Garden Rooms

What is it all about?
Do you ever have the urge to escape the daily hum-drum of the family house, wished that you had a sanctuary of your very own to escape to? Or do you just need an office space perhaps a studio for your hobby or just somewhere to relax? Well if you do garden rooms may be just the thing for you.

SMS Timber Frame not only supply and erect timber frame extensions and houses but we also supply and erect quality garden rooms. We use the same materials for our garden rooms as we would do with any other build we do so that you can be assured of high quality build which is made to last.

What do we provide?
Our basic kit consists of structural elements, floor, walls, roof and are pre insulated in a modular system with factory fixed cladding and external joinery so that the structure can easily be erected and made weather proof and secure, usually all in the same day. All components have preinstalled breather membranes, damp control membranes and the insulation is to a high standard providing a warm and comfortable space. The roof covering is a single ply EPDM rubber system with a 25 year warranty fitted by our approved installers.

Finishing works, i.e. electrics, plasterboard and skim, second fix joinery and flooring finishes can be organised by yourself or we can provide an additional quotation against an agreed specification to carry these works out for you. External finishes we can offer you a range of finishing combinations for cladding and external joinery or you can stain the cladding yourself to match existing buildings.

Our garden rooms require a foundation to sit upon which is usually in the form of concrete pads. The foundation pads can be supplied by yourself or we can supply these for you quote separately for you.

Click here to download our catalogue showing our standard designs. We are able to make small adjustments to our standard kit designs or we can also supply Garden Rooms to your own plans please submit them to get a free quotation.

For a full specification & quote please email us at info@smstimberframe.co.uk

Download our catalogue click here (pdf)

Planning permission?
You may require planning permission, but it is best advised to visit the Planning Portal website at www.planningportal.gov.uk for further information or to contact your local authority. Below is some extracts from the planning portal web site that came into effect on 1 October 2008. Outbuildings are considered to be permitted development, not needing planning permission, subject to the following limits and conditions:

• No outbuilding on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation.
• Outbuildings and garages to be single storey with maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of four metres with a dual pitched roof or three metres for any other roof.
• Maximum height of 2.5 metres in the case of a building, enclosure or container within two metres of a boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse.
• No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.
• No more than half the area of land around the "original house"* would be covered by additions or other buildings.
• In National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites the maximum area to be covered by buildings, enclosures, containers and pools more than 20 metres from house to be limited to 10 square metres.
• On designated land* buildings, enclosures, containers and pools at the side of properties will require planning permission.
• Within the curtilage of listed buildings any outbuilding will require planning permission.

*The term "original house" means the house as it was first built or as it stood on 1 July 1948 (if it was built before that date). Although you may not have built an extension to the house, a previous owner may have done so. *Designated land includes national parks and the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, conservation areas and World Heritage Sites.

Building Regulations
If you want to put up small detached buildings such as a garden shed or summerhouse in your garden, building regulations will not normally apply if the floor area of the building is less than 15 square metres and contains NO sleeping accommodation. If the floor area of the building is between 15 square metres and 30 square metres, you will not normally be required to apply for building regulations approval providing that the building contains NO sleeping accommodation and is either at least one metre from any boundary or it is constructed of substantially non-combustible materials.

Due to the high build quality of the product all our garden rooms can be constructed to comply with current building/fire regulations should this be a requirement. (A separate quotation can be provided)