Western red cedar cladding is a popular option on contemporary garden room buildings, but it is a material that if left unprotected will change colour as it ages creating a quite a different look.
cedar cladding
Inhus Contemporary Garden Offices
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Contemporary Garden Office[/caption]
Inhus provide a complete hassle free, turnkey solution to buying a garden office – foundations, installation, guttering, argon filled double glazing, flooring, and interior decoration are all included in the price, so no hidden extras!
Inhus are specialists in creating contemporary styled garden offices, and with years of industry experience they have honed their techniques and choices of materials to produce a range of garden offices which are not only high quality but affordable too.
Inhus have developed their own foundation system which negates the need for a concrete slab, the Inhus CPC foundation system is a pile system which can be used on unlevel ground, and has been designed so it can’t be seen once the building is installed. This system can be installed in as little as 4 hours.
Inhus garden offices are built using a traditional timber framework. The floors consist of sturdy tantalised timber joists, 18mm plywood, 50mm of Jablite insulation and 18mm treated chipboard flooring. The walls and roof of the offices are insulated using foil backed rigid insulation such as Celotex or Extratherm and the walls are swathed in a breathable membrane which controls the movement of moisture within the building. The walls are clad in kiln dried western red cedar tongue & groove boards. Inhus take great care when installing the exterior cladding and the detailing around joints and intersections is very high, Inhus use stainless steel nails for fixing the cladding and use a hidden nailing technique meaning there will be no ugly staining of the cladding which can happen with cheaper fixings.
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Western Red Cedar Detailing[/caption]
Inhus have chosen to use Western Red Canadian Kiln dried cedar and not British / Canadian green cedar because
[caption id="attachment_2986" align="alignright" width="200"]“British / Canadian green cedar does not give any near the same long term finish due to expansion and contraction unlike kiln dried cedar. Also when using green cedar you can’t sand or finish the cedar to a high standard, when the plank requires sanding on site, green cedar drags on the sander, causing burring that becomes more oblivious over time. We always install planks vertically and in a one plank finish format, we never half join the planks as this finish never looks good over a period of time.” Quote from Inhus
EPDM roof section[/caption]
The roof is finished in an EPDM rubber membrane which his highly durable with a warranty of 25 years, Inhus are approved installers of the Firestone EPDM roofing system which means each roof will be finished to the highest standard. All Inhus garden offices come with a brown UPVC guttering system.
The doors and windows are rosewood coloured UPVC which contrasts well with the western red cedar cladding. The front elevation of the Inhus garden office has floor to ceiling windows with outward opening French doors. All doors have 8 point security locks and the windows have key locks, all glazing is performance Pilkington ‘K’ double glazing.
Internally Inhus garden offices feel like traditional rooms, the walls and ceiling are finished in the unique Inhuspanel system which is a seamless finish that has the feeling of a plastered wall but overcomes the problems with cracking which can happen in traditionally plastered timber frame buildings. The Inhuspanel is fire, water and impact resistant and increases the acoustic insulation of the garden office, it can be painted like any other wall and Inhus include painting in Dulux colours as part of the garden office package. There is a choice of finish on the floor from quality carpet and hardwearing laminate to hardwood flooring which is available as an optional extra.
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Low maintenance garden office[/caption]
All Inhus garden offices come fully wired electrically with a with a minimum of 6 double sockets, 2 x telephone sockets, 2 network sockets and 1 x 3 way consumer unit.
Inhus garden offices are available in six standard sizes from 3200mm x 2400mm and they also offer a bespoke design service where the Inhus system can be tailored to your individual needs, to quote Inhus “nothing is a can’t do”.
Inhus have a three tier pricing strategy – the Leisure Class, Media Class and Business Class. The Leisure class is built to the specification described above and features 50mm of Celotex or Extratherm insulation and 11mm cedar cladding and is ideal as an artist’s studio, or music room, prices start at £6950 for a 3200mm x 2400mm model. The Media Class building has thicker 70mm insulation and 18mm cedar cladding, it also has an enhanced electrical system with points for plasma TV’s, surround sound systems and Sky points. A 3200mm x 2400mm Media Class building starts at £7750. The Business Class model is a ready to move into business suite that features the same thicker insulation and cladding and further upgrades to the electrical system such as kitchen points ready to plug your kettle into and starts at £8560 for the 3200mm x 2400mm model.
Inhus garden offices are built to last and will need little annual maintenance, but for added peace of mind all Inhus buildings come with a 5 year CPA insurance backed guarantee.
So if you are looking for a combination of quality materials, attention to detail and competitive price contact Inhus for more information www.inhus.com
Click on the photos below for a slide show:
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London Garden Studios
There’s something rather understated about the designs from London Garden Studios and their simplicity stands out in the contemporary garden studio market. Crisp cubes with cedar cladding and large picture windows would fit perfectly into any urban garden.
London Garden Studios build all studios on site from scratch meaning a totally unique garden studio is created and any obstacles with access are overcome.
The exterior of the garden studios is clad in Western Red Cedar and the double glazed doors, windows and skylights can also be specified in cedar for a seamless finish. The detailing of the garden studios means the roof seems invisible but it has a durable triple layer of felt and incorporates guttering that runs to a soak away.
Internally London Garden Studios are finished like a proper room with plastered and painted walls and ceiling, solid wood flooring, skirting and architrave.
London Garden Studios are fully wired electrically and you are able to control the lights in the studio from the main house. Studios are heated with electric oil filled radiators.
London Garden Studios offer a number of optional extras such as green roofs, decking and garden lighting.
All London Garden Studios are bespoke and prices worked out by the sqm, but as an example a 3m x 3m studio starts at £11,500 including VAT.
For more information on these contemporary garden studios visit the London Garden Studios website.
Click on the photos below for a silde show:
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Cedar Cladding
Western Red Cedar cladding is a popular finish on many garden offices, particularly contemporary garden offices where cedars clear grain and subtle colouring enhance the contemporary feel.
Although Western Red Cedar can be sourced from forests in the UK, the bulk of Western Red Cedar used in garden office construction is grown along the pacific coast from Northern California to Southwest Alaska; British Columbia alone has an estimated 750 million cubic meters of Western Red Cedar trees. A Western Red Cedar tree can grow up to 60m high and can have a diameter of 2.4m.
The amount of Western Red Cedar that is cut each year is strictly regulated, in British Columbia the chief forester determines how much is cut each year, but typically less than 1% of British Columbia’s Western Red Cedar is cut each year. When trees are cut it’s in such a way that groups of trees are left untouched and areas are reforested with seedlings.
Western Red Cedar is an excellent choice for garden office cladding as it is a dimensionally stable wood, which means it swells and shrinks minimally in response to humidity, so gaps won’t appear in the cladding. Western Red Cedar is also a good cladding because it has natural resistance to moisture absorption.
Western Red Cedar used for garden office cladding is often moulded into a tongue & groove profile which is particularly appropriate for contemporary designs as it is a flat profile with a simple ‘v’ groove between the boards. Western Red Cedar T&G cladding can be fixed both vertically and horizontally. Western Red Cedar interacts with ferrous materials so it is important that it is fixed with stainless steel or hot dipped galvanised fixings.
Western Red Cedars heartwood is a naturally durable material and can be left untreated; its rich brown and red colours will weather to a silver grey, if this is not desired Western Red Cedar cladding can be treated with an Alkyd based resin.
Western Red Cedar has a life expectancy in excess of 60 years and it is categorised as one of the most durable softwoods.
Western Red Cedar is a very light weight material which makes it quick to install so, for speed of installation, durability and its aesthetic properties Western Red Cedar is the perfect cladding for a garden office.
Pod Space and Vivid Green offer Western Red Cedar as standard cladding on their garden offices.