$20k is way too much money for that.
Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
71–80 of 281 posts
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#72Boy things are different in Portland where you pay people to insult sheds… But 8x10 for $20,000 just goes to show how expensive USA is for construction. There’s a point where I would review coworking space cost (not as convenient, I know) to just living and owning property abroad.
> But 8x10 for $20,000 just goes to show how expensive USA is for construction.
Labor is expensive. You could probably close to double the size for an additional $10,000, you’d need another yard and a half of concrete for the foundation (6” depth*80 sqft = 40 cubic feet) and more material for the building, but not twice as much material, or labor. Electrical service could stay the same.l and the mini-split wouldn’t have to be much bigger.
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#73I have one problem that keeps me from doing something like this. Weather. I don't want to get wet walking out or back because it happens to be raining.
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#74I ran PVC between my house and shop/office with 2 sets of single-mode fiber instead of ethernet. Electrical code will require proper grounding for copper for lightning strikes.
Do you have to do PVC or can you just bury the fiber?
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#75I have one problem that keeps me from doing something like this. Weather. I don't want to get wet walking out or back because it happens to be raining.
Buy an umbrella?
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#76I jumped to the end and saw $2.3k for the mini split and couldn't believe it. I've installed mini splits on two homes and the quotes were always in the $15-25k range for 3-5 head units, so $2.3k for a head + outdoor condenser unit sounded implausible, but then I saw he found a surprisingly good deal: > I got a ton of quotes for installing a mini split. They ranged from $4-$7k, which was higher than I expected after r…
I bought my first minisplit ~4 years ago since none of the contractors were available in the hot summer. I bought the tools as well (vacuum pump, manifold, pipe cutters, etc.). It cost me ~650$ total. The next time I bought a minisplit (3.5kW one), I already had the tools and it cost me only 450$. A proper one meant for use during harsh winter would probably costs a bit more though, at around 1000$. So I have set up…
In my state they require:
>160 hours of education/vocational training and 2 years’ verifiable experience in the trade
To get the license to install minisplits (two years experience generally means working an apprenticeship).
It's no wonder install costs are so much in the US. And as you've experienced, they're hardly rocket science to install. The 160 hours training would be more than enough, I'm not sure why 2 years experience gets tacked on the end.
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#77Not a great idea for those in snowy areas of the USA. A short burst of snow storms and now to get to work you're dealing with typical access problems such as frozen doors, shoveling, ice, and cleaning up the melt or adding some small mudroom to get in and out during the day. Also, watching your kids play and build a snowman right in front of your window while you sit in a meeting would feel like torture.
I'm sure it would increase the cost of the project by many times and require more complex permits, but just think how cool it would be to access your office shed through an underground tunnel.
Paging Colin Furze.
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#78The 8-Bit Guy also built a backyard office and documented it in a series of videos:
Re: Building a backyard office, the build and cost breakdown
#79For work-from-home, I can't emphasize enough how much of a game changer it is to have a physically separate building for your work, especially if you have a family with kids and noise and pets and things. Working from a spare bedroom, even one without a bed / outfitted as an office, is just not my thing. Even if your family "knows the rules" and let you work in peace. It subjectively still "feels like you're home". W…
Stepping back a bit, if you are working remotely that's likely a proxy for an increased likelihood of job loss due to AI.
Why start and invest in a construction project for a building that may not be staffed long term? Perhaps renting a small coworking space in town is the safer financial move. And have your employer pay for it.