Dunster House Bedford HQ Bedford

Reviews

1. Nick Singleton ★★★★★

   Really impressed with this product. We bought one of the 5M x 3M Severn log cabins. I must admit I was initially a bit daunted when it was delivered and worried that I may have bitten off more that I could chew, as there was an awful lot of wood. but it turned out to be very straightforward to build. The most important thing is to make sure you start off correctly with everything level and square, paying particular attention to leaving a correct gap for the doorway as you start laying the first layer of logs, then simply carefully follow the instructions. It also helps to stack the various different parts into groups before you start, then it’s just like a big wooden Lego set, with all the joints etc cut perfectly for you. Myself and my friend who built it ( you do need 2 people) are both quite handy at practical DIY type things, myself being a painter and decorator and my friend being a landscape Gardener and fencer, and it took us 2 days to build, with one of us coming on the 3rd day to finish off the internal flooring and little bits of finishing, it then took me 3 days to paint the exterior with 3 full coats of the Protek Royal exterior paint and another 2 days to do 2 coats on the interior, but then I am probably a fussier painter than most, being a painter by trade. It’s a great, very sturdy log cabin, and I think anyone who’s reasonably handy with practical DIY type things would have no problems in building it. By lunchtime on the first day we had already built it up to the roof level. It’s also excellent value, in just the wood alone, let alone the fact that it’s all pre-engineered for an easy build. In fact having now built one, we are considering building them for other people as a business idea. I highly recommend this product.

   almost 9 months ago
2. N Ferguson ★☆☆☆☆

   The shed arrived and when our builder started to build it, two side panels were missing. It is a 8'x 8' shed, but the panels were for the 8'x 6'. After much going back and forth with customer service, who asked if I was missing a SWP panel (I don't know what a SWP panel is and have no need to) and said if I couldn't give them the part numbers they couldn't help, I finally managed to get the missing panels delivered a week later. Our builder came back again and did the final build. The product is unbelievably bad quality; there's a hug gap between the two roof panels (our builder said a small gap is normal but not 5 or 6 inches), they had to saw a considerable amount of wood off one of the roof panels length-wise to make them both the same length, and had to pack the inside with extra wood to make the roof truss fit. The product is poor quality and not fit for purpose. I have no faith this will last a reasonable amount of time and wish I had never made the order. I am in the process of contacting Dunster House and have no faith for a resolution, given my previous experience. Customer service is very happy to take your money, not so to sort issues. You can't even talk to someone on the phone, post-purchase. I also doubt this review will ever get published but it will be published on Trustpilot. I await to hear from Dunster with a resolution.

   almost 9 months ago
3. Jake Marshall ★★★★★

   Really great service and the quality of the log cabin is better than expected! I think the idea of a 'self build' initially had us concerned, but for anyone else having that concern I would say don't think twice. The delivery time was advised as 6 weeks, but was ready for delivery within 1 week of ordering which was a nice suprise. The instructions were easy to follow and the videos on YouTube were very helpful. We purchased a Terminator Log Cabin 3m x 3m, and added an additional side window. The 2 guys on delivery were very helpful and nice, dropped on the curb we which knew as per the guidance online and we unpacked and carried into the back garden, took around 30 mins so not long at all. The build itself was easy enough, hardest bit was getting it square really. Took 2 of us around 2 days to build (not DIY experts). We found the video on YouTube of the Dunster House staff building the terminator cabin useful, although it's not meant as an instructional video. The quality of the materials is fantastic, thick logs which provide a lot of insulation. We had some warped pieces, but spares are provided so we were able to discard the warped ones. It's been built now for a month or so and it has begun to 'settle', with the odd bit of movement in the logs, but nothing that we can't knocked back in. 1 piece between the door and window seems to have cracked, which is a shame since the quality overall is good, but since it's in the middle of all the logs there isn't much we can do about it, short of dismantling the whole cabin. Overall a really great experience with Dunster House and fully recommended to anyone who is unsure on level of service or quality of product.

   almost 10 months ago

1. MARK WEBB ★★★☆☆

   Purchased a Rhine (4m x 3m) log Cabin...nearing completion having assembled over a couple of weeks as a DIY project, storing all components in Garage during build. Decided to paint all areas not easily accessible after build, mainly intersection areas / notches plus outer groove profile sections to provide some better long term protection, (making sure these areas do not have too much paint which could interfere with fit/build) Assembly experience overall was OK, Instructions detailed enough but not great in places. I suspect the build wasn't aided by current heatwave temperatures. Several 4m and 3m logs warped more than 15 degrees end to end, others bowed not such a big deal. Much information on line from blogs and DH about typical log distortion and how to deal with using weights/wetting/ clamping...... good luck with this, Instructions guidance on sorting plus my own efforts proved in vain so I had to just proceed slowly using the Build frame and intersections as the best method of twisting logs into line, with some assistance from G clamps, Grips and a portable vice. Major challenge getting everything square and perfectly upright with 30 degree weather and some logs resembling bananas, but it's up now and has a roof on (which was by far the easiest part) Entire build pack had one spare log 4m which was straight as a dime but 2 big chunks missing so useless. Pressure treated bearers supplied are completely inappropriate for build in hindsight and now I've looked on line others have found the same...suggest upgrading to something a little more robust before you start. I am going to supplement by some custom shims at strategic points. It's worth noting that with the standard bearers, the optional floor insulation will be so close to the ground it will prevent any sensible air circulation underneath the cabin, so you need to make sure that the area underneath remains dry / ventilated and not easily blocked by garden debris/leaves etc Looks good now up. Experience of build could be better. Wooden door frame for UPVC doors...poor for heavy door. Some persuasion and adjustments required to make good. Window frame was fine ...this arrives in one piece and is fairly robust unlike the door frame. Flooring yet to finish, undecided on best plan for optional 25mm insulation, may just ditch this and make sure the surface underneath is adequately protected and leave maximum space for air to circulate.

   almost 11 months ago
2. Keith Williams ★☆☆☆☆

   Dominator building is not what was promised. DO NOT BUY!!! Firstly do not believe the reviews on their own website. They have refused to publish my 1 star review and I have read others say the same thing. Judging by my experience of buying one of their buildings and dealing with customer services I do not believe they have not had a 1 star review since 2023. Read independent review sites first. I do not know if my experience is the same with other Dunster buildings but the large 7.5 x 3.5 Dominator garden building is proving a total nightmare to assemble for the professional builder I have a had to employ and this was sold to me as a DIY build! It most definitely is not in anyway DIY! Poor quality materials and shoddily made components mean that nothing is fitting together properly or square and the whole structure is so flimsy I have serious doubts about it's ability to hold the weight of it's own roof. I won't make an overly long review by going into every detail but I sent my findings to customer services but they simply blame my builder for not following the very unclear and confusing assembly instructions. He did make one mistake which was very badly illustrated but it did not affect the rest of the build at all. One serious point to make is that a damaged panel could not be replaced for 2 weeks. What do they expect my builder to do in that time? Luckily he has repaired it sufficiently to use it and Dunster has offered some small compensation. One final point that is worth making is that the interior finish is so poor that the whole building is going to have to be fully plasterboarded inside to cover large gaps between panels and roof beams that don't sit flush and then fully plastered to get a good finish which will be over £2000 which we had not budgeted for. Overall you will get a better quality building by employing a good builder (which we have had to do anyway although not budgeted for) to build you a bespoke building from scratch. Hopefully I can stop someone else from making a similar serious and costly mistake as myself by buying on of these poor quality buildings.

   1 year ago
3. Michael Day ★★★★★

   I needed a replacement sealed unit for a side panel to French doors installed in 2020 in our home gym after it was cracked by a stone thrown up by the lawnmower. Dunster House were very helpful, looking up the dimensions from the original order even though it had been archived and then supplying the the new unit within a couple of weeks. I wish all companies were as attentive with their after sales service when there is only a low value order in prospect. I highly recommend the company and its products.

   almost 4 years ago

1. Michael de Koning ★★★★★

   Bought the Terminator 5 x 3.5 and what an excellent product. Everything fit together perfectly. It looks amazing and good price. Would recommend and would use again. Thank you

   almost 4 years ago
2. Simon Tupper ★★★★★

   Very good service from initial order to delivery. My Terminator log cabin was delivered on a day to suit me and everything was in the pack instructions were easy to follow and lots of helpful video's available on YouTube. Took me two days to fully construct. Now in the process of adding personal touches. Would Highly recommend Dunster House.

   almost 4 years ago
3. Peter kemp ★★★★★

   This cabin is a wonderful addition to my home. The quality is excellent. The hardest part is making a base for it. Once that's done make sure you read the instructions carefully. It took me 3 days to build on my own . The only help I needed was to put on the roofing felt. My grandson helped with that. I now have an amazing office and hobby room.

   almost 4 years ago

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