How we build
Build Spec
Throughout the construction of hundreds of garden rooms in South East England, we have slowly tweaked and perfected our standard building specification. We strongly believe that our buildings are the best on the market, particularly when it comes to design aesthetics, construction materials used, and structural integrity.
The following build specification applies to the majority of our buildings.
Site Preparation: Clearing the Way for Your Garden Room
Before we can bring your dream garden room to life, the site needs to be cleared and levelled, ready for construction. Proper clearance of the area is the first and most important step in the preparation process, ensuring we have a clean, unobstructed space to work with.
Removing all obstacle such as trees, shrubs, old sheds, or garages ensures our team has a safe, accessible, and clutter-free area to carry out the installation efficiently.
We require a minimum clearance of 450mm between the edge of our buildings and any boundary fences or walls. This is to ensure we can get down the side of the building to carry out construction work, but also so you have ample access the sides and rear of the building for maintenance purposes.
Need help preparing the area? We work with a network of local trusted landscapers who can assist with the preparation of the area.
Is your garden on a slope? We can work with slopes, but recommend that these are levelled out as much as possible.
Groundworks and Base
We primarily use two types of groundwork systems: concrete piles or concrete base.
For 80% of our projects we use a concrete pile system. This involves creating a 600mm deep hole, filling it with a concrete filled pipe, and then positioning the timber frame of the building on top. This is a fantastic system that require minimal concrete, is extremely strong, and allows us to work with uneven ground levels. It also provides airflow underneath the building helping with breathability.
For 20% of our projects, we use a concrete base system. This is mainly for larger building that are being used as gyms or habitable annexes.
On top of the concrete piles or base, we then construct the base frame. This is constructed from 5×2 timbers, 75mm PIR insulation, and then a layer of chipboard flooring.
Walls
We construct our walls from both 100mm insulated steel panels and traditional 4×2 timber framing. We use the panels on the rear and sides of our building, and construct the front with 4×2 timber, that are filled with 75mm PIR insulation and then covered with OSB sheeting.
All ours walls feature internal cavities, achieved through battening, which allows for hidden services and added heat control.
Roof
We construct our roof with structural timber joists (120-150mm – depending on depth of the build and span required).
The joists are then covered with OSB sheeting, and then an EPDM rubber roof which offers a shelf life of 50 years and is becoming the most popular roofing system for extensions and garden buildings, given its durability and longevity.
External detailing
Our external detailing is where our buildings really stand out.
We use a combination of steel and plastic components to seal and finish our buildings.
We use three main types of external cladding; premium western red cedar cladding, composite slatted cladding, and anthracite steel. The cedar is beautiful and durable, and looks amazing next to contemporary steel, and the composite cladding looks amazing and is virtually no maintenance. We use the cedar or composite on the front elevation as standard (depending if you choose our Classic or Signature line).
Internal detailing
We use two types of internal detailing, depending if you choose our Classic or Signature option.
If you choose Signature, your building will be plasterboard, fully plastered, and painted.
With our Classic look, we use an internal white melamine panelling.
For the flooring, we use a laminate oak that comes in two styles, sitting within a modern skirting board.
Classic Vs Signature
We offer two lines of buildings: Classic and Signature.
Classic is our most affordable option, and features internal white melamine panelling and white sockets and switches
Our Signature line is our most premium offering, and features our signature 400mm overhang/decking feature, internal plaster-boarding, plastering, and decorating, and upgrading features like steel brushed internal sockets and switches.
Doors & Windows
Our buildings come with full height uPVC sliding patio doors as standard, 2.5m wid.
We also offer full height side windows in two widths, and also a slot opening window.
All our windows and doors are smooth grey on the outside and white on the inside, and we use 4mm toughened glass.
Signature: Decking, Overhang & Side Screen
Our signature buildings feature a 400mm decking area, roof overhang and side screen. We believe that these features are essential to protecting the front of your building from the elements. They also provide necessary shelter when entering or leaving your office building
- Roof overhang prototects your building
- Maintenance free composite decking
- Contemporary side screen
Electrical Features
As the primary use of our buildings are for office space, we use LED panel lights in all our buildings. They provide an incredible source of white light which is used in all modern office spaces across the world. We also offer standard downlighting.
For external lights, we use up/down wall lights as standard, with the option to upgrade to soffit downlight.
Each building comes with 4x double sockets and its own consumer unit. We also include an ethernet port for easy connectivity via a CAT 6 cable.
In terms of heating, we offer a contemporary electrical wall panel heater in white. As our buildings our so well insulated, these wall panel heaters provide the perfect heating option for your garden building.
Get Started
Garden Office Buildings want to make your dream home office a reality. Click the button bellow to get started and receive a quick quote.