What do you use a summer house for?

A summer house offers a whole host of potential uses, varying from the common and conventional to the decidedly outside of the box. If you’re looking for summer house ideas, you could use it for: Garden storage if you go for a summer house with shed A workshop or tool shed A room for relaxation Outdoor dining A garden office A home gym With even a small summer house, the possibilities are endless.

How to insulate a summerhouse

Our tongue and groove panelling provides a weather-resistance, tight interlocking seal to keep your warm in winter and cool in summer. However, to further insulate your summer house, you could consider: Using a draught excluder Installing a vapour barrier Installing floor ad roofing Celotex insulation sheets Upgrading to double-glazed windows This can be especially useful if you plan to use your summerhouse as a home office throughout the year or overnight. For more, read our guide to damp-proofing and insulating a garden building .

Summer Houses | Garden Houses For Sale UK

Summer Houses
FAQ

If you’ve found the type of summerhouse that compliments your needs and your garden, then it’s time to nail down the specifics of the building that’s right for you. There are loads of options available, which means there’s certain to be a building that ticks all of your boxes.

What are Your Options?

Apex Summerhouses

An apex or gable roof provides the classic garden building look that you’re familiar with. A popular choice due to the simple, traditional and attractive silhouette it creates, apex roofing also provides great drainage naturally split over both sides of the building. In a traditional apex design, the door is located to be beneath the “face” of the roof.

There’s also the option of a reverse apex roof summerhouse, where the gable runs perpendicular to the front of the building and meaning the entranceway is located at the lower edge of the roof.

An apex roof is ideal if you want equal drainage and a classic look for your building.

Pent Summerhouses

The modern counterpart is a Pent roof. This roof type slopes gently to one side, providing a more contemporary look.

This design also forces all drainage water to one side of the building, which could be advantageous if you want to avoid water accumulating or draining to one side of the building. Just make sure that the door placement aligns with your plans!

Pressure-Treated Summerhouses

For an extra dose of durability and longevity, opt for pressure treatment on your building. Pressure-treatment is a chemical process that injects chemical preservatives into the timber. These preservatives keep the wood healthier and stronger for longer, giving you a building that lasts longer.

With regular maintenance and applications of treatment your summerhouse can stay in great shape for longer. We also offer a 15-year guarantee on our pressure treated buildings for good measure!

Cheap Summerhouses

Sometimes budget comes first - and when that’s the case, we’ve got you covered with a selection of cheaper buildings to help you meet your ambitions. Including high-quality small summerhouses as well as larger models, our cheaper garden houses tear down the cost barrier and let you build an outdoor space to be proud of.

More Sizes

For those of you with specific dimension in mind, you can explore certain sizes of summerhouse by taking a look at the pages below:

Go compact with our 7x7 summerhouses.
A 10x8 summerhouse offers a good balance of space.
12x8 summerhouses for those with room to spare.
A 12x10 summer house is great for using the space year-round.

What are the Uses of a Summerhouse?

While they’re typically built for relaxation, you can utilise the space your building provides for a handful of other uses. The bright and open interior of a summerhouses gives you the freedom for all sorts of activities - here are a few examples below:

As a garden office: the natural light makes them an ideal workspace.
As a studio or hobby space: turn it into a dedicated place for your hobby to thrive.
As a home gym: with the doors open, you can create an airy gym space.

Many of these purposes may require additional utilities such as electricity or water, which need to be installed additionally to your building. You can find out more about how to equip your summerhouse with these in our guide to installing utilities.

How Can You Maintain Your Summerhouse?

Keeping your building in great shape requires some attention, even if you buy a pressure-treated model.

Be vigilant towards the timber of your new building as it will become susceptible to damage as time draws on. Applying layers of treatment regularly will keep the wood healthy and help to prevent water damage. Believe it or not, a coat of wood paint can provide an additional layer of protection for your building - so it’s worth getting colourful if you have the chance!

What’s Our Protective Guarantee?

We know that making the most of your building doesn’t just come down to the design itself - it also relies on the peace of mind you get when you’re in it. To help you feel secure with your summerhouse, we supply a 10-year guarantee on all our tongue and groove summerhouses. This guarantee protects against rot, decay, and insect infestation.

If you opt for a pressure-treated summerhouse we extend our guarantee to up to 15 years. We’re confident that our buildings will stay strong for years to come - but our guarantee ensures that, if anything does go wrong, you don’t lose out.

Do We Offer Delivery?

We offer delivery across the UK, with free delivery available for most of mainland Britain. Take a look at our delivery page to find out if your address is eligible for delivery with no added charge. Our delivery service is effortless - we’ll get in contact with you before and during your delivery so you know when we’ll be there.

How Can You Contact Us?

If you’ve been trawling through products in search of the right model - but just can’t find one - then why not talk to us? Our customer service team has years of experience with garden buildings and are always happy to help guide you towards a solution that fits your circumstance.

If you have any questions or want to talk about our summerhouses over the phone, then please don’t hesitate to contact us. Use our simple contact form or give us a call on 01909 768840. We can’t wait to hear from you.

What are Your Options?

Apex Summerhouses

There’s also the option of a reverse apex roof summerhouse, where the gable runs perpendicular to the front of the building and meaning the entranceway is located at the lower edge of the roof.

An apex roof is ideal if you want equal drainage and a classic look for your building.

Pent Summerhouses

The modern counterpart is a Pent roof. This roof type slopes gently to one side, providing a more contemporary look.

Pressure-Treated Summerhouses

With regular maintenance and applications of treatment your summerhouse can stay in great shape for longer. We also offer a 15-year guarantee on our pressure treated buildings for good measure!

Cheap Summerhouses

More Sizes

For those of you with specific dimension in mind, you can explore certain sizes of summerhouse by taking a look at the pages below:

Go compact with our 7x7 summerhouses.
A 10x8 summerhouse offers a good balance of space.
12x8 summerhouses for those with room to spare.
A 12x10 summer house is great for using the space year-round.

What are the Uses of a Summerhouse?

As a garden office: the natural light makes them an ideal workspace.
As a studio or hobby space: turn it into a dedicated place for your hobby to thrive.
As a home gym: with the doors open, you can create an airy gym space.

How Can You Maintain Your Summerhouse?

Keeping your building in great shape requires some attention, even if you buy a pressure-treated model.

What’s Our Protective Guarantee?

Do We Offer Delivery?

How Can You Contact Us?

A summer house offers a whole host of potential uses, varying from the common and conventional to the decidedly outside of the box. If you’re looking for summer house ideas, you could use it for:

Garden storage if you go for a summer house with shed
A workshop or tool shed
A room for relaxation
Outdoor dining
A garden office
A home gym

With even a small summer house, the possibilities are endless.

Before deciding on which garden summer house is best for you, you need to consider any planning regulations which may apply to your garden building. This is especially worth bearing in mind if you intend to use it as a home office or living quarters. Generally, garden buildings such as summer houses are classed as ‘permitted developments’, meaning you wouldn't need planning permission. Despite this, we’d strongly recommend contacting your local planning authority to discuss this. The larger your garden building and the closer it is to your property boundary, the greater the likelihood that permission for a summer house will be required.

A structurally sound base is essential in ensuring your summer house can last as long as possible. Your summer house base should be flat and level, so as to avoid cracking and breaking the timber or putting undue stress on window and door frames which could shatter glass. Your choices vary from a concrete base for your summer house to an ecobase or timber sub-floor. That’s why we offer many of these as add-ons upon purchasing your summer house.

When it comes to a wooden summer house, positioning and planning requires some thought. Preferably, you’ll want your summer house to be south-facing. Though, you should observe how the sun moves through your specific garden throughout the day, as well as the times of day you’ll be using your summer house most often. The spot for your summer house may get a lot of sun in the morning and little in the evening, or vice-versa, which will naturally influence your decision. Then, be sure to position your summer house (if possible) away from hazards and overhanging branches and to build on level, dry ground that allows for water runoff.

If you’re not careful, condensation can rapidly build up in your garden summer house structure as a consequence of changing temperatures throughout the year. But with proper care and maintenance, you can stop damp in your summer house.

Make sure there is sufficient airflow through your summerhouse and be sure to aerate it even in the winter months. Leaving the doors and windows open will allow your garden building to breathe. To restrict the ability of moisture to penetrate the timber, and stop rot and mould:

Don’t store damp items in your summer house
Opt for pressure-treated timber or treat your summer house with wood treatment
Think about installing a vapour membrane if need be
Build your garden summer house on a raised base with no direct ground contact

For more on how to damp proof and insulate your wooden summer house, check out our comprehensive guide.

Ultimately, this is an issue of personal preference! Take a look at your garden surroundings and think about what colour would best compliment your pre-existing aesthetic. As a result of varying weather conditions, summer house timber tends to contract and expand. Luckily, our tongue and grooves panels allow for this natural occurrence. But, to ensure that you keep your summer house moisture-free, prime, treat, then paint it. We even offer paint and treatment options as add-ons to our BillyOh summerhouses.

Our range of BillyOh summerhouses are all designed to be easy and simple to assemble. Using the digital assembly instructions included in your order confirmation and with a team of at least 2 people, the handy pre assembled panels mean you will have your BillyOh building up in no time! You’ll just require some basic tools like a drill and bits, level, and hammer.

Our tongue and groove panelling provides a weather-resistance, tight interlocking seal to keep your warm in winter and cool in summer. However, to further insulate your summer house, you could consider:

Using a draught excluder

Installing a vapour barrier

Installing floor ad roofing Celotex insulation sheets

Upgrading to double-glazed windows

This can be especially useful if you plan to use your summerhouse as a home office throughout the year or overnight. For more, read our guide to damp-proofing and insulating a garden building.