Garden office - off-the-shelf vs bespoke

TheCyclingProgrammer

I'm currently in the planning stages for getting a garden office installed in our garden this Spring.

The current leading option is an off-the-shelf affair which like many of them is constructed using SIPS panels.

This is the model I'm currently looking at and had planned to visit their showroom shortly:
http://www.greenretreats.co.uk/garden-rooms/inspiration-garden-rooms.html?id=3x2

I'm looking for something a maximum of around 3x3m external footprint, fully insulated and usable all year round, with power, heating, fully lined and plastered interior. A customised one version of the above model with red cedar cladding on all sides apart from the back (which won't be visible) works out around £15k including VAT which includes delivery, installation, plastering, internal electrics (dead tested and ready for my electrician to connect to the house).

Before I make a decision I thought it would be worth asking a few local building firms how much it would cost to build something similar. I've emailed a few for rough estimates at this stage and to see if they would be interested but I was wondering if anyone here had any thoughts on whether going down this route would be likely to save me anything on costs and if so, what I should realistically be looking at paying?

gamston

can't you add an extension to your house ? £15k on a garden room sounds a lot of money to me, but I'm a tightfist

-taff

Oh dear, I've looked at the ones you can buy....Awesome!!!

Bloody expensive though...How much value would it add to your house or is that a factor at all?

TheCyclingProgrammer

-taff wrote: »

Oh dear, I've looked at the ones you can buy....Awesome!!!

Bloody expensive though...How much value would it add to your house or is that a factor at all?

No idea, a small amount possibly if it's a decent enough spec, to the right person. But it isn't really a factor. It's more about wanting my own dedicated space to work from as I work from home most of the time and working from the spare room isn't working for me. I've wanted a garden office for ages and we are having the garden re-landscaped at the same time.

You can get cheaper ones but you get what you pay for. These are basically mini buildings rather than posh sheds or log cabins.

But this is MSE so if having a builder build one saves money I'd like to explore that possibility.

There's also the self build option:
https://www.selfbuildgardenoffices.co.uk/

krey

One question,what are your thoughts about building it yourself?
for that small size you are only looking at about £2-£2.5k in materials for your quoted £15k house if you source your materials in the right places and use some 2nd hand stuff (such as the patio doors which can easily cost over £1k when new, but about £50 when used).
That is if you are able to build it yourself and have the time to do it.
Yes I'm talking about a properly insulated mini-house with cedder clading not an ugly crap shed..

somethingcorporate

Find a decent builder/joiner and get a quote.

Those prices look high!

TheCyclingProgrammer

The prices are about average for the type of building I'm looking at. You can pay more.