Garden office dos and donts

[Ilostit]

So… I work in the spare bedroom and just hate it. DH works from home 3 days a week in front room. I want our front room back and now thinking of building a garden office with two rooms (full on sound proofing between rooms) and a shed on the side.

Any company recommendations / or just general recommendations
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We have a large open plan space downstairs looking at remodelling that as an alternative potentially cheaper option. I’m so depressed working upstairs in spare bedroom. I just can’t work next to the bed much longer. I’m full time wfh.

You WFH full time so this office would be used all year round?
If so it would need to be fully insulated and probably heated to some degree in winter.
Sounds like two rooms plus.a shed on the side?

I reckon you’re looking at the thick end of £30,000 for a supply and install service, especially given building materials are expensive at the moment.

How often is the spare room used, can you turn into permanent office. Carve out permanent space in kitchen diner would be cheaper….put up a stud wall.

Get a good sofa bed and turn spare bedroom into a proper working environment?

We have a Dunster House office in the garden. I live it its insulated so with an oil filled radiator is warm all year round. Looks nice cost us £6k then another £2 to have a hard stand and someone build it for us it took them a week including electrics and we had it plastered. Wifi hard wired to router is great

I’m going to get an architect in to look at downstairs too. We could put a stud wall in issue is we don’t have much light in the back where we would but the stud wall it’s a windowless room. We basically need two offices as the work we both do is confidential. To the extent our work is in conflict - bizarrely if DH heard some of my conversations at my place of work then he would have sensitive information on people in his place! I can’t describe it but we can’t be in the same room. I believe a diagram might be needed!

Putting an office in downstairs gives DH an office but I doesn’t give me one upstairs. In saying that the issue in the main isn’t me working in the spare bedroom. It’s more I want my front room back to make into a cosy lounge area

Spare room where I work also had a horrible chest of drawers with DHs drawers of doom and his flipping trouser press. God I hate it

We have a single bed in the room. Yes wfh FT we no longer have offices

My DH got a garden office in the pandemic which he is happy with from these people

https://www.boothsgardenstudios.co.uk/the-new-qcb-zero-maintenance-portable-affordable-garden-office-from-booths-garden-studios?gclid=CjwKCAjwloCSBhAeEiwA3hVoc1tEuhBX6ABb7UA92w4yeuJy2mlZqmrvUHHoslsTyRZnSZ7TG518BoCUasQAvDD_BwE

It was super easy to install. Just took a couple of days and he works in it every day and on the whole loves it. It's more 'going to work' than being in the house and all his work crap is corralled in there. The main thing was he can have clients over there too without worrying if the house is a mess or kids are rampaging about or if I am sleeping after a night shift.

It's fully insulated but still a bit too hot on very hot summer days and too cold on very cold winter days but those are not so often in the U.K. I think he sometimes wishes he got the air con option but mainly he's fine with a storage heater and a fan.
It doesn't have a loo or sink so he uses the downstairs one in the house which is fine.

Look at local companies/ joiners. We went to someone who made pods and shepherd’s huts already and asked them to make a Summer house. He charged less than half of a large firm.

For heating consider an Everhot mini. You can heat / cook your lunch in it too.

Thank you! Think there is a fair amount of research to do! I will try upload a diagram.

This ‘going out to work’ would be good too.

Garden offices are cheaper, but adding floor space to your house will add more value. Garden offices are nice to have if you’re looking for one but aren’t quoted in the square footage.

Could you extend your current house to create a workspace for DH and an additional bedroom on the ground floor, then turn your spare bedroom into a proper built in study for you?

Or have one of you indoors one outdoors then you don’t have to worry about soundproofing?

My tips for garden office - don’t go cheap - ensure that it has the best insulation you can find, must have a bathroom and a kettle (which involves laying pipework down the garden) as no-one wants to go out into the rain to pee/make a cup of tea.

@Redsquirrel5

Look at local companies/ joiners. We went to someone who made pods and shepherd’s huts already and asked them to make a Summer house. He charged less than half of a large firm.

For heating consider an Everhot mini. You can heat / cook your lunch in it too.

Yes. Also from local builders as they can build something better insulated than a wooden/metal structure for comparable prices.

But check the local planning laws for outbuildings.

That’s sounds quite large for a garden room, I expect you will need planning.

We have a small garden room that is used as an office 4x3mtrs,, under permitted development, it’s awesome, insulated, data cabled, solar glass. Would recommend.

Would a loft conversion be an option?

As someone above, I have a Booths garden office. I love it. Heavily insulated and feels solid. I do have the heat/aurcon unit, plus a deck with flyover roof which keeps out the worst of the sun in summer. Mine is a 16' x 8' QCB, but they do bigger options that can be subdivided as you describe.

I'd get a local carpenter to build it, rather than using a kit. I know 2 people who had their slatted, kit, garden rooms blown apart in the recent storms. Get plenty of insulation, double glazing and a velux can reduce lighting in the day.

Yes loft conversion is an option. Now believe there are covenants against sheds in our garden!!

Architect coming in a couple of weeks and I better dig out our deeds!

Do you have a garage you could convert?

If you have the shed between the two offices, like a terraced house, you won't need much sound insulation.

Thanks @Mosaic123 - now looking into covenants on our deeds re outbuildings (we have a shed and a greenhouse at the moment) DH seems to think we have insurance re:existing outbuildings and replacement thereof but not with regard to building something else!!!

@Ilostit

Thanks *@Mosaic123* - now looking into covenants on our deeds re outbuildings (we have a shed and a greenhouse at the moment) DH seems to think we have insurance re:existing outbuildings and replacement thereof but not with regard to building something else!!!

Once it's been built it'll be an existing outbuilding!

In your situation I turned the spare room into an office. My need for an office was greater than my family’s need to save money on a hotel lol. Get a nice water / coffee machine & out in a small couch too so you can do paperwork in a relaxed way between calls.