Outdoor office build, ideas and tips please
I'm in England, this is going to matter with this.
My wife's business has outgrown a small office space. She does HTV clothing and accessories, mugs, etc. Basically, personalised vinyl and sublimation. The equipment she uses is large, A3 printers, dye cutter (Cricut but about to get an A2 bad boy) and probably an A2 printer too.
I've been looking for 5m squared log cabins and similar. Something like this would be an ideal shape. One wall, floor to ceiling, will be dedicated to storage of vinyl, mugs, t shirts, etc. hence thinking there's no point in going A frame style.
I'm assuming 15cm deep concrete base by whatever size the cabin will be, squared, plus 30cm to make sure the base is big enough.
Thoughts?
Do I build something myself or spend out on the Lego cabin style everyone seems to be selling in 44mm timber? Do I put in the base and build my own cabin around it using straight timber and sheet materials from merchants?
There's two main factors for me, cost and insulation. As she's using it for storing clothing it needs to not get damp so it'll need to be a good material and probably will need a dehumidifier in and on all year round when the door is closed. Do I sheet in layers with insulation foam?
Anyway, you get the idea. Links and general advice is welcome.
With a building that size, I wonder if just a concrete slab would be sufficient without footers. That's something you'd need to check with your local building code on. I don't think that would fly where I am.
In terms of kits vs stick building yourself, that really depends. I'd prefer to build custom, but that's because I have experience in residential construction. The kits can be nice because they come with parts and instructions. The downside is that the kit might have a purpose different from what you want. For example, you'll want to make sure that the kit has wall and ceiling cavities to support your insulation requirements. You'll want to make sure that it will fully accommodate some kind of interior cladding (eg sheetrock) with deadwood in the corners for sheet termination. If the kit was designed for a shed with no insulation or sheetrock, it might not meet those needs.
Cost-wise, I've actually found the kits to be pretty on-par with materials cost, but the materials themselves are sometimes lower quality than I would've bought for a custom build.
Disclaimer: I'm a layperson. Pros feel free to correct.
Your concrete assumption feels right, based on what I've seen done elsewhere.
In the US at least, it's often cheaper to buy and modify prefabs than to DIY with raw mats.
Needing climate control is a much trickier beast. Tempurature fluctuations could mess you up almost as bad as just raw humidity....a minisplit heat pump might be worth considering. You'll want the whole thing sealed airtight, with a layer of insulation (one layer of the pink foam properly installed should do it). Probably want to have some sort of ventilator to insure some fresh air when you use it.
At a certain point, it might be cheaper to find some space nearby to rent.
Slightly older thread but I'd like to bump with two ideas
Visit real estate listings where they have what you want to build. You might be able to get contactor names, or at the very least ideas and visuals on how stuff looks years down the road. The agents will lie to you, obviously, but some of the information you aggregate might help you overall.
Concurrently, speak with municipal zoning people to make sure whatever you build will comply with land use and building code. Physically visit the office and you might get a guy who'd be happy to talk your ear off on how to make it happen for cheap and pass inspection first try.