Ever in tune with the Zeitgeist, we at Schloss Nundanket are looking at having a garden studio-cum-office-cum-warroom. Currently we're looking at a couple of different companies, one which makes them out of Siberian Spruce and another which uses Redwood. The latter also offers them in Cedar at a premium of about 50% on the base price, which puts the cost beyond what we're prepared to pay, unless there is a convincing economic argument to persuade us otherwise.
The plan is to have whatever is built fully insulated (walls, floor, roof).
Does anyone out there who has experience of such matters for any tips or pitfalls to look out for when engaging on such a venture? I'm aware of restrictions on height and distance that you must be from boundaries of the property. The roof is likely to be flat (or rather slightly pitched).
I'm slightly concerned about the amount of natural light that the space will get, with the structure facing northwards. One option is pretty much fully glazed across the front, and the other is about 2/3 glazed.
Obviously electrikery will have to be dealt with. We'd need cabling back to the mains, so a lot of trench digging will be involved.
Ideally I'd like a 'green' roof but the quotes I've seen for sedum roofs as optional extras look extortionate. I appreciate there could be issues around the additional weight on the structure, so dealing with that might account for some of the cost.
How did you get on with your own garden war-room? Is there anything that you'd wished you'd known before and anything that you would have done differently?
Any comments and suggestions will be much appreciated.
All I can add is that:
ReplyDelete- Western Red Cedar shouldn't rot at all, as it has a very high resin content and is therefore naturally very durable.
- Green roofs weigh a lot, so make sure that the structure could take it if you went down that road.
- North facing will not get direct sunlight (of course) but rather like art studios which face North, you will get a good consistent light.
- Have as much pitch on the roof as you can, as flat roofs are a nightmare!
- Check out what ventilation is available so that it does not get too hot when we have those increasingly hot Summer spells. Our garage with a tin roof gets baking, but is admittedly in full sun all day.
Other than that I'm jealous as I'd love my own wargames room at some point. I have considered an attic conversion, but at 20K plus for a basic one, I can't justify it.
Thanks Steve. Cedar looks nice too in its natural state, but the cost makes it a tough call. If it was the difference between, say 5 and 10 years life it'd make sense. If it's the difference between 40 and 60 years, then the benefit isn't going to be of any use to me.
DeleteRe: the natural light I need to get inside one and see what it's actually like, especially at the back.
Good point on ventilation. The options I was looking at have opening side windows too. I think. That was one of the reasons for thinking of a green roof, to keep solar gain down.
It won't be just a wargames room. Honest. And it will liberate the dining room. Part of the difficulty will be working out how to keep my toys safe when we turn it over to the teenagers and their friends.
I know Graham at http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/ built a shedquarters several years back. I am sure he will have pointers for you. He is in the UK too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon.
DeleteGraham Evans, author of the 'Wargaming for Grown-Ups' blog, has a shed based wargames room. You could try asking him.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
DeleteHmm.. I think Graham/Trebian from Wargaming for Grown-Ups wrote magazine articles about his. He's probably the guy to talk to! Though I think his is exclusively a war-room, you sound like you will be (sensibly) sharing it..
ReplyDeleteWell I have to say I will share it. It wouldn't be politic to have that sort of expenditure 100% coded to my hobby.
DeleteI remember reading Trebian's blog articles about building his shed quarters.
I built my own shed,I did get a builder to expand the existing base but after that I built the timber framework, clad it with ply where you didn't see it from the house and shiplap where you do. The windows and double doors are double glazed from ebay and another sharing space, I over built the roof timbers so that I can at some point put in a green roof, like you I'm finding that expensive, so not at the moment, I've insulated the walls with rolls of fibreglass and strips of kingspan between the roof joists, it's better insulated than the house! At 22m2 its a decent size,what would I do different? Put in a skylight, it's a bit dark, oh and you don't have to bury your armoured cable, you can run it along your fence!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Cheers Iain. I'm not the best at DIY. It would end up with gaps in the corners and look like the Crooked Man's house.
DeleteI thought about a skylight. Good call. Or maybe a small window at the top on the back wall. Is the whole of your front fully glazed?
Good to hear that about the armoured cable! Should save some trouble.
Best to have a small electrical consumer unit in the room so you have a proper power supply. What about heating in the winter? Does your wi-fi reach that far, or will you need to cable it too?
DeleteHow will you get to and from the room (especially in the winter when it is wet).
Lots of things to consider for sure.
Will have a heater for the winter. Think they come with a consumer unit. Wifi not sure about but will probably need a booster. Think I’ll risk the rain. I’m not that much of a townie 😁
DeleteI was thinking about muddy boots. Maybe one of those old terraced house front door boot scrapers is the answer 😁 .
DeleteIt will be a strictly shoes-off place like the house. I’m fully aligned with Nordic (and Japanese) ways on this sort of thing now. I use my poundshop ‘crocs’ when I go to the bottom of the garden to empty the compost caddy, so I’ll probably have something like that.
DeleteVery much the same here in Azerbaijan and also in Russia. It's essential to have plenty of spare slippers (tapochki) for your guests. Walking around indoors in just your socks is also frowned upon.
DeleteSeems to be a British thing to wear outdoor shoes in the house. Maybe Americans do it too?
What Iain said...plus watch out for misappropriation by other family members. Empty sheds become storage areas before you know it!
ReplyDeleteIt won’t be empty thanks to my cunning plan in making it multi-functional. On weekdays it’ll be my workplace so I’ll be on hand to ward off intrusions.
DeleteI have to be vigilant though with my household though because it’s a bugger to train the others to put things away in the right places. I’ve tried the ‘efficiency’ argument, and the one about things looking nicer that way, but they just do not seem to regard it as important. But I’ll keep fighting the good fight to keep the universe in balance.
Nice idea, with most of my gaming in the dungeon, when we built out outdoor shed, seating area I had to make sure it was a shared area. But in reasonable weather it allows much larger games. My only advice would be if it is to be a shared location be sure you have the ability to swop over quickly. Eg if you have to move furniture out etc it will become a barrier to setting up a game. I’ve manage to get my setup/take down to about 45 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI will have to give the interior design/furnishing so serious thought. The external dimensions of the main area will be 5.5x4m on one option, so that should help with minimising set-up time.
DeleteA good size but you will at some point want a big game/ table so keep that in mind with furniture avoid stuff that can’t be moved or shuffled etc.....
DeleteI know nothing of this but wish you well in your research and subsequent endeavours. Do let us follow the build and gaming here...
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan. Hopefully when I press the button on the project there will be little to report until it’s all done.
DeleteI did something similar a few years ago, converting what had been an outside washroom and toilet in a room for wargaming. you seem to have most of the bases covered already the only things I can think to add are ..
ReplyDelete1. will you be heating the room or only using it the summer months?
2. will your existing wifi signal stretch into the new room?
3. you may not think you need it but if it is possible to have a mains water as well as electricity supply connected up ar reasonable cost you will be pleased to have done so even if you only use it fill up a kettle....
3. glass panels in the roof can dramatically increase the light which reaches the playing area without reducing the amount of wall you can place shelves against....
Thanks Guiscard. That’s really helpful. I will need a wifi booster. I only got halfway there when my phone flipped to 4G. We will have heating installed as I’m hoping to use the building as an office for work.
DeleteI’m increasingly convinced I need a roof window.
You can never have too much shelf space for books of course😁
DeleteWhen I built my shed I built it around a pair of Laura Ashley double glazed doors, unfortunately after I'd built the shed I found out they were 11mm shorter than IKEA Billy bookcases, of which I have a lot! Wifi boosters hasn't worked for me and I've been told that I could do with a cable, even so I'm still using it as my office when working from home,it just means I can't set up for a game!
DeleteBest Iain
I didn’t know Laura Ashley did double-glazing
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