Hello everyone
After doing a lot of reading on here and elsewhere I've got a plan on how to build my garden office which I'd really like DIYnot input on. Sorry this is a bit of a long post. Here goes:
For a variety of reasons the only space for the office is in an area 7m deep x 2.5m wide which is between the side of the house and the boundary wall. I'm planning on making the office approximately 3.6 m x 2 m. It needs to be well insulated and easy to heat / keep cool as I work from home. Speed is also of the essence as I’ve got to get this built before the beginning of August.
I've rung building regs and planning and I don't need to involve either providing I make the top of the office roof no higher than 2.5m and I should make the wall nearest the boundary out of non combustible materials. Unfortunately, if I were to attach the office to the house wall I'd invoke building regs. The electrics will be installed and signed off by an electrician.
My plan is to level the ground and use a plastic grid system with builders sand and weed barrier beneath it to act as the foundation and extend it beyond the floor area and fill that bit with pea gravel so it also acts as a french drain, : http://www.shedbase.com/probase/. Cost about £160
Then use 4x2? timber to build the base, put a damp proof membrane over the lot, fill the gaps between the joists with 100mm celotex, then nail tongue and groove floorboards on top (I already have the floorboards). Am I missing anything here re layers of materials to use?
I'm getting some sliding patio doors from ebay and some upvc windows likewise which I'll build the walls around.
I was thinking of building the long walls as a series of 3 frames approx 120 wide by approx 230 high and the short walls as one frame. (the sliding door will go in one short wall) I thought I’d use 4x2s spaced 40cm apart at the centres to make the frames and then nail these "frames/panels" together and to the floor, with a top plate around the top to keep the whole lot rigid. (I’ll be working on my own so I figured making and raising the walls as individual frames would be easier? Or would it be simpler to toe in the studs one by one and then fix the top plate to the wobbly lot to make it stable?)
I'm thinking the walls will be filled with rock wool and then internally lined with a thin layer of celotex and then plasterboard. So is this the right order of materials from the inside?:
Plasterboard,
vapour barrier (plastic sheeting or use foil backed plasterboard),
20mm Celotex to cover any cold spots from the frame,
4x2 timber frame stuffed with rock wool (cheaper - but would ideally use celotex),
11 mm? OSB,
Tyvek breather membrane
vertical timber straps to allow a gap for ventilating the wall
Cladding - inspired by fmck’s project //www.diynot.com/forums/your-p...with-garden-room-inc-store-room.361658/page-2 I'm thinking versapanels for the low maintenance (and fire resistance). I might put cedar cladding on the shorter walls (which will be seen).
If the panel building route makes sense, I’m not sure whether I should try to attach the cladding etc before raising the walls (due to the access issues to the sides of the office) or whether that will just make them too heavy/I won’t be able to get the detailing of the corners correct. Will mixing cladding materials be a problem at the corners?
The roof will be at an approximately 10 degree angle and is planned as 18mm OSB covered in an EPDM (quote £300) with 100mm celotex and plasterboard underneath and with guttering around the lot taking the rain water to a barrel.
Would using SIPS to speed up the build process be an option or would it be really expensive?
Does this approach mean that the office will breathe enough?
Opinions on construction method and materials suggested please!
Once I've got the materials/approach etc finalised I can then get all the quotes in.
thanks very much in advance
Tamsen
After doing a lot of reading on here and elsewhere I've got a plan on how to build my garden office which I'd really like DIYnot input on. Sorry this is a bit of a long post. Here goes:
For a variety of reasons the only space for the office is in an area 7m deep x 2.5m wide which is between the side of the house and the boundary wall. I'm planning on making the office approximately 3.6 m x 2 m. It needs to be well insulated and easy to heat / keep cool as I work from home. Speed is also of the essence as I’ve got to get this built before the beginning of August.
I've rung building regs and planning and I don't need to involve either providing I make the top of the office roof no higher than 2.5m and I should make the wall nearest the boundary out of non combustible materials. Unfortunately, if I were to attach the office to the house wall I'd invoke building regs. The electrics will be installed and signed off by an electrician.
My plan is to level the ground and use a plastic grid system with builders sand and weed barrier beneath it to act as the foundation and extend it beyond the floor area and fill that bit with pea gravel so it also acts as a french drain, : http://www.shedbase.com/probase/. Cost about £160
Then use 4x2? timber to build the base, put a damp proof membrane over the lot, fill the gaps between the joists with 100mm celotex, then nail tongue and groove floorboards on top (I already have the floorboards). Am I missing anything here re layers of materials to use?
I'm getting some sliding patio doors from ebay and some upvc windows likewise which I'll build the walls around.
I was thinking of building the long walls as a series of 3 frames approx 120 wide by approx 230 high and the short walls as one frame. (the sliding door will go in one short wall) I thought I’d use 4x2s spaced 40cm apart at the centres to make the frames and then nail these "frames/panels" together and to the floor, with a top plate around the top to keep the whole lot rigid. (I’ll be working on my own so I figured making and raising the walls as individual frames would be easier? Or would it be simpler to toe in the studs one by one and then fix the top plate to the wobbly lot to make it stable?)
I'm thinking the walls will be filled with rock wool and then internally lined with a thin layer of celotex and then plasterboard. So is this the right order of materials from the inside?:
Plasterboard,
vapour barrier (plastic sheeting or use foil backed plasterboard),
20mm Celotex to cover any cold spots from the frame,
4x2 timber frame stuffed with rock wool (cheaper - but would ideally use celotex),
11 mm? OSB,
Tyvek breather membrane
vertical timber straps to allow a gap for ventilating the wall
Cladding - inspired by fmck’s project //www.diynot.com/forums/your-p...with-garden-room-inc-store-room.361658/page-2 I'm thinking versapanels for the low maintenance (and fire resistance). I might put cedar cladding on the shorter walls (which will be seen).
If the panel building route makes sense, I’m not sure whether I should try to attach the cladding etc before raising the walls (due to the access issues to the sides of the office) or whether that will just make them too heavy/I won’t be able to get the detailing of the corners correct. Will mixing cladding materials be a problem at the corners?
The roof will be at an approximately 10 degree angle and is planned as 18mm OSB covered in an EPDM (quote £300) with 100mm celotex and plasterboard underneath and with guttering around the lot taking the rain water to a barrel.
Would using SIPS to speed up the build process be an option or would it be really expensive?
Does this approach mean that the office will breathe enough?
Opinions on construction method and materials suggested please!
Once I've got the materials/approach etc finalised I can then get all the quotes in.
thanks very much in advance
Tamsen