Photos of New Office Build From Two Years Ago
While reminiscing yesterday I uploaded a set of photos of the destruction and re-build of the garage, which became Rockall HQ. You can see all the photos here.
Some of you DIY geeks might like a look. It was also an excuse to test out the Upload button in Picassa, which works well and seamlessly integrates with my existing Google account. Nice 'n easy. Just how I like things to be.
Two years on and I have no regrets in spending 7k on a new office. It was definitely one of my better ideas and worth every penny. Without an out-of-the-house office my productivity would be almost zero. You can't work at home when you have three kids 3 and under. Not a chance.
People often say to me "I bet you need to be really disciplined to work from home" to which I normally say "Not really". I just treat it as much like a normal job as I can. Leave the house as much before 9am as I can and come back in just after 5pm.
If you're wondering how I know it came to 7k or where all the money went then here's the log of the costs I kept:
| Window | 108 |
| Heater and Lights | 150 |
| Lock | 160 |
| Skip | 145 |
| Skip | 145 |
| Sand | 101 |
| Blocks | 270 |
| Concrete for footings | 250 |
| Screwfix - misc | 62 |
| Labour | 1200 |
| Cement 10 bags of | 25 |
| Metal mesh reinforcing | 40 |
| B&Q - Misc networking bits | 65 |
| Concrete for slab | 310 |
| weather strip for door | 8 |
| Large lintel and wood | 50 |
| Lintels and bricks from Jewsons | 128 |
| Plastering | 475 |
| Blocks | 80 |
| Door | 38 |
| Door frame | 45 |
| Rendering | 760 |
| EPDM (rubber) for roof | 341 |
| Wood for roof | 480 |
| Midi Skip | 75 |
| Screwfix - misc | 165 |
| Jewsons - fascia wood etc | 157 |
| B&Q - up-n-over frame, fixings etc | 37 |
| B&Q - Guttering et misc | 94 |
| Laminate flooring | 84 |
| Masonry paint | 36 |
| Wickes -- Gate and wood | 70 |
| SUBTOTAL | 6154 |
| Furniture for office | 900 |
| TOTAL | 7054 |
My original budget was 5k, but I think that was a little unrealistic. As you can see it soon adds up.
It all leaves me wanting to demolish and rebuild something else. I love a good "project" me.
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You didn't have to pay anything for the building permit?
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Nope. Perhaps that a US thing? I know in certain cases over here you have to pay to submit and have plans approved. Garages don't come under that though. At least not if they're small, which mine is classed as (<30m3 or something like that).
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Here in Tallahassee, the architectural committee of my homeowners association AND the city would each have to approve the plans, but only the city would charge me a fee to do so.
Got to agree with you about the integration between picasa and my google account. It makes posting pictures each night while on vacation a snap.
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