Garden Offices

Insulated means you can use it in January

The gap between a studio and a summer house is not the glazing, it is how the walls are built. A garden office here gets a vapour barrier behind the cladding, insulation between the studs, ply or plaster lining inside, and an EPDM rubber roof instead of felt. That is what keeps the heat in and the condensation out, and condensation is what ruins garden offices and the laptops sat in them.

Studio, Studio Plus or Office

The Studio is insulated and ply lined, which is the sensible starting point for a desk and a chair. Studio Plus adds a plastered interior and anthracite uPVC doors, and starts at a bigger footprint. The Garden Office is the full job. Plastered throughout, uPVC glazing, wiring run ready, and composite cladding available on the bigger sizes if you would rather never paint anything again.

Power, broadband and the boring bit

Order the electrics pack and it turns up wired and ready for connection. Running a supply out to an outbuilding is notifiable work and needs a qualified electrician, so budget for that rather than finding out late. For broadband, a powerline adapter on the same circuit or an outdoor rated ethernet run both beat hoping the wifi reaches the bottom of the garden.

Planning and business rates

Permitted development normally covers it. Under 2.5m high within 2m of a boundary, not in front of the house, under half the garden. Two things catch people out. Conservation areas and listed buildings need consent. And a garden office used only for business can pick up business rates, though shared work and personal use normally does not.

The base

These are heavy buildings and they want a proper level base. Send us a photo and we will tell you straight whether your existing slabs will do.