We are all looking for the best deal we can get when making a purchase, particularly these days, and it can be tempting to base your garden office buying decisions on price alone. We see that the term ‘cheap garden offices’ is one of the most popular with garden office buyers when searching online. We ran this search ourselves and were quite alarmed at some of the buildings that came up, yes they had a cheap price tag but can’t be a considered a quality building that will serve you well throughout the year as you work and for many years thereafter.
We have written before about the elements not to cut corners on when buying a garden office. Unfortunately, these features do add up in cost, so there is a minimum amount you should spend to ensure you are getting them. This figure is £5,000 and will buy you a small office of 2.4m x 2.4m.
There will be extra costs on top of the price tag
You need to be aware that the price tag you see on websites advertising these cheap garden offices are not the complete project cost, you will undoubtedly end up spending more to create a functional office space. What can seem a good buy compared with garden office specialist like these firms, will soon add up in price when you add on the common extra costs:
Delivery – with cheaper garden offices you will find that delivery of the building from the supplier’s workshop is on top of the price quoted. With delivery costs of around £3 per mile, this can soon add up.
Foundations – You will often find that the foundation system is not included in the price quoted on cheaper garden offices. These firms normally ask you to arrange for a concrete slab to be laid before installation. If they do offer a foundation service, you will find it is at an additional cost to the building. This is how these firms can quote lower prices. The foundation is a significant part of the overall project cost, depending on the size of your garden office you could be looking at £1,000 plus on top of the building.
External Finish – Even on a budget you want to ensure that you are buying an office that is going to be durable. Many cheap garden offices make use of treated timbers for the external cladding, but we have seen examples where the exterior is finished in a cheap pine cladding which won’t be durable without immediate protection. With this option, you can be forced to get out the paint brush to apply paint or preservative as soon as your office is built. We have heard tales of buyers being very surprised by this task.
Electrical Hook-up – Actually this is an extra cost that you will find on many garden office buildings. Although garden offices are pre-wired, electrically the actual connection to the mains supply in your house needs to be conducted by a qualified electrician. Suppliers don’t tend to send an electrician to the site, so it is something they ask you to organise yourself. The costs involved here will depend on the distance between your office and the house. We asked our local electrician for some idea of cost and your looking at £1,000 plus.
As you can see, these extra costs can quickly make what seems a good buy, actually much more expensive. We suggest you compare these cheap garden offices with a quality garden office; you will soon find that the prices these firms offer probably include many of these extra costs, so are not actually more expensive.
Suggested further reading:
- £5,000 garden office
- Set a budget for your garden office
- Costs involved in connecting a garden office electrics to the mains supply