Garden Office Build Thread- Start to finish with pics!

[primarycause]

Hi All. Complete newbie here, this is my first post. With forum members' help and advice I intend to document the build of my garden office on this thread. Hopefully this will provide forum visitors with information for future projects.

I have undertaken to build a garden office approximately 4m X 4m with timber construction (cedar cladding/tyvek or similar/ OSB/ kingspan/4X2/ foil backed PB) . It's more than a metre from any boundary and I intend it to have a flat DPM roof at just less than 2.5m high.

I have cleared the area for the base and given that it's on sloping ground, have built a small retaining fence. The ground is roughly levelled and I'm down to undisturbed clay:

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I have a delivery of 4 tons of MOT type 1 and 1 ton of sand arriving tomorrow and I will be hiring a whacker plate this weekend. I will lay 4in of sub base, compact, then blind it, add 1200 Gauge DPM and will pour a 6" solid slab for the foundation. I'm also considering throwing in some steel mesh as well for a belt-and-braces approach.

I have a couple of questions:

1) Is the steel mesh overkill or a necessity?

2) Can I set anchor bolts in the slab, lay DPM and attach my floor plates using the anchor bolts and do a floating insulated floor? Or would it be better to lay bearers, then joists, insulation, OSB floor and then build the wall plates off the OSB floor and joists?? (I'm specifically worried about vermin ingress and insulation/floor damage with the bearer method).

Apologies if I've given way too much info/not enough or have used bad terminology, as stated earlier- I'm a complete amateur. Any help would be massively appreciated.

 

[primarycause]

Apologies for being slow to update- a new job means I've had to fit in work on the garden office whenever I can.

Anyways, after agonising over different foundation designs and some good advice from some of the members of the building forum, I've ignored it all and have gone for a simple concrete raft and have finally got the frame for the floor down.

A big part of this project is doing the work myself- so I chose the raft foundation even though there were more practical/engineering reasons to go with other designs. I felt that this was the only option I could do myself with my limited skillset.

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I had the concrete delivered from an excellent local readymix company and my brother helped me to work it into the form. Although it was far from perfect and I've learned a few lessons, it's not bad considering it was the first effort from 2 paper pushers to do any sort of manual work in 15 years!

I've now got the floor joists down and the framing for the walls is now complete.

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I have ordered all of the materials for the EPDM rubber roof and I have acquired a reclaimed patio french door from ebay to keep costs down.

The walls are going up this weekend and I should be able to get it all boarded out with OSB.

More updates next week.

 

[primarycause]

After quite a bit of inertia, I'm cracking along on the build now.

Selco had a deal on 6X2 and OSB last month, so I saved a good £300 on framing the walls, the floor and I'm also cheekily going to use 6x2 and OSB3 for the roof structure.

I've ordered my one piece EPDM roof, and the whole kit cost me just south of £500- another result, I think.

I had a 4 day weekend last week, so I set to work on the walls- I framed them on my drive first, using 6x2 on 600mm centres then boarded with OSB2 to give stability to the frames.

Once the frames were complete, my brother and I had a good old-fashioned barn raising. They fit together astonishingly well on the base and once the double top-plates were in place the whole structure was immovable.

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We then covered the exterior in a waterproof and breathable membrane and taped all the seams. It's a nice quick job once you get the hang of it. It wasn't a perfect job by any means- there's a few "baggy" areas, but I'll address that when I do the battens before cladding.

Due to issues with the storage of the patio doors I had bought off ebay, we had to fit those before the roof went on- not ideal! I had to be really careful bringing materials through them and I seem to have got away with it. They need a lot of fettling to close soundly, but I had bigger fish to fry and had to get started on the roof- more on the patio door adjustments when I get round to it.

The rafters are now up and due to my miscalculation in the finished height and the damn planning rules, I've had to settle for a cold roof. I've just started boarding the roof with OSB3 and it's looking okay so far.

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I'm off snowboarding tomorrow, so I'll be doing the EPDM roof not this weekend but the one after!

 

[primarycause]

Just a quick update.

Despite being on holiday last week, I managed to get a little bit done at the weekend.

The OSB3 roof deck is now on and looking solid, temporarily covered by roofing membrane.

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Got a load of kingspan insulation coming- had an about turn and decided on a warm deck finally- less fiddly and easier to do than cold roof. EPDM roofing system is in the garage and waiting to go when the weather suits.

Treated blue Battens and hopefully some Larch to clad it with should be appearing before the weekend. Have ordered the decking that surrounds the structure as well.

Should see some major advances over the next two weeks. Then I can start on inside- electrics and planning AV- Exciting times.

 

[fmck]

Keep posting for Christ sake. Your one of the few active projects on this project forum. It seems to be overrun by people with household problems rather than projects.

impressed that you have nearly caught up with my progress (garden room) even though you started 8 months after! good progress.

 

[primarycause]

Thanks for the post and motivation, FMCK.

I went through your thread loads of times during the planning stages of my Garden room, so thanks for the info you've posted up.

Yours looks really good, BTW- I particularly like the clean look of the versapanels- might be asking you a few questions about that when I come to do the cladding.

Do you have any update on yours?

I will keep posting to the end as I intend to use my thread as a chronicle of the whole build. I've got DIY fever now and I'll be following this project up with a garage conversion as well!

I've got a bit more done since my last post- Insulation on the roof and started to put the floor down. Hoping to do EPDM ASAP, but weather isn't cooperating. I'll post pictures next week.

Here's how it looked two days ago:

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[primarycause]

80% of the floor insulation down today:

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Getting quite handy at cutting and fitting insulation, now. Another 30m sq. ordered to finish the floor and do the walls- should come next week sometime.

Just got 6 cans of expanding foam to fill gaps etc.

Still waiting for the weather to play ball to lay the EPDM roof.

Ordering Black PVC fascia and treated battens tomorrow to ensure outside is ready for for cladding.

Sparkie coming next week to give me an estimate on the electrics- Lighting, plug sockets, burglar alarm etc.

Loads to do. More updates to follow.

 

[fmck]

Versapanel is great stuff although fairly heavy. You can have wood effect panelling made from the same stuff but its not cheap but will last ages.
I used the rubber roofing on our extension and now use it at work replacing roofs to contractor cabins. It must be rolled out and make sure nothing is in the way like a ladder because once it grips it hell to reverse.

Not a lot of progress with mine really although now sanding the taped joints to the plasterboard. Hopefully finish this soon and lay a self levelling screed and get the finishes done. Still have decking to finish, fences, gutters it could go on! Time is a big factor these days.

 

[PicnicFan]

Hey thats really good, I was thinking ofmaking the same in my garden - will look forward to the latest pics!

PicnicFan
----------------------------
Anne is totally beautiful

 

[primarycause]

Thanks for the comments, Picnic.

Been a bit of a slow week due to the idiots at my local builder's merchants screwing my order up.

Weather's been terrible- still not managed to do the EPDM yet. It's been a good test of the building, though- nothing's come off and no water ingress. Some pretty big trees come down nearby- so it's as bad as the building will see. I've prepped the eaves for the black pvc fascia- should finish the roof this weekend if the weather gives me a break.

I had a slight oversight on the internal roof structure- now fully rectified by the installation of 2 rows of noggins on the underside. Feels a bit more solid now. Took the pictures after dark- apologies.

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I've now received another 30 sq m of insulation off ebay so I've finished the whole of the floor today. Really happy with the way it turned out in the end. Got enough insulation now to insulate the walls- electrics need to be in before I can do that, though

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Started the frame for the surrounding deck- it's going to get complicated as I need to tie the levels into my existing decking. Think I've got all the levels sorted, though. Can't get any further on with the decking until the screwed up order gets delivered- more on this next week.

Haven't got round to getting a quote off any sparks yet. Will hopefully get some in next week and work a few issues with the wiring out.

I've got all the battens for the cladding now, so that's this weekend's job- probably .

 

[primarycause]

Had a productive weekend- the weather finally played ball and I got the epdm roof down.

I used a kit from rubber4roofs and I can't say enough good things about it.

They sent the One-piece membrane, bonding adhesives and all edge trims- they even included enough poly pins to finish the job nicely.

It's looking pretty good apart from a nasty patched area where I made a rookie mistake and dropped my knife on the membrane. Luckily no-one will see it. The corners and trims look really good, though.

I didn't finish until after dark- so pictures to follow.

I've ordered 50 sq metres of V-cut redwood today- to be delivered tomorrow. The budget just wouldn't stretch to Cedar unfortunately- it was about a grand more than the redwood I finally settled on.

Some decking coming wednesday- so I hope to finish the outside by next weekend.

Then electrics, insulation, plasterboard and finishes.

Photo updates soon.

 

[deemo]

Interesting Project

I was hoping doing same but actually as extension to back off house. I think be quite a coll edition with the right cladding

So i'll keep a watch on how you get on

 

[primarycause]

Thanks for the comment, Deemo. If you're thinking of doing a similar project- I'd say go for it- there's nothing too difficult involved. If you take my advice, you should do it in the summer, I'll never ever take on a project in the winter again!

I'm cracking on now- cladding came today- really happy with it, dealing with local indies rather than trade warehouses is a pleasure!

I've decided to run the cladding vertically and considering staining it ash black- some good looking ones out there on the net, would particularly like to emulate the look of the second office down on this page:

http://www.officeinmygarden.com/

I've started to batten out the front ready for cladding and I've done a lot of the insulation in the walls now. The roof's finished, but the rubber membrane needs trimming and the polythene protective cover taken off the trims- going to do this when all external jobs are complete:

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Just ordered Underfloor heating off ebay- should be here Wednesday. Got two sparks coming round Wednesday for estimates- might get electrics/ethernet/sky in before the weekend.

All coming together now.

 

[deemo]

Look forward to next post

I'd not do as office i want to do as alternative to a conservatory with two solid side walls and bifold at end

Problem maybe roof which i want solid with a couple of sky light windows.

I could probably use same people you did as you're from Manchester and i'm in town just out side of Manchester.

I take you actually did some drawings etc

Something like this obviously not blue doors and no side winddow

http://www.gardenrooms.uk.com/garden-offices-uk/9-garden-room-extensions.html

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

Hi, I was thinking of doing something similar to this project, but slightly bigger! Could you give me any pointers about;
Does the structure need to be a set distance from the property line?
Is the height or dimensions limited by reg's?
I've got my eye on a small barn 10x6m that will fit perfectly at the foot of my garden. All I can see that Id need to do is a base, replace windows/doors, insulate and add electric's?
Any pointers please?