Cheap Wooden Garage vs Expensive Wooden Garage

I have so many blog posts about cheap wooden garages, expensive wooden garages, and Gillies & Mackay Garages. Whatever the topic, I always explain that Gillies & Mackay Garages are different to other timber garages on the market.

This is because most timber garages are single-skinned – in other words, they’re big sheds. They have a single layer of timber cladding attached to a frame. A waterproof roofing material goes on top to protect the building from rain.

These single-skinned garages are built differently from our 3-Tier waterproof Garages, and they perform differently as a result. They’re also cheaper, because of this difference in performance. So far, so good?

But if you buy a single-skinned wooden garage, what can you expect? How long will it last, and will it encounter any problems? I can finally answer these all-important questions, with the help of a very special timber garage.

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Do Gillies & Mackay build single-skinned garages?

The interior of a single-skinned Gillies and Mackay garage. The door is open and there is a workbench with a vice inside the garage. Various tools, paint and equipment are on the bench, on the floor and fixed to the walls.

This garage is an OG Gillies & Mackay timber garage. That’s right – we built single-skinned garages back in the day. But by the end of this post, you’ll have a clear idea of why we upgraded our specification and you’ll know what to expect from a single-skinned garage.

Our company founders Grant and John built this garage in 1992. Grant recalls that it may be the very first ever G&M garage. In true Gillies & Mackay style, they used 19mm Scandinavian redwood (the best timber for a Scottish timber building). Instead of the steel box profile roofing that we use as standard these days, it has roofing felt.

And I have to say, after 32 years it’s doing pretty well. What I love most about this garage is how obviously well-used it is. There’s a workbench and tools, and they look like they’ve seen their fair share of projects over the years. It’s still a perfectly serviceable building that performs the function it was created for.

Because single-skinned garages aren’t terrible. We’re not here to tell you that you shouldn’t buy one. A single-skinned garage might be exactly what you need. But if you want to know the difference between a cheap wooden garage, a more expensive single-skinned garage and a Gillies & Mackay Garage, there are a few things you need to know.

How do I buy a good wooden garage?

If you’re shopping for a timber garage, you’ve no doubt seen the huge variety represented by the average Google search. It’s not easy sorting through all that information.

So if you are looking for a single-skinned garage, we can help. Even though we don’t build them ourselves anymore, we can help you find the best quality single-skinned garages out there. Our Single-Skinned Garage Buyer’s Checklist contains all the questions you need to ask to determine the quality of the building.

Are wooden garages waterproof?

The interior of a Gillies and Mackay single-skinned garage, showing the roof of the building which has signs of water damage and rot. The edges of the boards forming the roof are blackened and a large splinter of wood has detached from the board. Under the roof there are shelves with canisters, nails and assorted cans of chemicals.

Here’s the crucial question: will a wooden garage keep water out?

If you buy a single-skinned garage, the answer is no. A really good-quality timber garage will keep most water out. And if you’re ok with that situation, then you can go ahead and buy a single-skinned garage.

Our OG garage demonstrates this situation perfectly. You can see in this picture that there are blackened patches on the roof. These patches are caused by water ingress.

What is water ingress?

The interior of a single-skinned Gillies and Mackay garage. The corner of the garage, where lengths of timber and garden tools are stacked up or fixed to the wall. There is a line of shovels and rakes and a wire hanging down from the roof. The walls and frame of the garage show signs of water damage.

Water ingress is the term for water getting into a building. It can happen because of structural failures like loose slates or leaks. In a single-skinned timber building it also happens via the walls.

Because timber is porous, when there’s a significant amount of moisture in the air outside (like when it’s pelting rain for weeks at a time) the wood will soak that moisture in. If there’s enough moisture for a long enough time, it will soak right through the timber cladding and show up on the inside of the building.

Now, the inside of this garage shows fairly extensive water ingress. It’s a perfect example of how this problem impacts a building over time.

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How long will a cheap wooden garage last?

There’s limited damage to this garage because of the high-quality materials used. Even though it shows signs of water ingress, 32 years later it’s still standing reasonably firm.

But there is damage. You can see holes between the boards that make up the walls and roof in some places. These are caused by rot, which is caused by over-exposure to water. Of course, holes in the walls allow more water in, so the problem is compounded over time. But after 32 years this garage is still serviceable. It’s still in use, but the owner isn’t using it to store his most valuable possessions.

In a cheap wooden garage built from whitewood and using thinner cladding, this damage will happen faster and more extensively. Rot will be more significant and will have a greater impact. Water ingress wreaks havoc in cheap garages, and the damage to the building will undermine its structural integrity. While your initial outlay will be less, the building isn’t going to last 32 years. Within 5 years or so you’ll see the sort of damage pictured here throughout the building. Leaks and holes will be widespread and the building will be unsuitable for storage.

Do I need a fully watertight garage?

However, this garage isn’t a disaster. It’s still carrying out its function as a storage building. The tools and other items stored in there will rust or deteriorate faster, but as long as there’s nothing hugely precious in this building it’s still a decent garage.

So when you’re shopping for a garden building, getting clear on its function is the first step. If your garage is for storing garden tools and bric-a-brac, you may not need it to be completely watertight. You can keep it fairly waterproof by painting it regularly, ventilating the building and tackling any mould or rot as and when it crops up.

But it really depends on what you’re storing in there. If you’re renovating a priceless motorbike and you need to protect it from rust at all costs, you won’t want to risk water ingress. Or if you’ve splurged on a classic car and you want to preserve its beauty for decades to come the last thing you want is condensation in the building.

When you need a fully watertight structure, a single-skinned building can’t provide you with that assurance. The only way to guarantee a fully watertight wooden garage is to ensure that it isn’t single-skinned.

Are interlocking log garages fully watertight?

Good question. The answer is still no.

Even though interlocking log cabins have much thicker walls than shed-type single-skinned garages, they are still susceptible to timber movement. In fact, the construction methods used mean that interlocking log buildings are more likely to experience this problem.

As with the single-skinned garages, this is absolutely fine as long as you know the limitations of the building. This blog post from Tuin outlines the sort of problems that these buildings experience, and if you know about these potential problems and you’re happy to deal with them, an interlocking log building could be a good choice for you.

But interlocking log buildings are still single-skinned. They’re also made from cheap spruce or other whitewood, and because of all these factors, they aren’t fully watertight.

Can I have a watertight wooden garage?

A large wooden garage by Gillies and Mackay. It is stained brown and has a grey Hormann roller garage door. It sits on a concrete base.

All of this knowledge adds up to one simple fact: if you want a 100% watertight building a single-skinned building won’t cut it. With this knowledge, we stopped building single-skinned garages in 2016.

Since then we’ve been using our 3-Tier specification consisting of a layer of pressure-treated cladding, a cavity gap and breather membrane, and an internal layer of OSB. We top these 3-Tier walls and roof with steel box profile roofing to make sure that water stays on the outside where it belongs.

In terms of budget, our garages are more expensive than single-skinned equivalents, because they’re built completely differently. As a result, you can expect superior performance. We’re building Scotland’s only 100% watertight garages, guaranteed for 30 years.

What sort of timber garage should I choose?

What you choose depends entirely on your needs and your budget. If you want a short-term storage solution that won’t house anything too precious, a single-skinned garage is ideal – as long as you know the limitations of the building.

Remember that cheap garages built from inferior timber won’t last nearly as long as a good-quality, high-specification single-skinned garage. To help you find this, use our Single-Skinned Garage Buyer’s Checklist.

And if you’re looking for a totally watertight building, come and see us here at Gillies & Mackay. We have two beautiful examples of our garages in our Show Area in Errol, and we’re more than happy to answer all your garage-related questions.