The average installation time is between 7 to 30 working days, but it can vary depending on the size and complexity of the design. A smaller garden building, like a garden office pod Cubo Piccolo, will take between 7 to 10 working days. A larger bespoke garden room with a lot of detail and paint work can take up to 3 to 4 working weeks. Once we have finalised your design, we will be able to give you a more accurate installation time.
Our aim is to start as soon as possible. However, due to other projects taking place and lead time in ordering and preparing your garden building, we usually start around 3 to 6 weeks after your deposit payment.
When we take your deposit, we use it to buy the elements of your building, such as doors, windows, walls panels, and timber. If you want to cancel your order, we will do our best to contact our suppliers immediately to halt production. However, for anything that we cannot return or cancel, we will take this money from your deposit. We understand that sometimes unpredictable things happen in our lives and plans need to change, so we will do our best to minimise any cost to you.
In a nutshell, it depends. If, for example, you want to change the size or type of doors, the chances are we will have already ordered them, and they are being made to fit your design. We can change the doors if you want, but you will need to pay for the new doors as well. If, on the other hand, you want to change the colour of your garden office, the chances are that this change won’t cost you a penny, as we will simply purchase a different colour paint as per your request. We want to make sure that your building is exactly as you want it, so we will keep in touch from time to time between placing your order and the build starting so that we can all be sure that everything is as you expect.
Yes, they are. We had to register for VAT in June 2018. It makes our prices around 10% higher than before, however, we think that the quality of craftsmanship we provide will slightly ease this.
Although certain criteria need to be observed, in general, garden buildings are a permitted development and there is usually no need to apply for planning permission. If you would like to learn more about it, please read our article 7 garden or summer house planning permission rules to keep in mind. There you will also find a link to the official government document on this issue.
Although certain criteria need to be observed, in general, garden buildings are a permitted development and there is usually no need to apply for planning permission. If you would like to learn more about it, please read our blog article 7 Garden Or Summer House Planning Permission Rules To Keep In Mind. In there you will also find a link to the official government document on this issue.
Yes, we do. All our garden buildings are priced with foundations and full installation.
Yes, we do. You will also receive a qualified electrician’s certificate confirming the safety of the connection. It is not required if your building is smaller than 15 sqm, but we will do it anyway for your own comfort and safety.
At the moment, we do not have any insurance backed guarantee, but we do give 5 years’ structural guarantee. In September 2018, we’ll meet the insurance company criteria that we’ve been on the market for 12 months; so a lovely birthday present for us! Therefore we will soon be able to offer an insurance backed guarantee, which means that if we ever stop existing and something needs repairing, the insurance company will pay for the costs of repair. In practice, however, as we are a local, family run business, we will do everything to make any repairs that are needed, if they are caused by any structural or installation problem. We’ll even do this if this occurs from year 6 onwards. It is our name and our reputation on the line, so we definitely want to keep our clients happy.
After the building is completed, we will call you from time to time, ask how everything is going, and we will arrange a yearly visit to inspect everything. So if something is not right in our opinion, we will rectify it. We think this is the only way you can run this type of business, and hope that this will not put you off. To make sure you have all the peace of mind you need, we’ll go over all of this in our contract with you before asking you to sign it.
All the costs are fixed, including the labour costs. We give you the price so that you know what are you paying, and won’t have to find a penny more. If we run over and complete the building in 2.5 instead of 2 weeks, it will be us who cover the costs, not you.
The entire construction of the building will be wrapped in a waterproof, breathable membrane, so the only parts of the building that are open to the elements are the external walls. The aftercare you need will depend on the chosen material. The majority of our garden buildings are finished with wood cladding. Although the wood we use has been pressure treated (wood preserver is injected inside the wood under high pressure, allowing for deep penetration of the timber), it is recommended to re-apply the wood preserver every few years.
If you want the wood to weather grey, the preserver will need to be applied every 4 years. It is a very easy process as the product itself is almost like water, so re-applying it on the surface of a large building should not take any longer than a day. Alternatively, we can do it for you as part of an after-care service connected with our yearly check.