MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Does anyone have any experiences of building an office in the garden?
At the moment I've got a summer house which has slim insulation, plasterboard, fuse box, network points etc, but it's a relatively cheap thing. It's cold in the winter and roasting in the summer.
Ideally I'd like to buy/build something with a proper pitched roof, decent insulation, double glazing etc. Something I can use for work all year round. The area is about 9ft squared.
Am i likely to need planning permission if it uses the same footprint as the current summerhouse?
Does anyone have anything substantial that you use in the garden? Any pics for inspiration?
MrGrim,
have a look at the planning portal website.. this will give you all the info you need re planning permission etc as you may well qualify for permitted development meaning no planning permission needed. You’ll still need building regulations though which means a hefty fee to your local authority for nothing. Personally id rather use an approved inspector for this stage as they tend to be a bit more flexible regarding the regulations.
Ive previously designed a few summer houses/ workshops all of which required high levels of insulation to create a comfortable working environment... they weren’t cheap but the end result was a bespoke workspace tailored to your exact needs!
Shouldn't need building regs for the building as it's less than 15m2 but you will need a spark to sign off the electrics. Planning should be OK if you keep it under 2.5m. As above the planning portal has a lot of good info.
I had a look at log cabins for this and they seemed pretty good value. I suspect an advert will appear >>> any minute. Try Tiger Sheds for an idea of price.
Try
[url= http://www.shedworking.co.uk/ ]Shedworking[/url]
And
[url= http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/ ]I am looking at the Santa Fe[/url]
And info about stoves if you need one!
[url= http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/Steel-workshop-stove.html ]Stoves[/url]
And finally
[url= http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/log-cabins ]Henley[/url]
I've got a shed from these guys but they do all sorts and are fantastic quality:
[url= http://www.logcabins.co.uk/ ]Keops[/url]
I've been working from one of these for three years:
Started with this:
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2475/3620334720_5a8c9018f4_m.jp g" target="_blank">
Then a bit of this:
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3607/3619502459_89bd0cd22d_m.jp g" target="_blank">
And some of this:
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2484/3620315688_ae62a7e842_m.jp g" target="_blank">
And then a couple of days to put the actual building up, compressed here into about twelve seconds:
And then paint and stuff. Dug a trench to the house for cables, electrician did the actual wiring on account of tedious Part P building regs stuff and also he was here doing the house anyway. Trench has armoured mains cable and plastic conduit containing phone line/CAT5/doorbell wire 🙂
It's good. Not the most expensive, but warm enough (have a small oil-filled rad for the winter months). Full of junk and mess, of course, but that's me, not the building 😉
attic office, big skylights. bit like being outside? nice up here anyhoo.
I'm in the exact same position as you. I currently use a summer house as home office as having 3 children under 5 preclude me from working in the house. I've put up with freezing my nuts off in the winter and roasting in the summer for the last 3 years.
I have just ordered one of these.... http://www.ukgardenbuildings.co.uk/dalbury-p-634.html?osCsid=46cb98005893322cd6de315a96004121
Concrete goes down next week and being installed on the 11th June. Seems to tick all the boxes being insulated, double glazed tec... and a damn sight cheaper than anything else i've found so far. They have a site in Chester and one near Stafford so i was able to go along and see one already built before placing my order... seem to be very good quality.
I'll let you know what its like when i have it up and running if its of interest ?
I always liked the look of the archipod
[img] 
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Probably paying over the odds for less room than your average shed but can indulge your Mindy fantasies
Someone already mentioned Dunster House. I recently helped my brother put up his. The insulated, double skin version has walls of 2 skins 30mm timber and 70mm insulation, or thereabouts, and went up quite easily.
Took more than 12 seconds, though, about a week with weather downtime. The only pain was covering it with a tarp every night.