I'm building a home office in the backyard. Any advice?

Hi TNL3542

TNL3542 said
im sure this is costing you a high price

I haven’t talked much about price, and I’m sure that information would be really helpful for others who are thinking about building a home office.

Price played a big part in many of the decisions we made. We changed our minds a lot of times, and in the finish chose the cheapest option that would give us what we wanted: three office rooms separate from the house.

1. Shed materials $9,990
2. Slab $3,000
3. Shed construction $1,250
4. Air conditioners 3*450 = $1,350
5. Ditch for power conduit $250
6. Electrician $2,100

The next job is to get some carpet laid. That will cost another $1,000 or so. Then we’ll get the air conditioners installed, possibly later in the year. That’s likely to be between $1-2K. And eventually we’ll also look at getting the walls and ceilings insulated and lined. We’re not in a hurry to get that done.

The total cost when “finished” will be over $20,000. That is a lot of money. The office is likely to add value to our house, but I’m not sure how much. The thing I’m most excited about is that it will make my work time more fun and productive. It will also give us more room inside the house, and free up one bedroom.

For us, the cost is worth it.

wow thats a nice little chunk of change but its looking great so far

• Shed construction / $1,250
• Ditch for power conduit / $250
• Electrician / $2,100
• Envato sticker / Priceless

DzincStudio said

• Envato sticker / Priceless

Lol. That’s beautiful.

The idea of an Envato mural on the outside wall has passed through my mind a few times. I think it would be amazing.

Awesome job!

Go for the Rain-spout into a barrel to save the water.

Maybe add a Cement Stepping Porch to keep water away from Doors.

Maybe Add a small Roof over door, so you don’t have to get wet when it rains and you are locking/unlocking the door.

It looks great! A True Man-Cave!!!

Add some landscaped plants that look nice so the wife can admire it also, maybe fome flowers.

You could do all that yourselves as a family project!

I don’t know about the weather in Australia, but here in Spain, with the materials you used, it would be very uncomfortable.

adriantry said

DzincStudio said

• Envato sticker / Priceless

Lol. That’s beautiful.

The idea of an Envato mural on the outside wall has passed through my mind a few times. I think it would be amazing.

If only there would be a way for me to fly myself over there, without making the cost of the mural about as high as that of the slab. (I’d charge nothing but the ticket anyway) Meh

What to build now that you have finished this one
Looks great Adrian, congrats !

@Graphic-Studio. I’m seriously considering capturing the water in a water tank. That would be environmentally friendly, and also to the plants that you want me to put in. Great idea! I wanted to add an awning and deck from the start, but the awning is counted as part of the structure, and the size would have made it difficult when getting council approval. Maybe later in the year. We’re already thinking of landscaping ideas. We still have a giant ditch in the middle of the yard, and now is the time to think of moving dirt around.

@Stylius. Yeah, it’s uncomfortable here in Australia, too. That’s what the air conditioners are for. (Though it may take a little while until they are installed.) We had hoped to build a wooden structure, and only changed our minds for financial reasons. Using metal costs half as much. I’ll let you know whether it ends up being uncomfortable after working there for a while.

@Contrastblack. Thanks for the offer of painting a mural. Maybe I could ship the wall over to you, and you can ship it back when you’re finished. Or maybe you can paint a big banner I can attach to the wall. Or maybe you can paint a mural on a photo of the office, and I’ll print it out and hang it on the wall.

@Bedros. That’s the question we’re asking ourselves now. We’ve renovated the bathroom and kitchen, tiled the inside of our house, and build a home office. And now we’re out of money, so the next step will be slow. Maybe some landscaping, or painting the outside of our house.

I’ve hurt my back this week, so I haven’t been able to do very much. My son is very keen to get into his room, so is making many trips to the hardware to experiment with materials for plugging the gaps between the wall and slab. He has chosen expanding foam, and has almost finished the job. We’ll try to organise carpet as soon as possible – maybe tomorrow.

Then there’s the huge job of moving all the furniture into the rooms. Then we’ll have one spare bedroom in the house, and my wife and I will move from sleeping in the second lounge room back into a real bedroom. Then we’ll turn the second lounge room back into a real lounge room. All of that should keep us busy for a month or two!

Thanks for everyone’s interest in the thread. I’ll post photos of the carpet, and then of the office complete with my furniture. And in the future I’ll add photos of the water tank, landscaping, new plants, and anything else we add to the project.

sorry that you hurt your back.. hopefully it will get better soon