How Garden Rooms are Installed
Updated: 20 September 2024
This section explores the various approaches used in the garden room industry for the build process. Some companies pre-fabricate their rooms in workshops and deliver them to the site for quick assembly. Others source the building components and have them delivered to the site, where installation is also rapid.
Another method involves delivering raw materials to the site and constructing the garden room from scratch in the garden. While this process takes slightly longer, the difference is minimal.
The final option, though offered by fewer companies, involves fully assembling the garden room in a workshop, then delivering it on a lorry and craning it into place.
The sections below provide a brief introduction to the different methods used to build garden rooms. We encourage you to click through to the full guide to learn more.
Pre-Fabricated Garden Rooms
Off-site construction, where a garden room is pre-fabricated in factory conditions and delivered in sections, is the dominant method in the industry. With this approach, the building is manufactured in optimal conditions, allowing for a fast on-site assembly.
There are two main approaches to off-site construction. The first is to pre-fabricate the room in modules—manageable-sized, fully insulated panels that are almost complete when they leave the factory. These panels are designed to slot together quickly upon arrival on-site.
The second approach, common with SIPs (structurally insulated panels) garden rooms, involves the company sourcing the building components from various suppliers. They manage the process to ensure everything arrives on-site as needed, resulting in a similarly short installation phase.
By preparing the garden room components in a factory and delivering them in sections, the on-site build stage is significantly shortened. A garden room is one of the fastest ways to extend your home. Smaller buildings can be installed in a single day, while larger projects may take just a couple of weeks.
On-Site Construction
Some companies choose to build garden rooms from scratch on-site rather than using expensive workshops. They order the materials and have them delivered directly to the site.
This method is often used by companies specialising in traditional timber frame garden rooms. It is particularly useful for tricky sites or irregularly shaped buildings.
Although building a garden room on-site takes a bit longer than pre-fabrication, the time difference is minimal. Projects using this approach typically take 2 to 4 weeks to complete.
Craning in a Garden Room
A few companies fully assemble their garden rooms in workshops and then deliver them to the site, where a crane lifts the structure onto a pre-prepared foundation.
Once the base is ready, installation is typically completed within hours, meaning the installation team is on-site for only a short period.
Craning in a garden room can also help overcome access challenges, though an in-person site survey is required to assess whether the lorry’s onboard crane has sufficient reach or if a larger crane is needed, which may incur additional costs.
