Month: August 2021

• The featured Image is Garden Studio by Heart Pods

If you are considering investing in a garden room, you may be wondering whether the space will be warm enough for use during the colder winter months. The short answer to this is yes! In this post, we will go into more detail, explaining why to give you peace of mind in your investment.

Garden rooms are designed for year-round use

Because garden rooms are intended to be installed outside, they are specifically designed to accommodate year-round use and be a lasting investment. Our providers use high-quality building methods and materials, taking insulation into account in the design of their products. Heat control is important all year round to ensure the structure is comfortable for use in both colder and warmer weather conditions. This is always factored into the design of garden buildings.

Thermal transmittance

Thermal transmittance is also known as a U-value and refers to the rate of transfer of heat through matter – or a structure (such as a garden room). Better insulation is reflected by lower U-values. The materials used in the construction of your garden room – including floors, windows, roofs and doors – will have a U-value. Check these before investing and speak to your provider to ensure these values are low and the structure you opt for is effective against heat loss.

Double glazing

Many garden rooms come with double glazed windows and doors as standard. Ensure the structure you choose has double glazing to help prevent heat loss during the colder winter months. Windows and doors for garden rooms are available in many different variations. While some structures come with certain windows and doors as standard, you can often customise your garden room and upgrade certain elements of it to ensure it perfectly meets your needs. Check the specifications on the product listing and contact potential providers to ensure you are getting the best quality materials, including double glazing.

Insulation

Insulation is factored into the design of garden rooms. How well insulated a garden room is will vary on the specific structure and provider you choose. Many are built with insulated wall and floor panels as standard. Thermal efficiency is a top consideration when designing garden rooms to ensure they can be used year-round comfortably. If you are in doubt or confused about the technical elements, contact the provider, and they will be able to explain how their structures are insulated.

Internal heating

Various internal heating options are usually available with garden rooms. Some providers may offer radiators as standard. A multitude of other heating options are usually available as upgrades or add-ons. This may include underfloor heating, wall-mounted radiators and air conditioning. In addition, you can always use free-standing heaters if you choose, as garden rooms accommodate electrical appliances.

Consider what you will be using your garden room for to determine the best heating option for you. If you will be using your garden room as a home office, for example, you will probably be spending a lot of time in there during the winter. It would, therefore, make sense to invest in a space with inbuilt heating. However, if you will be using it less frequently, perhaps as a retreat from the main home, then a free-standing heater may be more appropriate and cost-effective.

As you can see, garden rooms are designed to be used all year round, and this is reflected during the design and build stages of the structure. Consider your personal requirements and compare different structures and providers to ensure your garden room is as comfortable for you as it can be, both during the winter months and the rest of the year. You can start your search for the perfect garden room here.

We often see stunning images of large green, perfectly manicured gardens. Their luxurious landscaping is adorned with equally sprawling garden rooms. Set away from the main property, these grandiose garden buildings may serve as complete guest houses or pool rooms and are undoubtedly impressive.

So what happens to those of us who are not afforded the luxury of large plots of land? Do you have a much smaller garden and wish you could have a garden room? The great news is you actually can! While these smaller structures may not get as much publicity, many garden rooms have been specifically designed to fit in a smaller garden. You may need to be creative to get the full potential out of decorating a smaller garden room, but that definitely doesn’t mean you can’t have a beautiful garden building in your very own backyard.

Here we highlight some of our sellers and the compact garden rooms they have on offer.

Yr Pod Ltd

Yr Shelter

Yr Shelter is a dome-roofed hut that is offered in 4 different sizes ranging from 1.4m by 2.4m to 2.4m by 4.4m. Its felt roof shingles come in various colours and profiles, and you can even get some optional extras such as a solar power system, kitchenette or decking if you have a bit more space.

Yr Classic

If you are looking for a more traditional shape, the Yr Classic combines a traditional and well-loved design with several sizing options. This multi-sized garden building offers maintenance-free cladding and metal roof tiles, both with different colour options. They also provide standard, double glazed windows and doors, plug sockets and even laminate flooring!

Nordic Garden Buildings

Manhattan 2800 – Garden Room

This compact and stylish room by Nordic Garden Buildings comes in a variety of colours and lets in lots of natural light making it a lovely place to work or relax.

It’s secure, meaning your technology will be safe when you have finished for the day and take the short walk back to your home. As with all Nordic Garden Buildings you benefit by having a maintenance-free building that you can proudly hold meetings in just enjoy Hygge in the workplace.

Melbourne 1200

The Melbourne is a popular option. There’s an option of a glazed or tiled roof; so, whether you prefer to watch the night sky or feel cosy it can be tailored to you. you can really make the Melbourne design unique to you. Unlike traditional wooden pavilions, you no longer need to worry about staining or painting as the Melbourne is maintenance-free with high security locking features. The inclusion of panels and Georgian bars add a real sense of opulence and gives you a garden room that can be used all year round.

As with the Melbourne above, you have a choice of colours for this stylish garden building, making it highly customisable.

Composite Garden Buildings

The Ashmere

This compact garden room is a firm favourite. It comes in a range of sizes, so you can find the perfect one for your garden. Being constructed with composite cladding there is also a range of colour and grain effects to suit your taste. Pictured is the popular dark grey option. Unlike plastic, composite wood is a unique material with a 55% timber content, it offers all the benefits of wood without the maintenance. The highly insulated roof and walls, combined with ‘A’ Energy Rated glazing, ensures a comfortable environment to use all year round.

Cotswold Garden Spaces

Lugarde Napoleon Garden Home Office

One of the smallest garden buildings on offer is this compact home office. At less than 2.5m high, you may not need planning permission for this garden building. This simple DIY structure has double glazing with air grates, and there are upgrades available from the seller. If you’re looking for a smaller sized personal office to work from home efficiently, this may be the perfect choice for you.

Lugarde Grayson Summer House

This petite option still packs a punch. This summer house combines an enclosed room with a double-glazed door and an open room that offers shelter from rain, sun and wind. This garden building provides a perfect outdoor dining space with storage or, even better, a hot tub building with an attached changing area! This option also has a roof below 2.5m and is another DIY erection.

1 Click Log Cabins

Bradwell Corner 28mm Log Cabin

This exclusive corner shaped cabin is perfect to be tucked away into the corner of any garden. Made of European high-grade softwood and complete with two windows and one door, this attractive option can be assembled, or two people would take between eight and twelve hours to build it.

Fitting neatly into a corner, this cabin has a compact footprint, perfect for smaller gardens.

Vision Garden Rooms

Barbados Mini

At 3.3m by 2.4m, this mini garden room makes the perfect summerhouse or could be used as a small playroom or even spin room or yoga studio. This room comes with double glazed windows and a door, and there is a painting option available. Impregnation is included as standard with this gorgeous garden building.

As you can see, even those with a smaller garden footprint have a wide range of options to accent their home with a beautiful bespoke garden room. These are just a few, you can start your search for a compact garden room here. simply sort by length or width, low-high.

The prices of timber have been skyrocketing exponentially for months now. It goes without saying that this inflation in price has a knock-on effect on all timber-based construction projects such as garden rooms and summer houses. We would love to tell you we see the light at the end of the wood purchasing tunnel, but the truth is there doesn’t seem to be an end to this increase in price for the foreseeable future. We have written more about the rise in timber prices here.

This increase in the cost of timber doesn’t have to put a halt to your garden building dreams. There are alternatives to conventional timber cladding; one of the most popular is composite cladding. Find out more about cladding options here.

What is composite cladding?

Cladding refers to material that is wrapped around the outside of a building. It adds to the appearance and also improves energy efficiency. In addition, cladding protects the main structure of a garden room from natural elements such as wind or rain. Cedar cladding tends to be the most popular choice for garden rooms, but with the rise in timber prices, this only adds to the total cost of a garden room. Unlike traditional timber cladding, composite cladding is a unique blend of recycled wood and polymers. This blend creates a very durable material.

Why composite cladding?

Composite cladding has many benefits.

Low maintenance and cost-efficient

• While traditional timber cladding requires regular maintenance and upkeep, composite cladding doesn’t need painting or varnishing. This reduced maintenance not only means your garden room can look as beautiful five years from now as it does today, but it means your wallet can look that good as well.

Insect proof and hardier

• Traditional timber cladding such as cedar is chemically treated to protect it from insects before installing it on your garden room. However, this treatment is temporary; over time, wood loses its durability, becoming more susceptible to mould and insect damage. It does not warp in the weather and, therefore, will not swell or shrink, which can also affect the doors in your garden room.

Environmentally friendly

• You may not know this, but some wood cannot be used for some aspects of traditional timber building components. This is due to natural occurrences such as knots in the wood. Composite cladding is made from recycled wood and often recycled plastic products such as milk bottles. As a result, composite cladding is kinder to the environment than traditional timber options. Many of these items would often end up in landfills, so the impact on the environment is reduced on different levels.

Customisable

• Companies such as Composite Garden Buildings offer a range of deep grain colours which never require touching up. With a minimum 55% timber content, the slight variation from board to board only adds to the natural beauty of any garden room. Colours can even be mixed and matched to create a truly unique garden building.

It’s clear to see that composite cladding is a brilliant alternative to traditional timber cladding. The environmental benefits are numerous, and the long-term cost savings are a very attractive reason to choose composite cladding for your next garden room project.

There has been a noticeable increase in the installation of garden rooms both for personal and occupational use. We hear more and more about how families and professionals alike are utilising their garden rooms to increase the usable space of their main property or to run a business. Many entrepreneurs are now using a garden room to create their masterpieces or have a quiet office space to take phone calls and focus on their computers. So, what if you’re a therapist and need to have patients or clients? Are garden therapy rooms the right environment for this type of work?

Increased Privacy

Perhaps two of the most significant requests in the therapy sector would be privacy and confidentiality. Not do garden therapy rooms benefit from a discreet and private entrance, but it is also detached offering a private space with no one else next door listening.

Set away from your main property and discretely located at your home, clients can feel safer and more confident coming to your garden office. The walls and double glazed windows and doors will all contribute to the soundproofing so that clients can feel confident that no one is listening to their sessions. You could even go so far as to fully soundproof the room; this would remove any external distractions such as nearby roads. A soundproofed room could be perfect for hypnotic therapy sessions.

Envious Location

Surrounded by the natural beauty of the outdoors, a garden therapy room offers a truly tranquil ambience that your clients or patients will enjoy. Gardens are naturally calming, so holding your therapy sessions away from the chaos and busyness of the modern world in this natural environment is an easy choice. Many patients will appreciate entering this welcoming atmosphere and feel inclined and able to engage with therapy in this warm, inviting arena which feels far less clinical.

Increased Flexibility

The ability to offer your clients appointments outside of the standard nine to five can open up a whole new world for your patients. Clients who find it difficult to attend appointments during the working week or due to family commitments may be able to participate in sessions held in your garden room office. They can enjoy the increase in flexibility in the hours you can offer outside of the constraints of the traditional office environment.

Improved Work/Life Balance With Garden Therapy Rooms

Gone are the days forced in a clinical setting with any gaps in clients potentially leaving you in your office waiting for hours before your next client arrives. With your therapist service moved to your garden room, you are only steps away from the kettle. You can fully control the temperature in the garden room, meaning it can be used all year, and the combination of natural and artificial lighting will allow you to create exactly the ambience you need. In addition, you will have the flexibility in your own life to attend to other commitments you may have.

As you can see, a garden room can prove to be the perfect option for any therapist who would like to run their service from the ideal environment where patients will feel both physically and emotionally comfortable. You can start your search for the perfect garden room here.