Garden Office Electrics Completed in Arborfield

It’s one of those jobs that isn’t particularly big from an electrical point of view, but once everything is finished, decorated and switched on, you can really see how useful the space is going to be.

The customer has a very young baby at home, only a couple of months old, and wanted to create a separate place in the garden where they could work online with a bit more peace and quiet. I think a lot of people working from home can probably relate to that!

Starting with the first fix

When I first visited the property a few weeks ago, the garden office was still being built. That was the right time for me to carry out the electrical first fix.

At this stage, the important part is getting all the cables into the correct positions before the walls are closed up. Once the plasterboard goes on and everything is decorated, you really don’t want to discover that a socket or switch should have been somewhere else.

For this office, the electrical setup was quite simple. The customer wanted two double sockets, a wall light controlled by a dimmer switch and an outside sensor light.

It’s not a huge number of electrical points, but for a small office there is no reason to overcomplicate things. Two well positioned double sockets give plenty of options for a computer, monitor, chargers and other everyday office equipment.

If you’re planning a garden office or summer house in Arborfield, it’s always worth thinking about the electrics before the walls are finished. Moving or adding cables at the first fix stage is usually much easier than doing it afterwards.

Coming back for the second fix

When I returned this week, the office looked completely different. The plasterboard was finished and the customer had done the painting and decorating themselves, so it was ready for the electrical second fix.

This is the stage where all the sockets,  where all the sockets, switches and light fittings are installed and the room starts to feel like a finished space rather than a building project.

I fitted the two double sockets and the dimmer switch controlling the wall light. Having a dimmer is a nice little addition in a garden office because you don’t necessarily want full brightness all the time, particularly if you’re working later in the evening.

Outside, I installed a sensor light to provide some useful lighting when walking between the house and office after dark. With the evenings gradually getting shorter at this time of year, it’s one of those small additions that quickly becomes useful.

While I was there, I also ended up doing a little extra job and installed a camera for the customer. That’s quite common with these projects. Once the main work is nearly finished, there are often one or two extra things that make sense to sort out at the same time.

The end result is a fairly simple garden office, electrically speaking, but it has everything the customer needs. More importantly, they now have a separate place to get some work done while still being only a short walk away from the house and their young family.

If you’re building a garden office, summer house or converting an existing outbuilding in Arborfield or the surrounding area, feel free to get in touch. I’m always happy to have a look at the project and discuss the electrical side before the walls start going up.