Log cabin

ChoKuRay · 16-09-2019 11:01pm #1

I am thinking about building a one bed log cabin in my garden. Looking for recommendations for a good company who will construct and fit it out. What is the minimum wall thinkness I should be going for?

Gumbo · 18-09-2019 9:18am

ChoKuRay wrote: »

I am thinking about building a one bed log cabin in my garden. Looking for recommendations for a good company who will construct and fit it out. What is the minimum wall thinkness I should be going for?

Have you got Planning Permission?
Was the process difficult?

Reason for asking is that I don't know of any valid Planning Grants that allows log cabin bedrooms in gardens. Build up and construction details will depend on the type of structure. Without planning, its simply a Garden Shed.

Abbey127 · 23-09-2019 7:20pm

kceire wrote: »

Have you got Planning Permission?
Was the process difficult?

Reason for asking is that I don't know of any valid Planning Grants that allows log cabin bedrooms in gardens. Build up and construction details will depend on the type of structure. Without planning, its simply a Garden Shed.

I went to get planning permission for a log cabin in the back of my garden had drawings and everything . Was told I didn't need it and to make it bigger to live In. Nobody gets planning permission for logcabins I was told my uncle did the drawings for us. You just need an emergency exit and it can't be to close to your house . Since I have public road behide my house It was easier I just have to put a door leading out to the public road which also has parking space. Looking to rent it out .

BryanF · 23-09-2019 9:09pm

Abbey127 wrote: »

I went to get planning permission for a log cabin in the back of my garden had drawings and everything . Was told I didn't need it and to make it bigger to live In. Nobody gets planning permission for logcabins I was told my uncle did the drawings for us. You just need an emergency exit and it can't be to close to your house . Since I have public road behide my house It was easier I just have to put a door leading out to the public road which also has parking space. Looking to rent it out .

what you are proposing is illegal. Anything other than a shed that’s less than 25m2 needs planning permission.

Please read the forum charter before posting again, thanks

Gumbo · 23-09-2019 9:30pm

Abbey127 wrote: »

I went to get planning permission for a log cabin in the back of my garden had drawings and everything . Was told I didn't need it and to make it bigger to live In. Nobody gets planning permission for logcabins I was told my uncle did the drawings for us. You just need an emergency exit and it can't be to close to your house . Since I have public road behide my house It was easier I just have to put a door leading out to the public road which also has parking space. Looking to rent it out .

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your were duped!

Abbey127 · 08-10-2019 7:00pm

BryanF wrote: »

what you are proposing is illegal. Anything other than a shed that’s less than 25m2 needs planning permission.

Please read the forum charter before posting again, thanks

Sorry it is not illegal I went the right way of getting it done before getting it built . And yes I know that's why I made it bigger and it's not a shed by any means.

Abbey127 · 08-10-2019 7:03pm

kceire wrote: »

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your were duped!

Really don't think I was I went about it the right way unlike alot of others I have seen up. Thanks for your concern but the it has been a great investment I charge a fair price aswell .

Plumbthedepths · 08-10-2019 7:08pm

Abbey127 wrote: »

Really don't think I was I went about it the right way unlike alot of others I have seen up. Thanks for your concern but the it has been a great investment I charge a fair price aswell .

Can you tell which authority told you that what you proposed at the time was exempt from planning. Interested in your answer.

Sleeper12 · 08-10-2019 7:37pm

Abbey127 wrote:

Sorry it is not illegal I went the right way of getting it done before getting it built . And yes I know that's why I made it bigger and it's not a shed by any means.

You aren't going to win this argument on this thread. I'm not against log cabins for living accommodation in fact a very good friend has one. Having said all of that the above posters are totally correct. You definitely need planning permission for the building and local councils don't give planning permission for log cabins as living accommodation. As an office or playroom yes but not for living accommodation.

BryanF · 08-10-2019 10:08pm

Abbey127 wrote: »

Really don't think I was I went about it the right way unlike alot of others I have seen up. Thanks for your concern but the it has been a great investment I charge a fair price aswell .

Have a few days off and actually read the forum charter please. We obey the law in this forum. In another forum, in a thread you started, you were told building and renting a log cabin without planning permission is illegal, then you were told not to discuss breaking the law in that forum. What you are proposing and what you claim to be doing is breaking the law.

BarryD2 · 09-10-2019 8:13pm

Sites like this tend to be a bit ambiguous, though this one is based in NI. snip/

'Our pods have a lifespan of 40+ years, require very low maintenance and often do not require planning permission due to their classification as caravans. For home owners wishing to install a camping pod it is most likely that planning permission will not be required due to the permitted development rights. (However confirmation from your local planning authority is advised).'

Any views on above for personal use, not AirBnB.

BryanF · 09-10-2019 8:59pm

As per the mod post above, we obey the law in this forum

From the same paragraph as the selected text above:

However confirmation from your local planning authority is advised

In the south of Ireland, if you want to live in it , you need planning.

This company provides no certification or compliance with building regulations.

Sleeper12 · 09-10-2019 9:30pm

Has anyone gotten planning for one for accommodation? I remember a thread a few months back and someone claimed to have found a successful planning application online or did I imagine that?

Gumbo · 09-10-2019 9:34pm

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Has anyone gotten planning for one for accommodation? I remember a thread a few months back and someone claimed to have found a successful planning application online or did I imagine that?

I believe there was one in Cork but the conditions attached to the planning meant it would have been constructed using normal materials.

Then there was another guy, might have been the guy above (abbey) that claimed but ignored all posts asking for evidence.

Me Personally, have not come across one yet. I ha e seen them
Get planning for ancillary use to crèches etc but then they fall short on the fire cert which means they need to stop being used.

Odelay · 09-10-2019 10:07pm

Why can they be used in other eu countries? What specifically does our building regulations say to prohibit them?
Kcrie, you seem to have fair knowledge about this. Where in the regs is the problem?
Is there a way to solve this? The cost of traditional building in Ireland is prohibitive. Why are we not allowed to build what is allowed in Nordic countries?

BryanF · 09-10-2019 11:45pm

Odelay wrote: »

Why can they be used in other eu countries? What specifically does our building regulations say to prohibit them?
Kcrie, you seem to have fair knowledge about this. Where in the regs is the problem?
Is there a way to solve this? The cost of traditional building in Ireland is prohibitive. Why are we not allowed to build what is allowed in Nordic countries?

And you know for a fact that the sheds, I mean log cabins for sale in Ireland, are sold in Nordic countries as houses?

Phillip k · 10-10-2019 3:32am

I don't understand how people are getting away building these logcabins out there back gardens. I have seen a good few in north and south dublin in tiny gardens and they are defiantly not a home office they are being rented out to mainly students .

BarryD2 · 10-10-2019 1:15pm

BryanF wrote: »

As per the mod post above, we obey the law in this forum

From the same paragraph as the selected text above:

In the south of Ireland, if you want to live in it , you need planning.

This company provides no certification or compliance with building regulations.

There's a fair few of these pods around rural Ireland, being rented out for AirBnB and the like. Some in small developments where you'd assume planning was sought but others as single units adjacent to domestic houses. Probably vacant or used as 'playrooms' by the family for most of the year and let out in summer months. I'd hazard a bet that very few of these would have planning. After a few years, they'd have paid for themselves and if the house was to be sold, the pod could just be taken down, demolished - so no issues arising with the sale.

Now ignorance of the law is no excuse, but if the law is difficult to enforce in areas like this, then the same legislation is pointless. It only discommodes the law abiding citizen and your average chancer can happily get away with it.

Muahahaha · 10-10-2019 2:15pm

Phillip k wrote: »

I don't understand how people are getting away building these logcabins out there back gardens. I have seen a good few in north and south dublin in tiny gardens and they are defiantly not a home office they are being rented out to mainly students .

They are getting away with it because county councils have next to no resources to enforce the law properly from what I can see. Another example is the recent Airbnb regulations that came in where you need planning permission to rent for more than 90 days a year- from what Ive read DCC have received less than 100 applications for planning permission and have allocated 4 staff to deal with enforcement. In Dublin there are 7,500 properties listed on Airbnb so with 7,400 looking like they might be breaking the law you've got 4 people to deal with something that takes a lot of man hours to enforce.

Gumbo · 10-10-2019 3:18pm

Odelay wrote: »

Why can they be used in other eu countries? What specifically does our building regulations say to prohibit them?
Kcrie, you seem to have fair knowledge about this. Where in the regs is the problem?
Is there a way to solve this? The cost of traditional building in Ireland is prohibitive. Why are we not allowed to build what is allowed in Nordic countries?

The Building Regulations have specific requirements such as structure, insulation and materials. Fire Safety is a big one too.

As a new dwelling they cannot meet the regulations without significant build up and alterations, so in essence it makes them the same price as traditional build. If people like the log cabin look, then it can be done with proper building methods and a log façade or similar, but most people are buying them because they are cheaper, not look better.

Also, in the Nordic countries, they are colder, but we are damper!

Phillip k wrote: »

I don't understand how people are getting away building these logcabins out there back gardens. I have seen a good few in north and south dublin in tiny gardens and they are defiantly not a home office they are being rented out to mainly students .

Planning Enforcement works on the basis of complaints only. They don't have the staff to drive around and look out for sites as such. Complaints only and then they are strictly enforced.

Muahahaha wrote: »

They are getting away with it because county councils have next to no resources to enforce the law properly from what I can see. Another example is the recent Airbnb regulations that came in where you need planning permission to rent for more than 90 days a year- from what Ive read DCC have received less than 100 applications for planning permission and have allocated 4 staff to deal with enforcement. In Dublin there are 7,500 properties listed on Airbnb so with 7,400 looking like they might be breaking the law you've got 4 people to deal with something that takes a lot of man hours to enforce.

+1

DCC are in the process of setting up an AirBnB specific team. They have earmarked space and staff and I believe they are recruiting from a panel as the current staff numbers wont allow them to maintain the current workload and the AirBnB workload as it will be a break away section of the Planning Enforcement Section.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 10-10-2019 3:27pm

Phillip k wrote: »

I don't understand how people are getting away building these logcabins out there back gardens. I have seen a good few in north and south dublin in tiny gardens and they are defiantly not a home office they are being rented out to mainly students .

Anything to back up your claims?

I don't see why there is such aversion to log cabins in this country.

Muahahaha · 10-10-2019 4:34pm

kceire wrote: »

+1

DCC are in the process of setting up an AirBnB specific team. They have earmarked space and staff and I believe they are recruiting from a panel as the current staff numbers wont allow them to maintain the current workload and the AirBnB workload as it will be a break away section of the Planning Enforcement Section.

The whole Airbnb thing looks like a mess because when the new law was being drafted the initial draft specified that the way it would work was Airbnb would be obliged to provide DCC with the addresses of any properties that were short term lets for more than 90 days a year. Airbnb themselves were strongly against this idea and they lobbied Minister Eoghan Murphy to exclude these obligations from the law. Murphy relented and gave them their way.

So now instead of a relatively automated enforcement system where you just send enforcement letters out to addresses provided by Airbnb what we have is DCC having to hire staff to become private investigators to find out who is breaching the 90 day limit. Its almost like Fine Gael need to be seen to be doing something but actually dont really want to enforce it at all because the law as written has been set up to fail. They'll get a few headline enforcements alright but it will still be ignored on a large scale.

Odelay · 10-10-2019 9:10pm

kceire wrote: »

The Building Regulations have specific requirements such as structure, insulation and materials. Fire Safety is a big one too.

As a new dwelling they cannot meet the regulations without significant build up and alterations, so in essence it makes them the same price as traditional build. If people like the log cabin look, then it can be done with proper building methods and a log façade or similar, but most people are buying them because they are cheaper, not look better.

Also, in the Nordic countries, they are colder, but we are damper!

Planning Enforcement works on the basis of complaints only. They don't have the staff to drive around and look out for sites as such. Complaints only and then they are strictly enforced.

+1

DCC are in the process of setting up an AirBnB specific team. They have earmarked space and staff and I believe they are recruiting from a panel as the current staff numbers wont allow them to maintain the current workload and the AirBnB workload as it will be a break away section of the Planning Enforcement Section.

“The Building Regulations have specific requirements such as structure, insulation and materials. Fire Safety is a big one too.”

Thanks for the reply. However it is very broad. What parts of these regulations do they not meet?
Where specifically do they fall down? I keep hearing they don’t meet regs, and talk about them here is not encouraged, but I don’t see it explained where the exact issue is?
What improvements need to be made to comply?

BryanF · 10-10-2019 9:27pm

Odelay wrote: »

“The Building Regulations have specific requirements such as structure, insulation and materials. Fire Safety is a big one too.”

Thanks for the reply. However it is very broad. What parts of these regulations do they not meet?

Lets reverse the question -please confirm what sections of the below they comply with?
https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/tgd-part-d-materials-and-workmanship/Technical-guidance-documents

BryanF · 10-10-2019 9:29pm

Wayne Hallowed Pacemaker wrote: »

Anything to back up your claims?

I don't see why there is such aversion to log cabins in this country.

When used for habitable accommodation they don’t comply with building regulations, all most people don’t seek planning permission. Have you read this thread and the hundred other threads in this forum on this topic ?

koheim · 10-10-2019 10:44pm

kceire wrote: »

Also, in the Nordic countries, they are colder, but we are damper!

This is simply not true, Nordic countries are wetter and damper than Ireland. But also colder in winter and warmer in summer!
99% of houses are built of wood, with wood cladding. There are zero concerns regarding rot of the wood or fire safety for that matter.
I do not understand why a wood cladded buildings in Ireland is a problem, it would work perfectly well here as well?

runawaybishop · 10-10-2019 10:51pm

koheim wrote: »

This is simply not true, Nordic countries are wetter and damper than Ireland. But also colder in winter and warmer in summer!
99% of houses are built of wood, with wood cladding. There are zero concerns regarding rot of the wood or fire safety for that matter.
I do not understand why a wood cladded buildings in Ireland is a problem, it would work perfectly well here as well?

It would work perfectly well here,that is true - if you brought it up to code. The same house using traditional building methods would be cheaper. That's why you dont see them.

People advocating their use don't really care about them being log cabins, they just want cheap housing which is fair enough. Building a log house that meets our fairly stringent requirements is more expensive than building the same house out of blocks.

BryanF · 10-10-2019 11:50pm

koheim wrote: »

There are zero concerns regarding rot of the wood or fire safety for that matter.
I do not understand why a wood cladded buildings in Ireland is a problem, it would work perfectly well here as well?

no one suggested wood clad buildings in Ireland are a problem. I’ve detailed and signed off on plenty. Wood is a sustainable building material, I built my extension timber frame. The point made above is the sheds been sold here don’t meet Irish building standards or have planning permission.

endacl · 10-10-2019 11:56pm

Odelay wrote: »

However it is very broad. What parts of these regulations do they not meet?

Specifically, and in layman's terms, if they go up in flames, and it's out your back garden with somebody living in it, a fire engine can't gain access.

That's the reg an overwhelming proportion of them would fall down on, even if they somehow would have been granted planning otherwise. You'd have to fit a fire engine sized tunnel through your gaff to make an occupied cabin legal.

endacl · 10-10-2019 11:59pm

Abbey127 wrote: »

I went to get planning permission for a log cabin in the back of my garden had drawings and everything . Was told I didn't need it and to make it bigger to live In. Nobody gets planning permission for logcabins I was told my uncle did the drawings for us. You just need an emergency exit and it can't be to close to your house . Since I have public road behide my house It was easier I just have to put a door leading out to the public road which also has parking space. Looking to rent it out .

smelly sock · 11-10-2019 12:05am

Crazy stuff. The family looking for an extra room in their garden for a reasonable price get penalised yet we let guys like Tom McFeely in priory hall make millions building ****e. A real banana republic.

Where were these regs when the lads were throwing up crap.

Log cabin

Comments