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Garden rooms, cabins and timber buildings Park Langley, Beckenham

A 15-year-old cedar-roofed garden office, restored near Park Langley

Moss and lichen brushed off, the whole building sanded, a new Acorn finial and drip beads fitted, then Farrow & Ball French Gray and Monkey Puzzle.

  • French GrayFarrow & Ball. Building
  • Monkey PuzzleFarrow & Ball. Doors
  • Burma TeakSadolin Extra. Cedar roof tiles
Octagonal garden office after restoration, pale grey-green weatherboard, dark green double doors and stained roof
The garden office in French Gray with Monkey Puzzle doors, a Burma Teak roof and a new acorn finial.

Moss, lichen and a perished finial on a cedar roof

Our clients near Park Langley Golf Club had this garden office installed 15 years ago. It has a cedar wood-tiled roof, the finial on top had perished, and so had the weather strips on the doors. We paint and decorate a lot of garden buildings, and this was a lovely one to be asked to look after.

A new Acorn finial, drip beads and a sanded building

We supplied and fitted a new Acorn finial on the apex and a new weather strip, or drip bead, on each door.

Preparation is always the key. We wire-brushed the moss and lichen off the roof and sanded the whole building with electric sanders, doing the grooves and smaller sections by hand, then washed it down to get rid of the dust.

The cedar roof tiles got two coats of Sadolin Extra exterior varnish in Burma Teak. The building and the doors got two coats of Zinsser AllCoat Matt: Farrow & Ball French Gray on the building and Monkey Puzzle on the doors.

Sadolin on the roof, French Gray and Monkey Puzzle below

The new acorn finial is what catches your eye. What actually protects the building is less showy: two coats of Sadolin on every cedar tile, and two of Zinsser AllCoat on the walls and doors.

By Colin Fry, Founder and Director. Published . Last reviewed .

Checked and approved by Colin and Harry Fry, .

Editorial integrity: read our editorial standards.

Before and after

A silvered cedar roof and a perished finial, then Burma Teak and a new acorn.

Sanded green garden office doors with bare timber weather strips newly fixed across the bottom of both doors
Lower half of garden office double doors painted dark green, new weather strips painted, pale grey-green boards beside
The doors and new weather strips in Farrow & Ball Monkey Puzzle, with French Gray on the surrounding boards.
Grey mossy cedar shingle roof seen across its slope, a tree and palm behind and a house beyond the garden
Cedar shingle roof stained dark brown with a new acorn finial, palm tree and a house in the background
The roof in Sadolin Extra Burma Teak with the new acorn finial supplied and fitted to the apex.

Every photo from the job

From moss on the cedar roof to the new acorn finial at the apex.

  • Octagonal garden office before work, white weatherboard, worn green double doors with darker paint patches, weathered roof

    The 15-year-old garden office in Beckenham, with a perished finial on the cedar roof and tired paint on the doors.

  • Lower panels of worn sage green garden office doors with darker green brushed patches and white weatherboard beside

    The lower door panels and frame, with worn paint and the old weather strip that had perished.

  • Weathered grey cedar shingle roof with moss and a broken finial at the apex, seen from above with a ladder stand-off

    The cedar tiled roof grey with age, moss and lichen, and the original finial perished at the apex.

  • Close view of grey cedar roof shingles with clumps of moss and lichen in the gaps

    Moss and lichen on the cedar shingles, which we wire brushed off as part of the preparation.

  • Low angle across weathered cedar roof shingles thick with green moss growing between the rows

    Moss growing along the shingle courses of the garden office roof.

  • Weathered cedar shingles along a roof hip, grey and patched with lichen

    Lichen and weathering along the hip of the cedar tiled roof.

  • Grey mossy cedar shingle roof seen across its slope, a tree and palm behind and a house beyond the garden

    The full slope of the roof, silvered with age and with moss in the joints.

  • Weathered grey shingle roof and boards above the garden office doors, with a broken finial and oak tree behind

    The roof and the boards under the eaves, looking up from the doors.

  • Side of the garden office in white weatherboard beside a gravel path, slatted fence and potted plant

    The side of the building in its old white finish.

  • Sanded green garden office doors with bare timber weather strips newly fixed across the bottom of both doors

    The doors sanded back and a new timber weather strip fitted to each door before painting.

  • Garden office roof stained brown with a new acorn finial while the green doors below are still unpainted

    During: the roof finished in Burma Teak with the new acorn finial, before the doors and walls were painted.

  • Cedar roof part way through staining, brown stained shingles beside pale bare ones, acorn finial above

    During: the Sadolin Extra Burma Teak going on, with stained and unstained shingles side by side.

  • Low angle along the base of a sanded green door showing a new bare timber weather strip fixed in place

    During: the new timber weather strip fitted to the door, ready for painting.

  • Open sanded garden office door with a bare timber weather strip held at its base and a brass cabin hook

    During: fitting the new weather strip to one of the doors after the old one had perished.

  • Extension ladder against an octagonal garden office with a step ladder on the lawn beside it

    During: ladders set up for the roof work, with the new weather strips already fitted to the doors.

  • Gloved hand running an orbital sander over weathered cedar roof shingles, the moss already cleared

    Sanding the cedar shingles with an electric sander once the moss and lichen were wire brushed off.

  • Garden office front after painting, pale grey-green weatherboard and dark green glazed double doors with brass handle

    The building in Farrow & Ball French Gray and the doors in Monkey Puzzle, both finished in Zinsser AllCoat Matt.

  • Lower half of garden office double doors painted dark green, new weather strips painted, pale grey-green boards beside

    The doors and new weather strips in Farrow & Ball Monkey Puzzle, with French Gray on the surrounding boards.

  • Cedar shingle roof stained rich brown with a new acorn finial on top, hedges and trees behind

    Two coats of Sadolin Extra in Burma Teak on the cedar roof tiles, topped with the new acorn finial.

  • Cedar shingle roof stained dark brown with a new acorn finial, palm tree and a house in the background

    The roof in Sadolin Extra Burma Teak with the new acorn finial supplied and fitted to the apex.

  • Cedar shingle roof seen from above after staining, an even rich brown on every shingle

    The same view of the roof with two coats of Sadolin Extra exterior varnish in Burma Teak.

  • Dark green panelled garden office door with painted weather strip, paving slabs and potted plants beside

    The door panels and new weather strip in Monkey Puzzle, finished in Zinsser AllCoat Matt.

  • Dark green garden office door held open by a brass cabin hook against pale grey-green weatherboard

    Monkey Puzzle on the doors against French Gray on the building.

  • Open dark green garden office door with lower panels and step, a greenhouse on the lawn behind

    One of the doors open, showing the finish on the panels and the frame.

  • Side of the garden office in pale grey-green weatherboard beside a gravel path and slatted fence

    Farrow & Ball French Gray on the weatherboard down the side of the building.

  • Narrow side of the garden office in pale painted weatherboard beside a tall reed screen fence

    Even the tight gap behind the building painted in French Gray.

  • Garden office side with large glazed window, pale grey-green weatherboard, dark roof and open green door

    The garden office in French Gray with Monkey Puzzle doors and a Burma Teak cedar roof.

  • Open dark green glazed door beside a pale grey-green window, twin spotlight under the eaves

    Monkey Puzzle on the door beside French Gray on the window frames.

  • Dark green glazed garden office door and weather strip beside a paved step and planted border

    The doors with their new weather strip, looking across the step to the garden.

  • Octagonal garden office after restoration, pale grey-green weatherboard, dark green double doors and stained roof

    The garden office in French Gray with Monkey Puzzle doors, a Burma Teak roof and a new acorn finial.

  • Low-angle view along painted dark green garden office doors and the new drip bead at their base

    The new weather strip on each door, painted to match the doors in Farrow & Ball Monkey Puzzle.

  • Close view of the profiled end of a painted weather strip at the base of a dark green door

    The profile of the new weather strip, painted to match the doors.

  • Low angle along painted pale weatherboard with a conduit run and outdoor socket, lawn and shed beyond

    The weatherboard and the conduit run both painted in French Gray.

  • Black outdoor socket on painted weatherboard with the cable conduit painted to match the boards

    Cutting in neatly around the outdoor socket and conduit on the weatherboard.

  • Dark brown stained eaves boards and shingle edge above a pale grey-green window frame

    The stained roof edge above the window frame painted in Farrow & Ball French Gray.

  • Black junction box and light sensor on pale painted weatherboard under dark brown eaves

    Painting around the light sensor and cabling under the eaves.

  • Pale grey-green window frame and weatherboard with a painted conduit run below the window

    The window frame and boards in French Gray, finished in Zinsser AllCoat Matt.

  • Twin outdoor spotlight under stained eaves above a pale grey-green arched window frame

    The eaves and window head, painted and stained around the existing light fitting.

The company that DOESN'T live up to its name.

A garden office with a mossy roof or perished trims? Tell us what it's built from and when it went in.

Request a visit or call 07970 500150

Before you book us

The things we'd want to know if it were our house.

  • On the books since 2002

    Splat Decorating Ltd, company no. 04553807. Colin has been a director from the start.

    Check Companies House

  • Insured, and checked

    Our public liability insurance was verified by TrustATrader in May 2026.

    See our TrustATrader profile

  • The two of us, every day

    Colin and Harry Fry, father and son, do the work themselves. No subcontractors, no strangers in your house.

    About Colin and Harry

  • Paint we'd use at home

    Farrow & Ball, Little Greene, Coat, Johnstone's, Dulux Trade, Zinsser and Sadolin. We buy it, so it never runs out halfway.

    Our prices, timings and paints