One of the big decisions you need to make when buying a garden office is how much maintenance you want to commit to. Most garden offices are clad externally in timber. While timbers like Cedar, Siberian Larch and Thermowood are highly durable against rot and fungal attack, they do require maintenance to maintain their appearance.
Cedar, Siberian Larch and Thermowood exterior cladding left unprotected will weather to a silvery grey colour, making a relatively new building appear aged.
The natural colouring of these timbers can be preserved by applying UV oil as the cladding is fitted. It then needs topping up every couple of years, so you are committing to a maintenance schedule when choosing them. Paint and stain finishes would have a longer maintenance interval but are still a long term commitment.
For this reason, many garden office buyers are looking for maintenance-free cladding options, the most popular of which is composite wood.
Composite wood is a manufactured product that mixes wood fibres with resins to create a tough, highly durable board that is not susceptible to rot. Colour pigments are added to the wood fibre and resin mix, creating a coloured finish that will never need repainting.
Hargreaves Garden Space offer composite clad garden offices
Hargreaves Garden Spaces offer their customers a range of cladding choices, one of which is composite wood. This 3.5m x 2.5m garden office is a great example of this finish.
Having downsized to a smaller new build house, Hargreaves Garden Spaces client wanted to create a home office space and a place they could retreat to with a book.
Having researched their options for a while, they identified that they wanted a maintenance-free garden office. Also, because they wanted to site the office close to two boundary walls, they needed cladding suitable for inaccessible walls.
They chose to work with Hargreaves Garden Spaces as they offer composite cladding and can tailor the size and layout of their buildings for each customer.
Insulated for year-round use
This garden office will be a comfortable place to work all year round, thanks to the insulated structure and double glazing. 100mm thick foil-backed insulation is used in the ceiling, with 75mm glasswool insulation in the walls and floor.
A feature wall of glazing has been created by double glazed French doors with full height glazed panels on either side. There is also a small opening window on the side elevation.
The office has a light, modern interior thanks to the mix of a wooden floor and the plastered and decorated walls and ceiling.
Canopy detail with downlights
A 400mm deep canopy runs along the front of the building. This has been fitted with exterior grade LED downlights, which, as we can see, cast a lovely curtain of light down the front of the building.
To learn more about this project and your composite wood cladding options, chat with the Hargreaves Garden Spaces team on 07584 626 911 or send them an email: info@hgspaces.co.uk. Explore the Hargreaves Garden Spaces website to see more of their work.
