Tips, Advice and Assembly Guides
Below you’ll find some useful tips for the installation and care of your house from Polhus. Please read the entire text, as it may contain useful information you might not have considered. You can also download the manual Assembly Guide for the DIY Builder which we have created to make the task easier for you.
Worth considering
It's important to check with your local council whether you need a building permit or not, as different regulations may apply for different councils.
What the ground conditions are, in order to be able to plan which foundation best suits the construction.
How much insulation you're planning to add in the floor, walls and roof, which is determined by what you want to use the garden house for.
Will water, electricity and sewage need to be connected?
Roofing, insulation, electricity, water and sewage are not included in the kit.
The following tools are needed when assembling your house:
The manual with the material specifications
One hammer per person
Screwdriver, electric or manual
Knife/knives
Ruler or measuring tape
Spirit level
Possibly a long lashing strap
A saw and a mitre box for mouldings
Some advice before assembly
Study the manual carefully before starting and consider printing it out. It’s helpful to have it close at hand, as it contains valuable information specific to your house. Since we manufacture our houses in production series, the manual on the website may differ slightly from the one for the series your house was produced in. Storing the manual in a plastic sleeve is a good idea to protect it in case of rain. By familiarizing yourself with the different steps in advance and keeping the manual nearby during assembly, you reduce the risk of potential errors.
The Foundation
A solid foundation is essential for your house to function as intended and to last for many years. It’s crucial that the base is completely level—an uneven foundation can create gaps between the logs, which may, in turn, affect doors and windows.
Inventory the Package
Check your package and ensure all parts are included according to the attached material specification. Then, organize all parts around the construction site to keep them accessible when needed. Remember to save the house’s ID number, as it is required for any potential claims. Before opening the packages, it’s a good idea to take photos, including the labels, to have documentation of the package’s condition upon delivery.
Assembly Guide
Whether you plan to assemble the house yourself or with the help of a carpenter, we recommend reviewing our guide: Assembly Guide. It also includes maintenance tips, warranty information, and general advice.
Now the Fun Phase Begins
Walls in Log Houses
Once the floor structure is leveled and you’ve ensured the diagonals are precisely equal, it’s time to start assembling. Lay the first row of logs, which includes both half and full log profiles. Then, simply continue stacking, row by row. Firmly secure the corners with each row so the logs fit tightly together. Note that you should never strike directly on the tongue and groove; instead, use a scrap piece of wood as a buffer. Be mindful of when to place doors and windows. Building too high makes it difficult to slide them into position. Periodically pull the side walls together to ensure they don’t lean outward near window and door openings.
The House Settles
Garden houses, sauna cabins, and storage sheds made from log timber may settle a few centimeters after standing for a while. If it has rained during assembly, it can be challenging to align the log rows perfectly, but the wall logs tend to seal naturally as the house settles over a few months.
We take potential settling into account during the manufacturing process by leaving gaps or creating notches between the door/window frames and the overhead beam/log. This method ensures that the house can adapt to any settling that occurs.
Log houses typically shrink by 1-3% during the drying process. It is essential that nothing obstructs this process, such as standing vertical fittings like shelves, door and window trim, or anything else you add to the house. Allowing the house to dry at a relatively slow pace helps ensure that all parts of the structure dry evenly and simultaneously.
Always use sliding brackets if you plan to insulate the interior of the outer walls later. These allow for movement in the log timber without affecting the interior walls.
Prefabricated House Walls
The manual clearly shows how the wall panels look and where they should be placed. In most of our houses, the wall panels are to be placed on the floor joists. However, there are a few exceptions, such as certain playhouses, where the wall panels are placed directly on the floorboards instead.
Roof Covering
After you have nailed the raw boards onto the roof, it is important to immediately cover the roof with a waterproof layer. If the finished roof gets wet, there is a risk that the roof boards will warp and pull out the nails as they swell from moisture.
Start with an underlayment and then cover the roof with roofing felt, shingles, or metal sheeting. It is also important to ensure proper ventilation of the roof if you are adding insulation. If moisture penetrates the building, it can damage the wooden paneling of the roof unless the moisture can be adequately ventilated. To ensure proper ventilation, create a ventilated air gap between the insulation and the wooden paneling. This air gap should have ventilation openings at both the ridge and the eaves.
It is recommended to install gutters and downspouts to prevent rainwater from running down the walls. Gutters also help prevent water from splashing up dirt and sand from the roof, which can lead to discoloration of the lower parts of the house.
Surface Treatment of the Cabin
Immediately after the house is constructed, it is important to treat it with some form of impregnation both inside and outside. It is especially crucial to pay attention to the end grain, as many problems with wooden houses are caused by moisture intrusion. Moisture tends to penetrate along the wood fibers more easily than across them, making it essential to "seal" the end grain with a priming treatment of base oil and primer paint. Choose a system painting approach, as this often provides the best protection at the lowest maintenance cost. System painting involves applying a base oil, a primer coat, and two top coats of paint. It is also wise to select proven products from a reliable manufacturer. Before treating the floor joists, it is important to apply a wood preservative. We also recommend consulting a paint specialty store to achieve the best results.
Don’t forget about the facade; make sure to check it at least a couple of times a year. If the house has developed a mold issue, wash away the discoloration with products designed for that purpose. These products can be found at your local paint store.
Ventilation
Keep your house fresh by ensuring good ventilation. If you notice condensation indoors, install ventilation that provides both supply and exhaust air in the house.
We recommend placing a supply air vent in every bedroom. In kitchens and bathrooms, mechanical exhaust ventilation is appropriate to improve airflow in the house. For larger rooms, such as living rooms, you should install supply and exhaust vents diagonally placed to promote air movement. It is also important to consider the placement of the vents in height. Install supply vents low in the room, as outdoor air typically enters low and is released through higher-placed exhaust vents. The cold air that comes in warms up, and the warm air naturally rises and can then be vented out through the higher exhaust vents.
Wooden houses that remain unheated over the winter can have elevated moisture levels, which may lead to mold issues indoors if good air circulation is not ensured. We recommend installing a mechanical exhaust fan that activates when the indoor humidity level in the air becomes too high.
In our sauna cabins, the uninsulated and not completely sealed floor in the sauna area contributes to a natural flow of supply air, while a wood-burning stove provides natural exhaust air when the stove is lit. If you need additional supply and exhaust air, you can install it. Our suppliers of the various units provide detailed recommendations in their manuals on how to ensure good ventilation in your sauna.
Good ventilation is important in all Polhus cabins, vacation homes, sauna cabins, storage sheds, and playhouses.
Additional Insulation
The kits from Polhus are delivered without insulation, as not everyone needs a house designed to withstand colder temperatures. However, it is possible to insulate all houses, and you can find more detailed information on how to insulate in our assembly guide.
Many of our panel houses have a weatherproof membrane installed directly on the inside of the wall paneling. It is perfectly fine to insulate directly against the weatherproof membrane using insulation that matches the width of the wall studs in the house.
It is important to decide whether to insulate or not before the house is assembled, especially regarding floor insulation, as it can be difficult to do so afterward.
Wind protection
In exposed areas where there's a risk of rain hitting the house horizontally, we recommend you add additional insulation from the inside. In this case, the wind screen prevents the wind from being able to force water into the room. If your house is located in a place that is very exposed to strong winds, for example on an unprotected island or in the mountains, you should secure the top wall boards with vertical bars to prevent the roof from blowing off. Screw a wood stud in each corner behind the notch point from the top wall board to the bottom. Use a brass screw so that you can open the lower attachment of the bolt at regular intervals (once a year) and adjust for shrinkage. Bolts and screws are not included in our deliveries as this precaution should only be taken if you know that the house might be exposed to strong winds.
Advice & Support
If you have questions about your house from Polhus, you are warmly welcome to contact our customer service and technical construction advice at tel. 01625 682250.
We wish you all the best with the assembly of your house and hope it will bring you many joyful and memorable moments.
Good luck!
