Garden Office

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

Any advice you can offer would be most appreciated - DP generally has a downer on any house-related spend and always gets glum, over-estimating how much something will cost and then fretting about it.

However ... I work from home and have to sit at the dining table which is uncomfortable and means my stuff is always spread around so needs clearing up for dinner and then getting back out again afterwards. So putting in a garden office seems like a good idea.

I found one for about £2k but he's says with the extras it will be £4k in total added to which the groundworks will come in at £3k. I think he's being ridiculous - a bit of digging out and some concrete cannot cost that much money. I will get in a couple of quotes but has anyone else installed one and and can give me a general cost?

The one I'm looking at is 4m x 3m if that's any use?

Get a quote! A proper, itemised quote from a builder. Much will depend on the depth of foundations you need for the kind of design you want to put in. A bit of digging out and concrete can easily cost thousands if you need to go deep.

Would you need to go deep though? I'm just talking about a shed type thing - not a full on pod affair.

I will get quotes but they'll take time to come in so I just wanted to keep up the pressure on DP to get it done!!

The depth of the digging will depend on how flat your garden is. Also remember that you'll want to have electricity which adds to the costs and that if you intend to use it all year round then insulation needs to be good.

This site has some figures: www.gardenofficeguide.co.uk/how-much-do-garden-offices-cost-2/

Typically a small, one person office around 2.1m x 2.1m square, with insulation, house quality doors & windows, and wired with sockets and lights will start at about £6,000 including VAT, you can expect a good quality office that you can use all year round for this price. You’ll need to check with the supplier as to whether the foundation is included in this price – in some cases it’s not and whilst the supplier will undertake the work its at additional cost.

DF looked at one of these and by the time the electricity etc had been factored in she had quadruple her initial guestimate.

thank you so much - seems like DP might be right this time then

Even if he is right, if it makes you happy and you can afford it.....do it! If done well it will also add value to your property!

Ours was £5.5K but we saved a bit as it was ex display and DH did the electrics. Just had a concrete slab. Also you need a path to it!

DH built his own, and even then it was expensive. It's heavily insulated, but even so, he still prefers to work on the dining room table in the really cold weather.

If done well it will also add value to your property!

Not sure a garden office adds value.

Sorry, but something 3x4 is Likely to be £6-8k, if done properly. An actual shed would be about £250-300, but insecure, damp, cold, windy etc- you certainly couldn't leave a computer out there.
Garden buildings are quite pricey.
A good one will add value, if you're in an area where they're sought after, as many professionals want some office space at home, but want maximum living space too.
Depends on where you live really.

A properly insulated one will be more than £2k. I have a 3 X 4m one, it cost 10k ten years ago. But it is a proper garden Room, thick walls, double doors, double glazed, opening windows etc. With electricity points and lights.

we have one, it is freezing in the winter & boiling in the summer so only worth using for a few months of the year. we now use it for storage of old junk, and I do my work at the dining room table.

Instead, why not invest in some good storage for your papers near the table and even a good chair for your bad back.

Yeah sorry, if anything he’s under estimated it. We had 8x4 m, electrics, insulation, properly insulated rubber tiled roof and no ground work/concrete cos it was already there, and it was GBP16k. Yours would presumably be approx half that. Plastering (though not everyone does that), decorating and filling it was about another GBP2k

If it adds to the discussion at all I have a garden office. It is not a wooden one, it is brick built and has electric penal heating. Its still bloody freezing in the winter.

I am currently working at the dressing table in my bedroom and avoiding going into the office unless I have to.