“We had thought about buying a Tuin Log Cabin to replace an ageing and rotten shed for some time and eventually decided to take the plunge with an Aiste 5 x 3m with a 18mm floor pack, green half round roof shingles and composite profiled foundation beams; we didnt regret our decision at all. Ordering was straightforward and communications were good. No money is taken until a week before delivery when the delivery slot is confirmed. Delivery took place a day earlier than promised the driver was running ahead of schedule, rang me and asked to deliver a day early, which wasnt a problem. Duly, the articulated lorry arrived at the rearranged time and using the forklift, the driver helpfully placed the kit on the driveway in the right location; delivery took no longer than 20 minutes. Even flat packed this kit is big and heavy. Obviously, the palleted kit is over 5m (16 feet) long and weighs over 900kg, the pallet needs a lot of room. It took 2 people the best part of half a day to open the kit, check the parts against the supplied parts list and then carry it from the front of the house 50m down the garden to the build site. There are a lot of parts, some of them, particularly the roof shingle packs, are heavy and it took many trips. My partners FitBit recorded that she had walked 15,000 steps or about 7.5 miles in the process. Take a couple of hours to read the supplied instructions, watch the online videos and read the website blog before starting the assembly process. Weve never assembled anything like this before and have to say that it was very simple, if not hard work. It slots together like an oversized Lego construction kit. The Log Cabin was being assembled on a pre-existing concrete base, which was checked for level after sweeping the old shed into a bag! The foundation beams need cutting to length and the corners were mitred; its easy to cut with a wood saw. The foundation beams were paced on a damp-proof course and the first 2 courses of logs were assembled in under an hour. After the first 5 log layers, it was checked for square using a builders square made from the pallet the kit arrived on, as per Tuins advice. From there, the walls, windows and doors took one person about 3 hours to assemble. Note, the windows and doors are pre-assembled, are very heavy and will need at least 2 strong people to handle. Roof on next, this takes a while to do and needed 2 people one to be on the roof nailing down the boards and the other to pass the boards. It takes about 3 4 hours and is hard work. The final boards need cutting to width. Next, roof edge reinforcement and the roof side boards - easy to put up but will require two people. Our only complaint comes in here, the supplied screws were too long for the roof edge reinforcement and we replaced them with shorter, but once up, all was good. Now came what was, in retrospect, the hardest part of the build, the roof shingles. While they are straightforward and the instructions are clear, it takes time, needs someone to be on the roof, the shingles are heavy. Its back breaking work bending over on a pitched roof, stabilising yourself at odd angles. Overall, it took about 7 8 hours. Hard work, yes, but worth it, the shingles look great Finally, the floor. The joists were cut to size and placed on a damp-proof membrane. The joists were screwed together, but not attached to the cabin walls. Insulation was added between the joists rockwool was used and not the foam slabs (given their price and availability). Working from the back wall along the length of the cabin, the floor was laid. Cutting and a staggered join is required. Measure carefully and use 3 cut off from the roof shingles to get the required gap at the edges. The final board(s) will need cutting lengthways to fit in the remaining gap. Then the skirting, which is supplied with the floor, nailed to the cabin logs, finish it off nicely. Overall, the floor was laid over several days and it takes about 20 mins to cut and lay 4 boards, there are 10 in a pack and there are 9 packs. There were a couple of minor issues, the screws and one of the logs was leaking resin (easily fixed using the tips on the Tuin website) but nothing to suggest that this isnt a well-made quality product. The Aiste went together quickly, there were no major issues, and it wasnt too taxing on the DIY skills but it is hard work. If the instructions are followed, someone with average skills and who is relatively fit can put this together themselves over a weekend. Overall, were impressed and will be buying a shed annex from Tuin to go with the log cabin as its too good to store tools and a lawnmower! Next job is to treat the cabin, which Ill be doing next weekend.”
“Made up with my cabin. Ordering delivering great. Only downer. I employed an expert builder. He refused to use your 75mmx50mm treated base plate. (Maybe I should have paid extra for up grade?) We Purchased treated 125mm instead.”
“From start to finish the communications were excellent . Nothing is too much trouble . The cabin came direct from Holland and the driver kept us informed of the ETA he unpacked the cabin and even took it down the drive right to the garage where we wanted to store it for the winter . Lovely friendly people. Would highly recommend.”
“We purchased the Aiste Summer House. Really pleased with the quality and service provided. It was delivered on time with an extremely helpful driver who placed it exactly where we wanted it. I built it on my own with the main structure taking about 4 days to complete. I did run short of roof shingles and with a call they were sent the following day. I also had an issue with the doors not fitting correctly. I sent an email and had a very prompt reply explaining what was needed. The problem was solved very easily. Overall we are very pleased with our Summer House and looks great. The quality is excellent and cannot fault the after service. Thank you.”
“This was delivered, after a long manufacturing delay due to Covid, just as the weather changed for winter. The delivery took about 5 minutes and everything was on stretchers and wrapped against the elements. I paid one of the recommended installers to put it up for me while I was at work one day and I'm delighted so far. The floor has been thickly insulated and it feels really cosy. I've managed to get one coat of sealant and most of the first exterior coat of pain on before the weather got too wet and cold, making sure I added extra coats onto the cut ends. The remaining coats will have to wait for +5degrees air temperature. One point - a couple of the planks have had heavy weeping of resin so will need attention when the weather inproves. All the others ave been fine. During the bad weather (local floods) I've sealed and painted the inside and we're currently doing the fitting out. I'm delighted by the build quality so far and looking forward to some drier weather to enable me to finish painting the outside. Thank you Tuin, it was worth the wait.”
“I should say that I am fortunate to get this in stock. it is built and it looks lovely. Starting with the delivery: the person who delivered was happy to do the job and didnt have a frown when he saw that the truck cant be driven into the community. he drove his mini fork lift and didnt face any problem with delivery. Very good experience. Then to build it, i got it done through a contractor and i am glad that i did it as i could have struggled to do the roof. the flooring planks could have been better though. Had to run a 5 by 3 m carpet now to cover it. Overall, one happy customer. would recommend it to anyone looking for decent sized summer house/cabin.”
“Beautiful finish! You can really tell this is a quality product by the look and feel of it. The cabin feels cozy yet sturdy and secure and looks great. Really happy with our purchase.”
