EXPERT REVIEWED 
FREE DELIVERY 
INSTALATION AVAILABLE Country Living Flintham 7 x 7 Traditional Summerhouse Painted + Installation – Thorpe Towers
First Added - February 27 2022
Last Updated - August 4 2022 - 12 Data Points Updated - 3 Data Points Added
Reviewed & curated by a panel of garden building experts. Using methodology 1.1
Product ID: SKU: 598216
Size: 7' x 7'
Merchants Checked: 12
Available From: 1
Support WhatShed: by making a purchase after clicking a link above, a portion of the sale supports this site.
Our verdict on the Country Living Flintham 7 x 7 Traditional Summerhouse Painted + Installation Thorpe Towers
The Country Living Flintham 7 x 7 Traditional Summerhouse Painted + Installation Thorpe Towers holds a 10 Years guarantee and is fit with lockable double doors that use a lock and key locking system. The 2 windows used on this particular 7′ x 7′ use a styrene [1] glazing material (Thickness was not specified).
Base material: wood
Certifications this product meets:
FSC certified timber[2]
Our experts say this has 2 stand out features. A stand out feature is something found on over 70% of the top 10% of products in a particular category or is an exceptionally good feature as rated by our panel of experts.
1. The shiplap tongue & groove cladding used on this summer house is one the best available for summer houses rated by our experts.
2. The mineral felt roof covering found on this summer house is rated to be one of the best by our experts.
Below is a brief overview of how some of the key points of this summer house fairs across the market.
Cladding
The shiplap tongue & groove cladding(walls) used here is one of the best forms of construction for summer house walls out of the 4 types [3] we’ve identified on same-size summer houses, that you’ll also see getting used on 50% (368 of 741) of all summer houses analysed [4], as well as being used on 49% (36 of 74) of the top 10% of summer houses [5]. Even though the Expert Score of this particular summer house is 10 points below that of the average shiplap tongue & groove clad 7′ x 7’s (they have an average Expert Score of 82), with it being on 49% of the top 10%, its use here is a reassuring sign of a high quality cladding. You’ll also find the shiplap tongue & groove cladding showing up on 42% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (45 in total) [6].
Read full analysis for cladding.
Roofing
Mineral felt is used as the roof covering, and out of 3 types identified on same-size summer houses [7], is said to be one of the best roof covering materials. It comes fitted on 26% of summer houses and used on 43% of the top 10% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses. Even though the Expert Score of this particular summer house is below the average 7′ x 7’s cover their roofs with mineral felt (72 vs the average of 82), with it being on 43% of the top 10%, this should give you confidence in its quality. 39% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (42 in total) make use of a mineral felt material as a roof covering.
Read full analysis for roofing.
Flooring
The manufactures of this summer house chose osb for the floor construction, we rate this an about average form of floor construction out of 2 types found on same-size summer houses [8]. This type of floor construction is used on 4% of all summer houses we analysed, with none of the top 74 summer houses making use of this kind of floor material. 8% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (9 in total) use osb construction for the floor.
Read full analysis for flooring.
Window
Styrene windows come installed on this summer house. As a glazing option, we rate it the worst out of the 5 glazing types found on 7′ x 7′ summer houses [9]. This particular type of glazing is used on 15% of all windowed summer houses and 1% of the top 10% of summer houses with windows we analysed. 17% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses with windows (15 in total) use styrene windows.
Read full analysis for window.
You Might Also Consider
We found 100 7′ x 7′ summer houses with comparable specifications. The Country Living Flintham 7 x 7 Traditional Summerhouse Painted + Installation Thorpe Towers has an Expert Score that is 13% lower than average and is £9 less expensive than average. If you are looking for the best value or highest expert scoring summer houses out of the 100 with comparable specifications the following might be of interest.
Best value – If you are looking for something comparable that costs less, then you could save £1,688 with this Optional extra – Add top coat Barclay 7′ x 7′ Double Door with Two Fixed Windows Summerhouse Top Coat. It is priced at £142, this is 1189% less than this and has an Expert Score of 77, 5 points higher than the Country Living Flintham 7 x 7 Traditional Summerhouse Painted + Installation Thorpe Towers.
Highest Expert Score – With an Expert Score of 95 vs 72 for this product, the Shire Houghton 7 x 7ft Double Door Apex Dip Treated Summer House with Veranda is the best 7′ x 7′ summer house with comparable specifications, and is priced at £840, that’s £990 less than the Country Living Flintham 7 x 7 Traditional Summerhouse Painted + Installation Thorpe Towers.
High Wind Area – If you live in a particularly exposed or high wind area then having a summer house with a thicker cladding and higher than average frame thickness can be preferable. We found at least 3 summer houses that have a combination of features that can make them more suited to higher wind areas.
Shire Houghton 7 x 7ft Double Door Apex Dip Treated Summer House with Veranda
Oren 6′ x 8′ Shiplap Alcester Summer House
Oren 8′ x 6′ Shiplap Binton Summer House
Coastal Consideration – If you live in a particularly wet or harsher environment such as by the coast then you might want to consider something with a more robust pressure treatment or something made from metal or plastic, both materials that are particularly suited to such harsh environments. We’ve found at least 3 summer houses that have a combination of features that can make them more suited to higher wind areas.
Shire 7x7ft Buckingham Double Door Summerhouse Including Installation
Shire 7x7ft Buckingham Double Door Summerhouse
8′ x 6′ Forest Oakley Wooden Garden Summerhouse
Public-Facing – Extra security measures might be more of a concern if you’re placing your building in an area that is more public-facing than a garden. Features such as security windows or even having no windows at all, and the ability to lock all opening doors are usually much more important when you have something that is more public-facing. We found at least 3 summer houses that have options that you might find a better fit if this is a concern you have.
Redlands 6′ x 10′ Contemporary Summer House
8’x6′ TigerFlex® Shiplap Apex Full Pane Summerhouse
7’x7′ Tiger Vista Corner Summerhouse
More Child Friendly – If you have children and you are looking for something that has that little extra in terms of durability then tougher glazing options might be a better option. Here we have at least 3 other options that will fill those needs.
Shire Houghton 7 x 7ft Double Door Apex Dip Treated Summer House with Veranda
Oren 6′ x 8′ Shiplap Alcester Summer House
Rowlinson 7′ x 7′ Eaton Summer House
Product Details
Comparisons of Similar Sheds
 |  |  |  |  | |
| Expert Score | 83 | 83 | 80 | 83 | 83 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,329.00 | £1,074.00 | £3,095.99 | £13,135.00 | £6,429.00 |
| Size | 12' x 8' | 7' x 5' | 20'x8' | 12' x 8' | 19' x 7' |
| Brand | Shire | Loxley | Tiger Sheds | Marlborough Insulated Buildings | Redlands |
| Material | Wooden | Wooden | Wooden | Wooden | Wooden |
| Cladding Thickness | 12mm | 12mm | 12mm | 12mm | 16mm |
| Guarantee | 10 Years | 10 Years | 15 Years | ||
| Go | Go | Go | Go | Go |
Sources
Merchants Checked
12 different sources were used to research information on this product, and 1 contained information that we were able to use to compile the data used on this page.
The following merchants were checked on the 06 August, 2022 to see if they stocked this product.
Homebase – 35509 products checked, found 1 match.
Waltons – 231 products checked, found no matches.
Wickes – 19576 products checked, found no matches.
B&Q – 78905 products checked, found no matches.
ManoMano UK – 922302 products checked, found no matches.
Wilko.com – 21232 products checked, found no matches.
Buy Sheds Direct – 1635 products checked, found no matches.
sheds.co.uk – 1999 products checked, found no matches.
BillyOh – 1244 products checked, found no matches.
Garden Buildings Direct – 1284 products checked, found no matches.
Shedstore – 1373 products checked, found no matches.
Tiger Sheds – 635 products checked, found no matches.
1. Untreated: Any wooden structure that is left untreated will have its lifespan dramatically shortened. This is especially the case with Douglas fir or European softwoods such as Whitewood (spruce) or Redwood (Pine), most garden buildings sold in the UK are made from such wood.
The Wood Protection Association says that “the risk of attack increases significantly if the moisture content of wood, for any reason, rises above 20%” they also talk about how more lower durability cuts of wood (known as sapwood) are getting used to build with than in years gone by. They also say that “sapwood on the other hand is a source of food for many species of fungi and insects and is always vulnerable to attack.” This risk is particularly prevalent with European softwoods.
The BS 8417 code of practice (this advises on the choice of timber species and the use and application of wood preservatives) and BS EN 350:2016 (this advises on methods for determining and classifying the durability of wood and wood-based materials against biological wood-destroying agents) says the natural durability class of such European softwoods is between 3 and 5. With class 3 listed as moderately durable, class 4 listed as slightly durable and class 5 listed as not durable. All three classes have a service life of less than 15 years in a frequently wet environment (such as a UK garden). Yet the application of a preservative treatment or modification of lower durability species is designed according to BS8605 part1 (this is the British standards specifications for external timber cladding) to extend service life to 15/30 years or more.
Having a wooden garden structure supplied as untreated is relatively rare. The vast majority of wooden buildings are supplied with some form of basic treatment, usually a short term water based dip treatment. If you buy an untreated wooden building/structure then we strongly advise that you treat it annually with a solvent-based wood treatment. For full penetration it requires 2-3 coats. It is also recommended that you treat the inside of the structure as well.
If you are wanting something that will require much less maintenance throughout the products life cycle then we would strongly suggest looking at something that is pressure treated also known as tanalised timber.
By correctly treating timber you can take a sub 15 year service life for a not very durable European softwood and extend its service life to 15/30 years or more according to the Timber Decking and Cladding Association. ↩
2. Styrene (Polystyrene (High Impact) HIPS): Styrene as it is commonly known or High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) is a very versatile form of plastic. It has a very wide range of uses but for garden buildings styrene is typically used as a budget option for windows.
Styrene is a shatter-resistant material, which is why it is ideal for situations where safety needs to be considered, such as playhouses. This benefit can be offset by a few other drawbacks, unfortunately styrene has a tendency to yellow over time (the technical term is Photoyellowing and it is caused by prolonged exposure to UV Light), the degradation of its polymers over time also causes it to become more brittle.
Another drawback of styrene is its thermal coefficient of expansion (it is 80 x 10-6), this is higher than most other glazing options. This means that as the material heats up and cools it can contract and expand more than other glazing options. This cycle can lead to a loose fit of windows over time.
According to data from the British Plastics Fedaration the physical properties of Styrene (Polystyrene (High Impact) are that it is not very good when exposed to high heat with a maximum continuous use temperature of between 60 to 80 °C. This is coupled with the fairly low range the Notched Impact Strength data shows of 10.0 – 20.0 Kj/m². ↩
3. FSC Certified Timber: The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organisation that is “dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests.” When you see the FSC certification it means the forest where this wood was sourced from is being managed in a way that preserves biological diversity, while ensuring it sustains economic viability. FSC-certified forests are managed to strict environmental, social and economic standards. FSC certified timber is comparable to Certified Timber. ↩
4. Cladding types identified: interlocking log, overlap board, shiplap tongue & groove, tongue & groove, wood ↩
5. Global cladding data sourced from: All shiplap tongue & groove summer houses ↩
6. Top cladding data sourced from: Top 74 shiplap tongue & groove summer houses ↩
7. 7′ x 7′ cladding data sourced from: 107 7′ x 7′ shiplap tongue & groove summer houses ↩
8. Roof covering types identified: mineral felt, osb, polyester felt ↩
9. Floor material types identified: osb, tongue & groove ↩
10. Glazing material types identified: acrylic, shatter-resistant acrylic, single glazed, styrene, toughened glass ↩