Monday, January 31, 2011

Wimbledon - Writers Garden Studio

Our latest installation took us to Wimbledon, close to Kingston upon Thames in West London. Our client an author and playwright lives in the ground floor flat of a shared three storey Victorian terrace and therefore sought planning permission prior to the installation. The garden studio had to fall within the 2.5m ridge height rule to comply with planning as it is sited close to the boundary of the garden.




Our client chose the increasingly popular Cheltenham garden office which is easily modified to meet the 2.5m high planning rule.

There was already the remnants of an existing base for a smaller summerhouse on site which was surprisingly level!







Having dug out the base area we were ready to lay the concrete base. We recommend either a concrete base or level paving slabs at or very close to ground level to provide sufficient height for a 2.45m to 2.5m cabin. Bearing in mind planners will look at the surrounding natural ground level to assess the overall height.

Ofcourse it is worth reminding those not familiar with planning rules that, if the garden studio is sited more than 2m from any boundary, your garden building can be up to 4m high without the need for planning.



Access was possible through pedestrian access to the rear garden in this case and was wide enough for a wheel barrow. If there is no wheel barrow access concrete bases become extremely difficult to do!



Not a lot of room for sorting timbers in this case!



Pressure treated timbers are laid with a damproof membrane attached.



Door frame and windows added and shortly the wooden beams above the doors and windows to pull everything square.



Garden studio roof consists of 19mm tongue and groove roof boards then a layer of plastic membrane, often the packaging material is suitable for this. Followed by a layer of underfelt supplied with the cabin (note: at least a 200mm overlap) followed by the bitumen roof tiles. Alternatively bitumen roofing sheets may be fitted.



Cabin assembly complete and time to add underfloor heating and insulation to the interior of the studio.



50mm Xtratherm, Celotex or Kinspan insulation is used in both the floor and ceiling. Underfloor heating foil roll ideal for laminate floors also ready for installtion.



The underfloor heating is laid above the insulation and taped in place prior to fitting the laminate flooring. Underfloor heting is supplied and fitted for around £800 for an area of this size.



Ceilings are also insulated with 50mm Celotex and plasterboard is fixed between the roof joists to maintain the character of the studio. Tape and joint filler added ready for painting.



Interior complete with oak effect laminate flooring an optional £320 including supply and fitting. First fix electrics complete including a lighting circuit three sockets and undefloor heating tails ready for completion by the electrician. Surface mounted trunking will be used for the lighting cables and floor to socket cables.



Writers Studio complete with external trim and ready for handover.



Hopefully it will be a very productive writer's garden studio!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Garden Office - The Home Office solution

Creating the perfect workspace without breaking your bank balance can seem like an impossible task. If you google "garden offices" often you will find the results dominated by web pages that show garden studios but not necessarily the prices. Glossy catalogues are often avaialble but at what cost? The answer usually is 10's of thousand of pounds.




Yet here at cabin living we offer good quality garden offices with thick walls and double glazing at prices that make them within the reach of most small business ventures. Quite often the spec of even "high end" cabins is not a match for our products and yet the prices will be £10,000+ more than our complete delivery and installation costs.

There is no doubt there are tremendous advantages in working from home particularly in a dedicated garden office where you can take yourself away from the distractions of home.

So visit us at Cabin Living and make working from home a reality.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Spalding log cabin - New for 2011

The Spalding log cabin features a double pitched roof giving it a very distinctive european style.

•44mm thick walls
•Square roof shingle tiles
•Single glazed windows
•Tilt and turn windows




View our Spalding log cabin and installation prices

Wooden garages from Cabin Living - 2011

Our wooden garages are made from nordic spruce and most unless otherwise stated are 44mm double tongue and groove. They provide quality construction with comfortable workspace ideal for storing your car, boat or motorcycle safe and dry in the winter months.

Quite often cheaper to build and yet in our opinion they are a far more attractive and valuable addition to your property than a concrete block built garage.



View our wooden garages for sale.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Lechlade log cabin - Garden offices from Cabin Living

The Lechlade log cabin features a large main room, covered verandah and small room in the rear of the main living space with internal door suitable for storage or possibly a sauna or toilet.



Lechlade garden room prices

Wooden garages for sale - Cabin Living's new range for 2011

Our new range of quality wooden garages for 2011.




Made from the finest quality timber and several with the option of either hinged or up and over doors. Ideal for storing your car in the winter months and also the perfect garden workshop or storage shed.

Produced to the highest standards of any our log cabin range.

View our wooden garages for sale

Devizes log cabin - Garden offices for 2011

The Devizes log cabin an excellent addition to our new range of garden offices for 2011.



The Devizes log cabin is a spacious garden office with a convenient covered porch area.

•44mm thick walls
•Square roof shingle tiles
•Double Glazed windows and doors
•Ridge height 2850mm


Garden offices for sale

Reading log cabin - New Garden offices for 2011

Plenty of new cabins being added to our range this January.

Here we have the Reading log cabin made from the highest quality timber we have had the pleasure to work with. In our opinion these cabins far exceed the quality of Eurovudas and are marginally better than finnlife (finnforest) who we have previously considered the best in the industry.




Lots more models to come so please check our garden office pages

View prices for supply and installation of the Reading garden cabin