Garden rooms, anyone got one?

I thought a garden room was the same as a conservatory. Or do you mean a separate building in the garden?

It is a separate building. Sometimes they are at the end of the garden, away from the house.

My sister has a garden room ( fancy shed!) which she uses as an office as she works from home. It’s very nice with heating for the colder months and a kettle etc but she has a few complaints.

* Too hot on sunny days
* Walking down the garden in the rain
* No water supply for her numerous cups of tea
* No toilet facilities other than walking back to the house
* A constant battle with spiders who invade in droves
* It feels damp in winter as she only puts the heating on when she is working

I guess some of these concerns would also apply to a garden room which is used as a guest bedroom, might be fine in the summer months though.

I've got a very fancy shed which I jokingly say I could quite happily live in, except I'd have to shift everything in there first.

My daughter and SIL had one built, it’s beautiful, they put in a lovely bathroom and huge bifold doors.
It’s an office and gym but could be anything.
It was cheaper to have one bespoke than one of the kit type that are available.

We have just turned our large shed into a garden room, we have electricity and wifi. It’s insulated but cool at the moment as it’s under some trees.

We haven’t installed water or sewerage as that would need Building Regs and all sorts of permissions to turn it into a ‘living space’. I think installing water and sewerage connection means we would have to pay council tax on it.

So we have bottled water, a microwave and a kettle. A cupboard with crockery and tea and coffee in it and a large Umbrella for when it rains!

DD has a toilet in hers which is useful for guests in the night. Otherwise they have to trudge up the garden and gain access to the house!

Here

Joseanne very true, but we would need Building Regulations approval for installing an inside loo.

However we are looking into an outdoor composting toilet, but they are expensive just for occasional use and are a bit reminiscent of the outdoor privy of my childhood!

Oopsadaisy1 Have you thought of a chemical toilet?

Yes, you have to position your cabin strategically to link it in with the drains too. DD has the sewage pipe at the correct depth running under the garden path.
Yours sounds cosy with a kettle and tea cups,*Oopsadaisy1*.

Mokryna yes we are giving it some thought, although my experiences with chemical toilets are somewhat off putting.

I think that anyone who sleeps there will have to walk 100ft to get into the house and use the loo, it’s hardly a trek and it will only be the other Oopsies in there.
They can cope.
Or they can have a gazunder! That would flummox them, they think they are things you put your indoor plants in……..

A oopsie sounded like a toilet accident in the cabin when I read that!

Oh, not gazunder, please! Shades of staying with my grandfather who only had an outside toilet...

Thousands of people have chemical toilets, think of all those folks who have caravans/camper vans or biggish boats. We have one in our horsebox. They're fine. Sounds like a good compromise..

The problem is that we (I) would have to lug it indoors and empty it down the loo. I’ve read that it can be tricky and very smelly.

Usually camp sites/ canals have a dedicated drop off point.

So just a new name for a granny flat ?

Oopsadaisy1 we have a chemical toilet in our caravan. We've just been away for the weekend and only used it overnight as we were at our daughter's during the day. My husband has a "liquids only" rule for it, anything more and we have to use a proper mains toilet on the campsite.
Just for a few nights use it's not that unpleasant to empty ?

V3ra

Oopsadaisy1 we have a chemical toilet in our caravan. We've just been away for the weekend and only used it overnight as we were at our daughter's during the day. My husband has a "liquids only" rule for it, anything more and we have to use a proper mains toilet on the campsite.
Just for a few nights use it's not that unpleasant to empty ?

When we went away in our caravan to France for three weeks every summer, I was the only person allowed to use the caravan toilet, my husband and kids had to go to the camp site ones! My husband agreed ( and emptied it) as I made it a condition of me having to go away in a caravan!

Oopsadaisy1 and MaizieD, I've not heard word gazunder for years! Last time I heard of anyone actually using one was in a tiny shared caravan, and the vessel was metal, the noise was incredible lol .

BlueBelle

So just a new name for a granny flat ?

When my husband empties our motorhome cassette he lifts the manhole in the garden and empties it in there. We put a bit of water in with a bio washing liquid pod and its fine. He would not tip it into the toilet.

Oops that was meant for Oopsadaisy1 !!

Thanks people.

Our manhole is under a 10 ft deep hedge, I know we should keep it in sight, but there you go. It’s a thought though that I should explore ( with a torch, strong gloves and a hatchet)

I wouldn’t mind emptying it if I was the one using it, I won’t be.

I dream of a garden room, it's so cozy and beautiful. So far I can't find good contractors for my money. Unfortunately, a bit of companies do exactly the kind of garden rooms I like

I am just in the process of choosing bricks to build a "shed" at the bottom of our garden. I called the council to check what permissions were required if any and they said building regs don't apply in my specific area if the floor area of the outbuilding is less than 15 square metres and has NO sleeping accommodation.
There were other rules about distance to boundary, height etc. They said other than local regs (which my project came within anyway) they use this website to check things out:
www.planningportal.co.uk/
If you are intending to sleep in it there are more regs.
I know where we used to live you couldn't put water in without permissions.

It has an easy "outbuildings" guide which may be useful. It was a pdf.