A bespoke garden room is an excellent solution to a lack of space around the home and provides you with the opportunity to create a structure you can customise to suit your requirements and design interests.
When planning a garden building for your property, one of the first steps in the research process should be to compare manufacturers. Important factors such as construction materials, warranties and maintenance will differ across manufacturers, so you should consider your options carefully before investing in a new garden room.
This guide will discuss some the key similarities and differences between our Garden Retreats pods and garden rooms from alternative manufacturers in the UK.
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Garden Retreats vs Crown Pavilions
A Garden Retreats pod will be a fully-bespoke structure that you can customise with a range of fixtures and fittings to suit your needs. Our modular approach to construction means you can start with one small pod of 2 x 3 metres, then add extra pods at a later date if and when you need additional space.
While Crown Pavilions also offer a bespoke service, most of their garden rooms are offered in pre-determined sizes in ranges such as the Buckingham, Clarence and Sandringham collections.
There are several differences between garden rooms from Garden Retreats and Crown Pavilions, one of which is the construction materials. Whereas Crown Pavilions wrap their buildings in thermowood cladding, we use composite material for the exterior cladding of our pods. This material requires zero maintenance and offers superior strength and weather-resistance.
Our guide comparing garden rooms from Garden Retreats and Crown Pavilions discusses these differences in more detail.
Garden Retreats vs Summer House 24
Summer House 24 manufacture a variety of garden rooms and insulated garden rooms in a selection of pre-determined configurations. Our pods are available in three different sizes that you can install individually or combine to make a larger structure, meaning a Garden Retreat is more flexible and adaptable to your changing needs.
We also use glass fibre and carbon fibre frames to construct our garden pods, which are assembled without the use of nails. This means our pods can be easily dismantled and taken with you if you move to a new home.
In comparison, a garden room from Summer House 24 will have a timber frame with Scandinavian Spruce or Siberian Larch internal and external cladding. An insulated garden room from Summer House 24 will be a repurposed steel shipping container wrapped in softwood cladding. Unlike the composite cladding we use, timer cladding needs to be treated and maintained regularly to keep it in a usable condition.
Find out more about how the Garden Retreats pod compares with garden rooms from Summer House 24 in our brand comparison guide.
Garden Retreats vs Waltons
Waltons manufacturer a variety of garden rooms in sizes ranging from 2 x 3 metres to 6 x 4 metres. We offer three different pod sizes (the smallest of which is also 2 x 3 metres) but, unlike Waltons garden rooms, these pods can be combined.
One of the key differences between Garden Retreats and Waltons is the rooves of our garden rooms. All Garden Retreats pod feature a flat, solid roof which is strong enough to accommodate a roof terrace. Garden rooms from Waltons are available with a flat, apex or pent roof.
Our garden room comparison guide explores how buildings from Garden Retreats and Waltons differ in more detail.
Garden Retreats vs Homebase
There are a number of important differences between Garden Retreats pods and garden rooms from Homebase, including the external walls/cladding materials, configuration processes and installation times.
However, one of the biggest differences between us and Homebase is the possible uses for our structures. Because of the construction of Homebase’s garden buildings, they are only really suitable for use as a standard outbuilding, summerhouse, log cabin, hobby room or storage area. The list of potential applications for a Garden Retreats pod is much longer, as our buildings are sturdier, versatile and more appropriate for year round use.
You can read more about how our pods compare with garden rooms from Homebase in this expert guide.
Garden Retreats vs Modern Garden Rooms
Like Garden Retreats, Modern Garden Rooms include a variety of internal fixtures and fittings as standard with their garden rooms, such as lighting and switches. However, we include air-con and smartphone-controlled heating with our pods, features which aren’t offered as standard by Modern Garden Rooms.
Two key differences between our garden pods and the designs available from Modern Garden Rooms are the external cladding materials and the internal walls. Specifically, Modern Garden Rooms are wrapped in a red cedar timber cladding whereas a Garden Retreat has composite cladding. The internal walls of Modern Garden Rooms are finished with plasterboard and plaster skim coating, which we don’t use for our garden pods. Instead, we fit scratch-proof, fire-resistant wall panels in our pods that are available in six colour options or can be upgraded to feature your own hi-res images.
Garden room comparison: Garden Retreats vs Modern Garden Rooms explores these similarities and differences further.
Garden Retreats vs Green Retreats
Green Retreats have four ranges of garden rooms: GR, TG, GS and Annex. Each of these ranges includes garden rooms of different sizes, many intended for specific uses. The GS Range, for example, are small workspaces whereas the Annex Range are designed as more permanent living spaces.
We don’t have ranges with pre-determined sizes, but rather three individually-priced pods that have a modular design you can combine or install on their own. A luxury garden room from Garden Retreats will also have a much longer warranty of 25 years for the structure, whereas Green Retreats only offer a 10-year warranty for their structures.
To learn more about the other key differences between garden rooms from Garden Retreats and Green Retreats, read our expert guide.