# Garden Office?



## straas (10 Jun 2020)

As many others probably also are, we've been toying with the idea of a garden office.

The pre fab ones are too expensive.

Has anyone either:

- Converted a small cube like shipping container into an office?

Or

- Converted a conventional shed into an office?

Obviously will need waterproofing, insulating etc. 

Would be interesting to know potential build costs etc. or if its a bit of a waste of time?


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## OldShep (10 Jun 2020)

Pre fab ones are ridiculous money for what they are If you’re owt like being handy building your own is far better value. It’s just a glorified shed with insulation that you need.


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## Milkfloat (10 Jun 2020)

I have been doing research too as it seems unlikely that my real office will ever reopen. From the extensive research I have done, if you don't pay for it through great insulation when you build it, then you pay for it in summer and winter when it is too hot and too cold. Personally, I have been looking at self build, with a huge amount of insulation, but only a small space enough for me and my equipment. I am looking at about £10k all in, including a decent poured base.


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## Salar (10 Jun 2020)

Had this one built a few years ago, including base, insulation, proper double glazing, electrics, decorating and carpet etc. came in at approx £8k


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## oldwheels (10 Jun 2020)

At one time you used to be able to get box containers from small scrap lorries, about the size BT used to use. They made good sheds if you could get them into your garden. I think the ex BT ones had some insulation as a friend of mine had one based on a Transit chassis which he used as personal transport and occasional overnight stops. The roof was just bare fibreglass I think so my observation re insulation is probably not correct.


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## straas (10 Jun 2020)

Wow, that looks nice - don't think we'll stretch to 10k though. We're on the early stages of a ground floor extension that will occupy most of our budget.

Wife thinks we'd be able to insulate something like this:

https://www.diy.com/departments/shire-hartley-7x7-apex-tongue-groove-wooden-cabin/241572_BQ.prd 

Thoughts?


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## jowwy (14 Jun 2020)

straas said:


> Wow, that looks nice - don't think we'll stretch to 10k though. We're on the early stages of a ground floor extension that will occupy most of our budget.
> 
> Wife thinks we'd be able to insulate something like this:
> 
> ...


Yup easy.....get some 35x25mm battons, 25mm thick insulation, plasterboard over the top, small electric heater and job done for the inside....on the roof, again baton around the outside edge of the roof with the same size batton, fill the area with 25mm insulation, 28mm osb board over the top and then felt...

couple of hundred quid and some sweat equity and your golden. Saved you around 8k there.

and before anyone says it can’t be done, I can tell you for sure it can. I got tv, wood, flooring, internet and computer in mine and storage for my E bikes.......now way I would by 10k for one


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## straas (15 Jun 2020)

I've gone off the shed idea because I'm worried about the exterior degrading, which makes me nervous about spending money internally.

I'm thinking of using pre cut panels with a foam insulation sandwiched inbetween. Think I could possibly get away with about £3k all in.


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## jowwy (15 Jun 2020)

straas said:


> I've gone off the shed idea because I'm worried about the exterior degrading, which makes me nervous about spending money internally.
> 
> I'm thinking of using pre cut panels with a foam insulation sandwiched inbetween. Think I could possibly get away with about £3k all in.


exterior degrading????

as long as you keep up the maintenance and using proper paints, stains etc etc, its not an issue......mines been up 5yrs now and still looks like new on the outside........

but its your money - my 3.5mtr x 2.5mtr man cave cost me £1k and i fully insulated it for less than £200. it sits on a decking base, ewhich again was only £250

so less than £1.5k for a fully insulated cave that will last years and years


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## furball (15 Jun 2020)

How long a shed lasts also depends on how exposed it is to the elements. I had a new shed installed four years ago. I've been diligent about painting it with the best preservative but the force of the gales that come off the sea strips the preservative off. Horizontal rain also drives in.
I suppose you could start with a basic shed then put an outer weatherproof covering on the outside with insulation in between. It probably wouldn't look pretty though.


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## united4ever (11 Mar 2022)

Bumping this one. Thoughts on twin skin garden office? I thought it would be better for insulation but read a few people talking about the two skins expanding and contracting at different rates (due to outer skin being more exposed to hot/cold temperatures) and then thus causing gaps emerging. Any thoughts/experiences with this? Is twin skin better than single?


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## newts (11 Mar 2022)

If building from scratch you have 3 or 4 x 2 studwork infilled with insulation. Breathable membrane on the outside, then battened off to privide 25mm air gap, finished with cladding of choice. Inside face of studwork would be a vapour barrier under wall finish plasterboard/cladding. SIPs panels (structural insulated panels) are also popular to form the framework & finished internally/externally as studwork/insulation previuosly mentioned. Converting a standard garden shed would likely have condensation issues in winter.


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## united4ever (11 Mar 2022)

Thanks. It's this:

https://gardenhouse24.co.uk/compact-garden-shed-monaco28-ts-3.2x3.2m.html

It's being installed by them also with their 25mm insulation option but it seems the cavity is left empty.


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## nickyboy (19 Mar 2022)

I bought a prefab twin skinned double glazed unit and it was installed last October. So I've had a whole winter to get used to it. No issues at all and I've been able to work all day in freezing temperatures with a 1000W heater. Having said that I think the insulation is about 80mm so it should be good. 3m x 2.8m, cost (installed with foundations dug by them and electrics) was about £9k

A bit more than yours. But all I did was paid and they turned up, did the foundations and the installation. I just made them a cup of tea


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## united4ever (21 Mar 2022)

Good to hear. There are always scare stories on the internet if you go looking.

That looks smart and pretty similar to what I will get. Actually I am getting a lot of extras like the concrete base, insulation and installation so it will be £9200. Then I need an electrician. Any idea how much roughly I should expect to pay for electrics? 

Going to need lighting, a few plug sockets, the internet (probably with a wire buried for the 20m to my house). Was thinking of just getting a plug in oil heater to be honest. Is £800 doable for that. That would put my total at 10k.


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## nickyboy (21 Mar 2022)

united4ever said:


> Good to hear. There are always scare stories on the internet if you go looking.
> 
> That looks smart and pretty similar to what I will get. Actually I am getting a lot of extras like the concrete base, insulation and installation so it will be £9200. Then I need an electrician. Any idea how much roughly I should expect to pay for electrics?
> 
> Going to need lighting, a few plug sockets, the internet (probably with a wire buried for the 20m to my house). Was thinking of just getting a plug in oil heater to be honest. Is £800 doable for that. That would put my total at 10k.


The office came with a junction box so it was just a case of getting the electrics from the house over to it. Cost me about £200 as it's sitting on top of the ground in an armoured cable for now as we are having other works done.

I just have a Klarstein 1000W electric heater and that's fine for me. Cost was about £80

For internet I would strongly recommend Devolo Magic 2 Wifi. This uses your electricity connection so no need for additional cabling. Cost is £180 for the devices but the Wifi is rock solid and I use it all the time for Zoom calls etc. This is top of the range for this type of connection

I think it's all just about doable for the £10k


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## fossyant (21 Mar 2022)

Your set up will be more than fine - I literally took over using our summer house - but that basically was a cheap shed, which we'd insulated and ply lined many years ago. Certainly was warm enough over winter, but a fully insulated one will be cheaper to run. For Wifi we've a BT Mesh system with 3 additional disks, two of which are cat5 connected as fail safe. The nearest disc is in my garage connected by wifi to the house disc, but also powerline network too - you've got loads of options, but the powerline ones work fine. - If installing power, it wouldn't be expensive to shove in a 50m cat5 cable with it if it's being burred with the armoured cable.

I would think your £800 should cover it. I did our summerhouse myself and the cable/plugs etc weren't more than £100, but you may see costs going up if the garden has to be dug up.


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## nickyboy (21 Mar 2022)

fossyant said:


> Your set up will be more than fine - I literally took over using our summer house - but that basically was a cheap shed, which we'd insulated and ply lined many years ago. Certainly was warm enough over winter, but a fully insulated one will be cheaper to run. For Wifi we've a BT Mesh system with 3 additional disks, two of which are cat5 connected as fail safe. The nearest disc is in my garage connected by wifi to the house disc, but also powerline network too - you've got loads of options, but the powerline ones work fine. - If installing power, it wouldn't be expensive to shove in a 50m cat5 cable with it if it's being burred with the armoured cable.
> 
> I would think your £800 should cover it. I did our summerhouse myself and the cable/plugs etc weren't more than £100, but you may see costs going up if the garden has to be dug up.


For us the issue with the Cat5 was that it would have to get back to the router and the positioning for this was problematic compared to where the office is located. Running off the electric network was just less disruptive. Having said that, Cat5 would be the best solution if it can be achieved


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## fossyant (21 Mar 2022)

nickyboy said:


> For us the issue with the Cat5 was that it would have to get back to the router and the positioning for this was problematic compared to where the office is located. Running off the electric network was just less disruptive. Having said that, Cat5 would be the best solution if it can be achieved



Same here - router is at the front of the house. Powerline works well enough. I'd thought about it !


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## united4ever (21 Mar 2022)

yeah, our router is also at the front of house too, would be quite awkward to have a cable running from the front of the house somehow. I get around 50 mbps in the house with the wifi - would a mesh system likely be giving me much worse then? I could handle 10% or so. Trouble is, you don't really know until you have set it up and start working with it and then it's expensive to return to it and upgrade it to a different system. It's 25 meters from router at the front of the house to garden office in back garden.


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## fossyant (21 Mar 2022)

united4ever said:


> yeah, our router is also at the front of house too, would be quite awkward to have a cable running from the front of the house somehow. I get around 50 mbps in the house with the wifi - would a mesh system likely be giving me much worse then? I could handle 10% or so. Trouble is, you don't really know until you have set it up and start working with it and then it's expensive to return to it and upgrade it to a different system. It's 25 meters from router at the front of the house to garden office in back garden.



Powerline would be cheaper. You can get a mesh system - you'd have a disc at the back of the house, then another in the 'office' - they don't slow anything down. We've 3, one at the back of the house so covers the garden, one in the garage for Zwift, covers the shed office too, and one upstairs. They were 'free' with the BT system. I think you can buy a mesh system for under £100. We've a TP link powerline, which we've just disabled the Wifi, but use the powerline for the Zwift PC, CCTV and as a backbone for one disc.


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## T4tomo (21 Mar 2022)

You can "test" a TP link powerline solution solution using an extension cable down to the potential office "site". It will be no worse (and a smidge better) when using a proper wired socket. 

You can also "Hard wire" into the TP link from a lap top etc which provided a better connection that the wifi option, but you still have the wifi for printers phones etc.


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## united4ever (21 Mar 2022)

Just watched a video on Powerline, I thought it was some kind of Mesh system but now I get it. Ok, I shall see what the spark says when he comes at the weekend.


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## nickyboy (21 Mar 2022)

Here is the Devolo unit in the office. Basicall the same unit plugged into another socket near the router and then a cable from the router to the unit. They take a minute or so to synchronise and then you're away. I switch it off in the evening. From switching it on in the morning to my laptop having WiFi is about a couple of minutes


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## fossyant (21 Mar 2022)

Powerline ones are super simple. From £60 ish upwards - TP Link. Mine is in the garage, running off a wall socket. They do say they shouldn't be run off an extension lead, but I've done that in the past, and it worked.


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## united4ever (22 Apr 2022)

So thanks for the advice. The Devalo Magic 2 power line is what I went for and us working well. Electrics installed. I have oiled it with 2 coats on the outside and floor on the inside. 

Here she is.


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## Supersuperleeds (22 Apr 2022)

united4ever said:


> So thanks for the advice. The Devalo Magic 2 power line is what I went for and us working well. Electrics installed. I have oiled it with 2 coats on the outside and floor on the inside.
> 
> Here she is.



I like that


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