You’re about to take the plunge and have selected your perfect garden room. But, if you want your garden room to withstand the unpredictable British weather, remain structurally sound and look great for many years to come, you will need to install high quality garden room foundations.

There are loads of ideas of how to use your garden room. Whether your garden room is going to be a garden office, a garden gym, a man-cave, she-shed, summerhouse, garden games room, garden crafts studio, an extra guest bedroom, a kid’s garden playroom or an extra entertaining space in your garden (or all of the above!) without a strong garden room foundation system, it won’t stand the test of time.

What kind of base do I need for my garden room?

 

The first question many people ask once they’ve decided on their perfect garden room is: “what base do I need for my garden room?” The answer is that it depends on what your garden conditions are. Talk to your garden room provider to find out if they suggest a preferred garden room base and see if they have any other advice. Read on to learn about the different types of base available and understand the positives and negatives of each garden room base. Decide on your garden room base knowing that whichever one you choose needs to be the best for you.

Typically, there are 3 types of garden room bases that we see frequently used:

1. Concrete Pad Garden Room Foundation
2. Poured Concrete Slab Garden Room Foundation
3. Ground Screws Garden Room Foundation

Each of these have their own pros and cons. We'll start with the base that we believe is the best all-rounder!

Concrete Pad Garden Room Foundation

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Cost: £1,495

 

A series of concrete slab that distribute the weight of the garden room across a

larger surface. A concrete slab garden room base is a great option for smaller

sized garden rooms and can be a quick and effective garden room base

solution when installed on flat, hard-packed ground with minimal risk of

upheaval or cracking. With concrete pads, there is no need to dig up your

garden and lay down concrete. This makes it a less disruptive and time

consuming method in comparison to concrete slabs. Concrete pads do not

require any setting time, and are effective at withstanding pressure and

movement, preventing any structural damage to your garden room.

Concrete pads can also easily be removed from the ground without leaving a trace, making them a great eco-friendly garden room base.

If your garden is relatively, flat with hard-packed soil, we can provide the concrete pad solution as an economic and effective garden room foundation solution and can offer it as part of your garden room quote. You can chat to our friendly team to discuss whether this option would work for you.

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Pros

• Affordable, the most cost effective solution

• Fast, can be installed by our team on the same day of installation with no setting time

• Eco-friendly, uses a fraction of the concrete of other bases

• Flexible, allows for your room to settle and move over the years with cracking

• Removable, can be taken up and moved easily

• Clean, does not require messy groundworks

• Adaptable, if there is a slight slope some levelling can be easily applied

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Cons

• If the space is very uneven, it is more time consuming to install and can be unsuitable.

• Not suitable if the ground is particularly boggy or soft

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Poured Concrete Slab Garden Room Foundation

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Cost: £2,000 - £4,000 (approx)

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Concrete slab garden room bases require excavation, a layer of hardcore

followed by timber framework, into which the concrete is poured. With the

concrete slab option, it is essential that the finished foundation is 'square',

level and there are no undulations in the surface. They are labour intensive,

use a lot of materials and take time to set, so they are more expensive than

other types of foundation. Having the foundations raised slightly above the

ground encourages water to run off, preventing it from collecting and

pooling around the base of your garden room, avoiding damp and rotting wood. We don’t offer this service, as it requires time for setting and doesn't align with our eco-friendly approach. You will need to reach out to a local tradesperson to install the base with enough time for it to be fully set before installation date, especially as you can get one of our garden rooms in as little as 2-weeks from order. Once the concrete slab garden room base has been installed, your garden room provider should be able to install quickly and easily, like our one-day fast and free delivery and installation service 

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Pros

• Ideal if you do not have firm ground to work with.

• If done in advance, will save you time on the day of installation

• Adaptable, if there is a slight slope it can be dig out and created level

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Cons

• Costs escalate fast based on the size and is often the most expensive solution

• Very time consuming & labour intensive, digging down, laying the base and waiting 1-2 weeks for it to set

• Uses a lot of environmentally damaging building materials

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Ground Screw Garden Room Foundation

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Cost: £1,500 - £3,000 (approx)

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Using ground screws for garden room foundations is a more recent technique

that is growing in popularity due to the eco-friendliness and convenience.

They are also very useful for levelling out significantly slopes. Ground screws

require extensive and potentially multiple site surveys to ensure a comprehensive

and detailed understanding of the ground in which the ground screws are

being installed. They do not require digging but are labour intensive and

generally involve the use of a ground drill. Loose and rocky ground can be

problematic, and it is advised to wait two years for loose or sandy ground to

settle if it has recently been dug up. Ground screws, whilst good for uneven

garden spaces, often require comprehensive and potentially costly garden landscaping around your garden room to hide the protruding screws.

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Pros

• The most environmentally friendly option, no concrete required at all

• If done in advance, will save you time on the day of installation

• Very adaptable, if there is a slope it can safely create a level platform

• Usually quick once the site is deemed suitable

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Cons

• Cost escalate with site surveys and expensive machinery required to install

• A very skilled job to create a perfectly level finish at varying drill heights

• Can require significant additional landscaping to hide voids

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We only supply concrete pad garden room foundations, therefore we can only give a definitive price for this option. The costs for other options are an estimate and will vary based on different trades people, location and other variables.

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Does my garden room need a base?

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The short answer is yes. Any building is only as good as its foundation system, and a garden room is no different. Factors such as the size, position, & aesthetic should all be weighed up when deciding what type of base to use. The level and terrain of your garden are also important considerations to think of when selecting your garden room base. Good garden room providers should offer a free site survey service, often virtual, when you get in touch, where they assess all these factors and advise on the most appropriate option. A virtual site survey enables you to send over information at a time that suits you, and is the quickest and most convenient option, like the service we offer.

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Where should I put my garden room?

 

Where you put your garden room in your garden is an important decision which also affects what garden room foundation you decide. Light and shade can dramatically change the way your room will feel. If you plan to use your garden room all year round as a garden office, garden studio or home workshop, it's a good idea to consider positioning your outdoor building so that it receives plenty of natural light. Depending on what the room will be used for, it often makes sense to have windows on the south and west elevations to capture natural heat and light from the sun and where you have the best views of your garden or beyond.

 

Positioning the building under a canopy of trees can be used to create shade when necessary or frame the building – sometimes where there is limited space this can be unavoidable, especially if the trees are large or protected. Bear in mind that if you site your building directly under a tree, there may be a build-up of leaves and debris on the structure or sticky residues from certain trees which you will be required to manage to preserve the longevity of your garden room.

 

Depending on your garden room provider, you may have to consider positioning your building close to mains electricity. With us, you can opt for our electrical “plug-n-play” package, meaning you can achieve fully integrated electrics without the need for an electrician and without worrying about where to put your garden room. All the wires are integrated within the garden room structure and protected with a consumer fuse box unit in your garden room. An outlet on the outside of the building allows you to simply run the power cable (provided by us) to your home plug socket - just plug the room in when you use it!

 

Another key concern of buyers is whether garden rooms are truly comfortable to use all year round. Our garden rooms are designed to be like an extension of your home, fully insulated with double-glazed, secure uPVC doors and windows, meaning they can be used throughout the year, whatever the weather. After deciding where you want your outdoor building, the next step will be choosing the perfect garden room for you.