Garden Rooms, what's the real cost?

[Jelster]

I'm seriously thinking about putting a small office in the garden, mainly due to the fact that my amateur radio "shack" is in the spare room, and the wife wants it back. We live in a bungalow with a detached garage, so I looked into a garage conversion and it was over £8k. I don't have that sort of budget, but probably could stretch to £3,500. It doesn't need to be big, 6x6 will do, but it does need to be insulated as I'll be using it all year round.

I did think of getting a shed, then insulating & lining it, but things like doors will be "leaky" when I need to heat it. Anybody done anything similar?

 

[Humphrey]

Need to be mindful of leaving expensive transceivers in it, a fellow ham up here had is shack in a shed in the garden, but had to disconnect and take all the expensive stuff in the house when he wasn't in the shed. But he still had someone try to jemmy the door one night, saw the coax going in and put 2 and 2 together and made 5. Fortunately the door and shed was over engineered by him, so all that happened was a minor bit of cosmetic damage.

 

[Jelster]

Need to be mindful of leaving expensive transceivers in it, a fellow ham up here had is shack in a shed in the garden, but had to disconnect and take all the expensive stuff in the house when he wasn't in the shed. But he still had someone try to jemmy the door one night, saw the coax going in and put 2 and 2 together and made 5. Fortunately the door and shed was over engineered by him, so all that happened was a minor bit of cosmetic damage.

My back garden is surrounded by a new 6ft closedboard fence, it's secure from the front, and I have 3 CCTV cameras, one on the entrance to the front of the house, one the external (front) side of the secure door to the garden, and another at the rear of that door. I also have two PIR spotlights in the garden. I can't get it much more secure than that.....

 

[johnnypanic]

You can get creative to save costs. Likes of facebook marketplace to soure doors, windows, etc. Pallet wood (free if you search), to use, for cladding, flooring, etc. £3500 is achieveable, if you set your expectations, accordingly.

 

[AgentOrange76]

my 4mx3m Insulated timber framed outbuilding cost £5k 12 years ago. Its cement board clad, fully insulated with a DB board for power and lighting and sat on a concrete pad. I wanted it secure so it has no windows.
Im told my neighbours office twice that size with french doors is well over £20k

My parents have a garden cabin that cost around £3k. its not insulated but is made from 2inch thick timber that slots together and is in a sheltered town garden so doesnt get cold/damp
You could get something like this for about £2k if you put it together yourself and insulate that. We ran armoured cable to it so it has power.

 

[gman]

Would something like this be suitable? A little bigger at 8'x8' and coming in at a tasty £3,384.99 so under budget.

Dominator INSULATED Garden Office (Side) | Dunster House

The Dominator Insulated Garden Room is a modular build with a total wall thickness 75mm walls and 19mm Tongue and Groove floor and ceiling, built to last. With low U-Value walls, roof and floor the Dominator will keep energy costs down and provide you with year-round comfort.Stylish, modern...

dunsterhouse.co.uk

 

[Jelster]

Would something like this be suitable? A little bigger at 8'x8' and coming in at a tasty £3,384.99 so under budget.

Dominator INSULATED Garden Office (Side) | Dunster House

The Dominator Insulated Garden Room is a modular build with a total wall thickness 75mm walls and 19mm Tongue and Groove floor and ceiling, built to last. With low U-Value walls, roof and floor the Dominator will keep energy costs down and provide you with year-round comfort.Stylish, modern...

dunsterhouse.co.uk

View attachment 433300

View attachment 433301

That's the sort of thing I'm looking for, but I also need to cover the install costs. I think I may need to increase the budget a bit...

 

[gman]

That's the sort of thing I'm looking for, but I also need to cover the install costs. I think I may need to increase the budget a bit...

It does look pretty smart. Break out the power tools and get it done over a weekend!

 

[munch]

A friend has built a Hexagonal (log) one in his back garden. Gets used as a craft room throughout the year. can't find the link to the company unfortunately.