Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
  • Garden Office and Allotment Shed build
  • spot1978
    Free Member

    Yesss, time to start ashed build thread. Will be nice to pick up some advice from the STW massive along the way.

    Office Build:

    We’ve decided that its cheaper to build a garden office/reading area rather than move house. With me working from a lot more now this is the right way forward.

    We’ve ordered a Dunster House Terminator Pent log cabin (3.0m x 2.5m). We did consider a self build but not being a consummate professional DIYer we decided on this. We also specified the floor and roof insulation.

    We’ve been clearing the garden area ready for the office in preparation for the foundation. Foundations will be dense concrete blocks laid in a continuous grid to support eh bearers off the ground. concrete blocks arrive this Wednesday with the office arrive next Thursday.

    We’ve had to move and replant a lot of our plants and reduce the lawn size to accommodate the office. I’ve taken the opportunity to replace a rotten fence panel prior to office installation

    Next weekend will be mostly spent installing the foundations and working how hell to get power and data out of the house from a centrally placed consumer unit and router etc. The out door bit will be a mix of cleating to the house and buried ducting.

    Things to sort out:

    1. Best protective paint system to use.
    2. Wiring from house
    3. Internal wiring of office. I’ve been watching a few vids and most people install and consumer unit and PVC ducting cleated to walls.
    4. Do I need to insulate walls (Breather membrane, PIR insulation, moisture barrier and internal cladding).
    5. Felt roofing is being supplied but I’m considering of doubling up and adding an other impermeable membrane between the warm roof boards and under the felt.
    6. We’ll be building this, probably, in the rain so am considering a gazebo or some sort of covering.

    Allotment Shed:

    Having ordered a garden office for me the wife wanted a shed for our allotment; standard Tiger shiplack 8’x6′ on order so we spent the day today sorting out the allotment in preparation.

    We had to dismantle the old compost heap, level the ground and install concrete paving piers. we picked up a load of second hand decking board which we’re in awesome condition and they along with the pallets will make up a small decking area.

    The allotment looks rubbish right now so here’s a photo of me and my boy working our way through carrots and cucumbers n the summer….I think this was the first day I was signed off with depression…

    dave661350
    Full Member

    We have the 4 x 3 version of the one you’re getting, really impressed with it.
    I cheated with power and simply use an extension plugged in via an RCD. In the ‘shed’ I’ve attached a couple of doubled sockets to the wall with simple plug in lights. I’ve no real power load in the shed and no computer so manage to stream youtube to a TV for the turbo trainer, via a pair of plug in wifi extenders. I used sikkens wood preserver on the outside, 4 coats to date.
    I insulated floor and ceiling but not the walls…we have the 44mm wall version, way more solid a construction than the 28mm it replaced. (Painted the walls) But we don’t spend hours in their thru winter so perhaps see how you go on thru the coming months before committing to more work/expense?
    I bought a roll of roofing membrane and attached that to the roof first, then the roof felt. Happy enough with it so far.
    Good luck with it

    grum
    Free Member

    Nice one, interested. I’d probably house my Terminator in a proper house though.

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    goldfish24
    Full Member

    I think you’ve made the right decision regarding having an extra office space. Before lockdown I built myself an insulated workshop. Lockdown kicked in and suddenly having a place separate from the house to do my wfh office job has been wondrous for my work and mental health, whilst I’ve seen colleagues struggle.

    goldfish24
    Full Member

    Ok, time to dig into the technicalities.
    There’s a lot of questions in your post, I’ll throw some opinions on:
    1 what Timber is it? Personally I’m for naturally rot resistant timber and letting it grey but if it’s not my next stop is osmo oil, but if you want to paint I hear good things about bedec barn paint.
    2. I have to recommend getting a spark in. First cos it’s the law as an out building (sigh) but second that’s for good reason; exporting the earth needs consideration by a proper spark because you may not be at the same earth potential in the outbuilding. Best face up to it now because you’ll prob need a 600mm deep trench whilst you do the groundwork’s
    3. Don’t actually need a CU, don’t actually need conduit. Depends. Invest in a spark helping with the connection and it might simplify this bit. If you get a spark on board now you may be able to take care of some of the odd jobs yourself and keep the cost down.
    4. Depends on pattern of use. If using during the day on an infrequent basis then heating with a electric fan quickly bring up temperature of even an uninsulated building. But if storing equipment as you would in an office, you’ll want to fully draft and moisture proof the building. I would recommend (out to in) ventilation gap to cladding, breathable membrane to draught Proof,followed by some insulation – perhaps just cheaper loft roll or PIR for best performance in small space – followed by internal finish of your choice. Osb is cheap and a good vapour barrier on its own, but if going plasterboard you’ll need a proper vapour barrier.

    No comment on 5 or 6. But for networking, people always forget that wifi travels just fine in free air, 50m+. It’s house walls that stop it. So I have a mesh system in the house with one node up in the loft. Reception in my workshop/lockdown office is great 30m down the garden.

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    I’m currently planning a similar project. Have also ruled out DIY build as it’s alot more expensive than buying a kit cabin like yours. The one I’m looking at is made from Scandinavian pine so apparently alot tighter grain structure than UK Pine so more weather resistant. Only looking at this as a mate has one and he rates it. Will be insulating roof and floor but not walls. My mate did this and hasn’t an issue with damp – he’s got a bookshelf with books and a setae with soft furnishings and they are all bone dry so damp not a problem.

    I’m going for a concrete base and will be laying armoured cable out to it and get an electrician to connect at either end. I am going to run the cable along the side of the house then have to pull up a few flags of the patio and dig a trench out along the lawn to the site. For internet I’ve got a mesh system so get a good WiFi signal right to the bottom of the garden, but will also use a Powerline setup too. Other than that not much to it really.

    My Dunster house office build

    Clicky

    DaveP
    Full Member

    I have dunster severn (3 yrs old?).
    We do have roof and floor insulation and have 40mm thick logs.
    Did not get it pressure treated, but applied a very good protective stain after (do this “quickly”, I delayed it – although you are pushed at the moment with weather). https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/sikkens-cetol-novatop
    Foundations – we used the plastic grids filled with stone. Seems to have worked fine. Friend did not make sure his was level and had to rebuild his.
    Walls – dead easy to put up. But the overall time taken is quite a while.
    Have a garage consumer unit in there, fed from the house. With wired data going from loft and down the wall and under the patio.

    Be warned – it is still v.cold in the winter! probably best to go for some kind of remote control heating.

    spot1978
    Free Member

    Thanks for the replies guys; genuinely really excited about building this. Bit nervous about the foundations but with dense concrete blocks and mortar I should be able to get the levels right without too much fuss. I’ve picked up some DPC to top the concrete block with also.

    I’ve gone for the 45mm thick walls; they do offer the 62mm thick walls that have an integral insulation layer but at almost 2-3k extra a panel heater is cheaper! The walls a slow grown spruce so defo need to get a decent protection system on there. That Bedec paint looks just the ticket.

    Yes, going to get an electrician in to work out best way to provide power to the office. Will try and do as much as I can myself to keep costs down. I think I’m going to try and put in a wired data system rather than Wifi as I spend a lot of time on teams talking to people; if I’m wiring for power its not much more for a cable data connection.

    Wall insulation wise I’ll give it a go for a few weeks first (January), prior to final electrical fit out to see how cold/manageable it is with a panel heater. I can run an extension cable to it for the time being. I also need to see how much space the 3.0×2.5 gives me; we’ve only a small garden so couldn’t really increase the size of the office.

    I picked up some aluminium tape so I can tape the joints between floor insulation and bearers. I saw on Ali Dymock’s Youtube videos and this seemed like a good idea to help stop moisture flow and any draft idea for relatively low cost.

    Defo going to add an impermeable roof membrane before adding the roof felt. Any small improvement that can be made to make it last as long as possible is a must for me.

    Concrete blocks etc turn up tomorrow so hope for a better update later this week.

    burko73
    Full Member

    Just checking out the artistformerlyknownas…’s post and I can’t help thinking I’d have isolated the building from the deck rather than put it on top. Even with treated bearers any treated softwood that’s sat in water in a dark warm place is trouble waiting to happen. Any wooden building needs to be out of the water and be able to drain any water off the roof away from the walls and be above the level that the water accumulates or falls to.

    My dad put a kids Wendy house on a newish treated timber deck, the Wendy house was pressure treated as well. Treated timber against treated timber and the water seeped between the two and just doesn’t dry out. The deck grooves allow the water through and the weight of the building is likely to bow the deck a little so water runs under.

    With my dads deck the actual deck rotted after about 5 yrs and the floor of the Wendy house too.

    I’d be cutting the deck short and building the wooden building on separate piers/ foundations that are well under the eves so that any water on the deck can’t run to the building (just like you’ve done on this thread).

    GTDave
    Free Member

    I built a Dunster Lantera over the summer, which is now my “work from home” space.
    Base is concrete slab, and I used additional 75×75 pressure treated joists on that, with the cabin bearers on top.
    This creates great airflow under the cabin, reducing the chances of rot.
    Galvanised scrim mesh around the perimeter to keep the mice out.

    Joists, bearers, and the first course of cabin timber painted in the superb Bedec Barn Paint, rest of cabin in stain blocking preservative primer, then Protek Premium Plus.

    We had the insulated roof & floor, though the extra height gained using additional joists allowed me to use an extra 25mm of floor insulation.
    Roof came with membrane as we have shingles.

    Wiring done prior to floor insulation and boards, allows for hidden cable runs, popping up to double sockets where needed, through 22mm round conduit secured with saddle clamps. This allows for movement due to expansion etc.

    It’s double glazed, but most heat loss is through the 45mm walls. I may insulate those at some point, but right now, a little Delonghi oil filled rad keeps it cosy.

    Love it, one of our best purchases. Took a weekend to do the walls, doors, and windows. A day each for flooring, roofing, and painting. Another day for guttering and snagging.

    Top tip, pay attention to the wall timbers. Some will curve more than others, so put those in first as the weight of the others on top will reduce the bowing.

    Top tools, Quick-Grip clamps to tweak timbers that twist on the vertical across their length, and ratchet straps to pull down any awkward buggers towards the top.
    There’s some good advice on the “Tuin” cabin website.

    Don’t rush it, and you’ll enjoy the build!

    DaveP
    Full Member

    clamps is a good call – I had to do it with only 1 timber.
    wired ethernet – dead easy to run, worth the effort. I have a switch and a wifi extender down there as well.
    radiator is definitely needed. REALLY cold in the winter without a reasonable amount of heating.
    PIR on the lighting makes it nice and easy when you walk in too.
    base – I used something like these – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reinforced-Driveway-ECO-Friendly-Included-Membrane/dp/B07LG7Y6CQ/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=reinforced+grid+ground+plastic&qid=1606246204&sr=8-6 I did not want to go for a concrete slab (no good reason really)

    spot1978
    Free Member

    Ok so not the update I wanted to give this weekend. Given the cabin arrives this Thursday I was hoping to give a ‘completed’ foundation up date. Instead I’m laid up with a very painful back. So DIY this week.

    Instead I thought I’d give more of a discussion on the planning phase so far.

    Foundations:

    The foundation method I’ve chosen is a grid of dense concrete blocks; similar to the plan below. The reason I’ve chosen this is to reduce the excavation and need to get rid of waste etc. It also provides more of and air gap than a continuous concrete slab. I’m also going to allow gaps between some of the blocks for electrical wiring that I can install before the floor goes down.

    It was also supposed to the easier DIY option – back pain depending!

    I will also add a DPC over the top of the concrete blocks

    Foundations not much progressed that this photo now, much to my displeasure. That said in writing this a wiggle parcel has pinged up as ready for delivery today…yay.

    Office Build

    I’ve been watching quite a few videos of how to build one of these log cabins to pick up some hints. I’ll link a couple that I found useful.

    Other than making a list of small tools I need I’m planning on spending a day sorting the wood and adding the paint system to critical elements before building. The way I see it, I can get a full coating all round prior to building. Such elements are:

    The bearers
    First layer of logs/half logs
    Last layer of logs prior to installation of purlins and roof
    Purlins them selves (these will be protected with a stain to be different from the internal paint colour)
    Roof trims/facings etc.

    Couple of videos I found useful:

    This one is good as it shows the full build without too much time lapse etc and he discusses some of the issue

    Log cabin build

    This one from a point of view of installing problem logs and also the method to get a square bearer layout. (Edit can’t get this link to work – its on the Dunster House trouble shooting page)

    Electrics and Data Cabling

    This one has given me the most headache as it well outside my conform zone. I’m talking to an electrician and am hoping to get him round once the office is up or even prior so I can confirm what I’m going to DIY.

    Also taking the opportunity to fit in installation of security cameras (one of which will be on the office) and to fix some dodgy plumbing and completion of my utility cupboard.

    I did a bit of investigation of the easiest way to get the cables from the CU and router outside and have decided on the most direct route. I even started drawing small plans to work out which cables need to go where and size up and holes and external conduit. I’m hoping that any drilling and conduit work I can complete myself and leave just the cable electrical cable running and connections to the electrician. The office electrical layout is yet to be confirmed as it depends on where I want the desk, lighting etc.

    I need to provide two out going cables (electrics and data) and one incoming from CCTV to router. Just need to get over this wall below the house but have worked out I can take up the floor boards to make this happen. I’m planning on adding some ducting so its easier for the electrician.

    I’m going to take the opportunity to add in an external plug (with RCD) for lawn mower and general outside DIY activities as I’m fed up with putting cables through open windows.

    After that the cables will be installed in black PVC conduit fixed to the house and concrete fence posts.

    The CCTV system is POE so just need to get the cables back to the recorder system and then the onward cable for router connection.

    spot1978
    Free Member

    After a busy 3 day weekend following the all clear from the physio; the office is up. Still need to finish the roof and trim, shim the door frame and then fit out the interior. Plus it needs another couple of coats of treatment outside. But all in all a really enjoyable build.

    Foundations are dense concrete blocks laid to a grid to support the treated timber bearers. I filled the gaps with weed matting and the gravel I previously took out of this corner of the garden so rather than get ride i used it to weight down the matting etc..

    DPC was installed between the concrete blocks and timber bearers which I then wrapped under the first logs to prevent water running on top of the DPC and under the timber.

    After that the build progressed quickly and I was up to roof height in the one day. Only bad light stopped play.

    Sunday was spent installing the tongue and groove roofing, warmroof PIR panels and draping the impermeable membrane over the top. Again bad light and tiredness stopped me from finishing the roof. But its up and dry. Hoping to use my lunch times to finish the roof whilst evenings will be spent inside.

    Just need to fully decide on internal fit out but I’ve a few nice ideas.

    GTDave
    Free Member

    Nicely done. Quite satisfying in the end, isn’t it!

    With regards to the interior, don’t underestimate the number of sockets you think you’ll need! We have 6 x doubles in ours, and now only have one double spare! Use the bike equation of X=N+1 🙂

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