Rowlinson Small Log Store

Is the Rowlinson Small Log Store worth buying?

Yes, for a narrow wall that has to store real volume: the Rowlinson Small Log Store costs £115.99 and squeezes just over 1,000 litres of logs into 117 cm of width. 83 owners rate it 4.3, and Rowlinson backs the timber with a 10 year anti-rot guarantee.

This is the buy when the store sits somewhere people look, because pressure-treated timber and a natural timber finish do the sheltering themselves and need no fabric to age well. It is the wrong buy if litres per pound is your only measure, since £115.99 for 1,022 litres works out at 11.4p a litre against 3p for a steel rack further down the ranking.

How much wood does the Rowlinson Small Log Store hold?

About 1,022 litres. The bay measures 117 cm wide, 56 cm deep and 156 cm tall, and multiplying those gives 1,022,256 cubic centimetres, so a shade over a cubic metre of stacking space before you allow for the gaps between round logs.

Across the wall it is unusually dense: 1,022 litres spread over 117 cm is 8.7 litres for every centimetre of width, close to double the 4.3 litres per centimetre you get from an 183 cm store holding 788 litres. £115.99 divided by 1,022 litres comes to 11.4p a litre, which is the middle of the timber group here rather than the value end of the whole ranking.

What comes in the box and what is it like to live with?

One carton arrives containing the store, flat packed and ready to build, and the assembled frame weighs 29.4 kg, so it is a one-person build with a second pair of hands useful when the sides go up. A kindling-sized solid shelf sits inside the bay, the timber is finished naturally rather than stained, and the whole thing is made in the United Kingdom by Rowlinson Garden Products as model A052.

Once standing, it is a floor-mounted bay 117 cm wide and 56 cm deep, which leaves paving or gravel underneath rather than a raised base of its own. 156 cm of height puts the top of a full stack at roughly chest height, so nothing needs lifting above your shoulders, and the pressure-treated timber takes a fence stain if the bare spruce finish is too pale for the border.

Where does the Rowlinson Small Log Store fall short?

Nothing in the box covers the stack. The store is a timber bay with an open front, so a wall that faces the prevailing rain will wet the outer layer of logs, and you are either topping the pile with a tarpaulin or rearranging the garden around it.

The review base is also thin: 83 owners have rated it at 4.3, against 3,739 owners on the best-covered combo here, which is a small sample for a garden building you expect to stand for a decade. And at 11.4p a litre it is roughly four times the cost per litre of the cheapest covered rack on the ranking, so you are paying for timber and treatment rather than capacity.

How does the Rowlinson Small Log Store compare with the alternatives?

Against the VIVOHOME 6ft at £89.99 it is £26 dearer and holds 234 litres more, 1,022 against 788, while the VIVOHOME throws in a 600D Oxford cover with a zip and carries 3,739 ratings. Choose the VIVOHOME if you want the cover included and a long track record, and the Rowlinson if you want timber and slightly more room.

Against the CHARLES BENTLEY at £135.99 it is £20 cheaper and holds 285 litres more, 1,022 against 737, but the Bentley scores 4.6 from 437 owners and uses FSC Nordic spruce with a slanted roof and a raised floor. Buy the Rowlinson when widest capacity for the least money within timber is the point, and the Bentley when the finishing details matter more than the litres.

Who should buy the Rowlinson Small Log Store?

It suits a household that burns through a couple of loads a week and wants the store visible from the house, because the natural timber finish and the 10 year anti-rot guarantee are what the £115.99 actually buys. It also suits a wall between roughly 120 cm and 130 cm, where the wider racks at 150 cm and 200 cm simply will not sit.

Look elsewhere if the wood has to be stored under a fitted cover, or if you want a steel frame you can move around the garden on your own, since 29.4 kg of assembled store is not something you reposition on a whim.

Does the Rowlinson Small Log Store need much maintenance?

Very little, and that is the point of the pressure treatment: the timber is protected against rot for 10 years without an annual coat of anything. A wash down with a brush and water in spring clears green algae from the slats, and that is the whole routine in a normal British garden.

The one job worth doing is keeping the base dry. The store is floor mounted, so standing it on soil that stays wet through winter undoes the treatment faster than standing it on paving or a gravel pad with the front facing away from the prevailing weather.

Is the Rowlinson Small Log Store good value against a steel rack?

Only if the timber is what you want to look at. The same £115.99 spent on steel buys far more stacking space, and the cheapest covered rack on the ranking holds a similar 920 litres for £29.49, which is 3p a litre rather than 11.4p.

What that comparison leaves out is that steel racks rely on a fabric cover, and the cover is usually the first thing to fail on a cheap one, while pressure-treated timber with a 10 year anti-rot guarantee has nothing to replace. Buy the Rowlinson for the decade, not for the litre count.