Caring For Your Beach Hut
Is your hut wind and weather proof? Take maintenance seriously. Ensure that all repairs however minor are dealt with quickly. A stitch in time etc etc. A spell of bad weather will find any weaknesses. Use good quality materials in the marine environment. If the felt roof shows signs of ageing, replace it with quality felt rather than let it rip off and expose the timbers. Make sure that you lay the felt across the ridge of the hut rather than lengthways along it. In this way you can fix tanalised roof battens along the over-lapped joins from the ridge down to the lower edge of the roof. If you do this, the wind cannot blow under the felt.
Good quality huts will last for many years if maintained properly. Don’t skimp when buying a hut. Only buy a hut with solid wood or marine grade plywood. Insist on quality fittings such as locks, fastenings and hinges that are suitable for the marine environment. All fastenings such as nails and screws should be stainless steel. Hinges should be heavy grade galvanized.
Ensure that your hut is secure. Use only quality Stainless Steel disc padlocks – see our range in the on-line shop. Keep the padlock clean and lubricated with an oil such as WD40. It is worth having a simple alarm on the door to stop unwanted visitors and yes, fix a plaque to indicate that it has an alarm. This should discourage most of them. Our on-line shop has an alarm that sends you a text message if the hut is being tampered with.
For the winter you need to ensure that the hut is stable and secure. Try our ground anchors in the on-lne shop. These have a retaining wire over the top of the hut to prevent it lifting in strong winds. Remove any upholstered items otherwise they could be covered in mildew by the spring. If you want to keep out the damp in the winter, it is worth thinking about installing a beach hut lining kit in your hut . It is worth installing a decent sized crystal dehumidifier and emptying it periodically during the winter. You will be amazed at the effectiveness of these ideas in keeping your hut snug and dry. If you adopt the right approach you may well be able to store many more things over the winter instead of having to lug them home.
Throughout the year, ensure that all fire risks are given careful thought and planning. Do you have a gas cylinder in your hut? Small camping gaz cans might be ok for brewing the tea but in a recent incident, our local fire brigade found a huge cylinder. These are definitely not a good idea. Not only does it risk blowing up your own hut but it will take out those next door and subject anybody around to great risk especially the firemen.
Finally, make sure your hut is insured (use our enquiry form for low cost insurance)