Bringing foam-builds to the Yorkshire - What is a Garden Room?

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Bringing foam-builds to the Yorkshire

WHAT IS THE EXACT PURPOSE OF A 'GARDEN ROOM?'

When you can't get the VAT back.
When you can't get it as a capital allowance; even though you or your employees WfH
When you have to have windows where you didn't want them.
When the Garden Room Company makes you get your own builders to avoid liability,
When the Garden Room Company makes you agree to take the hit for planning.
When you can only get it in small, medium or large; whatever that means.
When you can you have to pay and risk tens of thousands.
When you can't even move it like you would a tent.
When you can't get an insulation grant.
When you can't get any disability grants
When you can't get any educational needs grants.
When you can't move it with you to your next house.
When they come with the minimum amount of insulation.
When they come with no noise insulation?

-Why? Buy a Garden Rooms; when you can't get all of the above. Buy a Garden Igloo - or better still get a grant or funding towards one or simply get 100% of the value off your income tax, or corporation tax.

HOW TO.......

How to get the a garden room as a capital allowance.

How to get the a garden room as an AirBnB.

How to get a grant for a garden room.

How to get a quote for a for a garden room.

How to get permitted development for a garden room.

How to get a garden room delivered.

How to get a garden room built easily.

How to get a fully assembled garden room.

WHY IS MY GARDEN ROOM.........

why is my garden room so expensive?

Garden Rooms are expensive because building buildings is expensive; and there are many reasons why we are in this mess. The average bricklayer gets paid £50,000 a year because there are only 70,000 of them having the build more than they are capable or willing to build. The need for specialised labour for every trade; has come about through heavy UK regulation - and is not a problem we see in Eastern Europe or Asia. SIP panels are not made for Garden Rooms; like SUPER SIP is; and require heavy lifting machinery; and cannot be bevelled and chamfered by even a very skilled carpenter; so are always a factory product; and it is the factory that take the lion share of the profits from the SIP kits that are most often used to build garden rooms; and then specialistic carpenters and builders take up a large chunk of the rest of the budget.

The actual material used is not expensive, PIR and OSB is actually quite cheap; as is the “specialist high density polyeurathane adhesive” that is used to glue them together; also known commercially as ‘Gorilla Glue’ . Essentially we forgo the need to pay factories as we built the SIP as we assemble the igloo; and we forgo the need for specialist labour too as we forgo the need for carpenters; steel fabricators; stone masons and all the usual trades that are making too much money elsewhere. SUPER SIP uses low weight and low density materials; so we only really need hand tools to build with this system; training is easy and you don’t have to be a big strong man to do it, or heavy lifting machinery to haul it.

Another cost Garden Room builder need to suffer with in the cost of non-payment; and like all trades the customer may refuse to pay; and customers have even been known to attempt to charge builders with Section 7; harassment offences - and claim criminal damage when the builder repossesses the materials. A Garden Igloo weighs very little; so unlike a Garden Room can be repossessed with ease and without causing any damage. This means we do not need to take out any insurance against non-payment - and further means that we can settle disputes quickly should we be in the wrong. Whereas the Garden Room builder takes the same risk an extension builder takes - we do not take this risk; we will always repossess the igloos from those who do not pay the final balance; and we pass these savings onto the customers who do pay. Roofers for example all agree that they need to be charging a gross profit margin of 500% to take this risk on the chin; we charge a GP of around 100%.

All in all a thin layer of non-tradiational fibreglass and epoxy layered on by a generalist labourer makes a low weight, high performance structure; the labour, material, and indemnity costs are much lower with us; and we pass these costs on to the customers - A typical garden room requires many layers of traditional materials, layered by a specialist labourer, and the risk of something going wrong is high.

We designed a way to get around all these barriers - and making a Garden Room affordable to those who need a Garden Room is just what we do; Tom is an Architect & a QS and developed SUPER SIP with Inna a passive house specialist, and Kris a QS specialising in problem projects such as Thames Water and HS2.

Fig 1

Fig 2

why is my garden room so noisy?

It may surprise you to learn that ‘Sound Insulation’ and ‘Sound Proofing’ has little to do with the materials used; and mostly to do with the build up. Regular brick houses usually are built with a cavity in between the leafs of brick; this means that the vibrations on one side; don’t transfer over to the other side. When we do stud walls we usually have the plasterboard on one side screwed into their own dedicated verticals. The problem with garden rooms; and especially with SIP panel garden rooms is the cladding, and the internal plasterboard are all held rigid on the same structure; this means that a tap on the outside feels the same on the inside as all that noise can easily transfer over - the problem also means that heat loss is a problem - and simply put the Garden Room attempts to improve the Garden Shed in regards to conduction but fails to do so.

A garden igloo has two sheets of 100mm PIR; and the rebar that runs through each of them is not connected; the rebar criss crosses itself but is not joined with more steel but only joined with more foam. Further; the fiberglass on the outside is not connected to the internal covering; and foam bridges the gap all the way through. Read more here about noise cancelling performance.

We understand how important it is to have peace and quiet when working; the work from home with kids problem is solved by the Garden Room; detaching the space from the main house; but then this brings about a secondary issue; the neighbours kids; the SUPER SIP build up system solves this issue as well as the other side of the issue; making sure that neighbours cannot eavesdrop in intimate conversations and are not bothered by the musicians or the loud children playing in the igloo.

why is my garden room so cold?

The garden room is a modified summer house. Summer houses are built to be airy and lightly timber framed and as the name suggests they are not built for winter. Air tightness is the main issue: it doesn't matter how thick the coat Is: if there are gaps a much thinner coat keeps you more warm.

And this air tightness problem isn't just from poor assembly. One hard truth is that the customer demands more fenestration than is suitable. A Garden Room is exposed on all sides: thus leaving one whole side glazed, and exposed to the elements increase the thermal conduction by a lot. Further in most use cases a curtain wall would increase the solar gain, and the thermal mass, in buildings we like to lay concrete in areas where the sun will hit it, so that the concrete absorb the heat during the day and releases it over night keeping the temperature quite stable. Garden Room are usually always built on suspended timber floors so there is no heat gain from fenestration, only heat loss.

Insulting a Garden Room usually means cutting sheets of PIR/PUR to fit in between the timbers. Firstly these timbers are so thin in a lightweight garden room, that unsuitable thin insulation is often used: leading to complaints. And secondly the workmanship here is always poor: as Garden Rooms are not a regulated construction practice the builder can cut with the right type of saw, (timber hand saws take less time than specially designed insulation hand saws) and they will always leave a gap, perhaps they will tape over the gap with IR reflecting tape but it is rare to see insulation properly adhered in with expanding foam, and lately this practice has been shown to trap moisture so is generally avoided now.

And lastly no consideration is made for shape of the Garden Room. Think of when you sleep in a cold bed, you will likely sleep in the foetal position, and when you are too hot you will star fish, igloos and museum huts and many other primitive dwellings understand that the shape plays a huge role. Garden Rooms are always boz shaped. This means their SA/V ratio is as high as 1.4 when the ideal shape for low thermal conduction is a sphere with a SA/V ratio of 1.

The larger a garden room is the worse the IR (heat radiation) performance will be, and in many cases user buy the Garden Room to use on their own: but find the room too lofty and large to be heated with body and technology heat: so the users go inside to use the most efficient radiators rather than an expensive space heater.

All Garden Igloos are built with uninterrupted insulation, with even the small gaps in the joints forming part of the insulation. They are arched, domed, barrelled and come in a variety of sizes to suit the use.

IS A GARDEN ROOM...........

is a garden room worth it / add value / a good investment?

You will often have competitors try to convince you that your house will increase in value; and this is probably not true. If you are looking to increase your properties value; you should be trying to increase your EPC; and floor space - It is true that a Garden Room provides more floor space, but from talking anecdotally to estate agents they do not treat a Garden Room’s m2 the same as they would treat an extension. The Garden Room will be surveyed by a surveyor just like she would the rest of the house; and from anecdotal evidence; surveyors don’t seem to think it makes any difference most of the time; The phase “Glorified Garden Shed” is often used citing how it is more of a side issue that will appeal to some buyers and not to others.

At FOAM SHEDS & IGLOOS Ltd; we focus more on making the igloo useful; and making the user save money on daytime winter heating bills - if you are looking for property price increases you might be better off with an extension; and if you already have one you might still be better off hiring an architect to build a garden room with planning permission at a high spec. Unless you are in the North East and Yorkshire like us your property price per m2 should be higher than £2,500 and should be worth it financially. Here is Yorkshire and Humber property prices do not always merit the cost of building; with prices in Grimsby for instance as low as £400 per m2. In these areas we are certain that property value will increase; and even if it doesn't seem to make any difference, your igloo is lightweight and can easily be moved to your new address.

Garden Igloo focuses on the users being able to forgo putting the heating on; and this saves working people and mothers money; paying back in as little as 5 months, the Garden Igloo is a reinvention of the SIP panel Garden Room, but is no match for traditional architecture; if you cannot decide we can always chat, scroll to the bottom of any of the pages and choose your method of communication.

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in.

is a garden room a habitable room?

No a garden shed is not a building, as it does not need to comply with HHSRS regulations; the regulations that normally apply to landlords in order to protect tenants from unsafe electrics and environmental health.

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in.

is a garden room a temporary structure?

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in.

is a garden room a conservatory?

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in.

is a garden room covered by insurance?

Yes; but you will have to update your policy. This is a question we are looking into, so check back soon for an update,

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in.

IS A GARDEN OFFICE.........

is a garden office tax deductible?

If you can demonstrate that your garden room is not for 'personal benefit' you can claim it against your tax liablity. If you are disabled but not self employed you will be able to get the cost back through the access to work scheme, if you are not self employed and not working at home by choice but as a condition of your job contract then you can get the costs back too. For those that are self employed you have to prove that you use your garden room as a meeting place, and this can include online meetings too.

is a garden office permitted development?

Yes; the only instance in which you will need to apply for a change of use is if you are using the garden office room as a dwelling; i.e. using it as a place to sleep in regularly. A garden room is counted as another reception room, or a general purpose room; so you may think "why can't I just sleep in it if I want?" You can if you want; but use as a child's bedroom, or use as an AirBnB can cause issues with HHSRS and the Local Planning Authority. The real question you have to ask is; "Do we get on with the neighbours" and would they report us for using the Garden Office to sleep in, or to run a business from. The only real reason neighbours report mis-use of a Garden Office, or Summer House is because of noise; so we put a lot of effort in to get that noise down. Even if it is used as a playroom/wendy house for the kids; neighbours have been known to complain about Wendy Houses and Local Planning Authorities have ordered the removal of Wendy Houses for breaching planning policy before - click here.

We take PP very seriously and we make you agree that we are responsible for any damages, but if you use your foam shed as a dwelling we cannot honour this guarantee. Fruther; we ask you to look up you local areas code for signage too.

IS A GARDEN SHED.........

is a garden shed a building?

Yes; it is a building; but it is not a 'Dwelling'' and thus makes planning permission much easier. The question in disputes will be is the shed a fixture, or a chattel.

We can show you the igloo, knock on our virtual door to see if we are in.

is a garden shed a fixture or a chattel?

Yes; when it is fixed to the ground and not able to be moved without disassembly it is classed as a fixture; a garden igloo is fixed to the ground by a temporary mechanical bond, and all garden igloos are classed as chattel; this means that planning permission disputes can be remedies very easily; as at any point the Garden Igloo can be moved further away from the boundary, or its height can be reduced. There should never be the need for any remidial work from us; but we guarntee we will come back if needs be. As your Garden Igloo is moveable in a way that a typical Garden Room is not; this means that the risk of fines and actions against you is practically zero: we do not condone or recommend that you violate the change of use and run a commerical enterprise or an Air BnB out of your Garden Igloo; but; we have designed the Garden Igloo with SUPER SIP so that if users want to, they do not have to suffer the anxierty of the liability. I should point out at this juncture that the claim that Garden Igloo was "designed to skirt planning policy" is wholly incorrect and a slanderous mischaracterisation.

Sometimes people build garden sheds without any floor to make it seem like the garden room is classed as a shed. All we have to do to prove that the Garden Igloo is a chattel is haul it to you pre-built; and this will show that you intent on keeping the Garden Igloo and taking it to your next address. Essentially all we have to do is prove that the Garden Igloo is your own property, rather than property of the property in which you are merely a custodian of.

is a garden shed waterproof?

No - the very cheapest Garden Sheds use roofing felt that will last for 5 years and cause damage if you do not replace the roofing. You can get roofing felt that lasts up to 30 years; but as far as we understand it we are the only company trading with fibreglass roofing that is designed to last 50 years.

The bigger problem is moisture and condensation. SIP panelled Garden Rooms suffer from the same problem that closed cell spray foam insulation suffers from, which has now made these houses unmortgage-able; timber does not work well with polyurethane and will trap moisture. This is not an issue of fibreglass.

CAN I USE A GARDEN ROOM.......

can I use a garden room as a bedroom?

You will be asked to apply for change of use if you have been reported for using your Garden Room as a dwelling, for rent seeking purposes - or if you choose to raise a child in your garden room. So, no; many people belive this to mean that sleeping in it is banned. Which is not true.

can you use a garden room as an extension?

No, if it is a fixed to the house the Garden Room would need to be fully compliant to all building standards which is unlikely; you can however find a prefab extension builder who specialises in this sort of work - far more common in the rest of europe.

can I put a toilet, kitchen, sink or shower in a garden room?

Yes; and you would not need to necessarily apply for a change of use, unless you were planning to seek rent from it, or use it for commercial purpose with customers free to knock on the door. However any fixed services, wiring or plumbing will forfeit the classification of it as a chattel which makes enforcement notices applicable - and you may be asked to apply for planning retrospectively.

can I put a garden in my garden?

I have no idea who is searching that?

WHY ARE GARDEN ROOMS NOT.....................

why are garden rooms not made out of wood?

They are often made out of wood; we choose not to use wood; but that is just us. We find wood annoying - wood is hard to keep dry from rain and condensation and requires constant maintenance from the users. It has inconsistent structural strength and can break easily and unexpectedly in transport. Wood is harder than plastics to keep airtight as timber is often supplies with faults that make sheets not flat and plumb. Timber is actually fairly heavy when used in to make solid load bearing walls, and when used to make frames it is very thin and flimsy. Fibreglass is complication free; and lightweight too. At the moment global demand for timber is at an all time high and is expected to quadruple in price in 10 years; fibreglass is made from silica, which is made from sand basically so for us; we rejected timber. Not all plastics are the same and fibreglassdoes not suffer damage from UV like other plastics do; so make sure when you are looking for plastic sheds that you check what type of plastic is used and at what density.

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