The Office

This is my new home office.

I thought I'd share the story with you of how it came to be for several reasons...

1. I'm extremely proud of it! In fact I feel like a new parent, it makes me smile every time I look at it :-)
2. I should have done it years ago. For the last couple of years when working at home I've either worked in the kitchen, sitting at the dining table which is 99.999% of the time piled high with 'stuff', or else I've worked in the conservatory, which with the general weather in Burscough for 11.75 months of the year, has the rain/hail battering down on to the plastic roof and has singularly resulted in my considerable loss of hearing, my reduced sanity, and many abandoned conference calls.
3. Ok... I may have been a little obsessed with this project for the last month... perhaps
   
4. Everyone thinks I'm mad... and this is why...

Yep! It's a shed.

I took delivery of the new shed and immediately started by putting 2x2 runners on the floor. This was to allow for insulating and 'floating' the floor for comfort, stability and warmth.

Next I laid rockwool insulation on the floor, I just happened to have a few rolls spare in the loft.

When the floor was done I had to use the floor boarding temporarily to allow me to insulate the walls. Seems a little back to front but the purpose for doing it this way was to be able to lay a single vapour barrier covering the floor in one piece and halfway up the walls.

With the walls mostly done, it was time to lay the polythene vapour/moisture barrier. This allows the shed and insulation to breath on the 'cold side' and prevents any moisture from seeping inwards to the inner lining. I can't tell you how hot this particular job was!

Now I could lay the floor properly and this would be helpful for the rest of the fit out. The boards are 12mm ply wood, glued and screwed to the battens I laid at the start.

Insulating the ceiling was by far the toughest job. Again, I ideally wanted a single membrane which would drape down the walls and meet the opposite sheet coming up from the floor. For the sake of fastening it all up, I had to work across the roof struts rather than in between and then overlay the polythene as I did each piece.

Once that was done it became a lot less taxing and a little cooler.

Katie helped me with the plasterboard on the ceiling, she held the pieces in place whilst I hammered them into place.

I added extra 'glazing'. With some 3mm plastic sheeting. Sealed the existing windows on both sides, and the new glazing with silicone and then put in a frame to make it all neat.

Linda kindly kept me fed and watered throughout!

During the plaster boarding, it became apparent that nothing was exactly straight. Ok... it's a shed after all! At this point, I ceased to be a perfectionist.

The plasterboard was sealed with caulk and the flooring and windows etc sealed with silicone to allow for any movement.


I put the wiring in before boarding out, taking careful note about the path of the cables.

The opening window had a slight leak so I fitted a weather board over it and sealed it with silicone. That fixed it. I also fitted a deadlock before boarding the inside of the door, which I did with 6mm ply wood rather than plasterboard.

The finishing touches to the door, floor and windows was some architrave. I did this for aesthetic purposes so that it looked better and so that no plasterboard edges were visible at all.

For added security, I put steel lugs in the hinge side of the door/frame and a window lock.

When all of that was finished it was time to paint. Linda suggested some 'Light Space' paint which reflects twice as much light as normal paint. It works!


The dark blue finishes it all off nicely.

Next was somewhere to work. I looked at desks and my major concern was the legs. In such a tight space, I needed a work surface with no legs in the way and I wanted make the most of the available space. I built a frame out of 2x2 timber and braced it in the corner. The wood was fastened right through the plasterboard in to the 3x2 timbers of the shed itself.
I used 18mm MDF sheets as the desktop, fastened together with dowels and screwed to the batons from above and the brackets from underneath. The result is a very strong desk :-)

I took the edges off all around and sanded the joint down to ensure an even work surface. I used a primer and 'Paint and Grain' to finish the look. 3 coats of satin varnish ensured a permanent finish for me. Finally, I cut 80mm holes in the desktop and fitted cabling grommets and an under desk cable tray to keep it all safe and tidy.

Finally... the electrician came and terminated my electrical work to ensure that it is all safe and sound. Katie and I found a blind in the sale at Focus, the carpet tiles are down, I've got some plants, a DAB radio, a mains fed wireless doorbell extension, a mains fed Ethernet network extension, a bluetooth speakerphone, an oil filled radiator on a thermostat and timer, some family pictures, a coffee and my sandwich.... what more could I need?


Home Sweet Home :-)