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Home Gamesroom... Wood or Brick?

Paul

Paul

Staff member
10 Years
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
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Location
South Wales
My plans for Gamesroom V3.0 were put on the backburner earlier in the year due to a screwup when re-mortgaging (Principality deciding with 48 hours to go that they didnt like the £7pcm "ground rent" on a remortgage.... Watch out for that one everyone!).
This meant that the funds for what was going to be a circa £6k "shed" (Plus insulation etc) have gone on short term hold.

So i was thinking... Rather than having a wooden shed, i could go for something a lot more hardy and perminent, and look at a brick build. Could be built bit by bit, as funds become available. No massive rush.
Because of the size (right smack on 30sq m internal size) wether it's wooden or brick is inconsequential - both fall under permitted development as far as i can see... The difference would be that it would hopefully be a lot more hardy.

Whilst i'm getting on a bit, Ive built two very large retaining walls over the last 12 months... so IMO it wouldnt be insurmoutable.

Anyone had any experience of doing this themselves? Anything to know ?? Any thoughts/suggestions?? (Am seriously mulling this over - with the costs of Timber where they currently are, and blocks not having gone up as much...)
The other things is, being on the side of a hill, it would be more resillient to the wind and crappy weather we get here...

Cheers
 
Yeah, brick would be advantageous on every level except cost I would have thought!

Most people use wood because it’s cheaper and quicker to construct.

If you can do it yourself and you are not in a rush, I would think brick is a much better option.
 
Brick if you can do it, timber just rots out this way if it’s not maintained well unless it’s grade ‘A’ teak😂
Then you will have a proper outbuilding and not a shed😎
 
I think you should consider all options in terms of cost / utility and value added to your house. Effectively you are looking at something the size of a small double garage (30 sq.m 5.5m x 5.5m).

Whilst you may not need planning for under 30 sq.m you will still have to follow building regulations and get necessary building control approvals. I have always felt permitted development rights are a bit of a red herring because the planning permission process doesn't have to be that costly and permitted development has other conditions, not just the size, so you may be more constrained in what you can do. And cost of getting planning permission for 30 sq.m. isn't large in comparison to build costs.

Of course, brick would be more durable and higher cost but may not add significant value - it's just a house the same as the rest in the street with a big outbuilding in the garden, that may be of use to some, but not all. To most it would be marginally less use and hence less value than a small double garage.

An extension to your house may cost even more but more likely to add value to the property and be more comfortable and convenient as a games room, more efficient to heat etc. And given you may spend significant amounts on insulation and electrics and ongoing heating / dehumidification for a shed / outbuilding anyway the overall extra cost of liveable space may not be as significant step up.

It sounds like you may have a very challenging plot too, which could add significantly to costs.

Lots to think about.
 
assume you mean log cabin rather than the crap dubstep sheds that a lot of folks use?

I wonder how all the log cabins in scandinavia, Switzerland ever last! Or the millions of homes in the USA all made of wood!

wood will last over 50 years if you take care of it, it’s much cheaper, has significantly better insulation level, doesn’t generate dust or pollutants. It’s also far better at retaining and reflecting noise pollution also

for sure it needs a little bit more maintenance every 5-10 years but funnily enough most brick buildings need some element of maintenance also. As for value - I had three estate agents price the value of the “shed“ I built for insurance purposes all of them added atleast £100k to the value of the property (and that was before covid!).

cheers,
Neil.
 
I'm a bricklayer myself paul so I would always say brickwork but as others say it all comes down to cost,a lot of time and money can be spent on getting it out the ground so do a wee bit of pricing of materials as at this moment I'm only getting 30 days on materials I price as the cost keeps on changing.
 
Unless you have lived in this area you will not believe the amount of rain and high humidity that goes with it, it seems never ending.

You will need some high quality timber and good maintenance for it to last, lived here over 20 years and my brick rendered outbuilding has stood since the 50’s or 60’s and got a new roof in about 1990 as it was timber but that’s what can happen around here. The rest has been untouched and I have not even painted it in the 22 years I have lived here.

It will either rust or rot out here for sure, my poor vans☹️

My rental 3 doors away has a quality timber garage but with block work low down that was built by the previous owner about 10 years ago and can see its not holding up anywhere near as good as my sons blockwork outbuilding next door.

Note the rotten timber on my outbuilding, the lean to bit lol That used to be the boys & girls playground toilets 😂

So build a brick one and never worry about it falling to bits as it will last forever for many others to enjoy or build a wooden log cabin but make sure you plant some pampas grass🤣

But seriously, just build whatever you are comfortable with😎
 

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My rental‘s timber garage on left and my sons block outbuilding on the right that was built by the previous owner who was a builder. The large block wall was part of a bird house my son took down, about time he took that wall down.
Another misty day with humidity in the 90’s.
 

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I built a double garage at the end of my garden which is now the games room about 23 years ago, all in brick with cavity walls and a tiled roof, running water to make a cup of tea and wash up.
Thank God! I didn’t use wood, no treating the outside for all those years.
The best part of it still looks as good as when it was built. I later added walls and gates to the boundary.

Do it slowly when founds are available, you won’t regret it then.
 

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Asiapinball said:
Whilst you may not need planning for under 30 sq.m you will still have to follow building regulations and get necessary building control approvals.
Click to expand...
As far as i can see, whatever construction material, if it's under 30sqm it doesnt need building control... be it Brick, wood etc...

Happy to be corrected if i've missed something - It's not about being right here, it's about doing it right!! :)
 
Paul said:
As far as i can see, whatever construction material, if it's under 30sqm it doesnt need building control... be it Brick, wood etc...

Happy to be corrected if i've missed something - It's not about being right here, it's about doing it right!! :)
Click to expand...
Digging footings and then having a damp course, I’m sure building Regs will be needed. Planning permission is not necessary.
Unless things have changed ?
 
I am fairly sure building regulations don’t apply, as it’s an outbuilding and not a living dwelling.

It’s the same as building a shed and doesn’t change because it’s brick.
 
Sorry was sloppy in my wording. As you say; no building control provided that you meet all the requirements set out definitively here:

Is building regulations approval needed for an outbuilding? - Outbuildings - Planning Portal

Details of the planning permission and building regulation regimes for Outbuildings in England
www.planningportal.co.uk www.planningportal.co.uk

But you will still need to ensure you get necessary approvals / certificates for anything that is is still covered by building regulations in particular Part P certificates for electrics.

As you say it is about doing it right and if you are going to the trouble of building a well insulated, heated and well functioning brick outbuilding you will be complying with all the regulations anyway (which led to my comment that you should consider an extension to your house instead which may add more value than an outbuilding of similar specification.

Paul
 
I guess it depends on the type of brick. Being in London, to keep things looking nice, we use London stock bricks. My extension has just been built with stocks. My mate who is a builder says he just had to pay £3.83 per brick. Mental costs now.
 
Tucks said:
I guess it depends on the type of brick. Being in London, to keep things looking nice, we use London stock bricks. My extension has just been built with stocks. My mate who is a builder says he just had to pay £3.83 per brick. Mental costs now.
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mine was £1 brick and builder said that was expensive lol, £3.84 is INSANE
 
russdx1 said:
mine was £1 brick and builder said that was expensive lol, £3.84 is INSANE
Click to expand...
Exactly what a builder said to me last week quoting for our garage conversion, the local supplier had gone up to £1 which he said was madness
 
I had a load of bricks off someone on Facebook Marketplace last year for free. He'd knocked an outbuilding down and just wanted rid of them. Obviously it was a bit of work to collect them all and some needed a bit of cleanup, but free is free. Also had a load of roof tiles off someone else for free off there too. You could conceivably build this thing for free.
 
Paul said:
As far as i can see, whatever construction material, if it's under 30sqm it doesnt need building control... be it Brick, wood etc...

Happy to be corrected if i've missed something - It's not about being right here, it's about doing it right!! :)
Click to expand...

Yes, but still have to get electrics Part P certified Paul. I found this out when neighbour notified building control to inspect.

Make sure you're within height (2.5 metres from memory at apex) and distancing from other buildings and boundaries too, although think the allowance is generous if non-combustible. Block with cement render was cheaper than brick when I did it.
 
JMP said:
Yes, but still have to get electrics Part P certified Paul. I found this out when neighbour notified building control to inspect.

Make sure you're within height (2.5 metres from memory at apex) and distancing from other buildings and boundaries too, although think the allowance is generous if non-combustible. Block with cement render was cheaper than brick when I did it.
Click to expand...
Neighbour can signoff and test, so all good there :)

The others i'm aware of (having done this with wooden structures before).

To me, the rest have to be done either way... Wiring to Part P, Insulation (though in this case the insulation would be in a cavity as opposed to be put up internally and then Boarded/Plasterboarded)

I was thinking about a standard build of Block-cavity-Block with 100mm insulation in the cavity - either rendered or clad... (or something like that!)

I might even be more than 2m away from the boundary... so may be able to go up to 3m!
 
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If two lines of block/brick with 100mm cavity you may reduce internal space a fair bit and increase costs...? Just for info, I had 100 mm block and internal timber frame for plasterboard, 50-60 mm off block wall with mineral wool cavity batts but thicker insulation in the roof. Seemed warm enough with double glazed doors and windows and kept cost down.... up to you though :)
 
@Paul

You seem to be wanting to go down the permitted development route, why not investigate planning permission? When I built my games room I HAD to go down the planning route, it really was no trouble whatsoever, benefit was the finished build was exactly what I wanted, well, pretty much... The 'architect' suggested applying for an eaves height slightly higher than I wanted, consequently the ridge was also higher, the reason was if someone was to complain then the height could be reduced and and all parties would be happy, as it turned out there were no objections. So finished build was even better than my original vision.

The planning incurred some costs, but it really was pretty much zero hassle.

Chris,
 
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