If you have a garden office is the base concrete slab or wooden piles? Any recommendations?

[MonChoufleur123]

We are getting quotes for this at the moment. Contractors equally split between putting it on a concrete slab base or putting in wooden piles with steps up. Cost is more for a concrete base but I'm wondering if that will last longer. It will be in a North facing garden which gets very muddy in winter. If you have a garden office what base is it on and what would you recommend? TIA.

Ours is a summer house. It is on a wooden frame on top of a concrete base. It should last longer than wood straight on or into the ground.

Mine is neither. Was some sort of plastic base I think. 🤷‍♀️. I left the contractors to it but iirc it was like a plastic grid which was then filled with gravel.

There may have been wood on top of that? Definitely no concrete slabs.

I don't have one but my friend does and has a system like the one in the video below, so piles but metal rods in concrete then timber frame on that off the ground. Part 2 video easy to find, in fact whole series of them showing you exactly how it is done.

I wouldn't want wooden piles in the ground.

Quint's is probably an ecobase which we have under our shed. Really good system which allows for drainage away from the base.

I was advised that concrete can lead to the floor of the office being colder, but with wood you are more likely to get rats underneath in the cavity, so we are going with concrete and extra insulation.

Thank you for all the useful responses. The eco base sounds interesting - will investigate. And definitely don't want to provide a home for rats hadn't even thought of that!! 😬