How do I choose a garden office? Help!

Claireybear

Hello everyone

I havn’t posted on here for a while but I havn’t forgotten how helpful you all are, which is why I am after some advice!

We are thinking of having a garden office / craft room, which sounded easy until I started searching the web! There are so many different options, and a huge difference in prices, plus some include installation and other don’t so it is difficult to compare.

If anyone has had a garden office built and I could give me a few pointers and/or recommendations I would be very grateful. I am hoping to have it fully insulated and connected to the electricity, and I am starting to realise how confusing the whole process could be.

I am keeping my fingers crossed, as this would be a dream come true for me to have this built!

Paula_Smith

I have been thinking about getting one of these but I can't help thinking it will be too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter even if it is well insulated.

If anyone has experience of such please let us know.

TheCyclingProgrammer

I have a garden office. I'm sitting in it right now! Here's a couple of photos after it was built and the garden was finished (we had the garden re-landscaped to better integrate the building and make it more family friendly):

https://imgur.com/a/DASleCk

My main advice would be to spend as much as you can afford on it in order to get the best possible quality so you have something that is durable and suitable for all year round use.

For one the same size of mine (3x3m internal footprint) budget to spend around £10-12k minimum. You can pay much less (as much as half the price) for a "log cabin" but it will be cheaply constructed, poorly insulated and honestly, it just won't look as good. For the price I paid you get a durable timber-constructed and fully insulated building. Mine cost me about £14k total which included a fully lined and plastered finish and all internal wiring and also an upgrade to red cedar cladding on the front/left (the rear/right isn't visible from in the garden so we left it as standard treated timber). I decorated it myself and paid my own electrician to wire it up to the house. I also ran CAT5e cabling to connect it to my home network.

I wouldn't bother trying to find a build to construct one bespoke - it will cost more. There are plenty of garden office companies out there who will offer the best bang for buck because they save a lot of costs by pre-fabricating the building in sections (SIPS) in their factory and then they assemble on site. Mine took about a day and a half to construct - half a day for the base team to come and put the concrete pad footings and base sections in then a day for the rest of the team to come and finish the building. Add about another day for the plasterers and the final fix.

My building came from Green Retreats (also trading under "The Garden Office"), I have nothing but praise for them and the building quality is good. Only a few small complaints (the final finish of the skirting was pretty poor in places - a proper carpenter would have done a much better job) but to be fair to them they did come back and rectify. They have also sent somebody out to sort an issue out with the doors.

Regarding the comment above - a proper insulated building should be fine all year round. Mine is. It is heated with a single oil heater (can't remember the wattage, but it was included with the building). I have mine on a timer so it heats up the office in the morning and it's perfectly warm in winter. If anything, the only issue is it can still get a bit too warm in Summer, but that's easily solved by throwing up the French doors and the side window (I have one a desk height for additional ventilation).

Final note on planning/building regs - most of these buildings can be built without planning permission so long as they are not too big or too high, but they are designed to fit within the size/height constraints of permitted development (this assumes you have permitted development rights). They also don't need to meet building regs unless they are too close the boundary. Make sure you're aware of the rules although any decent garden office company will be able to advise you.

One caveat on permitted development - it's important that any use of an outbuilding is "incidental to the main purpose of the dwelling house". This could be important if you are running a business from the building. I do - although my work is all clerical in nature and I don't have anybody visiting. To be sure, I obtained a certificate of lawfulness and was clear about how I would be using the building, just to avoid any issues. If you're effectively using it as a home office/hobby room you should have no problems. You don't need to get a certificate of lawfulness but for the sake of £80 if you're unsure it can't help to have it if you ever sell.

To summarise, my main advice would be:

* Spend as much as you can afford and get as much space as you can afford/will comfortably fit in your garden. I wouldn't go smaller than 3x3m.
* You don't need to upgrade the cladding but red cedar looks nicer IMO - but remember it won't stay that nice colour for long unless you treat it regularly (once or twice a year). Mine needs retreating but it's already faded.
* Get internal plastering if you can afford it. Plastered and painted walls makes it feel much more homely than melamine panelling.
* Think about how you will get a good internet connection, whether that's using network cabling, home plug or wifi.
* Get at least one double socket on every wall.
* Think about where you will locate it - where will look best so that it looks integrated into your garden and also think about building reg requirements. Some nice soft landscaping around it can help make it fit in a lot better.

HTH. Happy to answer any other questions.

J_B

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

I have a garden office. I'm sitting in it right now! Here's a couple of photos after it was built

.............

A friend of mine makes wooden buildings - anything from a dog kennel to a garden office.
They may be worth asking



Search for Smiths Sectional Buildings

MarkLittle16

Hello, I have recently had a garden room installed from Green Retreats and it is the best decision I have made! The process was so simple and I had a variety of options to choose from. I use my building as an office, but I know Green Retreats have installed their products to serve purposes like craft rooms, artist studios and pretty much everything! I would definitely recommend as my garden office can be used all year round, it's insulated so can be used in the Winter, but also has windows and large bifold doors for the summer. Hope this helps!

tonyh66

I'm so glad you joined the forum to tell us this, I'm off to your recommended supplier to buy the best one they sell��

theonlywayisup

Claireybear wrote: »

Hello everyone

I havn’t posted on here for a while but I havn’t forgotten how helpful you all are, which is why I am after some advice!

We are thinking of having a garden office / craft room, which sounded easy until I started searching the web! There are so many different options, and a huge difference in prices, plus some include installation and other don’t so it is difficult to compare.

If anyone has had a garden office built and I could give me a few pointers and/or recommendations I would be very grateful. I am hoping to have it fully insulated and connected to the electricity, and I am starting to realise how confusing the whole process could be.

I am keeping my fingers crossed, as this would be a dream come true for me to have this built!

Try a timber frame company. We have a garden office which is 7m x 6m. It is fully insulated to 0.16u and doesn't actually require much in the way of heating in the winter. The company we used offered a completely bespoke service - size shape etc and you could opt to have the panel on it's own, insulated or supplied erected. In effect what we have is a mini house - built to the same spec as a house - but in mini version. I would imagine that any bonafide timber frame company will give you a quote for similar.

Whatever route you take, be sure to compare the spec of the building, do not be swayed by how pretty it looks. It has to stand the test of time.

From outside to in ours is -
ex 25/150mm douglas fir cladding
25/25mm counter batten
25/25 batten
Insect mesh
intumescent fire barrier
Protect TF200 membrane
38/140mm Vac Vac timber frame with 9mm OSB3 board to outside
Actis Hybris insulation to 0.16u value inside frame
AVCL - vapour and air barrier
25/38mm service batten
15mm plasterboard & skim

I don't think I've left anything out of our list - but if you ask whichever company you opt for, for the actual detail of the spec, you should be able to make a like for like comparison.

Davesnave

MarkLittle16 wrote: »

Hello, I have recently had a garden room installed from XXXX and it is the best decision I have made! T!

tonyh66 wrote: »

I'm so glad you joined the forum to tell us this, I'm off to your recommended supplier to buy the best one they sell��

I too was completely blown away by this well-balanced review. We're canny for spotting genuine accolades at MSE.


I certainly wouldn't want to buy from firm that used subterfuge to advertise their services.