Garden office
- Thread starter Mr.Stu
- Start date
Getting a builder in to build a brick one would be a lot more than 10k, possibly double that depending on access and location.
I did look into getting one for 8k (4x5m) a while ago but my business insurance price would have doubled due to it being timber and not blockwork.
I did look into getting one for 8k (4x5m) a while ago but my business insurance price would have doubled due to it being timber and not blockwork.
10k includes no DIY, managed install including concrete foundations, connectivity to consumer unit etc
I've just built one...well nearly finished it. My electrician is yet to run a power cable down to it and I need to put in some cat5 and furnisher in it. I built it thanks to some money my grandmother left me and that Reading Borough Council wouldnt let me do some other works inside my flat (which was my preference, this was 2nd).
I was very limited to the design that I could use. It's in a conservation area and within the curtails of a listed building; with other peoples flats looking down onto my garden and into it. It looks a little 'new' and boring outside as im yet to make it look pretty.
I wont say how much it was but its a lot! There was no way a brick one could be built as all materials had to be taken through my flat (no access door in my garden). This one was built in sections in their factory and then put together like lego.
Its unbelievably well built (which is what you would expect!) this thing is going to last years and years. It's fully insulated; its so warm without any heating and completely silent when I close the doors. I'm right by a main road in the centre of Reading.
Its about 3.5m by 2.5m inside.
I was very limited to the design that I could use. It's in a conservation area and within the curtails of a listed building; with other peoples flats looking down onto my garden and into it. It looks a little 'new' and boring outside as im yet to make it look pretty.
I wont say how much it was but its a lot! There was no way a brick one could be built as all materials had to be taken through my flat (no access door in my garden). This one was built in sections in their factory and then put together like lego.
Its unbelievably well built (which is what you would expect!) this thing is going to last years and years. It's fully insulated; its so warm without any heating and completely silent when I close the doors. I'm right by a main road in the centre of Reading.
Its about 3.5m by 2.5m inside.
Associate
- Joined
- 6 May 2016
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- 693
Could you give a ballpark? More than 10k? I'd be interested in something like this myself, looks fantastic by the way!
Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Dec 2005
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- 17,314
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- Bristol
I bet that smells lovely inside, all that wood and new carpet...
Spoil sport!
Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Mar 2013
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- 9,349
Wont that be a bit nippy come winter time if its just wood and quite thin walls?
The walls are about 9-10" thick. 3 layers of wood (Inner, Inner-outer...and outer) if that makes any sense. Between the Inner, Inner-outer is about 4-5" if insulation. This thing is absurdly warm and quiet and I don’t even have power in it yet. I wanted this to be a proper home office that you can comfortably spend 7-8-9 hours in and never complain about external conditions. I’ve been in a few similar builds but after a while… it still feels like a shed. This doesn’t at all.
I have a photo of a cross section of the build which I used for paperwork approval, see below.
The basebuild was something like £14-15k I think, maybe a little more as I over did it with the spec.
If I downsized it to smaller footprint to be big enough for a desk and a little bit of floor space it would only be 6-7k. I’ve got loads of internal and external sockets and the 2 velux windows were not cheap add-ons too. Things like that quickly add up but makes up all the difference when its being used. The style of the build (hipped roof) was also their top spec offering, which I was forced into because of the local setting (conservation area and listed building etc etc). If id gone for a modern style like the one above, it would have been cheaper but I wouldnt have got permission.
I had some external help; I hired an architect to help with the drawing’s for planning permission and listed building consent. He also handled all the PP and LBC submissions too. The complete cost would be just north of 16k I think. I spent a lot but I didn’t lift a finger; which im willing to pay for.
Next steps are to turn the grass in front to decking, fix some external heaters to the front and get a speaker system hooked inside.
My old neighbours used to be architect’s and they moved away as they got sick of working in their living room full time. I wanted to make this big enough to have a desk for a PC setup, a desk for a meeting, a sofa and shelving. I’m walking distance from Reading train station (and soon to be cross rail) and the town centre. My view was that if you work for yourself (like my old neighbours) and hired an office in Reading (like a regus maybe) you are still looking at 300pcm, so I thought that it pays itself if I can attract that type of client, if I decide to rent it.