Planning and Building Regulations
OK so you’re going for it, a garden office, who do you need to get permissions from? Good news, you don’t need any planning permission, as the pods are below the required 2.5 metres in height.
Building regulations may apply in very rare and specific situations but we can offer advice if you have any worries.
Please be assured that all our timber is sourced from FSC certified forests. This ensures the producers meet the highest environmental and social standards. When you see this logo, you can be confident that buying it won’t mean harming the world’s forests.
We create partnerships with our supply chain and use local suppliers as much as we can, to keep our story local.
We deliberately specify quality spruce for the 15mm Shiplap Cladding – as standard – for the exterior. This gives a genuine 10 year guarantee against rot and insect infestation.
To maintain the 10 year guarantee against rot and insect infestation on the bearers we simply ask you to apply a good quality water repellent to extend the life of the timbers.
Steer clear of untreated bearers at the lower price point. You don’t want to have to dismantle and re-treat the bearers each year!
Our garden offices are fitted with domestic standard uPVC windows and door frames available in white as standard or anthracite grey wood effect.
We install excellent quality sealed units as standard, supplying a 28mm double glazed sealed unit for all our garden offices. Each unit consists of 2 panes of 4mm toughened glass on either side of a 20mm aluminium spacer bar, designed to absorb any moisture within the sealed unit, avoiding condensation within the glass cavity. Our sealed units comply to BS EN 1279 standards. This EN standard covers the requirements for insulating glass units, including thermal and sound insulation.
Our roof panels consist of a hard polyurethane foam core (a material that provides a very low thermal conductivity rating) joined together tightly with overlapping cladding in a trapezoidal profile which makes strong joints that prevent water ingress. Altogether the roof is waterproof, has great thermal characteristics and is uniquely strong.
All-in-all it provides a hard-wearing, easy-clean roof surface with an attractive grooved ceiling.
A vital component to improve the security of the contents of your office. We include an industry leading 7-point locking system on doors, as STANDARD, as well as multi-point locking windows, locked via secure key locking handles.
All windows come with a multi-point locking system, fitted with mushroom-head espagnolettes which move in opposite directions into metal keeps. Don’t compromise on security, it isn’t worth the risk. Additional security options are available to choose from.
The inside wall face is formed using a fire-resistant plasterboard – fibre free rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation core bonded to 12.5mm gypsum plasterboard. It provides a thermal insulation and internal finish, with a Green Guide rating of A+
You can be sure in the knowledge that your garden office has increased protection from fire. We include a skim plaster finish to the walls, leaving unpainted, but we can decorate it to your taste, as it’s made for painting or additional options that will create an amazing interior to your office.
All of our buildings use polyurethane insulation to roof and floor. Arguably the best thermal insulation to use for a garden building, don’t settle for more commonly found Rockwool or foil backed bubble wrap that competitors are supplying, at lesser performance and price.
Why would we only offer a higher specification? Well, we appreciate that you will spend a lot of your time in your garden pod, either working or relaxing with the family, so you need it right. This type of insulation helps retain heat in the winter and keep you cool in the summer, great all year round. The heat retention helps you spend less on your energy bills.
All our buildings use pressure treated timbers throughout. This treatment prevents the timber bearers from rotting for up to 10 years and causing your garden building to sink. Pressure treatment forces the wood preservative into the timber rather than simply dip treating (essentially just covering the exterior) like many companies still do. Who wants to have to annually deconstruct and re-treat the bearers each year!
Due to this costly but effective process we can offer our customers a genuine 10 year guarantee against rot and insect infestation on the bearers. We do however recommend applying a good quality water repellent to the timber to prolong the longevity of the timber. Surprisingly many of our competitors still offer untreated bearers to keep their costs down, so beware!
Unlike others, we include this within our standard price, as we want the water to run away from your new investment. We can fit to water butts if required, we’re doing our utmost to think of everything for you!
Does this Garden Office need Treating?
This Garden Office is pressure treated so will not need retreating against fungal decay and insect infestation for up to 10 years. However, we do recommend treating with water repellent for timber maintenance.
Water Repellent Treatment
We’ll help you design and decorate your new office, but we recommend you use an appropriate water repellent treatment. This really helps minimise the amount of moisture that the timber can absorb, thus minimising the risk of any major movement.
Ventilation
Keeping your timber building ventilated is no less important than keeping your house well ventilated.
Regular Seasonal Maintenance
Your product is a life improving investment, so it’s only right to give it some love and care from time to time. Make sure that it’s properly treated before the rainy months, and you make adjustments to doors and window frames, when needed.