Advice on building a garden studio (terraced house)...

delmonta

Section62 said:

delmonta said:

- it would be for music but I'd rarely be ridiculously loud, although some sound proofing would be nice, but not at the expense of space

It looks like you have lots of other people living all around you.  Unless they are all very friendly and supportive you are quite likely to have complaints made about the noise - sound/music played within a conventionally constructed house is far more attenuated to the outside than most 'outbuilding' type constructions.

You need to factor in the need for sound insulation, even if you think you can get away without it to start with.  Retrofitting insulation can be difficult and expensive, and will involve loss of internal space if you max out on the external dimensions.  If your neighbours feel it is 'essential' rather than just 'nice' your plans could come unstuck before you've finished.

Thanks yeah they are all very friendly and supportive. Its in a quite a relaxed part of Bristol, and you hear music often from other places nearby much louder than I'd ever be. I will definitely want to use some sort of Acoustic insulation, but I don't want to build double walls or make it insanely thick, and I'll have big double glazed doors too so sound will get out here anyway. But definitely something to think about

FaceHead

I'm in exactly the same spot - we designed our space around having one work from home space for the two of us, but with two of us working at home regularly, a garden space is in the crosshairs. 

I was planning on making a frame out of 4x2s, with (outside to inside) fetheredge cladding, plywood, rockwool slab and then plasterboard. 

I was planning on putting cellotex in the floor and roof, but would rather not stretch the budget to cellotex in the walls too. The rockwall slab will also have better acoustic properties, but is a lot cheaper and provides something like 2/3 of the insulation.

Looking at those sanctum prices only motivates me to take the DIY option! 

I think I'll give it a go over the jubilee weekend. Will be on the look out for a secondhand door and window.

TELLIT01

If you hope to use the studio throughout the year you really need to consider insulation requirements carefully.  Single skin timber walls won't retain much heat so keeping even a small structure warm and damp free could be expensive.

diystarter7

Looks at your pics, is your house similar to those IE high pitched roofs?
If so, simple loft conversion with a skylight or two and a pull down ladder
along with minila structural work inside the loft mat work out slightly more
expensive by easier to keep wark, run electric to etc and not having to step out in the cold, etc.

Of cousre yo get to keep the garden size/etc and imo will easily recover the money when/if sold
(you could also use as a storage that will be free of damp etc

diystarter7

I just had a quick look at loft prices, please ignore what i posted unless you are doing it mostly yourself then still worth it IMO

Bendy_House

FaceHead said:

I'm in exactly the same spot - we designed our space around having one work from home space for the two of us, but with two of us working at home regularly, a garden space is in the crosshairs. 

I was planning on making a frame out of 4x2s, with (outside to inside) fetheredge cladding, plywood, rockwool slab and then plasterboard. 

I was planning on putting cellotex in the floor and roof, but would rather not stretch the budget to cellotex in the walls too. The rockwall slab will also have better acoustic properties, but is a lot cheaper and provides something like 2/3 of the insulation.

Looking at those sanctum prices only motivates me to take the DIY option! 

I think I'll give it a go over the jubilee weekend. Will be on the look out for a secondhand door and window.

Please start a thread on this when you do :-)

Bendy_House

delmonta said:

Thanks, well its 2.4 metres wall to wall which is definitely my garden. But there is space between the gardens too that may be mine too, I'd have to check the deeds. I can knock down the brick wall

Good idea to have a bit of undercover space for a bike though. I really want to squeeze the most space out I can, but also not make it a nightmare to build and repair!

I'd second/third the care taken not to alienate your chilled neighbours.

That wall, for example, could be all yours and sit fully on your side of the boundary, or it could straddle the true boundary, so not 'yours'. It's hard to tell from your photo how your terraced house is positioned, but if in a straight row, it should be easy to determine the EXACT boundary line. The fence on the other side could be fully within the neighbour's property, and have been built by them to add further privacy as it's taller than the wall. So there's a chance, if you demolish that wall assuming it's 100% yours, you will be gaining what isn't, so expect that to cause rightful annoyance.

This will be flat-roofed? So should be within max heights for closeness to boundaries?

I'd still, personally, factor in a maintenance/non-encroachment strip around the room if you can - even if only the absolute min - 300mm?!

But, it is quite possible to preassemble wall sections and fit them from 'inside'. For this I'd use an outer skin that'll last decades without attention - say, metal cladding.

Doozergirl

delmonta said:

doningtonphil said:

Hello. My first garden building was from Sanctumgardenstudios.com in Chorley. Arrived on site at 8am, fully built and electrics plugged in by 1pm. 
They seemed the best price for the 'prebuilt' garden pods.
2nd garden office I 'built myself'.
Concreted threaded rods into the ground to provide adjustable support.
Liaised with a company off ebay who build SIP panels to your design (basically panels made of thick polystyrene  sandwiched between an inner and outer OSB 'skin').
Ordered a patio door from my local UPVC merchant and bought a Kingspan insulated metal roof off the guys from Sanctum.
Overall, about half the cost of Sanctum, but was far from being 'built in a morning'

Thanks, yeah I can't pay for one of the pre built ones or the companies. 

I am weighing up whether to use SIP panels or just build it the traditional way. I read one blog post saying how all these companies push SIP panels as being better because they are cheaper and more convenient. But they don't breathe at all and end up with issues in the future. But I dont really know

My house is built from SIPs, as are most of the house on Grand Designs these days.  All buildings need to breathe but the 'old' way is just to have a leaky building that is naturally draughty. As we need to conserve energy, airtight is the future for all of us.  

A SIPs build, or any airtight build, should have 'managed' ventilation.  A small MVHR unit will manage ventilation and recover heat, or binning off the airtight qualities in favour of two openings with trickle vents is an option, but I'd say that complaints about SIPs are born from ignorance and expecting them to be the same as traditional construction.  In fact, I've seen plenty of complaints about condensation in all sorts of garden buildings, so I think it's a general ignorance about the balance of heat and ventilation needed in property.  

They're not cheap at all but they are an easy build and exceptionally strong.  

delmonta

FaceHead said:

I'm in exactly the same spot - we designed our space around having one work from home space for the two of us, but with two of us working at home regularly, a garden space is in the crosshairs. 

I was planning on making a frame out of 4x2s, with (outside to inside) fetheredge cladding, plywood, rockwool slab and then plasterboard. 

I was planning on putting cellotex in the floor and roof, but would rather not stretch the budget to cellotex in the walls too. The rockwall slab will also have better acoustic properties, but is a lot cheaper and provides something like 2/3 of the insulation.

Looking at those sanctum prices only motivates me to take the DIY option! 

I think I'll give it a go over the jubilee weekend. Will be on the look out for a secondhand door and window.

Thats interesting to know it would have better acoustic properties. So better insulation doesnt mean better sound proofing? 

delmonta

TELLIT01 said:

If you hope to use the studio throughout the year you really need to consider insulation requirements carefully.  Single skin timber walls won't retain much heat so keeping even a small structure warm and damp free could be expensive.

Thanks, yeah I've known others who have similar single skin timber builds/tiny houses etc and they seem to be able to be kept warm fairly easily without a huge heat source. My main concern would be damp issues, especially as I go away for work often for a month or so at a time