Garden Rooms Edinburgh: who are the best manufacturers?

Who we’ll review in this blog…
1. UrbanPods 2. Outside In Garden Rooms 3. Scottish Garden Rooms 4. Premium Garden Rooms Scotland 5. PanelTech Garden Rooms

Hello Edinburgh!

Great to see you again. Looking stunning as always – so tell me, what is it you’re looking for in a Garden Room?

Is it a strong, dependable, warm and attentive Garden Room?

Or are we thinking more… Convenience, readily available and a fast turnaround Garden Room?

Either way, this review of the best Garden Rooms in Edinburgh will help you make the best buying decision for you! 

I am NattyShedGirl and I’ve been making Timber Buildings for over 20 years – I run an exceptionally good-looking Shed Co. founded by my father and uncle back in the 80s and the wealth of knowledge I have is wasted – all alone in my wee heed.

So here we are, I will bestow to you an unnerving level of expertise explained in a clear and simple format all to do with what Garden Room companies in Edinburgh have to offer. 

The rules of the garden room review

Like with all my reviews there are RULES. 

Rule 1: We will take one size of Garden Room and compare; Specifications, Price and Customer Service.

Rule 2: We do NOT include G&M (my Co.) in this review article. If you want to know about my Garden Rooms – visit my website.

Rule 3: This review is specific to what Garden Room Companies in Edinburgh have to offer and requires complete transparency/impartiality.

Rule 4: This is desktop research. It’s unlikely that I’ve seen these buildings up front and personal. However, based on the information that’s readily available to ANYONE surfing the net, I will help decipher the jargon, specification spiel and service censoring…

So let’s get straight to it, shall we? 

• Related content: The best garden rooms in Scotland

What Edinburgh garden rooms are we reviewing?

• UrbanPods 
• Outside In Garden Rooms 
• Scottish Garden Rooms 
• Premium Garden Rooms – Scotland 
• PanelTech Garden Rooms 

We’re looking specifically at a garden room size of 12m2 which is typically 4m x 3m. This is an ideal size for a Garden; Office, Gym or Sunroom. 

We want the Garden Room built for us, in Edinburgh. Whether that’s in sections in a workshop or entirely done onsite, we don’t want to build any of it.   We’re not interested in things like flatpack interlocking log buildings which are typically mass-produced in Southern Europe and unlikely to withstand the Scottish Climate. 

We want to know the exact specification used to build the Garden Room we’re getting for the money we’re spending. 

And lastly, we need confidence in our buying decision and that the Garden Room company will look after us properly and to what level of services do they offer? 

Let’s gooooo…

Urban Pods 

Looking at the Medio 15m2 from £21,384.00 Inc VAT – March 2023

(NB: £480 Increase since Dec 2022) 

Urban Pods are based in Livingston and definitely serve the Edinburgh area. 

What’s included: 

• GroundScrew Base 
• Internal Decorating
• 3 Double Sockets 
• 4 Internal Lights
• 2 External Lights 
• Composite Decking 
• Karndean Flooring
• Infrared Heating

Garden Room Specification: 

Urban Pods have this beautiful cross-section to help explain the specification visually. This is great, however when trying to compare with the other companies we’re falling short in detail. 

I believe that Ross is telling the truth when he talks about “New Build House” equivalent specification because that’s what I say and I can see it’s a very similar construction to building control compliance. However, It would be nice to know the insulation thickness, the framing grade and the name of the materials used in each layer. 

Urban Pods use Siberian Larch cladding. Given its origin, Siberian Larch is becoming highly restricted, so we should be interested to know what alternatives Urban Pods are considering in our current political climate. 

Service: 

Urban Pods Include the Ground Screw Base – There’s no information on the variance in pricing for Ground Screws and your existing lay of the land will have an effect on the price. 

Urban Pods Include the Electrics – Again no information on the variance and given electrical pricing is 70% to do with the mains hook up, in terms of where they take the power from; how far away it is from the Garden Room and how difficult it is to access, will have an effect on the price.  

The reviews Urban Pods have are as expected – top-notch. These guys produce an exceptional build with a high level of service. The Google and Facebook Reviews speak for themselves (once you get over the Earpod confusion). Customers are overjoyed with the whole experience and clearly well looked after. 

Urban Pods are, however, not the right fit for everyone and it is commendable to see Ross acknowledge this in what he can offer and what is classed as not suitable in terms of; site location, planning permission, customer preference. I reckon this is where the above Qs about groundscrews and electrics would come into play. 

Outside In Garden Rooms 

Looking at Outside In’s 4.2m x 3m Uno Garden Room from £24,995.00 Inc VAT March 2023

(NB: £1,001.00 Increase since Dec 2022) 

Outside In Garden Rooms are based in Edinburgh and have Garden Rooms available to view at Klondyke Garden Centres.

What’s included: 

• Ground Screws Included  
• Electrics (not hook up) Included
• Quickstep Laminate Flooring 
• Rubber Roofing 
• uPVC Double Glazed Doors/Windows – Secure Locking
• Delivery and Assembly within the Edinburgh Area 

Garden Room Specification: 

ROOFING – EPDM single-piece rubber membrane

ELECTRICS – Internal LED spotlights, plug, sockets and external lights.

INSULATION – 70mm Ridgid 

CLADDING – Vertical Thermowood Cladding

FOUNDATIONS – Ground Screws

GLAZING – Upvc double-glazed windows and doors 

FLOORING – Quick Step Laminate 

DECOR – White Paint Internally  

DECKING – 0.6m deck to the front

A couple of things I’ve not been able to find (although I thought I had when I reviewed these ladies before…) Is the wall makeup. We want to be sure there’s proper layering going on and that the clad has a breather cavity so it doesn’t penetrate moisture to the internal. Like what Urban Pods showed us earlier. 

Outside In Garden Rooms do address the Siberian Larch issue though, which is great. They’re opting for Thermowood as the alternative. The jury is still out on this cladding. 

We’re a very niche climate here in Scotland, specifically because of the spiking temperatures. Wood contracts and the type of timber you want for the Garden Room cladding need to be flexible enough to accommodate the huge amount of rain we get along with the plummeting overnight temperatures vs the high midday temperatures across all seasons.  

Thermowood has only recently become popular, so it’s unknown how it will withstand in terms of longevity against the Scottish Climate. Time will tell. 

Service: 

Outside In Garden Rooms do not include hook-up for their electrics and I believe this is the better way to do it as there are so many unknowns and nothing worse than expecting a price and it being completely different after a site visit. 

Outside In Garden Rooms is run by 2 remarkable ladies and they have done such a  beautiful job here – there’s a lot of emphasis on family beginnings, sustainability and eco-friendly techniques. Their reviews are prolific and current which is a reassuring sight for any prospective customer. Wendy takes the time to reply and knows each reviewee –  All of the other Garden Room Companies in Edinburgh could do with some attention to their own – including me!

• Related content: Log cabins vs garden rooms: what is the difference?

Scottish Garden Rooms

Scottish Garden Rooms Ashmere design 4m x 3m from £17,018.00 Inc VAT March 2023

(NB: £429.00 LESS than December 2022) 

Scottish Garden Rooms are based in Edinburgh and will deliver within a 70 mile radius (POA thereafter). 

Scottish Garden Rooms are our first Composite Garden Room Manufacturer in this review. This means they do not use Timber Cladding. Instead they opt for a composite. Composite is a relatively new type of material and is better explained in WorthAView’s Article HERE. It’s basically a mixture of wood particles with other materials such as concrete, plastic and/or resin. 

What’s Included: 

• Fully Insulated Walls 
• EPDM Rubber Roof 
• Upvc windows, doors, fascia and soffit boards
• Subfloor
• One pre-routed electrical socket, spotlights, wiring and fuse box. 

Garden room specification: 

As mentioned, Scottish Garden Rooms use Composite Cladding which is the entirety of the build. I’m unsure of the thickness, however, it looks roughly 20mm clad and possibly 70mm Insulation. This composite material is used for the posts that hold the wall panels together.

There’s not really much to it in terms of specification because the walls are as one, and from the construction video, so is the roof – there’s no breather cavity, no membrane and I’m not entirely sure how the cladding holds up against the moisture if it’s 55% part timber.

Service: 

There’s no finished floor as standard, but it is available as an optional extra. 

They do offer a groundworks service, which they quote for separately. They opt for reinforced concrete posts that attach to a timber SubFrame. This is like a  Ground Screw Base except you didn’t buy the screws you bought concrete bricks instead.  

There are Electrics included in the price, however, the hook-up is priced separately. 

The reviews for Scottish Garden Rooms are current but not many and the functionality isn’t permitted on their Facebook Page. The reviews that are there are lovely and given the specification in comparison to Urban Pods and Outside In Garden Rooms it’s really good to see an alternative do well. 

Premium Garden Rooms – Scotland 

So these guys are new to me. I’ve not reviewed them before and I’m already intrigued… All round steel cladding?! Let’s dive a little deeper.

I’m already confused and not fully understanding what Premium Garden Rooms offer and what we’re meant to be doing ourselves. 

I’m looking at the LM 3030 specifically which is 3m x 3m (only 9m2) and starts at £13,600.00 in March 2023.

Premium Garden Rooms deliver and assemble nationwide – presumably because the units themselves are bought in from Europe, they can be supplied anywhere and then it’s a case of trade assembling it.  

What’s Included: 

• Delivery and Assembly 
• Internal Electrics 
• Double Glazed Windows and Doors 
• Fully Insulated 

Garden Room Specification: 

According to the Telluria website – there’s a 120mm gap from the internal wall to the external wall. It’s likely made up of 100mm Insulation and a 20mm service channel. However, I don’t know this for sure because it doesn’t tell us. Very little information other than the whole build is steel and comes with a 20-year warranty. The thermal value of Steel is negative, so I’m not confident about how it stands up against traditional timber for efficiency. It’s all very well rating the Double Glazing but what you put it in needs to count too. 

Service: 

Premium Garden Rooms would like you to have a concrete plinth prepared for the Garden Room to go on to. This is likely to bolt the steel frame too and secure it. With the cladding being Steel and the Insulation likely to be rigid foam – the building itself is probably very light in terms of weight, so the anchoring will be vital to ensure it can withstand the Scottish winds. 

The electric hook-up isn’t included. However, although not detailed, it does say internal electrics are included. 

Premium Garden Buildings appear to be relatively young (2021 on FB) so there are only  3 reviews on Google all posted 10 months ago. However, they are a retailer of Telluria. 

I’m getting pretty pissed off here because I cannot find the legitimacy of Premium Garden Buildings and I can see from the footnote on their website that they’re part of Dunedin Steel which is also part of Garden Rooms Scotland which mention neither. This ‘situationship’ is really frustrating for customers trying to find out whether companies are reputable or not. Dunedin Steel appears to be going through a Strike Off, so if Premium Garden Rooms and Garden Rooms Scotland are not part of the Dunedin Steel Co. now would be a good time to make that clear to potential customers. 

GEES that was painful – If I got to choose who I reviewed I would have dumped these guys for sure! But it’s not about me – it’s you kids I’m doing this for and I have to review what you see. 

NEXT! 

PanelTech Garden Rooms

Panel Tech Garden Rooms are based in West Edinburgh and have a mixture of Timber and Steel Cladding with SIPs construction in the walls. We’ve talked about SIPs before and it’s better explained here through the king of SIPs.

We’ll look at their Comrie Build 2.9m x 2.9m coming in at £12,600.00 Including VAT 

Delivery and Installation throughout Edinburgh

What’s Included:  

• 100mm Insulation 
• Firestone Rubber Roof 
• Hardwood Deck 
• Cedar/Larch Cladded Porch 
• Electrics – Internal and External Lights / Sockets / Heater 
• Internal Lining – Birch Ply 
• Vinyl Flooring 
• Reasonable Groundworks 

Garde Room Specification:

This website has been a dream to navigate by the way – so simple and clean, no back and forth, and everything easy to find. The specification is TIGHT! These guys have got it sussed. Offer 2 designs and build to a high standard. 

The external is an aluminium panel skin cladding which is different from what we’ve just seen from Premium Garden Rooms – if you can think of metal sheeting that wraps around the structure. The Structure being SIPs sandwich of OSB and Insulation. The Comrie has 1 sliding unit which is Upvc Double Glazed. The internal lining of Birch Ply doesn’t state a thickness –  however, I suspect it’ll be 12mm which is what you’d want. Anything less and Ply loses its subsistence. 

Service: 

Panel Tech Garden Rooms say that reasonable groundwork are included in the cost but it’s not clear what kind of groundwork. It’s likely to be ground screws, however, it would be good to know. They let us know that the hook-up is our responsibility and must be done prior to installation.  

Panel Tech Garden Rooms don’t have any independent reviews on Google or Facebook but again they’re just young (2021 Facebook). They did share some reviews last year though and they were updating their Socials with recent projects although nothing since July last year, which isn’t great when we’re trying to gauge the legitimacy of a company. 

So, where are you buying your garden room?

Okay team, that was pretty intense, right?

We have some seriously cool Garden Room Companies in Edinburgh with a lot to offer. Firstly, hats off to Urban Pods and Outside In Garden Rooms (again) for keeping up the standard for our traditional construction and Outside In for trying something new with Thermowood.

Scottish Garden Rooms for offering a more affordable alternative, Premium Garden Rooms for doing my nut in. And finally Panel Tech for offering something a bit different but managing to maintain the quality. 

Ultimately for me, If I was in Edinburgh I’d be considering the 2 traditional companies. They’ve also been on the go long enough not to disappear or go bust on me before completing the job. I know it’s a fickle scenario to express but it’s a very real consideration just now. Facing off another volatile financial crisis is nae fun. We’re totalling 3 in 30 years if you’re counting by the way…

And on that light-hearted note – I’ll take a moment to remind you, everyone deserves a Shedlife and I will forever be the one to help you make the best buying decision for you and your Sheddie Dreams. 

Peace Out. 

Natty x