that is about twelve feet across, which fills a fair amount of room at the house end of our garden, serving as our conservatory.  It normally stays erected from June until September, giving us much needed shade from the British summer sun, of course I joke. 

I normally put it up on my own and it only takes half an hour or so.  It was a nice blue colour when we were given it and it has done really well over the last four years, although the blue has gone and been left by a shade of beige that puzzles me, blue to beige – how’d that happen?

I had noticed that that the wind had been driving it a bit hard just recently.  The gazebo rests on our patio and a couple of the legs are on the lawn giving that area a good cover from the elements and therefore the grass always starts to die underneath it.  The gazebo, because of it’s position, is tied to the fence and house and only a couple of the legs are staked into the ground and tethered down as the instructions would have us do, hence the concern about the wind.

The weather has been so bad over the last few weeks and the rain has tried it’s hardest to drag the whole structure down to the ground.  The pockets of water that fill on the top of the canopy have now been given a health and safety warning notice for the pet cat to adhere to, ‘Do Not Sit Under Here Moggy!’ She can’t read of course especially as she’s blind, but although the sign doesn’t really exist, it might have been a good idea for one day last week as one of the pockets of water was blown up and off the canopy top and landed, full force, down on the cat.  If you’ve ever seen a cat jump with fear and marvelled at how high these animals can spring from a laying position you would have been mightily impressed by my cat’s ability to do this feline trick.

I did laugh at the sight of our soaked cat, but then realised quickly that muddy paws and wet hair was about to ransack the lounge.  I didn’t laugh, however, when I got home last night to find the gazebo gone.  It had been raining hard and the cyclonic wind that whips around our house now that I have moved the fence has been lifting it quite high off the ground.  I’ve been lazy and hadn’t retied it or re-staked it into the ground and because of this I feared the worst.

Through my mind ran the scenarios of where the metal framed wonder had disappeared to.  Like a scene out of the Wizard of Oz I thought in horror that it had gone over the fence, maybe even down the road – a bit, and landed on someone wearing stripy socks (we have just seen Wicked in London so the imagery was still fresh) and following on from that a visit from the police and definitely a letter from someone’s solicitor who now had a white rod embedded in their arm, leg or head.              

My wife then had the audacity to say, ‘I wondered if you’d notice.’ She had taken it down, all on her own, with our two year old wrapped around her legs trying to stop her from doing anything that didn’t involve him. ‘I’ve just tossed it in the shed for now.  You can put it away properly later.’  Thanks.

So August has been miserable. I have once again failed to make the most of my summer in the garden.  The gazebo has probably seen it’s last summer outing and my wife’s need for a conservatory has been increased.  My cat is now scared of even more things she doesn’t understand and our new garden furniture that has been nicely covered by the aforementioned garden structure is now fully open to the elements. On the plus side I haven’t inadvertently killed the Wicked Witch of the East.  

Over the last couple of weeks I have been erecting a fence to extend my garden in to my over large driveway.  Before I had room for three cars and now I have room for two and because I only have one car, although an estate or station wagon as our American cousins might call it, this loss of driveway is not going to affect my parking space. My parking ability will still not improve, however.

This is my first fence erection. I am proud at the fact that I have begun to become my Dad.  By that I mean that he is a builder by trade.  He built his own house and can pretty much do anything, plastering, plumbing, building, carpentry you name it he can do it. Recently he put our new bathroom in.  It only took us a year and a half to save up for it and it took him three weeks to put it in.  Three weeks, you might exclaim, but he did a top notch job. He put real effort into it and for that my wife and I are extremely grateful.

This brings me back to my fence of which I am proud of saying ‘I am building myself.’  After three weeks the first four panels are still standing and the posts are all up right and true, which is amazing for me. It has taken me this long to get this far due to the weather, my Son’s birthday weekend, my anniversary trip away and a pulled tendon in my arm, oh and digging the post holes in the wrong place, hence the bad appendage.

By putting up this fence and turfing the once unused driveway our house will have more garden space for me to mow and my son to play in.  He is now two and his garden toy collection is getting bigger.  By bigger I mean climbing frames, slides and goal posts.  We have a poor lawn now, which will soon become much worse, a wasteland of dying foliage I predict.    
We intend to replace our twenty year old shed, which was falling apart back when we moved in, three years ago.  We are going to get a bigger one and utilise the new garden area for the purpose of repositioning this much needed improved garden storage building. Where the old one stood we are going to, according to my wife, use that space for a patio, seating and barbeque area, by we she means me. ‘You’ve built a fence, you can do anything, Honey’ my reply was ‘Hmmmm’ (spoken in a sarcastic under my breath kind of tone).

Okay, enough, my point is this; when you look at your garden you see the layout set in stone, or soil and flowers if you will. It may be hard work to change things around, my arm is testament to that, but the effort can be very rewarding, not only in accomplishing something for yourself, building a simple fence has made me feel better about myself although my arm is still complaining and I fear I may be over egging the blood part of the ‘blood sweat and tears’ saying at this point, but also you can gain much more from a little shift around.

By utilising wasted space in my our garden, driveway as it was, I can now make use of a larger shed, which no one will really see as it is hidden away by the side of my house and through the laws of perspective I will have a much larger garden and therefore feel like my modest semi-detached house has rather expansive grounds for such a dwelling.  We will acquire a new seating area, yes I gave in to the missus, and a whole new dimension to our outdoor living will open up.  

So next time you are struggling for space, your shed is starting to crumble under the weight of it’s possessions or you feel fenced in (see what I did there?) take a look at how you can move things around and see if repositioning your garden structures could make better use of your outdoor space.

www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk 

Recently a television advert promoted the idea of using your garage as a home cinema or maybe your very own pitch side seat for the world cup; albeit through a high definition television screen with surround sound system, comfy lazy boy and beer fridge. The question that popped into my head when I saw this advert was, ‘But where would you put the car?’

Okay I know that most garages these days do not actually house a car and are instead used as the owner’s very own dumping ground full of boxed debit collected and stored during a lifetime of hording. But, what if you could designate a place, a sanctuary you could say, that fulfilled the requirements of our growing stay at home culture as our wallets are tightened and our pound stretched?

I have always wanted a home cinema, I mean a real cinematic environment akin to the local multiplex, but without the high ticket prices -anyone seen a 3-D film recently? – the obnoxious younger generation and their inconsiderate behaviour and all the other annoying points that make cinema going an irritation and not the delightful experience that I recall from my childhood.

So how can we accomplish this? How can we bring the luxury back to our lives? How can we build this dream of going out without leaving the home, to visit that place and it’s comfortable surroundings that give us pleasure through the sporting world or cinematic arts?

All we need is space and an appropriate building to house our little dream. A log cabin would be amazing, but a larger purpose built shed would do just as well. The right size would have to be purchased, but a 10’ x 8’ building would do the job well.  A bigger building would allow for additional uses and a larger range of faux leather furniture to recline in your very own brand new, home entertainment centre.

Decorate the building right, put up some blackout blinds, run some power, hang that wide screen HD LCD Television, place the surround sound speakers in their optimum position, line up your comfy chair and plug in the beer fridge for your foray in to self indulgence as you sip your own choice of proverbial poison and flick on the latest block buster from Hollywood or watch your national football team carve their way in to the sporting history books.       

But first you need a building... http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins

The news is full of doom and gloom about the terrible winter we are having, although we are only in the second week of bad weather.  Swine flu has gone, the Iraq war is over and Afghanistan is now a peaceful place once more, or so it seems.  Instead of the news that has dominated the airwaves for the last couple of years we are being bombarded by reports of a small bit of white stuff falling from the heavens which has, once again, ground Britain to a halt in a matter of hours.

The first wave of bad weather has come and gone for most, but the weather people who failed to predict it in the first place are saying more is to come.   One thing comes to mind, other than the fact we all can’t cope with snow in this country, is that there is a stronger need to be able to work from home for quite a large proportion of the snow bound workforce of the U.K. 

Technology has come a long way when it comes to networking and PC based office work.  Computers are smaller, much cheaper and more powerful.  The ability to connect to the office is only a click away and with file sharing and networking more widespread than ever we could easily continue to do our jobs from the comfort of our own home.  I for one could be writing this anywhere and could post it to the internet from on a plane for all anyone knows.

With the snow falling and blocking us all in and industry losing millions daily isn’t it about time we figured out that we don’t all have to lose a day’s pay because we can’t get to the office, especially if we had thought ahead and invested in a home office.  If we had a designated and ‘hooked-up’ area of our home that can easily allow you to work without going to the office then business would continue to run even in the whitest of winters.

But what are the best solutions for home office working? Working from a room in your house may not be the answer, especially when the kids are home from their closed school. A more convenient and more productive place to work is undoubtedly the garden office.  You will still need to be able to separate your home and working environments to be able to keep productivity high.

By utilising a log cabin or converting your garden shed you will be giving yourself that distance from your home without having to leave your property.  Snow wouldn’t be an issue, loss of pay wouldn’t be a worry and we might not be too bothered about the wet white stuff falling so annoyingly during winter.

To view a range of excellent Log Cabins fit for use as a home office visit: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins

If you want to go down the shed convertion route visit read our popst insulation: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/blog/post/2009/12/02/A-Brief-Introduction-To-Shed-Insulation.aspx

BillyOh Tongue & Groove Apex Shed  BillyOh Classic Overlap Pent BillyOh-Country-Plant-House-Potting-Shed

This problem always comes up every year.  You buy a shed, nothing special, wooden framed panel building felt covered roof, but you want to be able to use it all year round and not just for chilling your Christmas beer during December. 

Sheds are much more than just a storage place in the modern garden.  They have become a special part of the home, or rather an extension of the home, where hobbies and activities have taken over from the usual resting place of the lawn mower.

The autumn and winter months are long and cold in Britain, probably not as wet as most people believe, but the cold is the real reason that the shed then becomes a neglected place and therefore a lot of creative time is lost to our dismal weather.  Imagine what all of you artisans could achieve if the shed was a much more inviting place to potter, construct and escape to - if only it was warmer.

Insulating your shed to improve it’s ‘comfiness’ during the cold periods of the year couldn’t be easier.  Using a roll of bubble wrap stapled to the inside of the shed is a nice, easy and inexpensive way to boost the cold prevention qualities of your garden retreat. The stress relief potential is also high, pop, pop, but remember each pop takes a little away from it’s insulating properties.

You can go further though and use products such as mineral wool to line the walls and then plaster board over. But be aware that you’ll probably knock a hole through it in no time so a hard board, OSB or MDF would be more appropriate.  Also the smallest amount of moisture will make the plaster board swell and deteriorate.

Polystyrene sheeting, at about two inches, between the framing will work well too to block the chill. Cover it with polythene, then a 12mm plywood board finished off with paint will protect the inside of the shed and keep it much warmer than if left uncovered. You will also get a handy winter snow scene from cutting the polystyrene sheets to fit the panels, which will impress the kids.

The greatest loss of heat from your shed will come from the floor, ceiling and windows.  Shed roofs can be covered in the same methods as the walls, but make sure you secure those boards above your head really well.  Silver insulation foil could also be included in your packing of the roof to reflect your own body heat back down from above.

For the windows you could go to the expense of fitting double glazed glass, but using UPVC will knock a lot of the heat loss away.  The floor is where most of the cold will enter your shed, also water can make it’s way through the boards if they are resting on the ground or if water is allowed to pool under them.  Raising your shed higher up above ground level, and the lying water, will counter this, but you will also need to consider insulating between the bearers with strips of polystyrene or using carpet underlay with boards over the top on the inside of the shed.  If you really want warm feet you’ll need to invest in under floor heating.   

You can spend as little, and do nothing, or as much as you want to make your little hideaway, or hobby room, or workshop warm for the winter. Consider the costs and the work involved in fitting the shed out and whether you really are going to make the most of the winter months before forking out for insulating your shed.

Britain has produced some of the world’smost famous pioneers from engineers to scientists, and adventurers to artists and to celebrate achievements made through these industrious and brave souls Garden Buildings Direct has given the name of Pioneer to the new range of BillyOh log cabins.

BillyOh Pioneer Raleigh Log Cabin

Garden Buildings Direct has developed it’s catalogue of leisure buildings with the introduction of two new products in the 28mm interlocking board range.  Firstly we have the BillyOh Pioneer Raleigh Log Cabin, which is a new design reminiscent of a Swiss chalet, but with the trademark BillyOh doors and windows finishing off the styling.

BillyOh Pioneer Darwin Log Cabin

Secondly we have the BillyOh Pioneer Darwin Log Cabin, another 28mm board log cabin, which is one of our big ones at 16' 4" x 17' 11" and it has eight windows as well as the usual double doors.  This building allows for more natural light to flood in to it than any other log cabin and truly is evolutionary.  The verandah adds an extra dimension to the building to give it even more versatility and class and which also contributes, along with the roof design, to giving this building an Australian homestead look.

The Pioneer range has been developed from the BillyOh Frontier and BillyOh Pathfinder log cabin ranges that Garden Buildings Direct has become famous for and the quality and craftsmanship continues in to this new line of luxury, but affordable, garden leisure buildings.

Why not take a closer look by visiting the log cabin’s individual product pages for a detailed look at these two new pioneer inspired log cabins.

Click here for product details on the BillyOh Pioneer Raleigh Log Cabin: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins/BillyOh-Pioneer-Raleigh-Log-Cabin   

Click here for

product details on the BillyOh Pioneer Darwin Log Cabin: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins/BillyOh-Pioneer-Darwin-Log-Cabin

Until the 30^th November Garden Buildings Direct is offering a 5% off promotion when a customer spends over £100 when visiting and purchase a product from: www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk

What this means is if you are interested in buying one of Garden Buildings Directs beautiful log cabins, such as the BillyOh Frontier ‘Santa Fe’ Log Cabin, with the 5% off offer you will save £72.50.

Click here to view BillyOh Frontier ‘Santa Fe’ Log Cabin:

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins/BillyOh-Frontier-Santa-Fe

If you had a wooden workshop in your sights then with the 5% off offer you would save £43.50 on the price of the 10’x16’ BillyOh Lincoln Workshop. 

Click here to view 10’x16’ BillyOh Greenkeeper Premium Workshop:

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Wooden-Sheds/BillyOh-Greenkeeper-Workshop

Alternatively if your kids are begging you for a new playhouse then this amazing 5% off offer would save you £17.45 on the price of a Mad Dash Peardrop Xtra Playhouse.

Click here to view Mad Dash Peardrop Xtra Playhouse:

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Wooden-Playhouses/Mad-Dash-Peardrop-Xtra-Playhouse

These are just three of the products that offer this 5% off promotion and it is also worth pointing out that all of the prices shown on the Garden Buildings Direct website include VAT and free* UK mainland delivery. To view the full website visit: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk

Can it be done, a workshop for under £500*?  If you are thinking of tinkering in your garden shed on a grander scale than is possible now, as your shed is full of lawn mower and broken barbecue and not to mention the kids paddling pool that only saw the outside world twice this year, and you have only a limit amount of money to accomplish this with, then a BillyOh Overlap Workshop from Garden Buildings Direct could be the answer you are looking for.

Starting at 10’ x 10’ at a stitch under the £500* threshold the BillyOh Overlap Workshop is the entry workshop in this range that reaches up to 10’ x 25’.  The 10’ x 10’ is a very nice space and gives ample room for storage, shelving and work benches to develop your hobby or grow your workshop tinkering. 

Along with the double doors, robust framing and the light airy feel that you get from the large number of windows (the 10’ x 10’ has eight of them, two at the front), the BillyOh ten year warranty and free* UK mainland home delivery can only add to the amazing qualities of these wooden workshops.

So if you have outgrown your shed and you are looking for a workshop to expand into then visit here for this exciting Garden Buildings Direct wooden building: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Wooden-Sheds/BillyOh-Overlap-Workshop

*Price correct at time of blogging.

How can you complain about the knots in wood? Well someone did recently, and it has prompted me to write a little piece about the characteristics of wood.

It seems that this guy wanted the wood in his garden building to be clean of lines, and knots. I can understand this to a certain extent, but when your building is made from European Softwood you are going to get knots. With a thickness of no less than 19mm, in the boards that make up the log cabins, there is no chance of the little bug**ers falling out and leaving drafty holes, so this could not have been the issue.

Then I thought of how a customer would treat a building with no knots and natural lines in the wood to protect it. Surely the building would still need to be coated in a suitable stain or wood preserver, which would help to disguise the appearance of these beautiful natural features?

How can you expect wood to be one hundred percent free of what makes wood so beautiful in the first place. Of course you can buy expensive types of wood that have fewer of this distinguishing marks, but then it would be hard wood and this would be extremely expensive.

If someone wanted such a clean, not sure if this building is made of wood, look then they may not have considered the natural characteristics of wood at all. For instance in the winter wood has a tendency to expand as the moisture trapped within it reacts to the colder temperatures. This then expands the links between the boards of any garden building.

When summer comes around the affects of the higher temperatures make the wood shrink back again. This then affects the contact points of the boards and movement can then occur. Over time this becomes more obvious and spacing may occur between boards making them slightly loose. This is totally natural and very little can be done about it.

Wood also moves in a more lateral way and warping or bending of the timbers can occur. Again this is completely natural, but the interlocking construction technique of log cabin building should minimise these two specific weathering effects as the overall weight of the building presses down on all of the boards giving a strong resistance to movement.

The best thing about wood’s natural characteristics is the fact that it blends an obviously man made structure into the surrounding of your garden so well. Even painted, as long as it isn’t in garish colours and patterns, the building will still sit well in the natural colours and textures of a garden. The grain and the shapes they make on the surface of the cut timbers take away from the straight lines of the artificial materials of some buildings.

Wood is a sustainable building material so the environmental impact of using it can be controlled and lessened and even bettered by the careful management of forests used for timber.

So... why no knots? I don’t understand, because the beautiful aesthetically, natural textures and look of wood appeals to us all. Unless you are making a statement or have a specific reason you wouldn’t put a plastic shed in your green leaved garden, would you or a metal one next to your lawn? I could be wrong of course, but I’ve never seen someone rush out to replace the wooden beams in their ceiling with steel or concrete ones when renovating their home.

So reconsider, my good man, and celebrate the beauty of wood and all of its natural characteristics.

For further information and to view a range of log cabins click here: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins

There is also a Log Cabin Buyers Guide to take a deeper look in to this type of garden building here: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Article/log-cabin-buying-guide

I’ve always struggled with the concept of gyms. Obviously they are there to help you get fit and lose weight, but fundamentally they are there to make money from us unfortunate people who like cake too much.

I’ve been to a gym, i’ve been a member of a gym. I did get fitter and the weight had started to slide away and, dare I say, I might have even started to tone up – even build muscle. And for my brief time at the gym, once I had gotten over my embarrassment of looking like a wimp in a room full of exercise fanatics, I had started to enjoy going.

Then after a year I stopped going and stopped being a member. Mainly because it cost me a lot of money and I had to book my time and drive too far to get to it. My motivation was not strong enough and my ever emptying bank balance was also informing my opinion that it might not be a great idea to keep going.

However, if I had the facility to train at home and knew that once I had paid for my gym equipment then I could go whenever I wanted and train for however long I wanted without being asked to move on to the next piece of machinery by an intimidating beef-cake of a guy, I might be persuaded to take it up again. After all my jeans are getting a bit tight.

Placing a log cabin in my garden would create the perfect environment for my Log Cabin home gym as I have no spare rooms and I don’t think that the floor would hold the equipment anyway. I’d be able to go at least twice a day, if I desired, and use only the gym equipment I needed to use and after the initial payment I would never have to pay gym membership again.

An added bonus would be the day light and fresh air that I would be able to take advantage of, which I never received when I drove ten miles to the gym twice a week, to help me train longer and more efficiently.

I thought about putting in a plasma screen and a surround sound system for music videos to watch whilst training, a fridge and maybe even a shower, if I could work it in, and I’d be right at home.

For further information and to view a range of log cabins click here: http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Log-Cabins