Avoid Queuing for the Bathroom Next Christmas
Published: 27 December 2023
Reading Time: 2 minutes 15 seconds
Looking at our readership statistics for the festive weekend, we see a noticeable trend in people exploring the option of building a garden room that contains a cloakroom or bathroom. It seems that with the arrival of relatives and friends, many are looking for ways to add extra facilities to their house.
Not All Garden Rooms Can Accommodate a Bathroom
While exploring options, you'll discover that not all garden room providers can incorporate a bathroom into their buildings, and those that do, take different approaches. It's crucial to understand these differences before choosing a company to work with.
Some garden room companies will install partition walls for your bathroom, leaving the plumbing, shower room fitting, and connections to mains services for you to organise with a local plumber. Others will fit the sanitaryware after adding partition walls but require you to arrange the groundwork and final mains connections with a separate plumbing contractor. Then, there are companies that will completely install the bathroom, including all connections, providing you with ready-to-use facilities. These companies often refer to offering a turnkey service.
Finding designers who can incorporate a bathroom into a garden room
We've recently developed a new tool to aid garden room buyers in finding designers capable of building you a garden room with all your desired features, including the option of a cloakroom or shower room. Start your search here.
Additionally, our extensive archive features articles about garden room projects incorporating cloakrooms or shower rooms which will show you what is possible with these versatile garden buildings.
Garden Room Bathrooms need to comply with Building Regulations
Adding a cloakroom or bathroom to a garden room must comply with current Building Regulations and receive sign-off from the local Building Control department. Many garden room companies prefer not to engage in this aspect of the project, which explains why some either do not offer bathroom installation or only construct the partition walls for the room, leaving the installation of sanitaryware and mains service connections to the client.
The most significant costs in incorporating a bathroom into a garden room project often stem from groundwork and connections to mains services. If your chosen company doesn't include these services in their quote, ensure you get detailed cost estimates for these aspects from another company before committing to the building, to avoid unexpected expenses.
Off-Grid Toilet Options for Garden Rooms
For those looking to bypass extensive groundwork, off-grid toilet options are available for garden rooms. In a previous article, we have explored the eco toilet options for garden rooms. We found that there are some modern, easy-to-use systems that offer a cost-effective solution for adding an extra toilet. The article includes details of the popular eco-toilet systems, which can also be retrofitted in an existing garden room building, as well as installed in new ones.
Don’t forget garden rooms used as guest bedrooms need to comply with Building Regulations
Using a garden room as a guest bedroom during family gatherings is appealing, but it must meet Building Regulations. Most garden rooms sold annually don't meet these standards for sleeping accommodation.
To comply, a garden room must be constructed mainly from non-combustible materials. Many bespoke garden room designers can modify their buildings to include these materials. Additionally, consider companies specialising in garden living annexes, as these structures are designed to comply with Building Regulations.
