Advice on Garden office please...

Viv22

Has anyone bought a garden office? I need some help finding one that I can customise rather than a shed / summer house / cabin thing, they seem to be a lot of money and I'm worried I'll get a cheap one from a cowboy who wont deliver and I'll never see my deposit again.

Any recommendations ....

Thanks in advance.

Viv

socks_uk

We were in talks with Cabinville late last year about a bespoke (well, a tweaked off-the-peg) summerhouse and they couldn't have been more helpful. The only reason we never went ahead with it was all the changes with the planning regs in my area in October that meant we could no longer have the size and design we wanted. We are hanging on a bit now and building the decking and shed first but if we decide on a different design (and save up a little more money) we will certainly ring them back.

The guy is called Trevor and he and his daughter certainly knew their stuff.

officeanorak

The garden office market is still very new and can be a complete minefield for the consumer. It basically falls into 3 main catagories, largely derived on price.

Firstly, THE LOWER market: the shed/log cabin selection. These are fine for occasional use - and as a space to stroll to with your lap top on a pleasant, mild day. However, they are are largely unsuitable for permanent office use - as during the height of the winter and of summer they cannot control the temperature or working environment. There several issues with security about any building that is single skinned. There are several online retailers, check out Cabinville or Lugard Direct. Expect to pay from £1,000 to 12,000 depending on size.

The MIDDLE MARKET. These mid range selection of garden offices are dominated by several UK based businesses that focus on the home worker. The better ones tend to manufacture themselves ( rather than outsource or buy in from Latvia etc) Beware though, many of the businesses have gone bust or are about to go bust. NEVER EVER pay any more than a 25% deposit on only do so on a credit card. Make sure you get a confirmed delivery date - and you shouldn't expect to wait any more than 6 weeks from order - even in the height of the season. The main, more established ones are Henley Offices, Smart Garden Offices and Green Retreats. Expect to pay from £4000 to £20000 for a purpose designed and built office. If you can buy from one of their existing ranges ( rather than customising ) you should a proper deal with a bit of haggling. Bear in mind that the mid market players tend to price NETT of VAT - as they focus on the small business market.

Smart Garden Offices pride themselves on their service and that they have their own factory, Henleys are quite reasonable buildings, again British made, and Green Retreats are good if modern design is your thing.

In this price band make sure your office is:
Fully insulated with kingspan or celotex, is properly double glazed and complete with inbuilt electrics. Unless you are an expereinced joiner always avoid the self build versions - which are very un-user friendly.

The TOP of the market includes some lovely buildings from the £20k-£60k mark. you'll get a full customisation service and some nice little traets in the pacakage - although the technical spec won't be much greater than the mid market suppliers. Check out Insideout buildings in Lancashire or The Garden Escape in Wales. Both companies are based around architectural practices and are well regarded in the trade. Though the principle of deposit by credit card is always uppermost with any supplier.

Last bit of advice is to choose your time well. You'll get a better bargain if you phone your chosen supplier up and chat through your requirements and outline your budget. Most suppliers are deluged with online enquiries during the summer - but many are small businesses without call centres, so get to speak to the proprietor if you can.

Viv22

Wow, thanks for all the tips, I've called them all now and the only one where I got to speak to the boss and arranged the best deal was Smart Garden Offices - I got their number off the site www smartgardenoffices.co.uk

Others were not great.

Viv