Exceptional build quality

Construction

All our garden rooms are built to exceptionally high standards, every element of each garden room we build is designed to meet and exceed current technical best practice guidelines and regulations.

Foundations

We use concreted composite posts to support our garden rooms, this system is structurally calculated using civil engineering software and is designed to support up to twice as much load than is necessary, additionally the posts are guaranteed rot proof for life.

Floor

Our floors are made of pressure treated structural strength timber and are built to the same strength regulations as UK newbuild homes, all our floors are also double insulated as standard and contain a vapour barrier to completely eliminate draughts, water vapour ingress and cold bridging (what is cold bridging?). Floor boards are structural grade, moisture resistant OSB3 sheets.

Walls

The walls of our garden rooms are a minimum of 170mm thick overall and are built of pressure treated, structural grade timber. The cladding on our garden rooms is ventilated to ensure a free flow of air which helps keep it dry and rot free. Behind the cladding is a secondary waterproof but breathable membrane so in the unlikely event that water does get through the cladding it will be stopped at this point and will simply drain away and dry via the ventilated cavity. All walls have full depth ‘within wall’ insulation as standard and the walls are then covered internally with a secondary foil insulation which also acts as a vapour barrier (what is a vapour barrier?), this vapour barrier covers the floor, walls and roof (under the floor & internal wall boards) and all joints are sealed to form a draught proof room with almost zero cold spots (what are cold spots?). The internal foiled wall is then battened out to prevent heat loss through convection (what is convection?) and finally clad in extra thick plasterboard and skimmed with plaster.

Roof

Our roofs are built in a similar way to our floors, they are built to UK building regulation strength requirements and contain two layers of insulation one of which also acts as a vapour barrier. Our roofs are ventilated (why is ventilation important?) and have a EPDM rubber roof membrane which has a 50 year life expectancy.

Windows & Doors

All our windows and doors are of a very high quality and include 28mm double glazing and insurance grade locks as standard.

Electrics

All electrical works comply with Part P (electrical safety in dwellings) of the building regulations so you know you and your family will be safe.

What is cold bridging?

Cold bridging happens where there is a gap in insulation in the external walls of a building, sometimes this is unavoidable, this can cause a cold spot on the interior of a wall where warm, moist air can condense ( a window is a typical cold spot), condensation can lead to mould problems longer term. All Snug garden rooms have a Mechanical Ventilation & Heat Recovery (MVHR) unit and two layers of insulation fitted as standard, the secondary layer of insulation in our rooms covers 100% of the floor, walls and ceiling. the secondary insulation layer and mechanical ventilation & heat recovery unit fitted in all our garden rooms prevent condensation and mould problems completely.

What is a vapour barrier?

Vapour barriers do several jobs, they are always fitted on the warm side of the wall, roof and floor (under the floor boards and plastered walls/ ceiling boards). One of the jobs of a vapour barrier is to stop the warm, moist air within a room from getting ‘into’ the wall structure where it could potentially make its way through the insulation and come into contact with the colder outer surface of the wall and condense, causing rot within the wall over along period of time.

A vapour barrier also has a secondary job of stopping draughts from getting in, research indicates that up to 40% of the heat within a building is lost through draughts. The vapour barriers in Snug garden rooms form a continuous envelope which goes under the floor, up the walls and across the ceiling, this is a continuous layer which is very thoroughly sealed. This produces a very comfortable draught proof room which is cheap to heat and very eco friendly.

What are cold spots?

Cold spots are cold areas on an interior wall caused by cold bridging. Please see cold bridging info above.

What is conduction?

Heat travels by either conduction, convection, or radiation. Snug garden rooms have two different layers of insulation which helps prevent heat loss by all three types of heat transfer.

Our secondary insulation (foil) goes under the floor, up the walls and across the ceiling (under the plastered wall/ ceiling boards) and acts by reflecting radiant heat back into the room. We are all aware of the silver foil emergency blankets that ambulance crews use to keep patients warm, these work on exactly the same principle as our secondary foil insulation. It is however very important to maintain an air gap in front of the foil insulation for it to work correctly, this is a small but VERY important detail that many companies overlook.

Why is ventilation important?

Ventilation is very important in buildings. Air circulation helps things dry out and moisture is the enemy of buildings as it can cause mould and rot (often in unseen places).

At Snug we take a lot of time to design and build our garden rooms to have ventilation in all the right places. The rear of all our cladding is fully ventilated, as is the roof, finally the interior of all our rooms have MVHR system fitted as standard, this ventilates the room in a very cost effective and eco friendly way and ensure that humidity levels stay at the correct level, preventing condensation and mould.

Request a Brochure

Our garden room brochure has been tailored for you. We’ve included everything you need to know about our beautiful garden rooms. You’ll also find examples of popular designs along with details of our premium upgrades. All for you to go through at your own, convenient time.