“Love my new summer house. It was excellent value for money and my brother found it mostly easy to arrest. The roof was a bit of a problem but we overcame that. All now painted and dresses. Love it”
“Reasonably easy to put together single handed, however, there are areas I would ask you to consider for improvement!
The triangle shape does not slip over the tongue and groove top. The bottom bar sits on top of the top bar of the front panel and the groove in the bottom piece of the triangle does not slide over the tongue of the front panel.
There are three pieces which are door stops but a fourth piece is needed on the floor. The front of the floor is a groove and is easy to break when stepped on. The fourth piece would complete the square and help strengthen the floor.
It would help if the 16 x strips for the window were pre drilled. They are rough pieces of timber and the nails are so small which makes it difficult to hold the strip of wood in place, hold the nail and hold the hammer to knock the nail in!
Hope this helps.”
“Let me firstly qualify this review by saying this is the first shed I have purchased in over 20 years - perhaps my expectations were too high.
Firstly, the delivery driver was exceptional - on-time, polite, friendly and helpful. The shed was easily carried into my garden due to the small panel sizes.
However, these small panel sizes (each side and the floor was broken into two pieces),
also means that it is extremely difficult to align and stabilize the walls, as the poor quality control meant the cladding overlapped the panel edges.
The roof, instead of being shipped in two pieces was made up of eight separate 9mm OSB panels, with no bracing for the sheet edges - which had the structural integrity of a trampoline!
I had to purchase two sheets of 11mm OSB from my local timber yard to get any sort of strength in the roof.
The roof OSB was then used to strengthen the floor, which again is only 9mm OSB.
With the problems keeping everything square due to the small panels, the hanging of the double doors
was problematical, and the very poor quality of the hinges and the padlock hasp led to me purchasing
better quality ones locally.
The two doors had one planed edge, but the other edge was the exposed groove of the tounged and grooved boards, basically two 3mm lips with a gap between - extremely fragile!
With the benefits of bulk purchasing by Shire, these problems could be avoided for a relatively small cost and better quality control.
I expected better for my £600 shed.
Tim Martin”
Hi Tim,
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on your recent shed purchase. We’re pleased to hear that our delivery driver made a positive impression, but we’re genuinely sorry to learn that the quality of the shed did not meet your expectations.
We appreciate your detailed feedback regarding the panel sizes, roof structure, and hinges. It's clear that these issues have caused significant frustration, and we acknowledge your concerns about stability and build quality. Should you require any replacement parts please feel free to contact us and we can provide them.
We strive to provide our customers with products that they can be proud of, and I apologise that we fell short in your case. If you would like to discuss this further or if there’s any way we can assist you, please don’t hesitate to reach out directly.
Best regards,
customerservices@shiregb.co.uk
“Excellent shed for the price, easy to put up I did it on my own but would definitely be quicker with two (what they recommend).
Two bad points; first some of the nails have missed thier mark thus leaving an exit hole (and the end of the nail) so I re did them and filled the hole,
Secondly the hardware they provide aren't the best so would advise getting better quality later, they are still usable to start though.
Overall I'm very pleased as the build quality is great and it comes in small sections so I could easily move them around.”
“Very good communication from the moment I placed the order to the minute it was delivered.
Good quality playhouse that looks amazing.now I have painted it all everyone who visits says how great it looks.”
“Bought and built a 16'x 6' Shire peony summerhouse. Overall I was impressed with the quality of the wooden panels/doors etc. my only criticism was that the roof felt was quite delicate and tore easily and the felt nails supplied were too short. To make the roof more secure I fitted batons to the seams and used longer felt nails which worked fine.”
“Value for money good and quality average.
I say quality average as my summerhouse had some split panels.
Probably not bad enough to send back but requiring attentionto make water tight.”
“About 40-45 man hours total : to paint (2 x coats) when in flat pack form , prepare foundation/base (simple sand and paving slabs) and assemble 6ft x 6ft timber playhouse. Looks good when finished. Instructions could be slightly better with better quality detail views and explaination (maybe down to photocopying). Very happy grand-daughter!”
“I eventually put it together, my main problem was I kept mixing up which was the inside or the outside on the side main side panel but not Shire's fault.
I've attached a picture of the finished struture”
“Excellent wood quality, designed to be easily assembled and gives a robust and quality finish.
Unfortunately the pad bolt and catch are only supplied with 25mm screws rather than the rounded headed bolts which would have given a degree of security, B&Q can provide the missing items.
That apart an excellent product.”
“As a kit the garden playhouse we ordered me all our expectations. The construction was of a high standard considering the price and importantly all the expected parts were present. The delivery went hassle free which was also appreciated. My only concern was that the printed instructions were not that clear (when compared to IKEA kits, for example). Luckily I have quite a lot of experience with diy but I fear a less-experienced constructor might have had some difficulty.”
“Easy to follow instructions, good quality
I do feel floor could be thicker
1 coverstrip (a3992 ) arrived broken ( driver took photo)
And one missing( a3992)”
“The Arbour arrived in good condition and on time and with a helpful delivery driver. Assembly was straight forward even though I didn't have a smooth level surface! This would make it even easier and I think essential for those without shed building experience. The finished result is excellent and very sturdy with a good weight to it.”
