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3 Worst Decisions You Can Make When Buying a Garden Room

24th January 2025

The 3 Worst Decisions You Can Make When Buying a Garden Room

Shopping for the perfect garden room is an exciting time, with a lot of decisions to make, from supplier to size and style!

But in the excitement, it’s easy to make garden room mistakes that can lead to costly regrets, turning your garden room, garden office or garden gym into something you might regret.

We’re here to help make sure that never happens! Avoid making garden room mistakes by reading about the top three worst decisions you can make when buying a garden room and how to avoid them!

Top 3 Garden Room Shopping Red Flags 🚩

1. Being drawn in by a low advertised price

basebox garden room

The Problem:

A bargain price is an attractive feature for many customers when first shopping for their garden room. However, opting for the cheapest building is one of the common garden room mistakes you can make. When you see a low listed price for a garden building, especially when it’s lower compared to others, it often means something crucial is missing – either spec’d-down options or reduced quality.

In the long run, you can be left with a building that costs more to make it as comfortable or functional as you’d expect, or worse, in making repairs and enhancements to make up for substandard quality. Garden room mistakes often happen when customers focus too much on the initial price and overlook the long-term costs associated with poor quality.

The Risks:

  • Spending more necessary upgrades to make it functional and comfortable.
  • Not getting a building with the sizing or specification you expect.
  • Too good to be true, it normally is.

How to Avoid it:

  • Search for value for money! Not the lowest price.
    To avoid these types of garden room mistakes, choose companies that are proud to show their value and make it clear what’s included with their buildings. Ways that some companies keep their listed prices down is by making you add on items like a proper-sized door (It’s true! Some companies have very short doors as a way to cut costs!), premium insulation, high-security uPVC, thermally efficient double-glazing, heating, electrics, suitable foundations and even professional installation!
  • Ask for a comprehensive quote of what’s included, with no hidden extras.
    Anyone that’s willing to easily give a clear, transparent, and all-inclusive quote that includes everything you need without hiding any costs is a good sign!
  • Check all sizes! Are the listed measurements correct?
    From the internal usable space and external garden footprint to the walls’ thickness and the door’s dimensions, ensure that a quote includes all measurements so you can easily compare options and know exactly what you’re getting for your money.
What we do at Green Retreats:

Great value for money.
We might not be the lowest listed price on the market, but we include A LOT in our standard listed prices, meaning when you add it all up to compare our prices with others, you may be very surprised at how reasonable our prices are. We include so much in our listed prices because these are the things our customers really want and will ultimately need to make a functional and comfortable garden room. After all, every building NEEDS a door, right?! We can also remove and downgrade any of the options on the building if you’d rather, making our buildings even cheaper. Read more with our article about what’s included in the listed price of our garden room buildings.

Transparent, free, and no-obligation quote.
A no-obligation, detailed quote is given free of charge to every customer! This can be obtained through our website using our online design tool, at one of our showrooms, at a home survey and design consultation, or by using our quick quote form.

Request a Quick Quote

Building measurements on INTERNAL size – the actual usable space you’re getting.
At Green Retreats we use internal measurements for our buildings, helping you plan and imagine the actual useable space you’re adding to your home. The external sizes are clearly listed on our website and in your free quote, as well as all of the measurements for doors and windows. We include a large 2.3m sliding door as standard with our buildings, and the doors are 2070mm high.

2. Ordering from a Company with no Showroom

What garden room is right for you?

The Problem:

Some garden room companies are promoting the benefits of ordering from a company that doesn’t have a showroom, boasting lower costs that can be passed on to you. Relying solely on pictures, small samples or even just one of two building examples when shopping for your garden room is very risky.

A garden room is a high-value purchase and a lasting investment in your home and lifestyle, so it’s crucial to avoid garden room mistakes by doing thorough research and reviewing your options.

To see something before you buy it, to be convinced in the quality and craftsmanship will save you both time and money in the long-run.

A company should invest in giving the best experience to its customers, including being proud to show many real-life examples of its quality and range of options.

The Risks:

  • Ending up with a low-quality garden room because you’ve not had the chance to feel the quality in person.
  • Choosing the wrong size because you’ve not been able to step inside and explore a range of different size options.
  • Being unhappy with the finish and options you’ve chosen because you’ve not seen the full range of what’s available.

How to Avoid it:

Visit a Physical Showroom.
Some companies avoid disclosing that they don’t have a showroom, or worse, imply they do when they don’t. It’s worth questioning why a reputable garden room company wouldn’t offer the opportunity for customers to see their products in person. To avoid making garden room mistakes, choose a company that’s confident in the quality of their buildings and has the resources to offer customers the chance to experience the product firsthand before making a decision. For instance, one of the most popular uses for garden rooms is home gyms, so it’s crucial to see a garden room firsthand in a showroom to check the internal height to ensure you can fit gym equipment, like treadmills. Otherwise, you might end up with a garden building that doesn’t meet your needs.

While some companies highlight the cost savings of not having a showroom as a benefit passed on to customers, it’s important to weigh these savings against the potential risks. A garden room is a significant investment in your home and lifestyle. Choosing a provider without physically inspecting their products’ quality, materials, and craftsmanship could lead to long-term dissatisfaction, making this one of the most costly garden room mistakes you can make!

Make sure the showroom is staffed.
Check that there is a listed address for a showroom and that you will have staff members to speak to who fully understand the building you’re interested in. Some ‘showrooms’ for garden rooms are a building in a garden centre, with no knowledgeable or helpful teams to provide information or answer questions. Make the most of your visit and ensure you’re prioritising visiting showrooms that will help progress your understanding and, in turn, improve your garden room project.

Avoid Companies that only use only photos or 3D renders.
A company with an extensive photo gallery of previous projects is a great sign and a good start in avoiding these garden room mistakes, but you’ll never be able to accurately get a feel for the quality of the build without seeing them in person. Remember that if a company is only using 3D renders, this is a sign that they’ve perhaps never installed a garden room, and the design is computer-generated to look perfect.

What we do at Green Retreats:

Two handy showrooms, including the UK’s largest!
We have always believed in the benefit of customers having a place to experience the quality of our garden rooms. Since 2005 we’ve always had a garden room showroom space for our customers to visit. At Green Retreats, we have two showrooms to choose from, including our Buckinghamshire flagship showroom, which is the UK’s largest garden room showroom with 21 garden rooms on display. We also have a hub showroom in Twickenham, London, with 4 buildings on display, which can be an easier first experience for our inner London customers.

A range of sizes, designs, and uses on display.
We know that in order for our customers to have maximum satisfaction from the functionality, comfort and style of their garden room, a visit to a showroom is essential. Making an informed decision on even some of the smallest details can make the biggest difference. What’s more, we added an outdoor showroom garden to our flagship showroom in Buckinghamshire so you can really experience the feel of a garden room in its natural environment.

No pressure sales guarantee.
We guarantee a no-pressure sales environment at our showrooms. Our teams are available to explain all of your options and answer any questions you have. Have a read of our Trustpilot reviews about our showroom and see for yourself what the experience is like…

Customer portfolio of real photos.
Take a look at our photo gallery on our website, which has a vast library of previous customer projects. We make sure we visit at least one customer per month to take photos of their finished buildings to help future customers be inspired for their projects. 

3. Not considering the longevity of the company

Kevin McCloud Green Retreats ambassador

The Problem:

There could be cost savings working with a new or smaller company that haven’t had the time and experience to grow to a stable size, but it’s important to be aware that there are potential risks. Garden room mistakes often arise from lack of experience or financial instability, which could impact the overall quality of your project.

Most new companies sadly won’t succeed as a result of issues with cash flow, so working with companies that have a proven record for completing many buildings for better safety that you can trust the company will be financially capable of purchasing the materials needed to complete their jobs. 

The Risks:

  • Being left with an unfinished building if the company goes out of business during the build.
  • Guarantees and warranties not being upheld if the company goes out of business.
  • Future support and aftercare not being available

How to Avoid it:

Look for companies with a great reputation.
Experience is everything because practice makes perfect! Make sure to check the longevity of the company. To avoid garden room mistakes, research things like:

  • How long have they been running for?
  • What’s their long-standing presence in the market?
  • How many buildings have they installed?
  • How financially stable are they?
  • What do their online reviews say?

Ask about aftercare and warranties.
The first thing to check is that the company offers a good guarantee and warranty against the building, ideally 10+ years is a good place to start. It’s important to note that any new companies will not have a proven record for their buildings reaching the lifespan or warranty period. You want to make sure the company you work with can support you in the future, and a lack of aftercare services can make resolving issues very frustrating and expensive. Ask what the aftercare is like for the building with questions like: do you have an aftercare department? Is there someone to talk to or is it an email inbox only? How do you handle snagging?

REALLY read the reviews.
Make sure to always choose a company that has a good number of positive reviews to show good consistent customer service. If there are negative reviews, be sure to read those too and see how sensible you think the review sounds and see also how the company replies to those reviews to see how they’ve tried to resolve any issues. Something important to check too is to use your own judgement to determine whether you think the reviews are genuine. Avoiding garden room mistakes often comes down to how transparent and authentic the company is in their communication and service.

What we do at Green Retreats:

Green Retreats has been a family-run business trading since 2005.
And we’re proud to be the leading garden room company! Learn more about our history and experience.

Over 14,000 garden rooms installed!
As of the start of the year of 2025, we’ve installed over 14,000 garden rooms. 

We’re rated 5 stars on Trustpilot!
Take a read of our reviews and see why our customers love us…

12-year warranty, 30-year life.
Every building comes with a comprehensive 12-year guarantee and is designed for a 30-year life

We turn 20 years old in 2025!
We’ve recently returned to one of our earlier garden room buildings to check how it’s going – the building is looking great, and that customer has actually ordered two more buildings since their first! Not many garden room companies have been around long enough to back up their warranty or their lifespan with evidence, but we’re privileged that we can.

Dedicated Aftercare Team.
Green Retreats has a specialist aftercare team that can be reached via phone Monday – Friday, whose job is to make sure you’re happy further down the line with your building, not just immediately after it has been installed.

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