Summer Houses

It appears to be easy to buy one, just take a look on the internet. See a building which takes your fancy and then search for the best price. A piece of cake? Well, life’s not like that.

This is because there is such a large range of summer buildings available with the quality varying tremendously. To ensure you are not disappointed you do need to be very careful and do some homework.

A company which has been established a long time is a good choice. You can be reasonably sure that they have gained a great deal of expertise in the market.

More importantly, by being in business for a long time, they have listened to their customers.
You will find the better-established businesses actually do have ‘bricks and mortar’ sites for viewing and their website is just a tool to inform the public of their range of products.

These companies also tend to employ staff who you can actually talk to (just like in days gone by – how quaint, but nice) and advise you on what will be best for you. Most ‘web site only’ firms expect you to communicate through the modern wonder of email, which is OK but will never ‘actually’ beat talking to a person.

With the internet, with its flashy web pages and, possibly if you are lucky, a glossy brochure you can never really know what your proposed summer house will be like in ‘real life’. This is why it’s crucial, BEFORE delivery, to try to view any potential summer building.

This will ensure that you can see and check for yourself how well it’s been made, that there is enough height inside and you can see that the doors and windows are solidly made (and not nasty, cheap and flimsy).

As well as that you can check what quality of timber which has been used. It’s claimed by many summer house firms, who only operate on the ‘web’, that it’s best to buy online and that you can save money.

However, it’s never possible to be sure what you will actually get. You need to be VERY wary if they are not prepared to let you see their buildings beforehand. It’s a fact that the best value building is not always the cheapest one.

It’s possible that you can save money by selecting one of these cheaper summer houses but you do need to ensure that only the best and correct materials are used in your new building. This means only using timber which comes from the colder parts of Europe such as Sweden, Norway, Finland where it grows very slowly. This cold weather means it has the greatest density ensuring it remains very stable even in varying weather.

The cheaper summer houses for sale are made using faster growing cheaper whitewood trees meaning it is likely to have more movement in your garden. Which is not good in the long run.

To cut costs the cheaper buildings will use horticultural glass (which is in essence – seconds) or worse still, plastic. This is actually ‘second-grade’ glass and you will normally be able to see defects in it. Away from the busy activity, it can be just about OK but on buildings which are being used regularly is it not better not to take any chances?

If horticultural glass smashes it breaks into jagged pieces and you certainly would not want your children or grandchildren getting hurt. Horticultural glass does reduce the cost of the building but is it worth the risk? However, the better summerhouse manufacturers will, as standard, use toughened glass. A very good choice as well as peace of mind.

Standard sizes and layouts has the advantage that it can help to keep the cost down, but what if you would like a size to suit YOUR garden or you would like doors and windows in a different place then you would be out of luck. Maybe you would you like a corner summer house.

This is why it’s good practice to talk to a garden building company who can actually make your summerhouse to suit YOU. It may be a little more expensive but the extra cost can make the difference between ‘putting up with the available options’ or getting the best use for YOUR garden.

The advantage of the ‘web’ and social media means that any ‘bad apples’ or companies selling bad buildings can quickly be isolated. So this is one way to find out a little more about the company from whom you be thinking of buying a summerhouse. Can be very enlightening and can help to put your mind at rest.

Check out independent feedback sites such as Independent Feedback.

We, being a family business, have been involved in the manufacture of quality timber summer houses for sale since 1979 when Robin started his first production unit. Craig, Robin’s son, joined in 1990 and trained at Guildford College in joinery. For over 20 years we ran one of the largest UK wooden building companies in the south of England.

We made the conscious decision to only deal with quality materials which we knew would last the test of time. This ethos probably comes from our upbringing. Robin’s father and grandfather were Master Butchers in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire and Quality and Customer Service was always key in their businesses.

Choose us if you are interested in a new traditional, modern, contemporary, large or small summer building for your home,. Whether it’s for sitting out in the garden on a sunny day or for using it as a recreation area, hobby room or somewhere to store your leisure equipment and gardening supplies. You can even find a corner summerhouse, if you have an unused corner in your garden, in the large range on offer on our 1st Choice Leisure Buildings web site.

Summer houses delivered and installed is one of the things you should be looking for and, to save you time and money, we will install free of charge. These buildings are ideally suited to any size of back garden. They can be used for leisure or professional use to suit the needs of you all our buildings. From insulated sunrooms to wooden summerhouses and can be fully bespoke. Why settle for anything less? We always strive to ensure we are your 1st Choice for your garden buildings.

The internet is a wonderful tool for seeing what is available. It can be very easy to purchase a summer house for your garden online sitting at home. With just a few clicks you can have made a decision, paid for a new building and before you know it your new garden building will on its way! However, moving in haste may make you repent at leisure!

There are many manufacturers out there selling sub-quality buildings online and this is where trouble can occur. Your new sunroom will have to stand up to the full force of our British weather and any shortcomings in the materials used will expose it. So how can you tell?

The best way to tell whether your shiny new summerhouse is made to a good standard is by viewing it in situ. If the retailer can’t provide that then you need to be cautious.

You will find that the majority of outdoor summer house retailers on the web do not offer an option to view beforehand. At 1st Choice, after being involved in manufacturing since 1979, we set up a show site back in 2003. It demonstrates to our customers the high quality of our range of buildings.

Don’t make the mistake which others may have done. Always ensure you see your new summer building before buying. It’s very easy to rue that mistake afterwards and wish that you have been a little more careful.

Please take a drive to see our great range of buildings. We have over 80 different buildings on display which shows just how committed we are to selling the very best! This will ensure you have made an informed and wise decision.

It’s always worth checking out previous customers feedback, but only on independent sites.

On our 1st Choice web site, you are able to spend time looking at our extensive range of garden houses, sunrooms and home offices. You can view all the detailed specifications of our ranges. You can even download the relevant leaflets and price lists from our web site. Our buildings, sun rooms and summer cabins from the Platinum and Diamond ranges have been sold throughout England & Wales and surrounding area for a great number of years.

To back up our claim of being the 1st Choice we are proud to have been involved in their manufacture since 1979. During this time we have followed the ethos that quality is always first. Even if the price is a little higher.

At the end of the day we have to live with our conscience and being a family firm we believe in fair play. With the latest two grandchildren on the scene, this is more important than ever for their futures as well as ours!

The summerhouse for your garden is traditionally enjoyed through the warmer months, possibly being used a storage place through the winter. How about being able to use it all year round?

By investing a little more and having your luxury summer house insulated, you can use this wonderful building all year round. Your children can be out from under your feet and can use it as their own, with their computer games, music or chilling with their friends. Mum or Dad could use it as a ‘man cave’ or ‘she den’ for their own hobbies or pastimes. An insulated summerhouse could be used as a home office for your business and if so, the cost would be tax-deductible. A win-win situation for you!

It’s reasonably easy to insulate a summerhouse in the UK if you have semi-reasonable DIY skills. You would need to buy polystyrene or fibreglass insulation and then cut this and fit it in between the internal framework.

The fibreglass insulation will need tacking into place to stop it moving before you fix the inner skin. This can be plywood, hardboard (which you can get with an attractive veneer on it) or even T&G boarding. This is OK for the walls but the roof can be a little tricky. You need to get the insulation in place, often with gravity working against you. This makes fitting the inner skin fiddly. You would need 2 or 3 people to do the roof. After you have completed that it would also be a good idea to use cover strips over the joins to finish it off.

We can supply insulation for all of our Platinum summer houses for sale to suit your requirements. The walls and roofs can be lined and insulated enabling you to benefit from all-year-round use.

We normally use a Kingspan insulation which is a solid composition with foil backing. There is a range of different internal linings. Before finishing the building it will have internal trims fitted to ensure a smooth finish. With a choice of internal cladding, you can choose one to suit you.

All of our Platinum pages have links to the prices of the basic buildings. On the order form, you will see the cost for that particular model.

On some, there is even an option to insulate the floor for even better protection from the elements.

One of the most common questions is whether you can afford it. Well, if you would like to use your new garden building all year round then it’s worth working out what this extra use is worth to you. To be able to have full use of your office or hobby room is a great asset and a little piece of calm away from our mad world.

Call us on 0800 999 6995 and we will be glad to advise for your needs.

If your building is insulated then it will be nearly as warm as inside your house. Just like any building, during the colder spells, you will have to have some form of heating.

The ideal solution is an electric heater. You can’t use a gas heater like Calor gas. Apart from the obvious flammability risk, it creates a lot of moisture which will tend to warp the timbers and cause damp.

Besides keeping your new wooden summerhouse warm in the winter insulation will help to keep it cooler in the summer. This is something which not many people think about. To be honest, I never used to think about it, but on our show site we had a normal summer building next to an insulated one and I was checking them over.

When I went from the normal one into the insulated one I could not believe the difference in temperature! I had to go back into the un-insulated one to check, so it’s well worth doing.

Why be forced into choosing between a workshop, storage shed, contemporary summerhouses or garden rooms when you can have any combination of these to suit your requirements? A perfect summerhouse with side shed.

We understand that every family – and every garden – is totally unique so we are happy to offer our summer house shed combo which is made to measure without incurring any sort of financial premium.

You won’t want to be limited to three or four standard designs so we allow you to tailor any of our standard four-sided buildings to your requirements; you will be amazed at the number of different shed summerhouse combinations that are possible.

Simply choose any Platinum summerhouse, workshop or home office and, with the addition of one or more partitions and some extra doors (either externally or within the partition itself) you will soon design a striking garden room shed combi that is practical, long-lasting and unique to your specific taste and configuration.

The problem with most gardens is that they are not large enough and you have to choose whether to buy a summer house for relaxing or a shed for storage. If you have enough space you could buy both. HOWEVER, why don’t you combine both together for the best of both worlds?

With all our summer houses they can be made with a storage shed attached which can be at the back of the summerhouse with a side door or you could have a door leading from the summerhouse directly into the combi shed. You can even have a store to the side of the summer building if that is better for you and in that case you would have the summer building doors and the shed door on the front or side to suit. It’s your choice and being all in one building will look great in your garden.

The answer is massive. You can select from any of the Platinum or Diamond summerhouses as the base building in apex or pent styles. Classic,Georgian or contemporary summerhouse with side shed designs to suit. From there you just need to decide how large you want your shed section to be and whether at the back or side of the building.

Then choose the location of door and windows and your new building will take shape. Sizes range from 8 x 6 right up to 20 x 14 (or larger even if you need it). Soundly made using redwood timber (for the longest life) – NO inferior whitewood waiting to let you down. Solid timber roofs and strong substantial floors. Also, as it’s important for your family safety, toughened glass is used as standard.

Besides the versatile nature of these buildings and high specification as standard, these buildings will be erected with no further charge. So don’t struggle with large, heavy panels and risk hurting yourself. All you need to do is to prepare a base – but we can help with that with our base building service.

Allow the experts to create your new dream building in your garden for you secure in the knowledge that it has been built correctly and will face our British weather with no problem. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to enjoy your new building with your family and friends away from the pressure of the world.

By the very nature of combination shed – summerhouses it’s hard to decide what is best for you so take a little time and visit our display site near Woking in Surrey and see examples of summer houses and sheds for your self. Chat with our helpful staff to ensure the combi building you choose will reflect your requirements and needs as well as looking great in your garden.

You will never be able to judge very well from a leaflet of website how good a building is so come along and have a browse. There you will be able to see the quality and decide for yourself whether a building from ‘1st Choice’ should be your 1st choice. You will find that many of the best summerhouses web sites won’t give you any opportunity whatsoever to see their products ‘in the flesh’ so ‘buyer beware.

These Diamond and Platinum Summerhouses and sheds wit side storage are available in a massive range of sizes to suit YOUR needs and not just a few set sizes with most makers offers. You also have the option to move the doors & windows or add extra windows for a small extra charge so you can see that a quality summerhouse can meets your exact needs at a very good price.

With the addition of a veranda or balcony this will throw up new uses for your summerhouse. Add in a partition and a side door and it can combine to be a summerhouse and storage shed – how good is that?

By their very nature it’s not possible to have a price list for all the thousands of buildings which could be supplied to meet your needs. However, to get a ‘ballpark’ figure there’s a rough way of doing this and is as follows:- Decide on the design of building you would like and go to that web page. On the web page there will be a link to the price list relating to that model. Either decide on the overall size of your summerhouse combo and write down the prices. You then need to add an internal partition and the cost for this is about £25 per linear ft.

So if the building was 12ft wide across the front the partition would be 12ft and the cost would be an extra £300. You would then need to add a door for access to the combi storage shed and this would be about £100, depending on the type of door chosen. The second way to get rough price is to take the price of the summerhouse and the price of the shed and add them together and it would be there about. We are, of course, very happy to supply you with a firm quote to meet your needs. Just call us on (01483) 237550 or (01252) 311085 oruse our contact form or visit our display site.

You can download a leaflet with more details about these combination summer house sheds here as well as a price list for the Diamond summer buildings and Platinum summerhouses or contact us on (01483) 237550 or (01252) 311085 or via our online contact page.

Besides the very large range and options for a summer house with shed we can also offer our range of multi room log cabins. There are twelve different log cabin shed combinations, so if you want a timber cabin with a side shed attached, a 2 or 3 roomed cabin, or a log cabin storage unit then these delightful Trentan cabins can fit the bill. Take a look at the range and see which might fit the bill for you.

All are double glazed, made from slow growing nordic timber for the longest life and designed to meet your needs at your home. Take the opportunity and visit one of our Surrey showrooms and see for yourself how good these might look in your garden. We can also offer optional assembly, base buildings, electrics or a painting service if you choose.

The home is the epicentre of our lives and where we normally feel most comfortable. By looking at the range of modern summer houses for sale it can make it even more special. When this is combined with a garden, if you are lucky enough to have one, then we have to count our lucky stars. The garden allows us to have our own piece of little Britain where we can relax and enjoy time with our family in the open.

The typical Brit loves to spend time on home improvements. Whether it’s a simple coat of paint or a complete revamp of the bathroom or kitchen.

The garden can help improve your home and in particular, a cool new summer room or shed. These types of garden buildings and common garden buildings are so versatile they can be used for a great many different purposes. This includes general storage, a workshop, hobby room, or just space to get away from the family. The summer house is perfect for that.

You could utilise these buildings for storage of items which would otherwise be in the house, reducing clutter in the house.

You can also sort out various tools and store them ready for use. This freeing up of internal space is a great boost to the home and your family. More importantly, it solves the problem of never being able to find that garden implement that you need ‘right now’!

This is just one of the reasons when choosing a new sunroom or summerhouse to choose as large as one as possible. If you already have a room in the garden building then take some time to spend at the weekend going through and either throwing surplus items away, selling them or giving them away to family and friends.

Don’t allow your summer garden building to becomes a dumping ground for unloved objects. Don’t let it become the tatty building at the bottom of the garden. Make it work for you. Give a little priority and it will pay you back in spades and help your home become a more organised area for you and your family.

If you are in the market for a new building then ensure you do your homework. Steer clear of ones which use chipboard or cheap OSB board. Ensure that the framing is a good thickness, ideally 2×2 and that the cladding (the planks of wood on the wall) is tongue & groove.

Even more importantly is take a look at your proposed summerhouses in the flesh display site such as this one. If you are unable to see the product beforehand then just hope for the best but prepare for the worse. That will reduce any disappointment which may come your way.

The garden by its very nature lends itself to being modelled to suit its environment. The natural aspect created by all living things is limitless. The only limitation is the human mind. Think like a garden designer. Take the existing layout, the trees, shrubs etc and work out the space available before looking at buying a new summer house.

This usually involves sitting down, maybe sketching out the plot and working out what is important for your needs. You will find that everyone has their own ideas for their ideal garden. From practical issues such as somewhere to store tools to the sort of area needed for relaxing.

Consider how ‘hands-on’ you want to be. Simply a keen gardener with a low maintenance garden? A garden designer with fancy layouts or a landscape gardener with intricate shrubbery and seating areas!.
Take the time and visit a show like the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park. It’s packed with ideas to improve your outside space!

We believe that it is vital that you are given the opportunity to inspect your purchase before parting with your money!

We have established two easily-accessible display sites near Guildford and Farnham in Surrey. You are welcome to view over 100 buildings from all of our main ranges!

Browse at your leisure without worrying about any high-pressure salesmen pouncing on you! If you need any help then we are there to advise.

The British love affair with the outdoors and contemporary summer houses is well known. Whether this is because we are a small country a mass of green rolling hills or because our self-sufficiency is inbuilt is unclear. However, the fact remains that this is an enjoyable pastime for many people.

The upside is the fitness aspect of working in the garden not to mention the financial benefit from growing your own. Think about Christmas, birthdays and Father’s day too! There is no shortage of presents which can be bought for the garden owner! The gardener will normally delight in gifts for his hobby.

These can range from even a few packs of seeds to a new shed which would be a very generous gift!

Garden tools can be another good present, but again they can become personal friends to their owners. Try to get a feel from the owner to see what their views are. You will often find that stainless steel tools are welcome in most instances and would be a boon for the gardener. You’ll have plenty to choose from down the garden centre!

Another idea is kneeling pads or cushions which can be used throughout the garden. Whilst this might not sound very exciting, in many cases, they will be very welcome!

The sheer amount of garden-related items available from just a few pounds right up to new wooden summer house mean that you will never be short of ideas for your loved one. You could do what my son does each Christmas and provided a list of what could be useful to him.

Clearly, it’s a great idea to buy something as a present for those special days of the year and. Gardening items are perfect because they last for many years. So go on and make someone’s day, help them to add to their garden tool collection. You can’t go wrong.

The summerhouse is home to a great number of items and the value of its use is usually not appreciated. Where would you put all the garden equipment, the children’s bikes, garden furniture and tools? There’s not really any space indoors and even if there was you would not really want those items in there.

Make sure these items are covered by insurance. This is not always possible as insurance companies are not very keen on insuring timber buildings. However, if you persevere and show that it is secure you may be able to get cover.

Make sure it is kept locked with all security measures in place. If you did get burgled then the insurance company may refuse to payout.

The other side of the coin is to take a calculated risk and just make the most of any security procedures. This will make it hard for thieves to get at your valuables and will encourage them to move onto easier targets. I would be a little wary of having any very high-value items in the building unless you can lock your garden gate to stop thieves getting in. The first line of defence may indeed be enough.

According to M&S Money, this average cost of items in a summer house is up to £3000,  increasing year on year. Some of the most expensive items included lawn mowers in nearly 40% of buildings. Bikes were also very popular followed by general DIY equipment.

Astonishingly the survey found that nearly half of all sheds were not locked, the figure rising substantially over earlier years.

Whatever you do don’t follow the actions of a lady in Leominster who, when her shed was cleared out, found a World War 2 bomb among the items in there. Action was taken to dispose of it when it was exploded safely by bomb disposal officers.

A modern summer house is a safe haven for your valuables where they can be kept dry and secure from intruders. Inside these versatile building your tools, bikes, garden equipment and other such items are protected and are available as and when required. However, you do need to be careful and ensure all security measures are in place.

This obsession with the timber summer house comes from early in the 20th century and peaked after the Second World War. This was when the need to grow food helped with the shortages at the time. It turned need into a welcome hobby and a break from the day.

As time went by more women took a liking to the garden, many of them now have their own one. These buildings are regularly used for hobbies and crafting.

Most people are territorial about their buildings. When a burglar decided to chance his arm and broke into Judith Gazzard’s summerhouse he made a very bad choice. He thought it was an easy target and after breaking into her conservatory, proceeded to break into her shed.

Judith had heard a noise and on investigation found her conservatory in a mess which she described as like a looking like a ‘bomb site’.  She noticed a light on in the garden shed so crept out locking the door from outside before calling the police.

When the police arrived, they found a Jason Marshall inside who was high on methadone. He’d even  eaten from a tub of bird food pellets! He also was found eating a Magnum ice cream!

Judith’s actions led to Marshall going to court and being sent to jail for 16 months after he confessed to breaking into the building. She was praised by the judge as her actions had helped to catch a repeat offender and was awarded £250 for her troubles.

This incident is just one of the reasons in our modern times why you should ensure your buildings are kept locked. By doing so you are removing the temptation from these people who, for one reason or another, are keen to target any easy and vulnerable buildings.

In the garden we need to harvest as much rainwater as possible so that it can be used during the warmer and drier parts of the year. And this is relatively easy with the addition of some water butts in the garden. By attaching some gutters to your summer house, the rain water can be channelled and used later to water the garden. Not only is this greener but if you are on a water meter, which many people are nowadays, it can help reduce your water bill.

I recently re-laid  my patio and had to mix some mortar. I used water from my wife’s rather modern summer house water butt when she wasn’t looking! (she normally uses the water for watering her flowers)

Attaching gutters and downpipes to your shed is relatively easy. You just screw the gutter brackets onto the side of the building and the gutters then clip into place. The down pipe is then channelled down into the water butt

Marley Rainsaver gutters clip onto the walls meaning no holes to drill. 1st Choice had this system on one of their outside summer houses at their display site.

Other steps will can help are ‘green roofs’. These help to hold water which will helps survive. The downside is these are a little more expensive as they must be strengthened to take the weight.

The influx of concrete driveways is another problem with retaining water for domestic use. The water tends to run away and not soak into the garden. By adding green roofs or by collecting rainwater you will find this will help in the future. This is important for us in the UK as more and more people are utilising the garden to supplement their household’s budgets which are under great strain.