Garden Room vs Traditional Extension

 

Find Out Everything About A Garden Room vs Traditional Extension

An age-old debate in home renovation is: should I extend my home? There are many benefits to adding much needed extra space to your home by way of an extension, however, there are ways of doing so that don’t entail the hassle and complexities involved with a traditional extension.

Garden rooms have become increasingly popular in recent years as alternatives to traditional home extensions, with the advantages of garden rooms being their flexibility of function, separation from the main home or building, and their significantly lower costs. Add in other factors such as rarely needing planning permission, not requiring architectural designs and using up less valuable garden space, many homeowners are opting for this option when looking into house extensions. 

What Is A Garden Room?

A garden room is a stand-alone outdoor structure that creates an additional living area for your home in your garden or outside space, that is separate from the main house or building. Garden rooms are flexible spaces, having many different possibilities in terms of function and can even be multifunctional, depending on the size structure you decide to build; functions can include additional living space, a garden office or work from home space, a yoga studio, a garden gym or even your very own bar or pub. With the addition of a garden room to your outdoor space, the usability and options for function are endless and fully customisable to you. South Wales Garden Rooms offer a comprehensive design and construction process in Cardiff and South Wales so that you can have the garden room of your dreams.  

Unlike traditional house extensions, garden rooms are their own separate space, consisting of a solid base, walls and watertight roof. Unlike the summerhouses of the past, garden rooms can come fully insulated and can even possess additional luxuries such as central heating and smart electrics, ensuring that they remain a comfortable space to use throughout the year, and whatever the weather.

Common features regularly seen on garden room extensions are large windows that enable your living space to be flooded with natural light from your outdoor space, and many possess French or bi-folding doors in order to take advantage of the ‘garden’ aspect of the design – all whilst adding a contemporary flair to the design. Garden rooms have become a wildly popular yet affordable solution to the need for more space in modern homes, whilst allowing the further enjoyment of gardens and outdoor spaces that are otherwise often only utilised in the summer months.

At South Wales Garden Rooms, we ensure that your garden room will be as beneficial and functional as possible for you and your family, with all of our modular and bespoke garden rooms possessing the following core elements:

  • Fully insulated walls, floors and ceilings
  • Mono-pitched rubber-roid roof
  • Single door standard in PVC finish
  • Laminate, carpet flooring or wood effect vinyl
  • Interior lighting – 4 bar LED spotlights
  • Two double electric sockets with USB

South Wales Garden Rooms are a garden room company based in Cardiff and is the leading provider of garden rooms in South Wales. Offering both modular and bespoke options with a wide range of customisable elements, along with a comprehensive installation service, we combine expert construction with a customer-focused approach to create an additional living space for your home fully tailored to you and your family. From initial design through to installation, our expert team can install your perfect new garden room in Cardiff. For more information about the design or installation process of your new garden room, or if you would like to get started with a free quote, then contact us here or give our friendly team a call at 02920 600 478.

 

What Is A ‘Traditional’ Extension And How Do They Compare To A Garden Room?

Garden Room vs ExtensionA ‘traditional’ home extension is the addition of more living space to your home by extending or improving your property’s current building. Extensions are a common solution to the need for more, or larger, living spaces by way of creating extra bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms or kitchens, and can take form as an additional structure to your home, a garage conversion, or even loft conversions. Extensions can be costly due to the materials, construction time and efficiency that is involved in the project, and, more often than not, it is likely that you will also have to seek planning permission in order for the project to even get started. Current prices for even a small single-storey extension can be upwards of £30,000 – a huge cost for only a few more square metres of space – whereas the average price for the expert design and installation of a garden room is currently around £10,000.

Traditional extensions are often lengthy projects, due to the extensive nature of the construction and structural modifications required. Due to the prolonged timeline and work involved in such an extension, they are often disruptive to your family and neighbours, with weeks (and sometimes months!) of loud building noise both inside your home and outside of it. The addition of an extension also often requires part of your home to be ‘knocked through’, leaving your home exposed to the elements and subjecting you and your family to discomfort from the weather outside; this often results in homeowners planning for such work to occur in the warmer months, however, can mean long wait times for quality tradespeople and sometimes even increased costs as a result. 

On the other hand, garden rooms are self-contained structures that, as long as they remain no more than 2.5 metres in height, and under 30 square metres in size, do not usually require planning permission or compliance with extensive building regulations. Due to being under permitted development rights, garden rooms are seen differently from traditional extensions, and do not have the same restrictions. In a similar vein, garden rooms are also more flexible than their home extension counterparts, as they can be placed nearly anywhere within your garden or outdoor space, and can have an entirely different function in terms of how you use it. This can allow you to work from home in peace, without the distractions of the main home, or simply offer an additional layer of privacy when relaxing in your additional living space. 

Garden rooms are also significantly more affordable than standard home extensions, with the materials, labour and designs needed costing significantly less. Whilst they offer the same advantages as a home extension – oftentimes even bringing more benefits and being more useful – the process of designing and installing a garden building is a lot quicker and simpler, which reduces costs in and of itself, however, also means that there are no costs associated with a planning permission application. 

If you are in need of creating extra space in your home and are considering a home extension, then South Wales Garden Rooms can help. Offering the same benefits and advantages of a traditional extension in terms of space and functionality, our garden rooms require less labour and materials and mostly do not require planning permission, resulting in the perfect solution for needing more space, without sacrificing tens of thousands of pounds and months of mess in your home. For more information about extending your home with a garden room in Cardiff, call our dedicated team on 02920 600 478 or you can contact us here.

What To Consider When Adding Extra Living Space to Your Home

If you own a home and are finding yourselves lacking space, but don’t want the expense and hassle of uprooting and moving home, then you may be considering a home extension. If you are looking to invest in a home extension in the near future, there are a few things that should be considered before going ahead with any decisions and planning that can ensure that you end up with the extension result you hope for. 

Adding more bedrooms to your home is more expensive than a garden room

The addition of a new bedroom will cost roughly between £15,000 – £40,000 in the UK. These costs can include materials, labour, preparation work and time, and can fluctuate hugely depending on where you live and what type of extension you require. Not only are there increased costs associated with the building process itself, but an additional bedroom will increase your council tax bills going forward – an additional cost that most homeowners do not consider when planning a home extension.

Average costs for a quality garden room design and installation from our team at South Wales Garden Rooms hover at around £10,000, however, this can vary depending on the size and design, along with additional luxuries bringing additional costs to the build.

Extensions are highly extensive and time-consuming projects

House extensions can become very costly due to the materials, time and labour incorporated into one project. Whilst extensions can, in theory, add value to your home, all too often poorly constructed extensions can have the opposite effect, instead causing many problems when trying to sell your property due to the unreliability and infrastructure of the extension. This can lead to your home not selling for the value it should, or leaving you with the costs of ‘making good’ the structure before selling. 

You may require planning permission for an extension

Most home extensions require planning permission due to the complexities of local planning policies. Planning permission is needed for most traditional extensions, which can cause frustration if your planning permission is declined, as not only will the build not go ahead, but you will likely encounter losses in planning application fees, architectural plans and potential deposits with tradesman. 

In contrast, planning permission is rarely required for garden buildings, as they fall within permitted development rights. As long as size and height restrictions are met, along with placing your new garden room extension in an approved location within your outdoor area, the hassle of planning permission can be completely negated. This results in a significantly quicker, and oftentimes cheaper, process than a standard home extension.

At South Wales Garden Rooms, our modular and bespoke garden rooms are an excellent alternative to traditional extensions, giving you the same effect (if not better!) in what is required to create your desired living area for a quarter of the price, helping you to save a lot of money, time and hassle. If you’re considering adding some much-needed space to your home and think that the benefits of a garden room will suit you and your family, get in touch with South Wales Garden Rooms today. We offer free consultations and provide a wide range of garden rooms to South Wales residents, meaning that we guarantee that we have the perfect solution for your need for extra square footage. To book your free consultation, give our friendly team a call at 02920 600 478 or contact us here.

South Wales Garden Rooms – Design And Installation

At South Wales Garden Rooms, we have a team of experts in both the design and installation of modular and bespoke garden rooms. Whether you’re looking for a dedicated space for a garden office, a private space for relaxing or even a garden pub, we have a wide range of designs to suit you and your household.

The installation time process of our garden rooms can vary due to the size, theme, and model however, when it comes to the general installation process, we have a guide on what steps need to be taken before completion, making sure that your resulting garden room is to the highest standard it can be with a realistic build time. In regards to home improvement projects, our Cardiff installation service is a relatively quick process, allowing you to enjoy your new garden extension space in only a short period. 

Our team of dedicated and experienced installers ensures an efficient, effective and smooth installation of your new garden room, and also offers a 10-year guarantee on all projects, resulting in your new garden space staying safe and functional for you for a long time. Upon starting your project, we also ensure to give you an indication of the time required for your specific garden room during the quotation and planning process, and pride ourselves on maintaining up-to-date communication with you throughout your project.

For more information on increasing your home’s space with the installation of a garden room in Cardiff, or if you are looking to begin your garden room project with a free consultation and quote, then get in touch with South Wales Garden Rooms by calling our friendly team on 02920 600 478, or sending us an enquiry here today. 

Find Out More About Installing a Garden Room With South Wales Garden Rooms

To find out more about installing garden rooms with us, get in contact with us today at 029 20 600478 to book your no-obligation site visit.

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