Many of the cheaper garden offices on the market today are log cabin style buildings. They are made from lengths of machined wood that interlocks to create the framework of the building.
These can be attractive buildings and the price point is certainly attractive, but log cabins come in very varying qualities, and whilst wood has good thermal properties log cabins are significantly less well insulated than a garden office that is built using house quality materials.
If you do decide that a log cabin is the type of garden office that you want, opt for one that has thicker timbers, also make sure the building has insulation in the floor, walls and roof – it may seem obvious but many log cabins don’t have insulation in the walls so all your heat is being pumped out through the structure.
Also, make sure your cabin has double glazed doors and windows. Many log cabin office suppliers still offer only single glazing, and specifying good insulation is not worth much if you don’t have double glazing!
Because the structure of a log cabin also forms its outer skin, you will find it will need considerable ongoing maintenance, less durable timbers are often used on cheaper models and this needs regular preserving.
Whether a log cabin is the right for you, is of course your choice, but in many cases they are just ‘posh sheds’ and not comparable to garden offices that are built using house quality materials and building techniques, which are built to last a life time.