The Gazebo Open Hexagonal Summerhouse

Size; 7’x6′ (2.156 x 1.867m)

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The Gazebo Open Hexagonal Summerhouse

Style and Design
A pretty, open version of the Gazebo corner summerhouse with the same apex roof and attractive balustrades to either side, the Gazebo Open is ideal if you are looking for a wooden arbour for the corner of the garden or elsewhere. Light and open, the building will provide shade from the sun and shelter from summer rain and breezes.

Materials/Construction
The Open Gazebo is built of 12mm tongue and groove shiplap northern European high grade pine with a 12mm tongue and groove floor and 8mm solid sheet roofing finished in mineral felt.  The cladding is mounted on a 34 x 34mm frame.

Dimensions
The building measures 2.156 x 1.867 metres (7’x6′) in external area. Roof height is 1.81m (5’11”) at the eaves rising to a high point of 2.618m (8’7”).   

Finish/Treatment
The wood receives a dip treatment prior to delivery. A final decorative/preservative coat will require to be applied at the time of construction and maintained throughout the life of the Gazebo.

Options
Depending on supplier you may find an installation option available in certain areas.

Delivery/Assembly
The building is delivered ready for assembly by two people in approximately 4 to 6 hours.

Availability/Price
See the details of sellers and prices given above.

Our Verdict
We don’t normally feature gazebos or arbours on the site, but we felt this one was worth including as a good example of a budget, no nonsense garden shelter, ideal for providing shade on a hot day and protection from a light shower for someone who doesn’t want to go the whole hog to a fully blown corner summerhouse.

The principal attraction is the price – the Shire Gazebo Arbour is available at a considerably lower cost than many fancier constructions. Of course it lacks some of the bells and whistles, but you still get a solid reliable garden building with attractive balustrading on two sides and a finial to finish off the roof. The construction is decent quality: 12mm shiplap cladding on a 34 x 34mm frame should result in a robust structure and the wooden floor is a must in an open building like this. We must confess that we see the low spec OSB roof as a bit of a disappointment – but it is a budget model and we suppose the saving must be made somewhere. In our view, OSB (oriented strand board) lacks the strength and durability of real timber and is more open to deterioration in damp conditions – not ideal in an open structure such as this. We’d suggest that to maximise the life of the roof, you take special care to apply the felt so as to minimise the chances of water penetration from above and that you apply a suitable sealant or paint finish to the OSB – something like Roxil should help.

You’ll also have to apply a final preservative/decorative finish to the wood overall. The factory dip treatment will protect the timber up to the point it arrives on your doorstep, but it’s not meant as a long term solution. You should apply the finish prior to putting your gazebo together. That way you can make sure you treat all areas, including those, the underside of the floor and floor joists for example, that would be difficult or impossible to reach once the structure is assembled. In addition, if you turn the tongue and groove panels upside down when applying the finish, it will be easier to ensure that it penetrates fully into the joins.

Assembly of the Gazebo shouldn’t be too difficult for anyone with average DIY skills and a basic toolkit to hand. The panels come largely pre-assembled so apart from the slightly more complex roof assembly, the process should be relatively straightforward. We have seen customer feedback suggesting that the assembled roof is difficult to place in position, so make sure you have plenty help available for this final step. Overall, though, we don’t see anything too challenging. Remember too that wood is a natural material so it’s not unusual to find a few small blemishes or rough edges which might have escaped the manufacturing process. We’d suggest you check the panels over carefully prior to decoration and remove any rough areas with sandpaper.

We see the Gazebo as a realistic, decent quality building for anyone on a restricted budget. It’s not a work of art like some gazebos you might find as you browse, but it’s functional and not unattractive. We feel it’s let down a little by the low spec roof – but properly treated and constructed it should give you years of service. True, it’s arguable whether it can truly be called a summerhouse, but we’ve awarded four stars as a great value, budget wooden arbour – it’s all in the price really.

Pros
•  great value
•  attractive balustrade and finial

Cons
•   low spec roof

Our Star Rating

4 out of 5 stars
(review by the Corner Summerhouse Guide)

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Customer Reviews
You can find customer reviews of the Shire Open Gazebo at:

Submit your own review
If you own a Shire Open Gazebo we’d be delighted if you’d submit a review to help other prospective customers. You can do this on our Corner Summerhouse Review Form – we look forward to hearing from you.

Please note that the information given above is taken from sellers and provided in good faith by the Corner Summerhouse Guide. We can’t however guarantee the accuracy of the facts stated. Specifications may also change after the date of review.