Tiger Balinese 14×12 Log Cabin (44mm) – Expert Review

First Impressions

When you first see the Balinese, it’s clear what it’s about: light and openness. The whole front is glass – fully glazed double doors framed by tall windows, with even more full-length panes running down the sides. If you want a garden building that feels airy and connected to the outdoors, this design makes sense straight away.

I remember the first time I stepped into a Tiger 44mm cabin with this kind of glazing – the sense of space is striking. The ridge height is over 2.6m inside, so even at the edges you never feel hemmed in. I’m six foot and I can stand anywhere without stooping. That kind of headroom isn’t a given in the garden building world.

What This Cabin is Really For

This is not the sort of cabin you buy if you want a dark, private bolthole at the bottom of the garden. It’s designed for people who want to live in the space. As an office, you’d have natural light pouring across your desk. As a studio, it gives you the daylight you need to paint, create, or practice yoga. As a lounge or summerhouse, it feels like an extension of your living room, with views out across the garden.

Tiger do other models that push in different directions. The Optima takes glazing even further, with walls of glass on three sides. The Amur is more lifestyle-focused, with its integral veranda and Georgian windows. The Procas is Tiger’s bestseller because it’s a more traditional apex design with a deep roof overhang that provides shade and a sense of sturdiness. The Balinese sits in the middle – enough glass to feel modern and bright, but still plenty of solid wall.

You also get a choice of footprints: 12×10, 14×10, 12×12, 14×12, and 14×14. That means whether you’re after a compact one-desk office or a family garden room, there’s a size that fits. The 14×12, at around 13.6m², is the sweet spot: big enough for two desks or a gym setup, without taking over the whole garden.

If you want to read the technical data on each of the different sized you can download the following PDF:

The Balinese _ 44mm Log Cabin – Technical Data Sheet

Build Quality You Can Rely On

One thing I’ve learned from visiting Tiger’s showsites is that their 44mm cabins feel reassuringly solid. Push against the walls and there’s no flex. That comes down to the log thickness: 44mm is the sweet spot for strength and insulation. In fact, only 45% of cabins in the UK market use 44mm logs. Most are thinner – 28mm or even 19mm – and you can feel the difference.

The floors are another detail that matters. Tiger use 19mm tongue-and-groove boards on tanalised bearers, spaced close together. I’ve bounced on these floors, shifted my weight deliberately, and they don’t creak or sag. That makes the Balinese viable not just as a lounge but as a gym or serious office where heavy kit is going in.

Even the sensory details tell you something. In every Tiger 44mm cabin I’ve stepped into, there’s the same smell – dry, clean Baltic pine. It reminds me of a sauna. It’s subtle, but it’s a sign you’re dealing with slow-grown, seasoned timber, not the damp, resinous stuff that cheaper cabins sometimes arrive with.

Doors, Windows and Security

The doors are proper joiner-made double doors, 1.52m wide by 1.88m tall, fully glazed with toughened glass. When you open and close them, you feel the weight. They shut with a 5-lever lock and brushed chrome handles – a cut above the three-lever locks you often find on budget cabins.

The side windows are fixed full-length panes. Some people prefer opening windows, and Tiger’s bespoke service can supply them if you want. But in practice, the double doors give you more than enough airflow when open.

Glazing is 3mm toughened as standard, with double glazing available as an upgrade. If you want to use the cabin through winter, I’d recommend it – along with under-floor insulation and an EPDM or shingle roof covering instead of the standard felt.

Backed Up By the Data

It’s one thing for me to say the Balinese feels solid, but let me show you how it stacks up in the wider market. At WhatShed we track over 600 cabins in the UK, and the numbers put this model in rare company:

• Only 0.5% of cabins carry a 20-year guarantee. The Balinese is one of them. Most competitors stop at 10 years.

• 44mm logs are used in 45.6% of cabins – stronger and better insulated than the 28mm (20%) and shed-grade 19mm (7.6%).

• Interlocking log construction is the benchmark, seen in 89.8% of quality cabins. The Balinese uses it to full effect.

• It does come untreated on delivery, but so do 67% of cabins. The guarantee protects you as long as you treat it promptly.

So it’s not just my impressions: statistically, this cabin is in the upper tier of the UK market.

Questions Buyers Often Ask

If you’re thinking seriously about the Balinese, a few practical concerns are likely to come up.

• Can it be used year-round? Yes – with 44mm walls and glazing upgrades, many owners use these cabins all winter with a small heater.

• Planning permission? The full ridge height is over 2.5m, but Tiger offer a reduced-height version specifically to avoid planning issues.

• Is the roof covering good enough? The mineral felt supplied will do, but I’d personally upgrade to EPDM or shingles for longevity.

• Is the floor strong enough for a gym? Definitely. I’ve stood on it, bounced on it, and it doesn’t shift.

• How does it compare to 28mm cabins? Night and day. 28mm walls flex if you lean on them. With 44mm, you’re dealing with a solid, insulated structure.

Final Thoughts

For me, the Tiger Balinese 14×12 is one of those cabins that makes you stop and imagine how it could change your garden. It’s not just a storage box with windows. It’s a genuine living space – bright, tall, and solid.

I like it because it balances the extremes. It’s not as glass-heavy as the Optima, not as traditional as the Procas, and not as veranda-focused as the Amur. It sits in between, offering light, space, and long-term reliability.

When I weigh my own experience – the feel of the timber, the smell of the wood, the solidity underfoot – against the data – the rare 20-year guarantee, the 44mm strength, the interlocking logs – it’s an easy one to recommend.

If you’re looking for a garden room that feels like a true extension of your home, this is it. In WhatShed’s rankings, it sits comfortably in the upper tier of the market. And for you, it could be the cabin that turns a patch of garden into the most useful room in the house.