Does anyone have a garden room?

[annh]

I am on the extending houses thread but we are rapidly cooling on the idea as it apparently costs £35k to extend our kitchen by 3.6 x 4.5 m (excluding the units and appliances). We previously looked briefly at having a garden room (not a shed, but one of those quite plush units with insulation, heating and lighting) which we could use for music and thus remove the need to change our dining room into a music room. We have plenty of space in the garden.

We discarded the idea as some of them can cost in the region of £20k. However, this is now looking like a bargain in comparison to the extension costs. Does anyone have one and can advise on how they find it - do you actually use it if you have to go into the garden to get to it, is it hot/cold, how about noise escaping from it? Am also thinking that it would be a cool place for the boys to hang out when they hit teenage years.

we used to have an office (posh, insulated log shed) at the bottom of the garden and I loved it.

I'm obsessed with the idea of one of these! We are looking to buy a house at the moment and very time we see one that's too small I say to DH - it will be fine, we can have a shoffice

I have two boys too and (although they are only little still) I want one so I can go and hide in it. It will be nothing but chintz and Cath Kidston and will smell of victoria sponge.

Mine unfortunately will be full of a drum kit, guitars, amps, a preciously balanced pc for composing bits of music and will smell of hot boy and socks!

I liked the idea of one as a playroom for the kids but think a conservatory would be a better option. I can't imagine wanting to go out to it in the rain and snow for example.

We're just about to get a log cabin type one, I'm really excited. We saw them at the Ideal Home show and it's just like a real room (albeit wooden). Only £3200 for a 6m x 3m, that includes the installation but not the base. We're going to run electricity out there for lighting and prob panel heaters.

We have a log cabin and we only use it in the summer as there is no heating but it is great as an extra room...my DS's teen friends use it quite a bit as it's at the bottom of the garden and we can't hear them

Hi annh, just wondering where you are to get a quote so much for your extension? We are Scotland and are getting a 2 storey side extension plus single storey rear for £64k so maybe it's worth getting more quotes in? Sorry I can't remember if you had already done that but maybe the extension isn't totally ruled out yet?

Sleeves, we are in Surrey (the bit where prices seem to be the same as London). I don't know if it would be cheaper somewhere else in the country, probably yes. We have had three quotes now and two are the same, one is cheaper but it's from a builder who doesn't charge VAT so am now wondering about that one, also one of the other builders pointed out that we would need a new fuse box which the others haven't factored in so I think all the prices would end up being similar.

annh we went through kind of the same dilemma as you - we needed an office space and couldn't really afford an extension but also it would not have given us a separate 'office' type room, loft conversion would also have been very expensive and room not so big. After a lot of research we went for a garden room from a company called Homestead who I would highly recommend. We went for a wooden one which is split into two rooms (one with a loo). We use it every day and even in the depths of the recent cold winter it was warmer than our house (and is much better insulated!) We did pay a lot - cost around £20,000 but is big - 18' x 14' and we also had a lean-to shed put on the back and a loft in the biggest room included in the price. The price included everything (concrete base, whitewash inside, electrics, plumbing etc). We could have got it much cheaper from some other companies and done extras like base, installation, electrics and plumbing etc ourselves but thought it easier to get Homestead to do it all. Can't fault them at all - great to deal with, really efficient and the whole thing was finished in just over a week. It is right at the end of our garden and sometimes it is a pain in the snow and dark but it has not put us off using it. Definitely the best thing for us anyway. Not sure about the sound - we do play music in there - but it is very well insualted. Let me know if you need any further help - I spent an awful long time researching it!

Mins, thanks for the advice, we spent a long time on t'internet last night looking at options and costs. Homestead was one of the sites we looked at but decided not to go with as we are hoping for something more modern, maybe like this www.thegardenescape.co.uk/images/cont6.jpg. All the Homestead ones seemed to have pitched roofs? Anyway, I approached two companies today, Garden Escape, where that link comes from, who are sending out a brochure and who answered some questions and also Rooms Outdoor where you could book an online visit so supposedly someone will visit on Monday! Agree about the hassle factor of having to possibly go out in rain and cold to use the room but it is for our sons anyway and all their music stuff and they don't seem to notice the cold! Will probably come back and ask you more questions after we have got a bit more info ourselves.

Yes we looked at thegardenescape website too I think. I think most of the Homestead ones do have pitched roofs and that is what we wanted - we wanted a more traditional style of building so they suited us fine. Can't quite remember the names of all the other companies we contacted but there were others who did more modern styles and an all in kind of deal. Inside Out were very good but quite expensive. Anyway ask again if you have more questions. Good luck with your search!

Love the look of the Garden Escape ones...if you get one let us know what it's like! DH builds the odd garden room for clients and even he likes the look of those ones Green roofs are worth considering...they look great and aren't that expensive! The key to using them all year round is insulation and decent glass. Good luck in your search..I'm very & mine would smell of sponge and have bunting outside!