elbec garden buildings Reviews 3,466

Great little greenhouse and good value for the money. Very happy with it

The greenhouse did not arrive on the set day although we waited in all evening to be sent a ‘ photo ‘ of the delivery and then were told the driver ran out of time…so actually there was no delivery which caused confusion and the response to my complaint was patronising and unhelpful. We waited another 10 days. We had been prioritised for early delivery and the delivery driver was so kind and helpful, carried in the parts to where I asked etc. The instructions were pretty basic and we needed to use a magnifying glass to see them, the screws were all in one bag , not separated by size, the fittings were not very sturdy and some of them we did not use. We were disappointed to see that the wood (which is lovely) was mostly put together by staple gun. Why were screws not used throughout? It was difficult to fit the roof windows and we gave up trying to have any opening. One door needed planing to fit. We also had to take out one of the screws from the upright of the frame as it was not square. It had to be repositioned to enable one of the side panels to fit. The hinges were of poor quality and bent very easily, making fitting very difficult. It is a pity with such a beautifully designed greenhouse ( which we now love!) that money saving cuts were taken by your company. It would have been very useful for all the wooden parts to have been labelled in some way. Without reasonably good DIY knowledge and tools , such as planes and sanders , this would have been an even more challenging construction job.

I can't stress enough to avoid this cowboy outfit . We ordered and paid in full for a summerhouse costing £1500 and was told it was a three week wait. Delivery date 7 April 2026. The summerhouse arrived on the 7th with a very helpful delivery driver. Thats the end of the good news. Checking the order, we were missing door furniture, window furniture, screws and nails. My husband phoned and was told "sorry" they would be sent immediately. They wasn't we had to wait 3 days and still no door furniture, no window furniture and not enough screws and nails. Also we then noticed no beading for the windows. Another phone call on friday...."sorry". We'll send next day delivery. No delivery until Wednesday 25th April and still not all items were sent. Another phone call ...."sorry". Well send it out in 48 hours. My husband had an email basically calling him a liar from the manager called Roy, that's how unprofessional this place is. So avoid at all costs.

Recommend
Quick and simple to order. Good selection and value for money.

Well built,arrived as advised.

After many emails and then seeking advice from the Citizens advice, here is my 6 month update on my Sun Pent Shed purchased from Elbec.
From new June 2025 the door did not close properly, then after all this wet weather the door swelled that much that I could not open it, along with the windows, the panels started to lift to reveal gaps.
Elbec and Shire just did not want to know or help, and were very good at putting the blame onto the customer by claiming that the lack of preservative was to blame.(I am in the joinery trade and knew what I was doing and can guarantee it had many coats both inside and out before and after installation)
After many photo's and giving me the total runaround nothing happened.
The problem lies with the inferior cheap wood used(especially for the door) which shrinks then swells depending on the weather.
I have had to shave the door down twice now just to be able to get in. The windows remain un-useable.
They have refused to come out and have a look.
As advised by Citizens Advice I did ask for a refund but as expected this was refused.
The only option now is to take them to court (goods not fit for the purpose) which at the moment I do not have time to do and cannot be bothered with any more stress, this has already taken its toll.
So please if you are looking for a new shed AVOID AVOID AVOID this company, Do not waste your money.
I will be doing another review once it is 12 months old.

Ordered n delivered on day I requested looks great

I ordered and paid for a shed and was told it would be delivered on the 29 January.
My wife and I took a day off work and hired in some labour to assist us with the shed as their policy is only for kerbside delivery.
The day of delivery got changed and we were informed by the manufacturer not Elbec.
They were curteous on the phone but their apology is forgotten by them in an hour whilst we are picking up the bills. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone especially as they don’t make the sheds. Go direct to the manufacturer.

Delivery was excellent.
The 8x8 corner summerhouse seems to be well made, make sure you waterproof and use sealant. The guys who put it together were so impressed one of them is now going to order one himself.
No leeks after the storm last night, all good so far

NO HELP PROVIDED

I bought a brand-new shed in May 2025 after moving into my new house and paid £900 for it. Just seven months later, mould started appearing inside and outside the shed and has continued to spread.

When I contacted customer service, they asked which treatment was applied and requested photos of the shed, the mould, and the treatment used. After providing all the requested information, their response was always the same: blaming us for not applying enough wood treatment before installation.

I explained multiple times that I hired a professional installation team and paid over £1,000 for installation alone. The installers used 10 litres of water-based wood treatment on the shed and then fully painted it. Despite this, Shire customer service repeatedly dismissed the issue and continued to insist it was not a manufacturing fault.

After more than 10 emails back and forth, they refused to take any responsibility and offered no solution, only repeating the same explanation over and over.

This has been a very disappointing experience. I will never use this company again, and I strongly advise others to read reviews carefully before purchasing from them.

I bought a Forest Deep Root Planter, and honestly, it’s crafted from pallet wood that’s splintered. The construction is feeble, with thin and uneven materials, showing poor craftsmanship. You'd be better off checking out a YouTube tutorial and making one yourself; it will probably turn out more attractive and sturdier as well.The delivery process took two weeks, but I wasn’t informed about when the package would arrive.

We were supplied with roof felt 2 pieces - (one piece was cut by the manufacturer too small )
It took about 10 days to resovle but we have 1-12-25 now been supplied with the correct length.
Thank you.

Faulty item, requested me to go buy various materials to then strip the item down and package in a manner they deem fit and were abrupt in telling me they were doing me a favour allowing a return. Consumer rights act 2015 is in place to avoid companies like this running a scandal. Various email battles with staff repeating a verbatim message - would be as well as speaking to AI than their customer service.

Mercia Woodsman Glass Combi Greenhouse/Shed

Buyer beware when purchasing from this company! They are getting away with providing an inferior product and not addressing any issues with warped, damaged timber, a lot of wood too short for purpose, parts missing, glass for skylight window too small, arriving on pallets the side timber of which was nailed to the new shed causing damage and splitting of the soft timber, doors too short for frames and warped … to name but a few issues!

Requests for replacement parts or a refund were ignored. An offer of £100 as a “goodwill gesture” was an insult to the 60+ photos sent to them of the faults.

Their get out clause is that by employing a third party to assemble the building after delivery is deemed acceptance of the goods in the condition they were received, even though you are unable to see the product until its construction when the faults became apparent.

So if you’re considering buying from this company, DON’T!

Easy to order. Delivery took a while but elbec chased up and kept me updated.
Shed was delivered and erected in just over an hour.
Shed is good, a little thin but gor the money I'm happy

This is a dreadful company. I ordered a 7"x7" Parham summer house. £1167 with a base. As I had erected the building per instructions, not one of the side panels matched. They say its because its hand made and the joining strip covers it so they say it's fine. Although the picture on their site shows it is perfect, so it can be done. The quality of the wood was very poor, splitting warping and it leaked when it rained. The window did not fit because of poor design. In fact the whole building is poorly designed, weak and not fit for purpose. The attitude and response from the customer service is arrogant and their reply indicates they ignore the points I made in my complain.

I have found endless complaints and Youtube posts going back 10 years, all making the same points. It is now obvious that both of these companies have been getting away with mis selling building that are not as described and not fit for purpose. It is time to put a stop to this. They know exactly what is wrong with the building when the customer contacts them, but pretend its all new and they act concerned, all there suggestions are just to fob off the customer, it is apparent that they customers just give up. Not me I am taking them to court and making a case with the Trading standards. I suggest that all of you that are reading this do exactly the same. It would be good if we can all get together and make a stand they and the authorities cannot ignore, we need to enforce our consumer rights. Elbec and Shire ignore Trustpilot reviews, that speaks volumes about their attitude. .

Excellent communication from the company & was delivered by an absolute legend! We’re really pleased with the log store & have yet to fill it right up.
Tis fantastic
Thank you

Company took my order and money then cancelled it as they won't deliver to an island that's a 15 minute ferry journey. As an ex lorry driver I have spent longer queuing for the dartford tunnel. I wouldn't even have minded paying extra for the ferry

Good - it’s an attractive and solid shed.
Bad - lots of parts didn’t fit. The roof joints were for a shed of a different size. More inexplicably the window cills were about 0.5cm too big, wouldn’t fit anything.
Fortunately I can work a saw (the person who got too-short joists is less lucky) so all will be well in the medium term, but I swore, especially as the instructions tell you to identify lots of parts by their length