How to Prepare Your Garden Room for a Heatwave

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Heatwaves can cause serious damage to your wooden garden room if overlooked. Warping or cracking, as well as fading or peeling paint, are just the first of many issues that can arise. These preparation and cooling techniques can help you avoid these, saving you the cost of repairs and the hassle.

Garden Room Heatwave Preparation

The impact can be reduced or avoided with the right preventive measures, including:

Treat timber surfaces

Timber expands as temperatures rise and then shrinks as it dries out, which can lead to cracking, warping, fading, peeling, and lose their protective layer. A good timber treatment, such as sealants, wood oils, and UV-resistant coatings, slows all of this down.

Tip: It’s best to apply the treatment in the early morning or late afternoon to allow it to absorb properly.

Check the base

A heatwave doesn’t just affect the building, but it can also dry out the ground around it. When soil loses moisture, it can shrink and pull away from the edges of a concrete base.

That loss of support can lead to small shifts, uneven settling, or hairline cracks over time. Hopefully, this won’t be the case for you now, but you can reduce such risks by:

Lightly watering the surrounding soil to prevent it from drying out further (keep away from the timber itself)

Adding a layer of sand or fine gravel to fill any gaps and level the edges

Check regularly to make sure the soil stays firm against the base.

Add a temporary roof cover

The roof takes the brunt of the harsh sun. If it’s covered with felt, the material can blister. Lay a reflective roof coating or place a temporary shade cloth on top. Doing so helps reduce heat damage during peak periods. This will need to be fitted tightly to prevent summer winds from turning it into a parachute.

Top up with exterior paint and sealants

Apply a fresh coat before a heatwave to help the timber retain moisture. Ideally, do this at least a few weeks before a heatwave, often in late June.

This is particularly important if it’s been more than 2 to 3 years since the last painting or sealing, or if the current coating shows signs of:

Fading or dull
Peeling or flaking
Dry or brittle timber
Cracks in the finish

Plan landscaping shade

Even fast-growing shrubs or climbing plants need time to establish, so this should be done well in advance. Planting in spring gives them the best chance to take root.

For instance, taller shrubs or a trellis with climbing plants such as clematis, honeysuckle, or ivy. Shrubs nearby are also useful; bamboo, for one, grows quickly, is tall, and forms a dense screen.

We hope you found this blog with enough time to prepare before the hottest part of the summer!

How to Keep Your Garden Room Cool in a Heatwave

The tips above protect your garden room, but now we’ll look at ways to keep it cool inside and make your time in the room much more comfortable.

Maximise cross-ventilation

For any garden room with windows, open them to let more airflow inside. It’s even better if there are vents – just slide or swing them open. If there are no windows, as is often the case with sheds, open the doors or use a small fan to help cooler air move through the room.

Do this in the morning and evening; shut them closed during peak sun.

Take care of the window

Adding reflective blinds or UV films on windows is a useful extra step alongside ventilation. Keep them closed between roughly 11 am and 3 pm. This works much better than leaving bare windows exposed to direct sunlight.

Insulate the room

For heatwave protection, this kind of insulation can definitely be a DIY project.

Reflective foil or bubble foil panels are easy to cut to size and fix to walls or roof panels with staples, tape, or small nails. Even temporary reflective sheets or roll-out insulation can be added to windows or walls during the hottest months and removed later.

This isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing solution, so it’s better being used for sheds and workshops rather than leisure buildings such as summerhouses.

Focus on the roof and walls that get direct sunlight, as this is where heat mostly builds up. Skip this step if your building is already insulated.

Browse Insulated Garden Rooms

Cool the floors

Unfortunately, rugs and carpets can also absorb heat, making the interior extra warmer. If you have them down in your garden room, roll them up to keep the space cooler.