The Man Cave : A garden office (aka fancy shed)

I saw the same guide on shedworking. My main concern was to do with expansion and contraction in the external walls - both 1john and flameport mention this.

From speaking to a few folks I know who have these 'log cabin' style buildings we can expect about 20mm movement vertically (cross grain to the planks - not much size change horizontally). Looking at the one I've had delivered the construction of the door frame and window frame are built to allow for some movement so I see no reason to doubt this.

Though generally it sounds like we're building the same thing. I have less insulation in the floor (25mm only) as the depth of the floor joints is only 38mm and anything except 25mm PIR is relatively expensive as no-one stocks it. 50mm in the walls and 100mm in the ceiling sounds the same.

What's your schedule? Let me know and I'll make sure I pass on any gotchas as I come across them if there's time for you to avoid them.
 
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I should be ordering the shed..er...sorry, luxury cabin next weekend and the person at Tiger that I spoke to said they were estimating 2-3 weeks for delivery. That should give me time to get the base sorted but I'm going to have to get a skip delivered to dump the old shed (and its contents), and then get cement delivered for the base. Got a busy week of planning ahead! :p

Please do share anything you think would be helpful and I'll do the same, I'm planning on putting a small blog up to share all the info as theres a definite lack of info out there for this kind of thing!
 
Just thought I'd post a quick update as a few things changed in the end!

I ended up going for a 'shire dean' log cabin, it was cheaper, bigger, and thicker wood. I got a 44mm thick wood, with a double glazed window and door. It's 12x8 in size.

I was actually pretty impressed. I ordered from a place called 'Elbec Garden Buildings'. I originally found the shire dean on a place called 'Summer Log Cabins' but it worked out cheaper from Elbec. I placed the order on Friday, and got told to pick a delivery date on Monday, so its coming next Thursday (24th).

For the base I ended up going with a system called 'Hawklok' by a company called 'Forest'. Its basically a much beefier, stronger version of the plastic 'ecobase', and is designed for heavy use. It's being delivered some time today :)

I've cleared the land ready for it now, spent 3 days taking the old shed down and clearing everything, and about 8 trips to the local dump to get rid of it, all in the rain. To top it off, I managed to step on a rusty nail, which wasn't very pleasant!

I'll get some pictures of the base as I put it up. I'll probably be putting it up over the weekend. I managed to pick up a huge tarpaulin so I'm basically going to wait for the ground to dry out a bit, then put the base up, then cover it up. I'm a bit worried tho, its been crap weather lately, I just hope that it improves for next weekend when I'll be building.

Also, just incase anyone else interested in a shire based log cabin is reading: After ordering they gave me a detailed FAQ, and access to view and manage my delivery online. The FAQ states that they deliver the log cabins by either a crane truck or flatbed truck, and they will unload it onto your front garden (note: they wont take it around to your back garden for you). If the crane truck delivers it, it'll be left on your drive and will be in a plastic weatherproof wrap. If the flatbed delivers it, they have to take the plastic off to unload manually, so you'll wan a tarpaulin sheet to cover it up with once delivered.

Anyway, I'll keep you updated. As I mentioned above, I'm blogging about this as I go, anyone interested can read the posts here: http://buildgardenoffice.blogspot.co.uk/ (note: This is not a commercial blog, I make no money from it, just sharing my build as I go).
 
Thanks for the update and the blog postings. I've started following the rss feed for your blog.

I've been putting up our structure this week - I'll update over the weekend once I have something tangible to talk about.
 
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If I had the space and money for a shed I think I'd be doing this too.... lol
 
Chri5 said:
Like the finished covering, what is it?
Click to expand...

Thanks :)
Do you mean the exterior paint? If so it's Cuprinol Shades 'Seagrass'. Picked it up at Homebase when it was cheap on a weekend. It's hellishly expensive stuff though!
 
Just a quick update.

Had the electrician round for a quote on Friday, and it looks like it'll be a much simpler job than I thought! He did a few tests and found that the power can actually come from a (hidden) plug socket in the kitchen that runs the dishwasher as its on a 13a spur. It's also right up against the wall, so a SWA cable can come directly out the back and direct to the shed. This saves having to go from the front of the house, all through the garage then the utility room and kitchen.

Just waiting for the final quote and then I'll be having it done with any luck!
 
Got the quote back today and was pleasantly surprised - £200 inc. all parts and labor! This does include me basically tacking the SWA cable to the wall and along the fence, so it cut down on the labor quite a bit as all the electrician now has to do is fit the connection and sockets.

Way cheaper than I thought it would be so I'm happy!

Edit: The electrician is now booked in and coming on Friday the 13th...hope thats not an omen! :LOL:

There are a few bits and bobs I can do between now and then. I could go ahead and put the plasterboard up on the right and rear wall which will save a small amount of time.

I've also got to sort out the 'front' wall that the door and window sits on as I need to find a length of wood about 1cm thick to go across the top of the wall as the studwork on that wall is 1cm out due to the door and window having a framed lip on them (explained in the blog). It's not a major issue, just a bit of a pain in the ass.

Theoretically I should be ok just using a strop of the roof/floor wood (I had loads of spares) as its not load bearing, its just to hold the plasterboard in place. I'll have to experiment a bit I think!
 
Added a new blog post: http://buildgardenoffice.blogspot.co.uk/

I dont suppose anyone would know a decent place that sells solar panels on a pole? The kind that are used for caravans and boats. I dont really want it mounted on the roof if I can help it.
 
Just a thought, but I'm guessing you'll be adding some sort of power storage for the Pi's then? Don't want to assume, but I just had to :LOL: at the idea of a security cam server hooked up to a night-vision cam that doesn't actually work at night :D
 
jdpjamesp said:
Just a thought, but I'm guessing you'll be adding some sort of power storage for the Pi's then? Don't want to assume, but I just had to :LOL: at the idea of a security cam server hooked up to a night-vision cam that doesn't actually work at night :D
Click to expand...

lmao I wonder if anyone ever forgot about the battery pack on their solar setup :LOL:

Yeah I was looking into one of these ones you can fix to an exterior wall. I'll have to do a bit of working out to see what kind of storage I'll need. I cant imagine it'll be a massive amount for the pi's however - they are so low power!

I know someone managed to do it with a sheevaplug which uses 5v too so I could look at that for inspiration!
 
D

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