To ask for garden room advice. 12 years I’ve been saving!

[Egghead81]

For 12 years I have been squirrelling money away for a garden room.

I’m there. They ate due to start building in 8weeks. And I need to start making decisions re everything!

Please help!

Underfloor heating; it doesn't heat the air, but is so cosy underfoot in winter.

Look on the Houzz website, lovely pics and ideas

More electrical sockets than you anticipate using and USB sockets so you can plug in without an adaptor.

Best insulation you can afford. Is it in a sunny spot? Will you need blinds/ air con so it is useable in the heat of the day?

I had a garden room installed about a month ago. Mine is a pine cabin from a well known brand in my area. Not cheap but excellent reviews and been around for years.

It was 6 months from order to installation. So it included paint/primer but I didn’t realise until during installation that it didn’t include painting it. It’s some job priming and painting. Even with a sprayer took me two weeks because I just can’t hold up the weight of the sprayer for long.

I treated all knots beforehand but still getting sap dripping.

Found out afterwards that there will be movement so I will need to continue to need to touch up the paint to treat exposed areas when it moves.

Minor electrics package included. No problem there but the extra electrical cabling cost a few hundred more. I paid extra £250 for its own WiFi (excellent tough) when the electricians came to install that package. Flooring - due to a trim around the sides of the floor, no installers would agree to lay laminate. One recommended a plastic type of laminate but would cost @700. So I varnished the pine floor boards. As raw wood, took many coats. With drying time between coats (according to tin), took a week. I likely have two or three more days of work (excluding treating the decking) before I can use it (and that’s before end of recommended floor varnish curing time).

Went back recently to really look closely at the display cabins and noted they have guttering. Mine does not. Apparently I need to find my own person to install that.

So some things you may want to check/consider.

Ours is being installed in two weeks. We are using ours as a home office and to house the treadmill that DH uses daily.

Our concrete base has been laid. We are having a double skinned insulated, 4 data points, 4 double power sockets, lighting, UPVC a double glazing with special glass that stops heat coming in and heat going out (can’t remember what is called!) outside power point, incs painting externally & internally, once cat5 and electrical work is completed. Rubber roof. We have decided that we prefer carpet tiles rather than laminate floor, the floor will also be insulated before the carpet tiles are laid.

Our office has been on order since early feb, so you are doing well to get one in 8 weeks, some we looked at were quoting 6mths lead times. We went with a local bespoke company in the end.

Also helpful.
I have some specific questions....

@Roselilly36

Ours is being installed in two weeks. We are using ours as a home office and to house the treadmill that DH uses daily.

Our concrete base has been laid. We are having a double skinned insulated, 4 data points, 4 double power sockets, lighting, UPVC a double glazing with special glass that stops heat coming in and heat going out (can’t remember what is called!) outside power point, incs painting externally & internally, once cat5 and electrical work is completed. Rubber roof. We have decided that we prefer carpet tiles rather than laminate floor, the floor will also be insulated before the carpet tiles are laid.

Our office has been on order since early feb, so you are doing well to get one in 8 weeks, some we looked at were quoting 6mths lead times. We went with a local bespoke company in the end.

How much art you paying? How big? What are data points?

@LongTimeMammaBear

I had a garden room installed about a month ago. Mine is a pine cabin from a well known brand in my area. Not cheap but excellent reviews and been around for years.

It was 6 months from order to installation. So it included paint/primer but I didn’t realise until during installation that it didn’t include painting it. It’s some job priming and painting. Even with a sprayer took me two weeks because I just can’t hold up the weight of the sprayer for long.

I treated all knots beforehand but still getting sap dripping.

Found out afterwards that there will be movement so I will need to continue to need to touch up the paint to treat exposed areas when it moves.

Minor electrics package included. No problem there but the extra electrical cabling cost a few hundred more. I paid extra £250 for its own WiFi (excellent tough) when the electricians came to install that package. Flooring - due to a trim around the sides of the floor, no installers would agree to lay laminate. One recommended a plastic type of laminate but would cost @700. So I varnished the pine floor boards. As raw wood, took many coats. With drying time between coats (according to tin), took a week. I likely have two or three more days of work (excluding treating the decking) before I can use it (and that’s before end of recommended floor varnish curing time).

Went back recently to really look closely at the display cabins and noted they have guttering. Mine does not. Apparently I need to find my own person to install that.

So some things you may want to check/consider.

Mine has own WiFi and all painting included Laminate flooring also to be installed How big is yours and how much? Will be in sunny spot

Those who have or are getting garden rooms....
Do you have anything up for the windows or curtains or blinds?

What’s your heating situation? I can’t stretch to underfloor hearing but I am having a WiFi enabled wall installed heater - so that I can turn on in the morning remotely and will be nice and toasty by time I use.

Worth having any built in furniture to maximise space? I was thinking a tall narrow cupboard to store some bits, and a little ledge for kettle?

We are having one installed right now. It's very expensive! We are having cedar clad, fully insulated. It's got 3 separate rooms j side (office, storage and main room) and a 2m deck outside. We are using a local company who will use it as marketing for their business and we're able to start a week after they quoted. It's a big job as they had to knock down our existing brick outbuilding and then they are building out over a slope. All decorating, Karndean flooring and a heating/air con unit as well as internet connection and all electrics (& gutters and wood treatment) are included. It's coming in at £41k inc VAT 😱 but it will be in permanent use as an extension of our house (which we can't extend any further)

@Roselilly36

Ours is being installed in two weeks. We are using ours as a home office and to house the treadmill that DH uses daily.

Our concrete base has been laid. We are having a double skinned insulated, 4 data points, 4 double power sockets, lighting, UPVC a double glazing with special glass that stops heat coming in and heat going out (can’t remember what is called!) outside power point, incs painting externally & internally, once cat5 and electrical work is completed. Rubber roof. We have decided that we prefer carpet tiles rather than laminate floor, the floor will also be insulated before the carpet tiles are laid.

Our office has been on order since early feb, so you are doing well to get one in 8 weeks, some we looked at were quoting 6mths lead times. We went with a local bespoke company in the end.

It’s being installed in 8 weeks Been on order since Feb

Do you have blinds for it as it's in a sunny spot? It could get very hot in summer

My husband built mine !!! Saved us a ton of money ! We have an electric wood burner it’s lovely we also have blinds for privacy tv sofa book self I love our garden room x

@Egghead81 mine is 6m x 4m, without extras, was 18k.

Heating wise, I’m going to use thermostat oil filled electric heater as I plan to have things in there that would require a minimum temperature during the winter. It is insulated and has double glazed windows and doors. It doesn’t have double skin though as the price was almost double for that. (Although I would have liked that.)

I am interested to hear people's thoughts as we are in the queue for October installation. The advice we had was put in way more sockets than you think, including an external one. We are having 8 double sockets with USB and an outdoor power point by the sliding doors.

I agree on sockets, we probably should have had more. We have two plug sockets and two USB sockets in ours.

Also a decent heater, it was freezing in the winter - maybe one of those Fisher ones that you can mount on the wall. I had a fan heater and an oil-filled radiator but it's not enough when it's minus two.

And blinds for the windows, because conversely it can get very warm in the summer.

We got ours from Booths garden studios.

Fischer

I am having a WiFi enabled wall installed heater - so that I can turn on in the morning remotely and will be nice and toasty by time I use

very good idea - I had to pop out about 8am and turn my heaters on, and then go back at 9am when it had warmed up to work :)

Ours is 4m x 3m, the building is costing £12k the concrete base was just over a £1k, the electrics & data cabling £550. We are having double doors opening out, two long windows at the front, left side long window, right side desk height windows, white UPVC inside, anthracite grey outside. So we will need blinds, but after waiting all this time, just want to get it installed and then decide on the type of blinds we want.

We paid less than 3k for a 3 x 6m log cabin we built ourselves. It is insulated under the floor and roof tiles and has 8 double sockets with usb points plus lighting and wi-fi boost. It’s used as an occasional bedroom and office and occupies the sunniest spot in the garden. Best thing we ever did!

Nice.

I've got plans for a log cabin with bar, pool table and all that.

I'll be doing it myself though with something from here.

www.tuin.co.uk/

We're about to get ours. Thick walls and heating are what I've been advised. Floor coverings too. Get it wired up properly too, an extension lead isn't appropriate for permanent outside use

Will you install blinds to cut down glare? If so, don’t underestimate the cost - easily £500 per window.

We had ours done in January - I love it! I agree with what everyone has said about sockets! I cut costs on not having bifold doors - it is in a sunny spot and I wish I had gone with that as it would let more air in without the doors potentially swinging shit. Apart from that it is perfect and I love it!

We didn’t have any furniture built in but we did have a shed built onto the side (sort of disguised - it’s mega useful)

@Notjustanymum where is yours from? We need a shed / potting shed / garden room. It won’t be used for working so will be far more low key than most of these sound.