Garden office or convert the pig sty?

[Covidcorvid]

Looks like I’m going to be wfh permanently and the arrangement of working on the dining room table can’t continue long term.

We have a big garden and a garden office initially looked the only solution. Certainly nowhere in the house for me to go. I half looked at this pre pandemic but the garden office costs put me off. Looking at 14-15k for something with electrics and heating. Probably prices have shot up now!

Other option is we have an old, brick built stable/pig sty. It’s solid but damp. Double brick thickness, Victorian thing. No electricity. Has a concrete floor, solid walls, solid roof.

I’m guessing it needs tanking/lining.....a ceiling of some sort putting in. Will need a proper window and door as at the minute the window is perspex and the door is plywood. Will need electricity and heating.

It’s quite small but big enough for a desk and book case. Low ceiling but I’m short and I can stand up in it ok once I’ve ducked through the pig sty end into the stable end. 😁

Is it likely to be cheaper to sort this out seeing as the structure is there already? Not sure which is the better option. Not sure about the longevity of garden offices and the stable is 100 plus years old already and still standing.

Convert the pig sty, possibly extending it.

I can’t extend it. One end is built into a hillside which would need excavating. The other end is the outside loo which I don’t want to lose because we do use the outside loo still quite a lot.

I would convert the pig sty, especially as there is an outside loo already attached to it. Could you fit a tiny kitchenette type thing into the pig sty end, coffee machine, snacks and whatever there? And then have the stable end for your desk? Maybe a wall mounted bookcase to save floor space?

No idea on costs though, sorry!

Ha ha, I would so have a coffee machine and a load of snacks!

Space is maybe 10ft by 5ft. But I reckon a desk at end, book case down one side, coffee machine and chocolate stash etc in the pig sty end it would be cosy but good.

Pig sty sounds amazing!
How near is it to existing power?

I’ve got about 50x text books so not sure I’d dare have a wall mounted book case. Would probably crash on my head knowing my luck.

We looked at very very similar except ours is stone rather than brick, and already has electricity.

It was going to cost £25k-30k to convert, and wouldn’t have been worth it for the size of room we would have ended up with (about 3.5m x 4.5m). Might be worth it if yours was bigger because most of the costs weren’t particularly affected by the size.

It’s maybe 40ft from the house. So would need a trench digging for electrics. But if we had a garden office I’d want it down the far end of the garden which is over a 100ft from the house.

@user143677433

We looked at very very similar except ours is stone rather than brick, and already has electricity.

It was going to cost £25k-30k to convert, and wouldn’t have been worth it for the size of room we would have ended up with (about 3.5m x 4.5m). Might be worth it if yours was bigger because most of the costs weren’t particularly affected by the size.

Oh....garden office is looking more tempting now. 😁

I think much better to convert the pig sty. You need a local builder, an electrician and a chippy. Get them out to quote.

Can we see pictures?

I’ll take pictures tomorrow.

Def get a quote. You wont need water I guess as there's a nearby loo (does that have power?)

As there's no structural work, surely it will be easier and cheaper than a from-scratch.

Have you googled for inspiration already?

Get a quote and then decide.

I was thinking George Clarke had a Amazing Space pig style conversion but it was a dog house - series 6 ep 4, available on All4. They had a low ceiling, but it looked great in the end.

Definitely get a quote! We had a similar structure in our garden.

Ours was two storey and it already had electric. The ground floor we ripped up the rotting wooden floor and had someone put in an some concrete which we painted. We had someone to put in a consumer unit and do the wiring, add spotlights. We cleaned the walls painted some of it with blackjack (horrible stuff but will stop the damp) then painted it. We had the ceiling insulated.

Upstairs we had a trapdoor put in, spotlights and a radiator on the wall, a skylight put in and the roof insulated. We put carpet tile on the floor. We ran an internet cable from the house and set up a wireless router.

We did quite a bit and it came to about £4k. Obviously you'd need to add a chunk for electrics.

Right, I’ll get a quote.

Do I need a builder or more a DIY person? I don’t want to buy full on builder rates if I’m not needing structural work and maybe their daily rate is more?

I haven’t googled so off to do that now and also try and find the amazing spaces episode.

Right, I’ve watched the dog kennel episode. Similar size, though mine has a lower ceiling and is more rectangular.

They didn’t put electricity in it and I really think I’ll need electric.

There’s already a skylight in the roof.

Does the outside loo (which my plumber calls “the gardeners loo”which makes me laugh) have electricity? If so surely you can just drill through from there?

You need three builders quotes.

No electricity in the outside loo sadly.

Where would you get wi fi from
If walls that thick house wi fi probably wouldn't work

WiFi extenders reach 30m apparantly so should be close enough for that? If not we can lay a cable at the same time as doing the electricity.

You don't need heating. Just electricity. I have those oil filled radiators in mine and they keep it beautifully cosy. As long as your insulation is good, it should be easy to heat this way.

And I have the WiFi boosted from the house. It works fine.

Oil filled radiator sounds good.

Our WiFi goes through our walls which are very deep. I’d put a wood burner in the corner, but I’d want it to look all cosy and not share it with anyone....maybe with a little kettle on top.