Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Building a Garden Games Room

Our journey to create a pub in our garden kicked off in April 2021 when we began transforming the landscape. That dream burst into reality as we completed the self-build of our Fox Den Inn in October 2024! I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved, and I'm thrilled to share the process and the invaluable lessons we learned along the way.

I dove into writing content for this blog on the 4th of February 2024. Before embarking on this venture and starting the blog, I had never taken the time to analyze the build, we got planning permission, started building and it was built. We didn’t do much planning of the build, which used to be my thing!

Now that the business is up and running, there's a possibility that someone might ask me to create a garden room for them one day. I'll openly admit, if we were to do it all over again, there are definitely things I'd approach differently!

How did we do it...

1. April 2021 - Garden landscaped to initial plan.

2. April 2021 - Electric cable run into pub.

3. July 2021 - Major issues with contractor who landscaped the garden.

4. February 2022 - Shed base and patio needed to be ripped up and replaced due to poor workmanship.

5. April 2022 - New contractor installed a new slab base and re-laid patio.

6. June 2022 - ON HOLD - No funds to build the pub.

7. April 2024 - I designed and submitted plans to Lewes District Council.

8. June 6th 2024 - Planning granted.

9. June 16th - Structure material's ordered.

10. June 21st - I gave birth to our little boy. Dave's 2 week paternity leave started.

11. June 24th - Materials delivered

12. June 25th - Materials loaded into back garden

13. June 28th - Walls started

14. 1st July - Walls complete

15. 3rd July - Roof joists complete

16. 5th July - Firings complete

17. 8th July - Dave returned to work.

18. 10th July - Discovered electric cable too small for the appliances we want to have in the Fox Den Inn!!!

19. 15th July - Weathertight

20. 19th July - Electrical first fix started and complete

21. 14th August - Insulation started

22. 15th August - External cladding complete

23. 25th August - Insulation and vapor control layer (VCL) complete

24. 26th August - Plasterboard started

25. 1st September - Plasterboard complete

26. 2nd September - Plastering started

27. 4th September - Plastering complete

28. 9th September - Mist coat complete

29. 15th September - Installed new 10mm 3 core armored cable to supply electric.

30. 16th September - Internal cladding feature walls complete

31. 17th Septmeber - Latexing. The slab would have needed less latexing, if we had built on it right away.

32. 18th September - Electrical 2nd fix started and complete

33. 19th September - Making good and decoration prep

34. 20th September - Flooring complete, bar built.

35. 23rd September - 1st Coat decoration complete

36. 30th September - Build complete

    
    

Oh, how I wish we had done it!

1. We should have planned the entire project before getting quotes. This plan should have included more drawings, a detailed program of works, a comprehensive building methodology, and a material breakdown.

2. We should have mapped out the size and internal layout of the pub before choosing our base size.

3. We should have researched the best materials and learned exactly how to install them before starting construction.

   1. Most products offer free technical guidance on installation. It's always better to speak to an expert on that product than to rely on someone else's interpretation of its use.

4. We should have taken our time and thoroughly reviewed contractors. We should have obtained written quotes, checked out previous works, visited current projects they were working on, asked for testimonials, seen reviews, read comments on their social and business pages, and checked how they manage health and safety. Choosing the cheapest option ended up costing us so much more in money and stress.

5. We should have checked with building control to see if they were needed before starting the job. The scare I had last week that was a real wake-up call!

6. We should have hired a contractor with a contract, where fees and prices were agreed upon and signed.

7. We should have agreed on key build stages for payment.

8. We should have held back payment because we weren't satisfied with the build.

After reflecting on how I wish we had done it, there are so many spin-off posts to explore. We learned so much building the Fox Den Inn. I will share those lessons in more detail in upcoming posts.

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