EXPERT REVIEWED 
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INSTALATION AVAILABLE Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) – 7x7ft
First Added - February 27 2022
Last Updated - August 4 2022 - 13 Data Points Updated - 3 Data Points Added
Reviewed & curated by a panel of garden building experts. Using methodology 1.1
Product ID: SKU: 594417
Size: 7' x 7'
Merchants Checked: 12
Available From: 1
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Our verdict on the Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft
The Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft is fit with lockable double doors that use a latch locking system and is treated using a dip treated process [1]. The 4 windows used on this particular 7′ x 7′ use a styrene [2] glazing material (Thickness was not specified).
Certifications this product meets:
FSC certified timber[3]
Our experts say this has 5 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 tongue & groove floor material is a great choice and is what we find being used by 86% of the top 10% of summer houses.
2. A dip treated treatment process lets us know that this summer house should be expected to last for a good few years, and is used on 70% of the top 10% of summer houses.
3. The shiplap tongue & groove cladding used on this summer house is one the best available for summer houses rated by our experts.
4. A 34mm thick cladding like the one used on walls of this summer house is one of the best rated by our experts.
5. 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
Fantastic, our experts say most of the cladding options used are among the best.
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 [4] 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 [5], as well as being used on 49% (36 of 74) of the top 10% of summer houses [6]. You’ll also find the shiplap tongue & groove cladding showing up on 42% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (45 in total) [7], and when taking the average Expert Score of those 7′ x 7′ summer houses (82), the Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft is the same with an Expert Score of 82.
The walls are 34mm thick and we rate this the best thickness out of the 5 found on same-size summer houses [8]. It is used on 2% of all summer houses [9] and is also used across 4% of the top 10% of summer houses [10] we analysed. While you’ll find that the Expert Score of this summer house is 4 points lower than the average for 7′ x 7’s that use 34mm thick cladding (82 vs the average of 86) [11], you can be sure it’s not due to the cladding thickness as this one of the highest scoring thicknesses available on 7′ x 7′ summer houses. 7% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (8 in total) use 34mm thick walls.
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 [12], 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. 39% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (42 in total) make use of a mineral felt material as a roof covering, and when taking the average Expert Score of those 7′ x 7′ summer houses (82), the Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft is the same with an Expert Score of 82.
Read full analysis for roofing.
Flooring
The manufactures of this summer house chose tongue & groove for the floor construction, we rate this the best form of floor construction out of 2 types found on same-size summer houses [13]. This type of floor construction is used on 78% of all summer houses we analysed, and 86% of the top 10% of those summer houses. Even though the Expert Score of this particular summer house is 3 points below the average of 85 for 7′ x 7’s using a tongue & groove flooring, with it being on 86% of the top 10%, you can be assured that this is a quality flooring material. 53% of 7′ x 7′ summer houses (57 in total) use tongue & groove 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 [14]. 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, with this product having an Expert Score of 9% higher than the average.
Read full analysis for window.
You Might Also Consider
We found 100 7′ x 7′ summer houses with comparable specifications. The Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft has an Expert Score that is 1% higher than average and is £2 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 £1,808 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 1274% less than this and has an Expert Score of 77, 5 points less than the Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft.
Highest Expert Score – With an Expert Score of 95 vs 82 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 £1,110 less than the Shire Hampton Summerhouse (incl. installation) 7x7ft.
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 | 85 | 85 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,329.00 | £1,074.00 | £3,095.99 | £13,135.07 | £11,047.50 |
| Size | 12' x 8' | 7' x 5' | 20'x8' | 12' x 8' | 10' x 6' |
| Brand | Shire | Loxley | Tiger Sheds | Marlborough Insulated Buildings | Marlborough Insulated Buildings |
| Material | Wooden | Wooden | Wooden | Wooden | Wooden |
| Cladding Thickness | 12mm | 12mm | 12mm | 12mm | 12mm |
| Guarantee | 10 Years | 10 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. Dip Treated: Dip treating is a temporary protective base coat treatment that is mainly designed to help protect the building during transit and for around one month after it is assembled. This water-based treatment is the least time-consuming and cheapest type of wood treatment. It involves dipping the wood in a protective water-based preservative and then leaving it to dry. The action of dipping is where ‘dip treatment’ comes from.
A dip-treated garden building is not considered fully treated with wood preservatives; it’s vital to re-treat your dip-treated building, preferably with a solvent-based (or oil-based) wood treatment. Then re-treat it on an annual basis using a solvent-based (or oil-based) wood treatment.
If you don’t want to treat something on an annual basis then a pressure treated wooden building might be a better option, this is where the wood undergoes a process called tanalisation (pressure treatment) during production. This is where the timber is submerged in specialist wood preservatives (such as Tanalith E, this is actually the origin of the word ‘tanalisation’), the wood then goes into a high pressure vacuum tank to draw out excess moisture and air and force in the preservatives. This deep penetration of the exterior wood protects it from the elements and all forms of insect attack. Wood treated this way can last many years without being re-treated. The Wood Protection Association has a good article/video on this. ↩
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 ↩
9. Global cladding thickness data sourced from: All 34mm summer houses ↩
10. Top cladding thickness data sourced from: Top 74 34mm summer houses ↩
11. 7′ x 7′ cladding thickness data sourced from: 8 7′ x 7′ 34mm summer houses ↩
12. Roof covering types identified: mineral felt, osb, polyester felt ↩
13. Floor material types identified: osb, tongue & groove ↩
14. Glazing material types identified: acrylic, shatter-resistant acrylic, single glazed, styrene, toughened glass ↩