"Shed" office or proper garden office?

[scenario8]

Afternoon chaps.

We need a garden office but don't have lots of cash. It will be used most days for a couple of hours a day all through the year. Around 12' X 8-10' should be enough.

What are our opinions on this sort of thing?

http://www.skinnerssheds.co.uk/garden-offices/prof...

which claims to be insulated but is clearly still quite shed like and could be bought for approx £7,000 or would I be better off finding another six or seven thousand for this sort of SIPS type affair?

http://www.gardenspaces.co.uk/testimonials/helix-o...

that clearly appears "better" but significantly dearer. Money is tight but with some man maths it could be done. I've sat in the former and it is unfinished so does feel sheddy but presumable plasterboarding is a possibility along with laying some decent flooring. I wonder whether in making these adaptions I wouldn't regret biting the bullied and just getting it done properly. But seven grand...?

Any thoughts or pointers? Google throws up many potential garden office suppliers but, goodness, some of the prices! And I've been under-impressed by some of the expensive show offices I've seen in garden centres.

Surrey area if it matters.

[wiggy001]

I was looking to go down this route and spoke with a company who have a showroom in Windsor and also in Horsham (Sussex). Guy in Windsor said it would be between £1100 and £1300 per square metre plus base plus electric connection and I was after something around 2.8m x 2.8m so I arranged a site survey. The quote then came back at £23000!!! I emailed to ask where this figure came from as it was getting on for double what I was expecting but they've not replied.

I looked into quite a few companies that do these offices. Some will do bespoke sizes (important for me as I only had a small space) and some can fit right up to a boundary whilst others want 150cm gap for access. Most of the proper garden offices are built over 3 weeks but there is one company I found (extrarooms.co.uk) that can install in a single day.

Given the cost for something decent I've changed tack and we are now going for a loft conversion to give us the space instead.

I'm in Kent and the companies I looked at were:

Harrison James
Eden Garden Rooms
Extra Rooms
Green Retreats
Future Rooms
Dunster House

One of these has an office in Windsor and Horsham...

[noway]

I have one of these https://www.johnsonsgardenbuildings.co.uk/cabins/h... which is likely to be too big for your needs but at approx £15k including the base its great value,i did the insulation and wiring myself very cheaply.


They usually have some good discounts..

Edited by noway on Sunday 19th March 08:37

[Stig]

What you need is a decent log cabin. Check out tuin.co.uk I have two cabins (3.6m x 3.6m) with 100mm of celotex in the floor and roof. I use one as a workshop and one as a mancave for my two boys. Insulating the inner walls would be a doddle. I paid about £3.5k for the pair, but then another £1.5k or so on exterior treatment (5 coats!) wooden frame foundations, electrics etc.

Highy, highly recommend Tuin as a company to deal with.

[groomi]

I installed a 4m x 4m fully insulated, double glazed, pressure treated log cabin from Dunster House last year.

It was £5k delivered to my back garden.

All in with DIY electrics and internal decorations I reckon it cost about £5.5k and has been perfectly useable through the winter.

[surveyor]

Back a few years we moved into a house which had a good sized timber shed/stable affair.

I converted this into an office using a local handyman, plenty of insulation, some plasterboard. I think that cost about £1,000. It was a bit bodget and dodgit, but another £500 would have seen it to be nice.

[scenario8]

Thanks for the replies thus far.

Bump for the week day crowd.

Found this overnight which seems interesting;

http://www.boothsgardenstudios.co.uk

[AmiableChimp]

Stig said:

What you need is a decent log cabin. Check out tuin.co.uk I have two cabins (3.6m x 3.6m) with 100mm of celotex in the floor and roof. I use one as a workshop and one as a mancave for my two boys. Insulating the inner walls would be a doddle. I paid about £3.5k for the pair, but then another £1.5k or so on exterior treatment (5 coats!) wooden frame foundations, electrics etc.

Highy, highly recommend Tuin as a company to deal with.

Another vote for Tuin here.

We have a Tuin Aiste 5mx3m log cabin which has a bar in one half and comfy seats in the other. It is double glazed and pretty warm in the winter after the oil filled heater has been on for an hour or so.

Photos of my build are on here somewhere.

[EggsBenedict]

I've just installed a concrete pad to start to build my own.

I've laid 3" of concrete, then 2" of celotex and a further 1" on top of that with some mesh in it.

I'm going for electric underfloor heating, so I'll need to screed/latex the floor.

I'm going to build a timber framed wall out of 4 x 2 and insulate that on the inside with celotex. I'm going to clad the outside walls with 1/2" OSB, and fit some double glazing units, and some sort of proprietary door and frame.

It'll have an OSB ceiling with a layer of 2" celotex above, and another OSB layer above that. I'll make up some furrings to give the 1/2" OSB flat roof a little bit of fall, and to give some ventilation to the timber, and then cover the roof in EDPM.

Not sure about the inside yet in terms of what to cover the walls in. Might do timber cladding, dunno. I fully expect the double glazed window units to be the single most expensive part of the build.

[lj04]

Whatever you decide try and get the wood of the ground. I built my summerhouse/shed with a brick plinth 4x2 timber 75mm celotex in the roof and suspended floor, 50mm in the walls.. if you need advice check out the workshop builds on woodhaven2.

[shocks]

scenario8 said:

Thanks for the replies thus far.

Bump for the week day crowd.

Found this overnight which seems interesting;

http://www.boothsgardenstudios.co.uk

We had one installed a couple of years ago, pretty decent and good value for money. Took them 2 days to do the install, painless ordering and specing process.

My only advice is buy as big as you can, we went for 5 x 4m and wished we had gone bigger

[bigdom]

EggsBenedict said:

I've just installed a concrete pad to start to build my own.

I've laid 3" of concrete, then 2" of celotex and a further 1" on top of that with some mesh in it.

I'm going for electric underfloor heating, so I'll need to screed/latex the floor.

I'm going to build a timber framed wall out of 4 x 2 and insulate that on the inside with celotex. I'm going to clad the outside walls with 1/2" OSB, and fit some double glazing units, and some sort of proprietary door and frame.

It'll have an OSB ceiling with a layer of 2" celotex above, and another OSB layer above that. I'll make up some furrings to give the 1/2" OSB flat roof a little bit of fall, and to give some ventilation to the timber, and then cover the roof in EDPM.

Not sure about the inside yet in terms of what to cover the walls in. Might do timber cladding, dunno. I fully expect the double glazed window units to be the single most expensive part of the build.

Pretty similar to the one i'm building, although due to trees, lots of trees, I've built on a pier system. 100mm celotex in floor, walls and ceiling. I've overclad the plywood exterior with Cedar shingles, and reused a set of double glazed patio doors/windows we have removed as part of our extension. First fix electrics are in, as it's going to be for the missus, just need clarity on lighting/sockets before I go any further. Going to clad the inside with pine T&G next month, I believe the walls will be nearly 300mm thick by then, so hopefully pretty passive.

[noway]

shocks said:

My only advice is buy as big as you can, we went for 5 x 4m and wished we had gone bigger

This,

Our 8.4m x 3.9m Homestead soon got filled up with pool table,games equipment,sofas and of course beer fidge ..another similarly sized one is planned for later this year but the new one will be solar powered.

[scenario8]

Thanks for the recent replies.

We are but a modest household so going large, as it were, is probably unrealistic. The house is a typical 1930s 3 bed semi in suburban and unfashionable South London so anything over, say, 4m X 3m is probably out of the question. The space will be used as an office -or at least that's the plan today.

The more contemporary style is preferred.

The diy route, while appealing is almost certainly pipe dreaming.

Can anyone recommend any other manufacturers or suppliers? It would be good to have the opportunity to visit some showrooms to get a feel for the products.

Question for anyone in the know. Most/many options feature significant glazed areas on the front elevation. Our front elevation would be directly Sourh facing. Would air conditioning be a wise investment? There must be limits to these structures' thermal insulation performances and it would be counter productive for the work space to be unbearable for weeks at a time in the Summer months (as it would be if it were too cold to use in the winter months).

Thanks again all.

[scenario8]

shocks said:

We had one installed a couple of years ago, pretty decent and good value for money. Took them 2 days to do the install, painless ordering and specing process.

My only advice is buy as big as you can, we went for 5 x 4m and wished we had gone bigger

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Would you mind expanding a little on your experience? Pm if preferred.

This option appeals for many reasons but principally the potential for long term low maintenance due to its steel construction. Does it feel solid? Is the plastic interior a bit naff feeling, or fine? Too many questions!

[shocks]

scenario8 said:

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Would you mind expanding a little on your experience? Pm if preferred.

This option appeals for many reasons but principally the potential for long term low maintenance due to its steel construction. Does it feel solid? Is the plastic interior a bit naff feeling, or fine? Too many questions!

Happy to.

The build is solid, very high quality. It's now been up through two scottish winters and still like new. I feel it will be like for quite a time to come.

Plastics, no these are quality, I could have spent more and gone the hardwood route but then I'd have maintenance considerations.

There is plenty of quality feel, we also included air-con for heating / cooling. We have it kitted out as a cinema / man-cave / drinking den.

What would we have changed ?

- Size as mentioned before - big as you can fit is best
- Blinds - don't go for the cheap option, we did and have since changed to the fitted / integrated blinds
- Discuss your need with Ian - he will help no end and they accommodated changes we wanted just fine

[Guvernator]

I'm going through installing a garden office as we speak. I did a lot of research and went through lots of options including looking at most of the sites already mentioned and I've come to the conclusion that most of them are a rip off. £15-£20k for a posh wooden shed, what planet are they on? I think the rise in popularity of garden offices has lead to some rather sharp price inflation over the last few years.

As suggested buy a decent log cabin from somewhere like tuin for less than a 3rd of the price and get the inside insulated\finished to your spec or just get a competent local builder\joiner to build one for you from scratch. From the quotes I've had, it will come to a lot less then the allegedly "cheaper" ready made kits.

[mel]

I looked at the likes of Skinners, Dunster etc etc and would concur - Firewood, and expensive firewood at that.

I ended up fabricating a steel ladder frame / pad foundation then getting a "kit" modified to my specification and dimensions from SIPS UK, I still need to plaster internally and board/render the outside but can honestly say that although I haven't actually saved any money directly and I'm still in for £15K+ total I've got twice the building I would have had. 6m x 3.6m, bifolds, Double Glazing, Kemper Roof, 16 power sockets, air con + heat, data everywhere, LED Panel lighting, water and drainage. It is genuinely better built than most houses, and yes it's been time consuming but not hard.

I've been that impressed with how easy, efficient, and strong SIPS Panels are to work with that I've kept the same design theme and enlarged it for my Garage, this is on a heeled raft foundation and 8m x 7.6m, this'll probably be nearer £20K once finished and was as big as I could do under Development Rights without another planning war (Green Belt). Slab in now down, SIPS is on order.

Edited by mel on Wednesday 22 March 15:17

[scenario8]

Treat me to some pics. Sounds fantastic.

[uluru]

We're just in the process of putting in a workshop/cabin bought from Tuin. Lots of examples on their site of people adding insulation and using them as garden offices.