Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Choosing a shed - Rooms Outdoor

If you're making the leap from working on a dining room table or a bedroom into buying a garden office/shed, choosing the perfect fit is a problem. Every week I'll be profiling a different supplier to at least show the vast range that's out there. This week Rooms Outdoor sent me some images of their range. They look good, towards the more 'designed' end of the market and are 'proper' structures with foundations (which may of course make planning permission a little dodgier since this means they cannot be described as temporary structures). Their Solo model, pictured here, is the one aimed at homeworkers, but the Moderno and Cuberno look nice too.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:26 AM

    Marvellous to see you online and thanks for the link. You will see it reciprocated. Look forward to reading more...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the welcome. I see the later Roman empire and the world of homeworking as one indivisible subject.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:31 PM

    I've got a friend with one of these it's her office and it's really good. She didn't need planning permission - apparently most people don't, but you may need to check if you live in a conservation area.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:50 AM

    A fancy "garden office" is great but comes at quite a lumpy price.

    I work in a bog standard 10'x6' garden shed that can purchased for a few hundred quid at many different outlets. It sits on a concrete base, has a fused power supply from the house and wireless broadband from our bedroom window sill. Some basic insulation is in place and I'm going to up rate it when I have the chance. I worked from my shed all last winter (which was cold here in Essex) and was toasty warm with a cheap B&Q heater. A B&Q fan kept me cool during our fleeting summer.

    The shed was here when we bought the hosue so I didn't install it myself. The point I am making is that you could kit yourself out with a work shed for about a grand and fixing it up is probably within the capabilities of the average DIY bodger. Fancy garden offices must be great but a bog standard shed does the same job just as well (in my view).

    Cheers

    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  5. You're right Steve, they're not cheap. As a guide, it'll cost somewhere between about £5,000 and £10,000, though obviously it could be a lot more than that if you have lots of additional extras.

    But the thought of putting up a completely solid shed with insulation, electrics, etc, and making it 100% waterproof (which it would have to be since my computer lives there) fills me with panic. Also, I simply wouldn't have the time to do it.

    So I salute you for making a go of it, but personally wouldn't recommend that route to anybody unless they were really, really confident.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous1:39 PM

    Me again. I guess there are as many shed options as there are shed workers and one solution won't suit everyone. All I know is that for the last year I have been working away in a bog standard garden shed! I am sat in it right now with the rain lashing down outside. It's warm, VERY watertight and safe. The electrics for example are protected by two sets of curcuit breakers and the cabling from the house is armoured) Although I didn't put it up I am pretty sure it wasn't complicated. Even if someone wasn't confident enough to DIY you could still get professionals to tackle the job quite cheaply.

    If anyone wants to know more about working in a proper shed, not one of those tarty "garden offices" (!!!) please feel free to get in touch - essexrowleys@googlemail.com. I'm happy to chat (voice or e-mail), send photos or even show you round!

    Cheers

    Steve

    ReplyDelete