Generally garden rooms are very well designed, and the materials used are high quality meaning that they will last for years with little maintenance, but there are still general maintenance jobs you should do to keep your garden room in tip top condition – and guess what now is the ideal time to do it before the harsh winter weather sets in!
Starting at the top
If your garden room has a flat roof, debris from surrounding trees or moss deposited by birds may have settled on the roof, climb up (carefully!) and using a soft broom sweep the debris off the roof, whilst you are there check that the roof membrane is sound and that there are no puddles forming.
If your garden room has a tiled pitched roof, stand back from your building and look up at the roof – do all the tiles look secure, has the wind lifted and loosened any tiles? If so have a word with your supplier rather than climbing about on a pitched roof. Use a soft broom to dislodge any leaves than may have settled on the roof.
Now take a look at the guttering, arm yourself with a bucket and climb up and clear it out, leaves will collect in guttering at this time of year and it’s amazing what the birds will transplant in the gutter! To save the future build up of debris consider fitting a gutter guard, a mesh which allows water through but not large objects, if you don’t want to fit a guard the whole length you can add a cowl over the opening of the downpipe so this doesn’t get blocked.
Once your gutter is clear, use a hose or watering can and run some water along the channel, stand back to check there are no leaks at the joints – sometimes the rubber seals can fail, if this is the case replace the faulty section or apply a waterproof sealant to the joint. Climb back up and check that all the water has run away in the gutter, if it has settled the run of your guttering may need adjusting slightly.
If your gutter runs into a water butt make sure it has enough room to take the winter rain fall, you don’t want a water butt overflowing beside your garden room.
At ground level
Walk around your garden room and check that all the cladding is sound, use a soft brush to wipe away any cobwebs and debris that may have collected over the summer, under the eaves is a spider’s particular favourite.
If your garden room is painted, check for any flaking paint, you still have a few weeks to touch up paintwork before it becomes too cold to apply. If your cladding is oiled apply another coat now for maximum winter durability.
If your garden room has grass around it, trim the edges so that there is no long grass growing around the edge of your garden room, clear away any leaves that may have collected around the base of the building.
Clean your garden room’s windows inside and out to maximise the amount of light and warmth that will enter the room during the winter.
Be prepared
Many suppliers claim their garden rooms are so well insulated they don’t need any heating, our opinion is that however well insulated you still need to think about a heat source for the coldest winter days – modern houses are well insulated but you still need a heat source and a garden room is no different! If your garden room didn’t come with heating there are lots of cost effective retro fit options – see our guide to heating.
Leave an umbrella in your garden room – we get a lot of rain in the UK and you might be please of a handy umbrella for the walk back up the garden path!
