This Is What Happened When Floodwater Reached Our Garden Pods

Nathalie Davis
7 hours ago
4 min read

Floodwater doesn’t simply announce itself politely – as many homes and families across the UK can now testify too. It arrives fast, spreads unpredictably, and finds the path of least resistance and the weakest point in anything standing in its way.

Over the past few weeks, that’s exactly what happened across huge swathes of the UK. Even in areas that haven’t seen flooding for decades, the rain arrived and never left – it gave us all a huge wakeup call about how vulnerable we are to climate change and strange weather phenomenon. Homes and gardens completely flooded. Ground absolutely saturated. Water closed off roads and then closed off diverted roads.

And in several real, lived-in gardens… it even reached our Ornate Garden Pods. Yes, gasp and horror.

This wasn’t a controlled test. No lab conditions. No “simulated rainfall.” This was real weather hammering us for over a fortnight.

So… what actually happened when it hit our Pods?

The Summerhouse Pod - The Priory in Wareham Photo Credit - Drones and Phones Photography

The moment floodwater arrived

Straight away, water built up across lawns and patios, pooling around the pod footprint. In most outdoor buildings, this is where problems start: the usual swollen floors, water ingress, instability, panic.

Instead, something else happened.

The water moved around the pods - not through them.

Why the raised base mattered (a lot)

The first line of defence was simple, but crucial: the garden pods raised base system.

You see, our pods don’t sit flat on the ground like a shed dropped onto wet soil. They’re elevated, creating clearance beneath the structure. When floodwater arrived, it (and all its family) didn’t have a direct path inside. It flowed underneath and away.

That air gap meant:

No standing water pressing directly against internal flooring
No prolonged saturation at the pod’s base
No wicking moisture creeping upward over time

In flooding, height isn’t a luxury - it’s protection.

Oval House Pod at Sculpture by the Lakes

Shape matters more than people realise

But, here’s the part most people don’t think about.

Many outdoor garden buildings are boxy, angular, and flat-faced. Water hits them, stops, pools, and sits there - exactly where you don’t want it to sit.

All our pods have a kind of aerodynamic, oval-style form, and during flooding, that made a real difference.

Instead of water collecting against sharp corners or flat walls:

Flow was naturally redirected around the structure
Pressure didn’t concentrate on one weak point
Water movement stayed dynamic, not stagnant

Think river rock, not brick wall.

The shape encouraged floodwater to keep moving - reducing stress on the structure and avoiding the “dam effect” that damages conventional buildings.

Structural integrity under saturated ground

Flooding tests ground stability just as much as it threatens you with water ingress. It’s something we realised this past month - as soil becomes saturated, it shifts. Poorly designed structures twist, sink and settle unevenly when water recedes.

Our pod frames remained stable throughout. Doors still aligned. Windows opened as normal. There was no sign of movement or distortion once water levels dropped.

That’s the quiet test most buildings fail - and the one no brochure ever mentions. In fact, we might include it if we weren’t so damp and cold.

The honest truth

Flooding is a terrible thing, it’s disruptive, stressful, and often expensive - and for some people, it can be genuinely devastating. No one chooses to go through it, and no two experiences are ever the same.

When it does happen, though, outcomes matter - especially once the water has gone and people are left dealing with the aftermath.

Our Ornate Garden Pod s are a considered purchase. They’re not an impulse buy, and they’re not cheap. That’s why it mattered to us that, in these real situations, customers could rely on them to hold their shape, their function, and their value. Their pods weren’t damaged. They didn’t need repairs. Clients didn’t lose access to their space. And when the water receded, life - and work - carried on as normal.

That’s not unsympathetic sales talk - that’s the difference between something designed for showroom conditions and something built for real gardens, real weather, and real life.

Why this matters if you’re investing in a pod

If you’re using a pod as:

a home office
a meeting space
a studio
or a year-round outdoor hub

…it can’t be fair-weather architecture.

British weather is unpredictable. Flooding is becoming more common, not less. Design choices like raised bases, well thought out structural engineering, and solid form that works with nature instead of against it aren’t nice extras - they’re essential.

Well done pods. You went full Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump - arms out, rain sideways, yelling at the sky, “Is that all you’ve got?!”

Spoiler alert: it was.

Good god pod, we love you.