Our Garden Room - Self Build

[DIYMichael]

Hi all, thought I’d share our garden room build now that it’s finished.

 

It was a proper self-build from start to finish, including the design, and we put a lot of time into researching the best way to approach it before we began. We tried to follow good building practice wherever possible, while still keeping it realistic for a garden room build.

 

I’ve attached a few pictures in case they’re useful to anyone planning something similar.

 

We also filmed the whole process and put it together as a YouTube playlist, documenting the reasoning behind the different decisions we made along the way. We found that especially helpful when researching, as there’s a lot of advice out there and not all of it is equally useful.

 

It’s been a really rewarding project, and I’m proud of what we’ve managed to build as a DIYer with a bit of planning and the right approach. I’m looking forward to using it as an office for many years to come.

 

Would be great to hear what others have done too.

 

[Andeh]

Brilliant, well done! 

 

I'm wondering if I could do it alone, but at 4m x 6m ideal size for the space, it's tricky imagining it with young kids, and a wife who would happily support but less hands on. 

 

How and what did you plan it on? Any ideas or cost vs buying new? 

Edited Monday at 12:23 by Andeh

[DIYMichael]

Thanks...

Sounds like you are in a very similar position to me. I built mine mostly on my own, though my wife did help from time to time on the days the kids were in nursery. I won't lie though, there are a handful of jobs where two people isn't really optional.

I started planning with research, I watched a lot of YouTube videos and read a lot of forums. I also purchased various sets of plans online, but a warning there, don't go too cheap with your purchases, the cheap ones are next to useless and sometimes offer some pretty shady advice. Then I started designing it in 3D modelling software (I am a design engineer, so this was the natural next step for me).

In terms of costs, I spent about £8k for a Garden Room that's 10m2, the equivalent purchased from a company would be around £25k (not kidding) and the quality would have been overall less.

[DIYMichael]

 

11 minutes ago, Andeh said:

Brilliant, well done! 

 

I'm wondering if I could do it alone, but at 4m x 6m ideal size for the space, it's tricky imagining it with young kids, and a wife who would happily support but less hands on. 

 

How and what did you plan it on? Any ideas or cost vs buying new? 

Thanks...

Sounds like you are in a very similar position to me. I built mine mostly on my own, though my wife did help from time to time on the days the kids were in nursery. I won't lie though, there are a handful of jobs where two people isn't really optional.

I started planning with research, I watched a lot of YouTube videos and read a lot of forums. I also purchased various sets of plans online, but a warning there, don't go too cheap with your purchases, the cheap ones are next to useless and sometimes offer some pretty shady advice. Then I started designing it in 3D modelling software (I am a design engineer, so this was the natural next step for me).

In terms of costs, I spent about £8k for a Garden Room that's 10m2, the equivalent purchased from a company would be around £25k (not kidding) and the quality would have been overall less.

[garrymartin]

You can definitely do it alone @Andeh assuming you have the skills, but you will also need a helper at various points for help with lifting, holding, etc. I built a 3.6m x 4.8m (external, excluding cladding) garden room with a garden store in 2018 with help from my wife. We kept the internal floor area under 15m2 as we were building close to the boundary, and the eaves height below 2.5m for the same reason. Hence no planning permission or building regulations requirement. It cost just over £12K at that time, but that included absolutely everything, including the 3m bifolds, all internal finishing and various sundry tools I bought to make it easier to build. It didn't include the cost of the insulated concrete base and the dwarf wall, as those costs were included in the garden design and landscaping bill.

 

 

[Mr Punter]

Nice job @DIYMichael.  I really like the timber internal linings / reveals / cills for the door and windows.

[Gone West]

@DIYMichael Congratulations, a very tidy building. Well done.

[Tony L]

Well done, chaps.  That's inspiring.  I'm planning to do a 5m x 6m garage on my own, within the next few months.  I have a friend in the next village who will come & help me (although he doesn't know it yet) lift the walls & get everything vertical/square.

 

My garage construction experience to date only covers making concrete bases (easy enough), & a little bit of block work three decades ago (I wasn't good at this).  I have persuaded myself I will be much better at working with timber than with concrete blocks.  I'll let everybody know what happens, so that others may learn from my mistakes.

[MikeSharp01]

6 hours ago, DIYMichael said:

Hi all, thought I’d share our garden room build now that it’s finished.

Wonderful piece of work Michael, welcome to THE forum for people like us and what is the next project? Great that you wanted to share it with us and can we ask how you found us?

[DIYMichael]

14 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Wonderful piece of work Michael, welcome to THE forum for people like us and what is the next project? Great that you wanted to share it with us and can we ask how you found us?

Thank you... my next projects are to populate the Garden Room with furniture. So more woodworking than building. But after that I do have an idea for a rather elaborate kids playroom. I actually find your site as the result of a question I asked Perplexity (AI Platform), this site was listed as a reference, so I followed the link and here I am.

[DIYMichael]

15 hours ago, Tony L said:

Well done, chaps.  That's inspiring.  I'm planning to do a 5m x 6m garage on my own, within the next few months.  I have a friend in the next village who will come & help me (although he doesn't know it yet) lift the walls & get everything vertical/square.

 

My garage construction experience to date only covers making concrete bases (easy enough), & a little bit of block work three decades ago (I wasn't good at this).  I have persuaded myself I will be much better at working with timber than with concrete blocks.  I'll let everybody know what happens, so that others may learn from my mistakes.

Personally, I think you will find working with timber much easier and nicer. It's a little more forgiving and if you get something in the wrong place you can always unscrew and try again. Good luck with the garage build, have you got build plans yet, or you just making it up as you go? I found this website really helpful for working out what size timbers I needed for various spans https://www.timberbeamcalculator.co.uk/en-gb/span-table/floor-joists?load=1.5&class=C24

[Tony L]

12 hours ago, DIYMichael said:

Good luck with the garage build, have you got build plans yet, or you just making it up as you go? I found this website really helpful

 

I've done some research & I have a good idea of how it will all fit together.  I will draw it all up myself, before I begin.  Thanks for the website tip.  I'll be sure to take a good look at it.

 

Rather than screws, I think I might buy a nail gun.  £400.  It would save me some time & could be used on the house build too.

[DIYMichael]

11 hours ago, Tony L said:

 

I've done some research & I have a good idea of how it will all fit together.  I will draw it all up myself, before I begin.  Thanks for the website tip.  I'll be sure to take a good look at it.

 

Rather than screws, I think I might buy a nail gun.  £400.  It would save me some time & could be used on the house build too.

100% worth getting a nail gun, it saved me hours! Here is a list of some of the tools and materials we used on our build https://makers-manual.com/garden-room (you'll  find the nail gun there). Also, due to our YouTube links, we managed to negotiate a few discount codes which maybe of help to you.