Any advice about garden offices or recommendations of firms welcome

[VivaLeBeaver]

Thinking of getting a garden office as a cheap alternative to an extension.

It needs to be something which is well insulated and has electrics so it can be used in comfort all year round.

Is this possible? I'm looking at websites that say it is but am I fooling myself that it would ever be warm enough? Don't want to spend 10k on a glorified shed which is cold and damp and rots after a few years.

We used http: //www.gardenaffairs.co.uk/ when we put up an office. It was insulated a bit, but did get damp and cold - but that was us really as we were trying to spend as little as possible as it was only used 3 days/week.

Apart from the concrete and the electrics we did it all ourselves and although it was hard work it wasn't difficult and the company were helpful when we couldn't work something out.

It was 8 years ago so I don't know how competitive they still are, there are more companies about now so I would imagine there is a bewildering choice!

I always think the specialist places seem obscenely expensive. I'm sure a builder could knock up the equivalent well-insulated structure with services for far, far less.

Thanks both of you.

Frosty, I've been looking at some websites where the offices have two walls with a kind of cavity wall which is filled with insulation. Does yours have that as their website makes no mention of it?

I'd rather pay more and have someone who specialised in garden offices do it and make sure its not damp and heats up ok. Would rather spend 12k than waste 6k if you know what I mean.

Dh was very impressed by green retreats and is saving up to get one

Thanks Misty, they're one of the websites I've been looking at and they do look fab.

When we built ours it was just a choice of two depths of wood - if I were looking for a "serious" out door office I would probably get the thicker wood, insulate and line with board on the inside. I'd do the same to the roof too.

A small business I worked for had 4 of these from Homestead Timber Buildings. They were much better than the garden sheds we had initially.

However even with insulation, double glazing, heat loss is an issue so expect to have to heat it quite well in winter. So make sure power supply is sufficient wattage to accommodate heating plus all other electric usage you need.