Second Hand Garden Cabin - How easy is it to actually dismantle and re-assemble?

[OCM19]

Hi

We are going to view a second hand garden cabin next week. Apparently it is insulated and plastered (on boards) and the seller is stating it can be easily dismantled.

This would enable us to save thousands on getting a new garden room, but I am worried it is not going to be easy to dismantle it, transport it and re-assemble it. It has only been up for 5 months.

Has anyone bought a second hand garden cabin (wooden) or experienced in assembling them - will we have trouble if we buy this second hand.

TIA :)

Hmm. From the outside it looks like a log cabin. We have one which I built myself, so I'm quite familiar with how they are assembled. You can't partially disassemble them. If it is what I think, then the individual wall planks/'logs' interlock at the corner so it would have to be taken completely to bits, into the individual planks. Before you could do that, you would have to strip out all the interior finishes - the plasterboard, insulation and the timber stud-work that is presumably supporting the plasterboard.

On the other hand, everything I've said is completely incompatible with the seller's claim that it's easily dismantled. If you can find out the manufacturer and see the original assembly instructions, this might give some idea of what you're looking at. If the price is right, maybe take a look. But be realistic regarding the amount of work involved. If you haven't done this kind of thing before then it could be Really Quite Challenging!

@CasperGutman thank you for taking the time to reply. I thought this may have been the case and agree it will probably have to be taken down completely. We are looking to see if the person who assembled it for her can assist, but again don't want to pay for it then find all the wood falls apart etc!

Can I ask, is yours good? Does it stay warm in the winter with heater etc? We had a quote for a new one with cladding, UPVC etc and it was around £7,000 for a 2.5 x 3m.

This one is 2.5 x 3.5m and is £1,500.

I'm pretty proficient at building tasks and would walk away from that one. It doesn't look like it comes apart in sections. Even if it does though, to get an equivalent high quality interior finish you may have so scrap the plasterboard and start again with that.

@CatSat thank you for your opinion. I am not able to view it until monday but have a feeling it will be too tricky to dismantle. And as PP said, it will likely have to be taken down plank by plank. We are happy to buy new plasterboard if it would work otherwise, as it would still be cheaper.

Going to the effort of buying that, assembling it, insulating and plastering it and then selling it five months later is a really, really really odd thing to do.

Question hard why that is, OP.

Run! That would be a nightmare even if you had put it up yourself and were therefore somewhat familiar.

DH took his one like this apart in order to move it elsewhere in the garden. It took a LOT of work as all the internal panels and insulation need to come out, then you need to number all the planks and remove them one at a time. They interlock at the corners. Plus the roof and flooring. Then rebuild.

It doesn’t look like it was properly assembled either, there is a large variety in the gaps between the tongue and groove boards and I would be concerned about water ingress into the wood if not all the way through.

Thank you all. Yes @Sparklynewname we noticed that on the pictures too, so want to see it in person to see what it’s like. I don’t understand why there would be gaps as they appear to slot in to each other.

@KievLoverTwo apparently they are moving. The video of the inside looks fine, it’s the outside and the gaps that worry me!

@KievLoverTwo why would they sell it for not much money to you because they are moving and leave a big concrete footprint in a garden when leaving it in place would increase the home sale value?

I don't believe them. You don't show someone round your house then point to the garden and say 'btw, there will be no brand new garden shed because we are selling it.'

Who does this?

Our log cabin is good, and does seem pretty easy to heat in winter despite the fact that we didn't put any insulation or plasterboard inside the walls. We did insulate the roof and floor, plus our walls are thicker - 44mm logs.

I wonder if the plasterboard etc. they've put in could be the reason there are gaps between the logs. Because the whole wall is softwood stacked with the grain running horizontally, it expands and contracts a surprising amount with the seasons as it absorbs moisture and dries out again. I'd say there could be 30-40mm of movement over the course of the year.

If there's anything attached to the wall that stops the top bit from moving downwards as it shrinks, you get gaps opening between the planks. The opposite can also be a problem - something like electric wiring attached vertically to the walls in summer can be damaged if it isn't designed to allow for the wall's expansion when winter comes.

In a word 'No', I'm very handy, have built a whole house and also one of these, but they are not designed to come apart again once built.

I'd like to move ours, but having built it, I know it would be totally wrecked if I tried to take it apart and I would spend more that it cost new repairing the damage I did disassembling it.

If you really one one, safe money and time by buying a new one.... honestly!

I agree with the others.......... don't bother.

There does appear to have been some shrinkage and I wonder if it was put together wet?
The roofing felt and internal plasterboard will all have to be scrapped (who gets rid of the rubbish?). As it has been painted you may have to lever the interlocking planks apart which will probably leave marks all over the wood. Every nail will have to be removed which can also make a mess if they have been driven in hard.

The work involved and the fettling to get a decent finish when reassembled make it a no from me.

I also agree about the reason for sale, sounds slightly odd.

Thank you all for your advice. I think I will cancel going to see it and let somebody else purchase it! Back to the drawing board to see if we can afford a new one!