We have put this FAQ list together in the order in which one of our cabin projects is designed, manufactured, and handed over to you.
If you have further questions please call us on;
01275 406144 or email us – or click on the handy ‘contact us’ pop-up email form on the bottom right of this page.
BUDGET
All of our projects start with a visit from us. One of the first questions will be about your budget. Without this we cannot start the design that is individual to you.
No, we do not charge for site surveys and our first discussions and visit with you. We then take away the information we gathered in our survey and chat and plan out a budget estimate to discuss with you. Once agreed by you we we use this as a guide to ensure our bespoke design for your cabin is within the budget estimate agreed (unless you request extras or increase the size and material specification after this budget estimate is agreed – we go into this more in other FAQs]
As a general guide we would suggest you budget £2,000 to £2,800 per square metre [sqm]. For example a 4m x 3m cabin may cost between £24,000 and £33,600.
There are many factors that effect the sqm budget for our cabins. The main ones are [we cover some of these factors in other FAQ’s];
This is not an exhaustive list but covers the main budget and price factors.
Budget estimate – this is the target ‘all-in’ cost we will have agreed with you before we start the design process. You may want to change some details of the design, materials and finishes when working with us on the individual design once this budget is agreed. This could change the overall budget, up or down.
Price – this is the price we will quote you and the price you will pay in total for your cabin once the design process is complete and the full construction specification has been agreed with you. This will include UK VAT at the applicable rate at the time of our quotation of the price to you.
Yes. Our service is what is called ‘turn-key’. This means our price includes everything to the point we hand you the keys to your new cabin. We always include all pricing elements needed; design [and local planning applications and building control if needed], manufacture foundations, power and data connection, delivery and anything else specific to your cabin or garden room.
When we are working with you on the budget, before we start the design process, we give you a breakdown of budget costs.
This includes everything including optional extras that we have discussed that you may want us to complete with the project. Material finish option can also be included in the price quotation. Your final choice of finishes can effect the price a lot – we will guide you through these selections.
DESIGN
Every cabin we design is individual to the owner. We have an open design process and like getting you involved in the design process.
There are many rules in the UK that apply to the location, size, use and construction of ‘outbuildings’.
The main questions that affect whether you will need planning are;
In most cases planning permission will not be required if the design fits within ‘permitted development‘ rules;
There are a few more conditions that may affect your need for planning permission. We can discuss these in detail with you and check any Local Planning Authority [LPA] requirements that may need to be met for your intended cabin design, location and use.
In some circumstances your new cabin will need to meet with local building regulations as well. We cover this topic in another Design FAQ.
Like Local Planning Applications this depends on the size, location and what you intend to use your cabin for.
If the cabin is within 1m of your garden boundary i.e. next to a neighbours building, fence or hedge line, then a couple of rules apply;
Cabinmakers will check if a Building Notice and inspection by your local Building Inspector is required and indicate these costs in our budget and pricing.
Yes! This is your cabin so we ask you to share your ideas and things that inspire you that you may want to have included in the design layout or in the materials that are used to make your cabin.
All of our cabins and garden rooms are bespoke and designed in consultation with you and fit with your location, land and needs.
Yes you can. You will, however, need to meet local building regulations if you want water. This is because you will create waste water that potentially feeds back into the local water authority waste water system.
In principle this means we would need to arrange and inspection with your local authority to get a building inspector to sign off on the water installation. This is usually straight forward.
Certain use and services additions to your cabin design will require building regulation codes to be followed and certified by your local building inspector. Building regulation are about how your outbuilding will be designed, constructed and insulated. We always check local regulations as these may vary depending on your location and intended use.
You will not normally require building regulations approval if your cabin is less than 15sqm and you do not intend to sleep in it.
For larger cabins, 15sqm up to 30sqm, you do not not normally have to apply building regulations. Planning Portal states the following;
“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 substantially of non-combustible materials.” Planningportal.co.uk
This means if you want to avoid building regulations approval then large cabins should be built more than 1m from your property boundary. They may also require planning permission if built close to your boundary. Take a look at our Design FAQ section for further details on planning permission.
In most circumstances mobile homes and static caravans do not planning permission or building control. We would advise getting a Lawful Development Certificate [LDC] from your local planning authority, depending on how you intend to use the unit.
We prepare all of the drawings required and work with a specialist to submit the LDC application on your behalf. It can take up to 8 to 10 weeks to receive an approval [or rejection] letter via your local planning authority, and some local councils are now taking longer than 16 weeks for this (or full planning applications) to go through the system.
Once a positive approval letter is received this gives a guarantee the mobile home / static caravan cannot be challenged by your neighbours as they will have been given the notice to comment through the application process.
Important note – An LDC does not give the right to the homeowner to have a full time tenant living in the unit, this would require full planning permission.
MATERIALS
The materials we use for our projects and some of things to consider when thinking about what you want included in your design.
The most common material type in our cabins is timber and wood panels of various types. The price for timber varies on the species and where it is sourced (the source could be the UK or another country). Timber price also varies depending on its certification status.
We only use FSC or PEFC timber products.
Most UK and European sourced timber materials are sustainably sourced in this way and are the standard for material price. You can get cheap (usually South East Asia sourced or China) timber products. We don’t use these as their traceability is nearly impossible to verify.
Metals (the other core material) are considered for price impact in the same way. For instance, brass is more expensive than copper, and coated steel (painted in some way) is pricier than zinc plated steel.
We talk you through the material options and budget impacts at the earliest stages of your project and guide you on what materials and finishes are achievable within your budget.
Our price includes all of the materials to make and construct our structures at your property. We do know that you may have some contacts for materials, finishes and fixtures – things like flooring, light fittings – that you may want to use. We can discuss if it is better for us to buy as we may be able to negotiate a trade discount for you.
We are flexible on this but materials, fixtures and fittings not supplied by us cannot be guaranteed by Cabinmakers.
We aim to source the bulk of our materials from local suppliers. Local for us mean within a 50-mile radius of Backwell, North Somerset.
These suppliers may get their materials from further afield in the UK, or from the EU and North America. We always check what the source of the material is as we want to limit the negative impacts of our construction materials on the environment.
We support local sources as this is good for society and the local economy.
The longevity of the materials we use is always considered. The longer they last in our damp British climate the better.
As a general principle we favour natural materials that require some maintenance over time. This may be as little as a wash down now and again or a yearly natural oil. We will give you a ‘user manual’ that explains how to care for your cabin to make it last.
For the manmade materials like metals and water barrier films we will let you know the manufacturers lifespan.
You can request to have these for personal projects or we keep them and reuse them for making furniture and other smaller structures.
ENVIRONMENT
Being light on the land and life is central to our design and making.
One of our core design principles is to design for ‘circularity’. This means that we make sure the way we design our cabins and structures ensure they can be maintained, reused (or repurposed) and at the end of their life, the construction materials recycled.
To aid this circularity we do not permanently fix dislike materials together in a way that makes them impossible to separate. When you can’t separate materials they can only usually be disposed of in landfill or by burning (for energy recovery).
We only use FSC or PEFC timber products. This means that all of the timber is sustainably sourced. We always favour timber from the UK or Europe. This reduces transport and shipping miles, so reduces the carbon emissions associated with long distance material deliveries.
Due to our climate (rainy and damp!) we have to use some materials that are treated to last many years in the UK. These treatments or surface finishes have chemicals in then that inevitably impact the environment. An example would be what’s called C16 or C24 treated timber – this is often used for sub-flooring and wooden joists in walls and decking. This contains some chemicals approved by UK law and British Standards but mean they have to be responsibly recycled by an approved waste handler. They cannot be composted, mulched or otherwise left to return to the soil.
Some timbers are naturally durable and do not need a treatment. We favour these in our designs.
Metals are also recyclable. For instance, 89% of all copper ever mined and produced is still being used. Copper is 100% recyclable, and can be used again and again.
This is a complex and detailed subject and we are happy to discuss this more at the early stages of your cabin project.
We will make sure we lay down a removable walkway if we have to move our construction materials across your lawn or easily damaged pathways. These will be removed or moved frequently enough during your cabin build phase so your grass and plants do not die.
No, we avoid the use of concrete. This may sound like we will use it but we would only use concrete in essential circumstances. This could be where it’s use is the only way to secure the cabin – for example, this would be small concrete pads onto which our supporting framework needed to be mounted on steeply sloping land.
We normally use screw piles wherever possible. These are metal (0.7m to 2m long) that are screwed into the ground. These are good for minimising the damage to the soil, trees and plants.
Every site is different and we will discuss the foundation options and requirements at an early stage.
We keep things simple as a design principle. This means the interior of your cabin would have repairable surfaces. Electrics for lighting, data and power would be surface mounted so you can changed the layout in the future (trust us, this does happen – for instance when the kids leave home, you may want to rethink how you use your cabin).
We design so all materials in our cabins can be separated. This is for two reasons;
As a general principle we design to minimise waste. We prefer to call waste ‘off-cuts’ and ‘left-over materials’. This way we are better placed to reuse them.
What little true waste (the stuff that cannot be reused or recycled) will be collected by a licenced waste carrier (we do check their credentials and licence) and, as we live in the UK, they have to dispose of all waste responsibly.
DELIVERY
A few things to note before we deliver our cabin or garden room to you.
As a general rule we design our structures to be delivered by van or smaller trucks. We want to minimise our carbon emissions and this is one one for us to do that.
Another benefit of this approach is we can design the construction parts to be easily carried onto properties with difficult or narrow access.
When we send a quote for your new cabin we will also give you a schedule of key dates. These dates will indicate when we need access to your property or driveway to deliver.
Depending on the design this may be a few deliveries over a number of days.
We will always confirm deliveries with you and be respectful that we are working on your land and keep noise and disturbance to a minimum.
INSTALLATION
Installation is the process of us coming to your property and building your cabin. There are a few things to note below as we may need to visit your property at different times.
That depends on the design and the location on your land. The factors that affect the installation duration are;
Having said all of this, we would advise that we will need access to your garden for between a week and three weeks depending on the size and design of your cabin.
We can work with your local electrician if you have a contact you prefer or we can work with our contacts or we can discuss what electrical and data requirements are needed and you can work with your chosen local electrician to get power cables installed before we arrive to build your cabin. This may be cheaper for you.
When we survey your garden or land we will check where and how the power and data cable (if required) need to be installed. This requires a connection to your main fuse box (consumer unit) and may require some drilling through walls and conduit on the outside of your house before the (armoured – rodent & water proof) power cable and outdoor shielded CAT6 data cable can be buried (60cm below soil) or clipped to existing garden perimeter structures.
In most cases these are put in (we prefer screw piles) a week or more before we deliver and install your cabin.
We would contact you with plenty of notice and if these foundation are being installed by a certified third party contractor we will be there to supervise and approve their work.
We will discus with you the duration and any environmental factors that we think you should be aware of, like noisy use of power tools, hammering etc. We will avoid works that interrupt your day or home needs wherever possible.
We will keep the construction site safe and clean. We do ask you not to go onto or into unfinished structures and keep any children away from the construction site. We are SCS (site safety) approved so will follow the best guidelines for you and your family safety.
We are happy to offer our cabin making service within an hours drive of Backwell, our North Somerset home.
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UK Company Number: 13952708
Telephone: 01275 406 144
Email: hello@cabinmakers.co.uk
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Workshop address:
Unit 4, Grove Farm
West Town
Backwell
North Somerset
BS48 3BD
