Can I have a toilet in a garden office?
Working from home has become a way of life for so many people.
Even before we’d heard of the word ‘COVID’, simply escaping the commute to the city or saving the cost of renting commercial office space, home working made so much sense.
But what happens when you’re down in the depths of your garden and you need the toilet?
It’s an inconvenient walk back up the house, made even worse if the weather is inclement – so question is can I fit a toilet in a garden office?
So – the short answer is yes
So what do I need to do?
Initially it starts with the design of the building, as you will need to section off part of the garden office with a partition and a personal door. We would also suggest a window for ventilation.
In most cases the WC is 1200mm wide, and between 2m and 2.4m in depth. The 2.4m version is suitable for a shower, toilet and a sink, whilst the 2m size will accommodate a toilet and a sink.
When connecting to the mains, it makes sense to add the soil pipe and the water feed during the base construction. The fittings can then easily be connected once the building is assembled.
If you are intending to hide the wiring within the cavity of the walls, it makes sense to let us know prior to manufacture, so that the internal boards can either be left off or removed easily. This will allow the builder to have easy access to the wall space, where he can fit the pipework and the furniture.
Flushing Toilets
These will need to be connected to the mains sewer system or the sceptic tank.
In some cases it is an easy connection, especially if the building is close to the house or a manhole.
If you choose to do this then you will need to dig a channel for the pipework to be at least 150mm below ground level.
The water feed will need an isolating tap, and the soil pipe will need capping off, if you connect to the services prior to the building assembly.
If the pipework is showing through the concrete, our team will cut the required hole in the floor on the day, for accurate fitting.
Waterless Toilets
Putting in a flushing toilet can be prohibitively expensive and involve a lot of disruptive groundworks – you need a water supply, sewerage connection or a septic tank/cesspit.
There is an easy alternative that many people have installed – a stylish waterless compost toilet or an advanced incinerating toilet.
Take a look at the best compost toilets for use in garden offices, posh sheds and garden rooms:- For more information, please contact ‘WooWoo’ directly.
Waterless Toilets for Garden Offices
What else do I need?
Once the building has been assembled, you will need your builder to do the following
- Provide and connect the pipework
- Provide and install toilet, handbasin, taps and other fittings
- Lay flooring material
- Re-fit wall boards
- Decorate as required
NOTE: If fitting an electric shower, you will need to uprate the electric feed (cable) and upgrade the consumer unit
Do I need planning or building control?
The answer in most cases in no, you do not need planning permission for a garden room with toilet. What you are not permitted to do is create a bedroom and use it as accommodation. If you plan to utilise the building as a bedroom, then planning permission and building control will be required. However, the planning permission is currently not needed for toilets or washrooms, hence they can currently be added to garden rooms. This is because our garden rooms are not sold for use as self-contained living accommodation and therefore do not need to comply with the strict rules of building regulations.
OUTBUILDINGS GUIDELINESWho does the installation?
So…
We provide and install the partition with the personal door, and any windows. We also install the wiring so that your toilet will have a separate switch and light. If you require a fused spur for a macerator we can add that too, along with extra wiring if using a bathroom mirror.
The remainder of the bathroom installation will be done by your local builder. If you are close to us, we recommend Mat Stanley – 07880 255147, as he installed the bathroom in our display model.