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Garden room affected by nearby construction?

Hi, I've been planning to get a garden room from boothsgardenstudios.co.uk to use as a home office. However, behind the back of my garden, planning permission has finally been granted to build new houses.

I don't want to end up with a wonky garden room where I can't open the windows or doors because of all the digging for the new houses (nearest one will be less than 10m away with a new road in between). Do people think it will be affected by the building, and would it be worth waiting till they've at least done the foundations for the new houses to be safe? 
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Comments

  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 17,296 Forumite
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    If Booths are supplying and installing, they should be putting in a decent base first. That should cope with any ground movement if done right (not that you should get any). Should you end up with a wonky structure, you get Booths back to fix the problem.
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  • FreeBear said:
    If Booths are supplying and installing, they should be putting in a decent base first. That should cope with any ground movement if done right (not that you should get any). Should you end up with a wonky structure, you get Booths back to fix the problem.
    Even so, I'd probably hold off building until its done.

    How much use are you going to get out of the room in the cooler months? If its relatively little, wait until the spring. (I accept the downside of this is that costs may go up).
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  • Jeepers_Creepers
    Jeepers_Creepers Posts: 4,339 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 5 September 2021 pm30 6:00PM
    Your garden room should not, at all, be affected by this building work.
    Tell Booths, by email, that there will be this work going on, so they can take this into account - if they feel it's necessary - when preparing the base, but almost certainly no additional prep will be required. Gardens shouldn't move because a roadway is being laid.
    If Booth continues with the work - as I expect they will - then they are liable should anything go wrong with your building. If it is caused by the construction, then it's up to them to tackle the construction company if they want.
    Bottom line - if Booth erect your garden building, they are liable for it as per their normal warranty. If they decline to build now, then that's their call too.
    Oh, you do have LP on your house insurance, don't you...?

  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,021 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 5 September 2021 pm30 6:46PM
    Booths don't provide foundations at all, so I presume they're liable for nothing. They don't even offer a ground survey.  

    For the amount of money they charge, they're still leaving pretty much anything that is unpredictable (read important and genuinely expensive) to you.     

    Want power?  Your problem.  Foundations? Your problem.  Heating?  Your problem. They talk about providing the best insulation in the marketplace, but they don't.  

    They're providing you with a box on superficial stilts, from what I can read.    

    The ground moves all of the time.  ALL houses move.  Anything you expect to last needs to have foundations of some description below ground.    

    Whether the nearby house are a specific problem - who knows - but you've provided yourself with nothing at all in the way of protection from ground movement.  
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.

  • Oh, you do have LP on your house insurance, don't you...?

    I see you have met your stretch target!!
    No man is worth crawling on this earth.

    So much to read, so little time.
  • DB1904
    DB1904 Posts: 1,240 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Your garden room should not, at all, be affected by this building work.
    Tell Booths, by email, that there will be this work going on, so they can take this into account - if they feel it's necessary - when preparing the base, but almost certainly no additional prep will be required. Gardens shouldn't move because a roadway is being laid.
    If Booth continues with the work - as I expect they will - then they are liable should anything go wrong with your building. If it is caused by the construction, then it's up to them to tackle the construction company if they want.
    Bottom line - if Booth erect your garden building, they are liable for it as per their normal warranty. If they decline to build now, then that's their call too.
    Oh, you do have LP on your house insurance, don't you...?

    Will they?
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,021 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Your garden room should not, at all, be affected by this building work.
    Tell Booths, by email, that there will be this work going on, so they can take this into account - if they feel it's necessary - when preparing the base, but almost certainly no additional prep will be required. Gardens shouldn't move because a roadway is being laid.
    If Booth continues with the work - as I expect they will - then they are liable should anything go wrong with your building. If it is caused by the construction, then it's up to them to tackle the construction company if they want.
    Bottom line - if Booth erect your garden building, they are liable for it as per their normal warranty. If they decline to build now, then that's their call too.
    Oh, you do have LP on your house insurance, don't you...?

    They're not preparing a base. 

    Have you read the warranty?  I haven't come across it.  


    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Thanks all, lots of food for thought there. 

    Good point about the warranty. The website says:

    The longest in the U.K.

    A unique 25 year guarantee on the external structure, or 5 year if you have the "Oak" steel - such is our confidence in the QC materials and design. A special guarantee and combined with the fact that we require a very small deposit, gives you complete peace of mind. Please note that this guarantee is not transferable to a third party. 

    But I'll ask them for more details. 

    @Jeepers_Creepers I've got plenty of vinyl LPs but I assume that's not what you're talking about! What's LP mean?


  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 10,714 Forumite
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    LP = Legal Protection
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  • Jeepers_Creepers
    Jeepers_Creepers Posts: 4,339 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 5 September 2021 pm30 9:38PM
    They're not preparing a base. 

    Have you read the warranty?  I haven't come across it.  



    No, I haven't.
    In as much as any garden room that's supplied and installed by a company will have a warranty - and you'd be nuts to choose one that didn't - the warranty will cover both manufacturing faults and assembly/installation. Or you'd be nuts to choose it.
    A layperson isn't going to (isn't expected to) assess what ground works are needed; it's not their job. They just pick the room, pays their money, point to where they want it, gets it built, and lives with it happily for at least as long as the warranty lasts. Or they make a claim. Backed by LP if required.
    It's also not for a lay person to ponder whether some housebuilding roughly 10m away might impact this. I don't blame bp for wondering/worrying about this - it's a reasonable thing to do - but am I the only one who finds it strange that something in your garden could be affected by a house 10m away? Or the road being built adjacent to you?
    Yes, there could be a sticky situation if the garden room were to distort, and Booth (or whoevs) just tried to shrug off any responsibility by simply blaming the building work, and the construction company equally claiming "No way could what we are doing over here affect what's in your garden". That's a potential minefield. That's why (a) you tell Booth beforehand about the building work, and - should they continue, it implies "It'll be fine - don't worry" and the warranty will apply. And (b), you have LP.
    Clearly, if the warranty doesn't cover both materials and construction, then you shouldn't be entertaining them in the first place.
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