We have asked each of the garden office suppliers included in this guide for a piece of buying advice, here are our tips for buying a garden office:
- Spend time doing your homework, research the market well, visit shows or ask to see previous garden office builds.
- Don’t go for the cheapest garden office, the installation of a garden office is a big project and some of what you are paying for is the personalised help you will be offered.
- Go with an experienced firm, if a website keeps showing the same picture it’s probably the only garden office they have built.
- Study photos of garden office designs – are they real buildings that have been built or CGI images?
- Buy a slightly bigger office than you think you need – you don’t often hear people say they need less space.
- If it’s a weigh up of size over specification – go for the higher specification
- If you want to use your garden office all year round don’t settle for a cheap shed like garden office
- Choose a highly insulated garden office – it may cost more today but it will reduce your annual heating bill so you will recoup the cost quickly
- Look for an office where each element is insulated i.e. the floor, walls and roof and the doors and windows double glazed.
- Don’t go for a quirky design that will date quickly
- Specify more electrical sockets than you think you need, also consider outside lights
- Don’t forget heating, however well insulated your garden office is you will need a heat source and maybe a way of cooling the office in summer
- Incorporate a communications channel in the trench with you electric cable so that future technology can easily be added.
- If you are buying a small garden office consider fitted furniture to maximise the space
- Consider outward opening doors to maximise internal floor space
- Don’t forget the area around your garden office, it can double your living space particularly in summer.
- Give some thought to security, you will be storing important stuff in your garden office so consider an alarm
