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Building a Summerhouse

Marshalls select only the best western red cedar available. Famed for its extraordinary durability and resistance to rot and decay to give your summerhouse many years of use. Cedar has a warm, natural reddish brown colour that looks superb in any garden setting. Its pleasant aroma is enjoyed by humans but acts as a repellent to moths, insects and vermin.

Summerhouses from Marshalls come supplied in kit form for self assembly. Full comprehensive instructions are supplied, together with all the components required to construct your new garden building. All cedar wood components have been pre-treated to ensure long life. If you wish to preserve this colour you can re-treat every few years, however if you prefer a more natural look and don't re-treat the summerhouse , the cedar will fade to its beautiful natural silvery grey appearance.

We do provide at additional cost a summerhouse installation service in the UK, however if you are contemplating building a summer house yourself then follow the brief steps below.
Constructing summerhouses is relatively simple and comprehensive written instructions will be sent with all summerhouses, gazebos and outdoor buildings purchased.

Step 1.

Laying out Your Summerhouse kit

Laying out Your Summerhouse kit

Constructing a summerhouse should start by neatly positioning the panels of the garden structure for ease of identification. Please note that no treatment is required to any of the summerhouse kit as the red cedar wood is saturated with natural preservative oil, rendering it virtually immune to decay.

Step 2.

Starting Construction of your Summerhouse

Starting Construction of your Summerhouse

Please note - erecting summerhouses should not be undertaken during adverse weather conditions for safety reasons.
Once a suitable site has been chosen, the individual floor panels should be positioned on a level surface. Each wall panel should then be positioned to create your own garden building in the configuration specified in the installation instructions provided before being fixed into place using the screws provided. All Marshalls' outdoor buildings come with pre-treated floor bearers for prolonged life, so no extra treatment is required at this stage.

Step 3.

Erecting the Walls of your Summerhouse

Erecting the Walls of your Summerhouse

With the first summerhouse panel in place, you should start to see the outdoor building taking shape. Fit all the other wall panels as Step 2, taking extra care with the toughened safety glass panels. Screw each section to the floor and the adjoining panels.

Step 4.

Your Summer House Takes Shape

Your Summer House Takes Shape

The walls of the building should now be completed. With the summerhouse walls in place, the pre-glazed doors can now be fitted using the cast iron hinges and screws provided. Final adjustment of the doors can take place once the summer house construction is complete. As a final check before moving onto the garden building roof, ensure all the wall and floor fixing screws are secure.

Step 5.

Putting Together the Summerhouse Roof

Putting Together the Summerhouse Roof

The next step is to construct the roof section. Locate and place the octagonal roof centre against one of the roof sections and fix with the screws provided. Now repeat this step with the opposing summerhouse roof section.

Step 6.

Assembling Summerhouse Roof Sections

Assembling Summerhouse Roof Sections

Next, carefully lift the roof section into place - it might be useful if you can get some help with this stage. Each section of the roof should then be added, but only screwed to the octagonal roof plate. Final securing to the main body of the garden building will take place once all the panels are in place.

Step 7.

Final Securing of the Summerhouse Roof

Final Securing of the Summerhouse Roof

With all the roof panels now in place, you can begin to secure the roof to the summerhouse frame using the screw fixings provided. Handy tip - You may find it beneficial to secure the roof panels to the frame of the summerhouse from opposing sides, alternating as you move around the building. This will ensure the roof sits securely within the frame.

Step 8.

Applying Felt to the roof of the Summerhouse

Applying Felt to the roof of the Summerhouse

Still working on the summer house roof, the next step is to apply the felt to the roof sections. These felt layers add extra waterproofing protection to your garden building, thus ensuring a longer life. Care should be taken when fixing the felt layers to avoid tears. You should work from the top of the roof downwards, cutting felt to the required length.

Step 9.

Fixing the Cedar Summerhouse Slatted Roof

Fixing the Cedar Summerhouse Slatted Roof

You are now ready to position and fix the cedar slatted roof panels. Carefully place each roof section into position and securely fix with the screws provided. Once again, take care not to damage the felt protection layer whilst completing this process.

Step 10.

Attaching the Finial to the Summer house Roof

Attaching the Finial to the Summer house Roof

This next step of the summerhouse construction process is perhaps one of the most satisfying! Locate and attach the summerhouse Finial to the top of the roof using the screws provided.

Step 11.

Fixing Weathering Strips to the Summerhouse Roof

Fixing Weathering Strips to the Summerhouse Roof

To prevent any ingress of water and prolong the life of your garden building, weathering strips are provided that complement the cedar slatted roof. Locate and fix all the strips to the roof using the fixings provided. Your summerhouse roof is now almost complete!

Step 12.

Putting the Finishing Touches to the Summerhouse Roof

Putting the Finishing Touches to the Summerhouse Roof

The last step to finishing the roof section of your summer house involves two steps. The first is to trim away any excess of the felt protection layer applied in a previous step. Now you can locate and attach the final trim to the sides of your summerhouse.Step 13.

Step 13.

Fixing Additional Solid Cast Ironwork

Fixing Additional Solid Cast Ironwork

All Marshalls' summerhouses are supplied with quality cast iron fittings as standard. The final step to completing your DIY summerhouse project is to locate and attach these fittings. It should be noted that all our summer house range are supplied with pre-fitted Mortice locks as standard, so no fitting is required.

Step 14.

Your Finished Marshalls Summerhouse

Your Marshalls' Summerhouse project is now complete! All that is left to do now is pour yourself a glass of bubbly and sit back and relax in your new Marshalls' summerhouse.


The Marshalls Garden Building range includes Gazebos and Summerhouses, all of which are available from within the on-line shop.

> The garden building featured in this article is the Chester summerhouse