Garden room arcade.Anyone got advice?

[Adamski]

Hi All
I am wanting to have a mancave in the garden for my cabs.There seems like a lot of choices and I obviously don't want to choose one only to find it's no more than an overpriced garden shed.Has anyone gone down this route or have any advice or recommendations?
Thanks in advance
Adam

 

[Fantazia2]

First questions really need to be what size building your are thinking off and what space you have available to put it in. Then you need to look at permitted planning rules as there are rules based on things like size and what it can be made out off based on how far it is from the edge of your property etc. If you don't want to ha e to mess around with getting planning permission or dealing with building regs.

 

[Adamski]

Was thinking 4m x 3m which shouldn't be a problem with regs

 

[ronsplooter]

Height and distance from boundary are the other two things to check as they can bring regs into play. From what I remember when I did my cabin it had to be 1m away from any boundary otherwise fire regs became a thing. The height is taken into account with most cabin suppliers but it has to be under a certain one (can't remember what it is though). I can highly recommend KeOps Interlock, not the cheapest but really good quality IMHO

Keops

Explore Keops' custom-designed log cabins, workshops, and garden rooms. Crafted with premium Scandinavian timber to suit your unique space.

www.logcabins.co.uk

 

[Fantazia2]

IIRC within 1m of a boundary it's max height of 2.5m and if over 15m2 of floor space can't be made from wood so sounds like you should be OK. If it's more than 1m away then 4m height with max 2.5m eves height and anything upto 32m2 off floor space doesn't need building regs.

 

[Ronnie Dent]

We bough a Tuin log cabin, 44mm walls just tongue a grooves together, insulated the floor and ceiling, think it's 5m x 3m in 2021 it was about 3 k by the time we bought insulation and flooring etc

 

[ExZX]

Was thinking 4m x 3m which shouldn't be a problem with regs

I did a 3x4M Garden Office. Ended up being quite small internally due to the width of the walls with insulation etc. I do have a workshop and a couple of cabs in there. If you plan on working on more than 2 or 3 cabs in there then 3x4M probably isn't enough space. I went ahead with 3x4M because I couldn't afford to lose more of the garden and the Mrs would have blown her top (she still has a moan now and again that I don't use the garden office enough or it blocks out the sun on a summers eve). If it's just a games room then you may be fine with that size ( Never enough space lol)

Look at permitted development as the rules are not the same for every area. There is a planning portal. If in doubt contact your local planning department as there's nothing worse than spending thousands on something and then getting told to pull it down as it's not within planning. There may even be a covenant on your garden not to build on there if it's a modern house built within the last 30 years or so. Also really consider how you want everything to look. What you want too in terms of size and how much garden you can afford to lose.

Set yourself a budget and try and stick to it. I went for a bigger budget as a properly built garden office / games room will add value to your home whereas a log cabin will need regular maintenance and not add any value to your property. If you hire a builder then go with a recommendation ( family, friends, work mates etc) rather than the cheapest on facebook as there are some real cowboys out there lol. I saw some utterly ridiculous examples of peoples work as I was in the construction game from the late 80s to the mid 2000's.

Good luck.

 

[Bods]

Wish I'd never bothered about keeping to restricted size and 1m from boundary when building mine having then experiencing friends neighbour not only building an atrocious looking thing in the garden, but stealing part of friends land which is Council House, so it's partly build on the council house land where they live, and when reported repeatably to the council they did absolutely nothing about it, even when they were Renting it out to anyone from any country the council did nothing, even when reported to everyone possible they did nothing but charge Council Tax on the Illegally Rented out Shed

When renting it out they were getting money direct from though Housing association because landlord told them they were renting room in the house, he'd stolen 2ft off the whole council house garden. My friend then had smell of Burning in the council house, the electricity company was called out, the scum bag had connected the shed to the mains bypassing the meter and overloading it with Showers and Electric Fires and as the electric is shared between the 2 houses thats why it nearly caused fire in the council house, he got away with it no problem, the electric company then connected electric through meter to the illegally rented out garden shed

Had Police there all time at one point as some local Prostitute living in the shed, dealing drugs etc etc, so council and government can sod off with anything as they don't give a flying turd about you, your family or life

My 16x8 Shed was just over £1000 back in 2010 and now there £2000, insane how much everything is now

mines 30m2 or probably just over due to slight technical issue of brother digging wrong side of line, but I wish it was bigger as the space was soon filled up but that depends how many machines you want, mine was supposed to be a workshop with a few extra cabs

 

[AndyGeezer]

It's all fun and games building without planning etc.. I remember when I got a shed in the garden, some nosey f**king neighbour phoned and complained to the council, then they were knocking on my door, wanted planning permission, so I did, then they came back and wanted "full" planning permission, as in what you would do for a house, but now I see people getting all sorts of monster buildings/brick buildings/annex in there gardens without planning..

 

[eliotcole]

Sounds like you had a right king cnute of a neighbour, @AndyGeezer !

 

[Bods]

It's all fun and games building without planning etc.. I remember when I got a shed in the garden, some nosey f**king neighbour phoned and complained to the council, then they were knocking on my door, wanted planning permission, so I did, then they came back and wanted "full" planning permission, as in what you would do for a house, but now I see people getting all sorts of monster buildings/brick buildings/annex in there gardens without planning..

I'm surprised I didn't get council asking me about my building after guy at back of me asked what it's for and mate building it said flats for immigrants, I thought ya top hat but it's within the size and 1m from boundary anyway but wish I'd done it width of Garden now, if my driveway was on the other side of the garden, I'd join the house extension to the building at the bottom but i'd never get any sun on garden half the year the way it is

So what where you thinking Adam, wooden building? Depends what your Budget is really

Been keeping eye on houses for sale near me and recently in the next road there was a piece of land for sale, not far off size of my garden, got a decent size wooden shed on it which I think was about 3x4m and it was £10k which I thought was a bargain but don't think you had access with car or anything as it's at back of other houses, so really not much use as no power or water, could probably get something sorted but if it was accessible with car I'd would have bought it, the shed I bet would cost you 3k maybe more which double doors and quite a few windows

 

[Adamski]

Bloody hell.What a can of worms!
The second idea is build a brick garage on the side of the house and partition it.One half for games room and other for useful storage.I know this would cost way more but may be better in the long run???

 

[Adamski]

Thanks for all the info guys.Minefield eh?
Bods.I am pretty undecided about material and if I go garden route then max 15k all in.Didnt really think about how much garden I would lose so that may be the decider in building a garage extension instead.Just want somewhere suitable and safe for me cabs that is well insulated and heating and electric.Maybe room for 6 cabs

 

[eliotcole]

Well, the other thing is that you can get garage doors which are really well insulated, and even if you didn't use one of those, you could run bifolds behind one, to maintain the look and feel of the garage frontage, still enable the functionality of the garage, but ostensibly have an arcade!

 

[Bods]

My Garden was a fair size but even with it at bottom of Garden it makes quite a difference to it, doesn't help I then added a shed when building was supposed to be instead of shed and be workshop

If you have space on side of house that's a good option, I would think you could get that done for 15k, be easier to heat adding Rad from house if it's easy to come off existing rad, I would go Cavity wall and insulated floor if you did, then can use all year round, with cost of heating or electric now it would cost a bit to use separate building in winter

Having something built in Brick your a few thousand in before you even get any bricks down with digging footings and concrete, if your building on side of house, you instantly reduce the footings, concrete, bricks etc and if you have footings done deep enough for double storey, someone can always build up further

 

[Retroman839]

Here’s one I made earlier




Have fun and enjoy the process 😁👍…
Make it as big as possible ,
Plenty of insulation and dpm.

Consider an rsj frame outta the ground, only need 2 beams to carry the floor joists
Insulate underneath ..
Maybe make it rodant prof with Tin sheets underneath.

 

[!HD]

Adamski,
I had considered a garden room for quite some time, I watched Oakwood garden rooms on YouTube loads.
He gives really good step by step videos on how to build it yourself.
He sells build packs which itemises every item you will need from start to finish which saves people hundreds on probable over overspend on materials or under orders as that's costs extra on delivery.
If you have the time to do it yourself follow him and save £1000s.
I personally didn't have the time to do it myself and luckily found someone local that builds them the same way as the videos.
Long story short I got this guy to make it but we used SIPs panels. OSB board with a sturdy insulated core very energy and thermal efficient and add structural strength
It did cost more than your 15k but I feel it was well worth it.
It is fully plastered painted flooring and internet and about 32 sockets (you can never have too many sockets) it holds a pc desk big TV loads of consoles 5 cabs a pinball and a large 2 seater settee.
And this all sits on ground screws as they were cheaper and in my opinion a better choice over a concrete base.
Better for air flow.
It's clad in Composit with 20plus year anti fade garentee and the back and sides are clad in metal sidings also with a long garentee making it maintenance free.
I have photos and I can let you see if your interested.
All the best with your choices

 

[CMYKhazi-Dan]

I got one of these about 15 years ago

Zero-Maintenance Garden Annexes, Offices & Studios | Booths Garden Studios

Premium granny annexes and garden offices with the UK's only 25-year guarantee. Zero maintenance, fully portable. Buy from £9,425 or rent from £190/mo.

boothsgardenstudios.co.uk

Took them a day build it and can get seven cabs in it nicely, think it’s 10x8 ft
Mad prices now tho!

 

[Adamski]

Adamski,
I had considered a garden room for quite some time, I watched Oakwood garden rooms on YouTube loads.
He gives really good step by step videos on how to build it yourself.
He sells build packs which itemises every item you will need from start to finish which saves people hundreds on probable over overspend on materials or under orders as that's costs extra on delivery.
If you have the time to do it yourself follow him and save £1000s.
I personally didn't have the time to do it myself and luckily found someone local that builds them the same way as the videos.
Long story short I got this guy to make it but we used SIPs panels. OSB board with a sturdy insulated core very energy and thermal efficient and add structural strength
It did cost more than your 15k but I feel it was well worth it.
It is fully plastered painted flooring and internet and about 32 sockets (you can never have too many sockets) it holds a pc desk big TV loads of consoles 5 cabs a pinball and a large 2 seater settee.
And this all sits on ground screws as they were cheaper and in my opinion a better choice over a concrete base.
Better for air flow.
It's clad in Composit with 20plus year anti fade garentee and the back and sides are clad in metal sidings also with a long garentee making it maintenance free.
I have photos and I can let you see if your interested.
All the best with your choices

Pics would be great buddy

 

[Adamski]

I got one of these about 15 years ago

Zero-Maintenance Garden Annexes, Offices & Studios | Booths Garden Studios

Premium granny annexes and garden offices with the UK's only 25-year guarantee. Zero maintenance, fully portable. Buy from £9,425 or rent from £190/mo.

boothsgardenstudios.co.uk

Took them a day build it and can get seven cabs in it nicely, think it’s 10x8 ft
Mad prices now tho!

This is what I'm considering but YES,the prices are mad.Guess we have covid to thank for that!