Are garden timber cabins waterproofed is a question we got asked all the time here at Timberdise Garden Buildings.
The short simple answer to your question is an unqualified yes!
Why would they not be?
Well,let’s take a look at some of the possible troubles with a log cabin which would make the timber cabin not waterproofed and quite frankly not fit for purpose.The main thing to look at as soon as possible is the roof structure,that’s where you would imagine the main problem would start (this is not always the situation but that’s where we will start today). The main problem with the roof structure would be to have the felt or shingling to not be placed successfully. This is quite easily done if this is something you have never done before and why it should always be undertaken by a professional most especially if you are investing a lot of your hard earned money on a log cabin.
• Make certain that the overlaps are overliing in the ideal way. You should always start felting at the bottom of the structure and felt upwards. By doing this you ensure that the felt overlaps on top of the piece of felt that is further down the roof structure. This will ensure there is a natural run off of the water,if you start felting at the top of the roof structure and you put the overlie from the bottom pieces over the top of the felt higher up when the rain operates off it will operate beneath the felt and consequently bring about a water leak. This is just exactly the same when doing shingles,make certain you place from bottom upwards.
• Make certain you use the right size fixings. If the roofing boards on your structure are let’s say 10mm,you don’t want felt nails of 16mm. Doing this would bring about the felt nails to come completely through the roof structure. This would not look cosmetically pleasing and would also be a real chance of a water leak in the structure. They way felt is now designed,there should be a watertight seal around the nail but throughout the seasons with wear and tear this may fail resulting in a water leak.
• The most generally overlooked area on a log cabin structure is the felt or shingles on the roof structure. This is typically because we can’t see it most of the time and it’s a lot more difficult to get up there and have a look,but this is just exactly what you should do and I would highly recommend at least once a year or if you notice a water leak. Because timber cabins are not built as high as the normal house and the felt and shingles aren’t quite as tough and resilient as a typical house tile they require a little more attention. They are subjected to more elements on a daily basis because they are lower,this can result in a number of things from falling debris from plants,or another example would be a children’s toys getting thrown up there which would all bring about damage to the felt/shingles. Not to mention lots of bird droppings can rot the felt if it is in an area where natural rain can not penetrate it to create a natural run off and cleaning system (for example if your timber cabin sits under a plant).
View our products place all of our timber cabins,we do this because we know you are investing a lot of money into a log cabin and you want it to be around for a long period of time. So the best way we can ensure this occurs is to take care of the installation and make certain it is placed successfully. We’ve been out to repair timber cabins in the past built by non-skilled people and if the structure is not put together successfully then number one it won’t be safe but also it could bring about a failure in the structure to be waterproofed.
A prime example of this would be that the timbers haven’t been constructed successfully on the walls. This would then bring about the timber cabin to differ from the design as it was intended to be. At this point when the roof structure was placed there might be spaces between the roof structure and the wall. Voids could also appear on the walls of the timber cabins themselves and in some situations if the initial build of the timber cabin was so bad you would have no choice but to take down the timber cabin and reconstruct it.
This is why View our products place all of our timber cabins so you don’t have this to worry about. As you can imagine if there is a space in the wall or a space between the roof structure and the wall this would leave the cabin open and it would most definitely leak which is what we want to avoid at all costs.
