Note: This was written in 2020
tl:dr; We turned a pre-built shed into an office to improve my health.
I work for a distributed organization that has a small office in San Francisco. Even at max capacity it would only hold about 1/4 of our total headcount. As of mid-2020, about 2/3 of employees work from home. I’m one of those. For the last four-and-a-half years I’ve worked from a tiny corner of our bedroom. It hasn’t been great. So, my family and I set out on an adventure to improve my working conditions.
I’m incredibly privileged to be able to complete this project. Both in cost, time, and space. I hope it inspires folks to consider how the physical space where they work influences their mental health and if possible, do something positive about it!
Why?
Working remotely for the Wikimedia Foundation is an option that I greatly appreciate. I’m now ruined for the rest of my professional career and can’t imagine working in a shared office again. Especially an office with an open floor plan or innocuous cubical walls. That said, there are considerations and outright downsides to working remotely that can have a negative impact on one’s health. Ya got to stay on top of these or you can find yourself not enjoying, well, life.
Isolation, lack of “water cooler” talk1, a clear separation of home and professional work, and difficulty in creating a healthy environment to work (inside or outside your home) are a few issues that may arise.
Personally, I was feeling anxious all the time, I lost interest in hobbies that involved a computer, did not feel like my office was a space to myself – but that the bedroom was dedicated to work – and was constantly feeling agitated due to the mildest of interruptions. It was really bringing down all the positives to remote work. After a low point brought on by depression something had to be done. I tried lots of things to cope. I bought a sound machine, worked from the library more often, went to the gym more consistently, and talked to my mental health counselor more about what I could do. Even with all that, I wasn’t feeling myself. I’m the kind of person who needs to work outside the home.
This is a project we undertook to help my own health. I’m documenting it here to hopefully inspire others who are fortunate enough to consider something similar. Starting in the summer of 2019 my wife and I created a space for me to work outside our home. I’m jokingly calling it my Tiny Studio. Because it’s tiny and the word studio is mockingly pretentious. It’s just a shed. 🙂
How it came to this
A little background. We live in a small (1,200 sq ft) brick home built in 1936. It is a one-and-a-half story2, three bedroom, single bath. I have two children. We purchased this home 14 years ago after our first child was born. It’s located five minutes from both sides of our family, within the school district of choice, and was/is within our budget. With two kids and ourselves the three bedrooms are spoken for. My basement is unfinished and tiny.3
My youngest daughter is currently five and not yet in school. My wife works from home as well. This gives us limited space to arrange for an “office” where one is frequently working and distractions are at a minimum. The result is that for the last six or so years I’ve had an office in the corner of my bedroom. Literally the worst place to work from.4 I do sometimes work from a local library that’s a five minute bike ride away, but when working there I’m not guaranteed a quiet space for work and have to use a study room if I want to take a meeting. The rooms are first-come first-serve with a one hour time limit, for which I have been kicked out in the middle of a meeting. I have tried to work from other locations, like a cafe, but find the noise and space too distracting.5
I’ve also looked into co-working space. They are not close to where I live (suburban, edge of rural), are costly, and would require a substantial expense of driving to and from.6 The solution my wife came up with was to have a separate little building on our property that I can go to and work. My tiny studio.
I was inspired by the workspaces of others. Michael Pollan7 and Stephen King8 as examples. A space close to home, inviting to others, outside of the house proper (and decidedly not in the bedroom!), and within our budget. A space where I can focus on my endeavors and literally, physically, separate work from home life.
So, with the encouragement and support – and quite frankly tenacity – of my wife, we discussed, shopped, researched, and eventually purchased a 12 by 24 foot pre-built building. We opted for a few extra, and nicer, windows, a 6ft porch (leaving 18×12 ft interior space), and insulated floor. The building is wired for 100 amp service with all internal wiring installed. The inside was not finished, no insulation or flooring. We did that part ourselves.
What are the options
So again, my options came down to three possible solutions.
- Sign up for a co-working space. Costly and not convenient to where I live. See above.
- Build something ourselves. Costly in time and requires skills + tools (and space for tools!). Prone to messing something up as you learn and having to fix later.
- Buy a customizable pre-built building. Finish it ourselves. No insulation or power run, but we can do that and install an A/C. More initial cost, more time spent with family.
What we ended up with
We went with a local company called 5-Star Buildings. They offer various layouts and customizations, a decent warranty on craftsmanship, delivery, and were friendly and responsive to our needs. They were also local to our region, which was a contender in playing our part in the local economy. We chose a template that was more house-like than shed-like and chose a few options for better insulation against the weather.
- Specifications
- 24×12 ft with a 6ft porch leaving 18×12 for interior space.
- Six 2×3 ft insulated windows
- Metal roof
- Insulated floor
We opted to finish the shed as we saw fit. From insulation, gutters, drywall, ethernet, paint and trim – we’re doing it all ourselves. This has a cost of time and tools. I’m fortunate enough to have gathered a collection of common tools and a little common sense. I am by no means a handyman. As for time, we’re taking it slow. Learning what we need to know (pretty much everything) and taking the project one step at a time.
Considerations
These are some considerations I’ve noted as we’ve worked on this project. Your experience will vary!
- Build vs. buy – Total cost of ownership is one thing to consider. The time you need to invest to build something from scratch is expensive (You can’t make more time) and depending on how much experience you have it can be costly.
- How much space is enough? – I wanted enough space that I would not feel cramped and that other people could be in the space with me and feel comfortable. My current arrangement is a 10×6 ft corner of my master bedroom, so anything above that feels luxurious.
- Foundation is the most important, uh, foundation for a solid, uh foundation. Wood and dirt do not mix. We went will concrete pillars for the installation as we thought they would be more flexible and easier to install for the gradation of the land. We were gravely mistaken how easy these would be to install.
- Power and internet – I live on top of a hill and my yard is anything but flat. Therefore we had to find the most flat location in our yard that wasn’t too close to existing buildings, and not in the way of the woods or any easements. The location we selected is about 250ft from our house. This means we have to run power and ethernet that entire distance. If you can place your building closer or run separate power, do it!
- Zoning and building codes – Where I live if you want to build a smaller non-primary building it has to be on the property where you have your primary residence. It can not stand alone on a parcel of land that does not have a primary building. In 2018 my wife and I purchased the lot of land next to our property but kept it as a separate parcel. This parcel is where we wanted to build the shed. But given the aforementioned rule we could not. We had to spend the time and money to legally merge the two parcels of land together in order to be within the zoning code. Paperwork and bureaucracy abound.
- This land is made of rocks – Unexpected things will arise with timelines. People get sick, work keeps you busy, the weather doesn’t agree with you, and the presence of giant Cretaceous era rocks you need to remove. Whatever estimation you make, it will take longer and cost more.
Costs
All costs are USD and rough.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Building | $10,500 | Pre-built shed. See above for more details. |
| Foundation | $4,500 | 16 pillars run along the main skids under the building. Was $1,000 more than quoted due to the need to remove large person-sized boulders that were not anticipated and a few small trees. |
| Anchoring | $106 | Earthquake anchoring |
| Permits | $82 | For local ordinance and tax purposes |
| Landscaping | $500 | Includes the cost of installing steps ourselves, gravel and landscape fabric, necessary given the terrain. |
| Landscaping | $150 | Smoothing out the land from construction and planting decorative plants |
| Electricity | $100 | Renting a trencher, calling Dig Rite(a local service to check for existing buried lines) |
| Electricity | $355 | Renting a mini-excavator to dig it rite, I mean right. |
| Electricity | $200 | Sand and gravel for trench. Repairing lawn with seed and hay. |
| Electricity | $672 | For 2-2-2-4 gauge aluminum power cable from house to shed and conduit. Approx 280 feet distance. |
| Electricity | $700 | Hire an electrician to do final hookup inside of house and shed. |
| Ethernet | $425 | A/V box, cable, conduit, connectors, power, wireless router and testing tools for Ethernet/router setup. |
| Insulation | $300 | Wall and ceiling insulation (R13 and R19 respectively) |
| Gutters | $150 | Vinyl with downspout and drainage |
| Security | $140 | Kevo smart deadbolt lock |
| Security | $140 | Building is far enough away from primary residence to warrant some sort of surveillance. Purchased a Circle 2 wired camera. |
| A/C | $1,200 | DIY 115A mini split-air heating and cooling unit |
| Fan | $120 | Ceiling fan for air circulation |
| Tools | $450 | Various tools were needed to finish the project. Including pneumatic nail finisher, scaffold, mitre saw |
| Interior | $500 | Drywall, tape, mud, screws |
| Interior | $150 | paint |
| Interior | $500 | Flooring (vinyl plank flooring) |
| Interior | $125 | Smoke and CO2 alarm |
| Total costs | $22,065 | |
| Spark project | $500 | Foundation assistance 9 |
| One time remote working stipend | $600 | Foundation assistance |
| Total assistance | $1,100 | |
| Total expenditure | $20,965 | As of May 22, 2020 |
Progress log
- ??? – June 2019 – talked about it and talked about it. 10
- ?? June 2019 – Ordered building
- July 2019 – cleared land for shed, including buying a chainsaw to chop down trees! I’m now a lumberjack.
- July 2019 – hired landscaping company to build platform for building. They had previously done some drainage work for us around the chicken coop.
- 09 August 2019 – building ready for delivery
Work to do
Making a list of what needs to be done was super helpful in organizing what to focus on next. The order of this work is generally chronological. Some items are a few minutes, others might take a weekend or two.
- Select building
- Select location
- Prepare foundation (slab or pillars, but no untreated wood touching the ground!)
- Lay landscape fabric and gravel under building
- Trench between house and shed for electricity and ethernet
- Run electricity and ethernet to building in conduit
- Wire building for ethernet
- Hook up electricity
- Install gutters
- Install security camera
- Install deadbolt lock
- Install insulation
- Install wall covering
- Install ceiling fan
- Install A/C system (mini split system)
- Prime Drywall
- Paint walls
- Frame windows and trim
- Install flooring
- Finishing touches (floor trim, touch up, window treatments, etc.)
- Move in!
Gallery
The trademark in the page title is a joke. 🙂
Footnotes
- You have to make the effort to find other adults to talk to. You can’t just bump into them on the way to the copy machine. I just dated myself with a reference to a copy machine. ಠ_ಠ
- The half story was added sometime in the 80’s we think. Previously there were only two bedrooms on the first floor. Whomever turned the upper level into living space combined the two original bedrooms into a master bedroom.
- The house is so old it has a wood burning furnace and coal chute. Both unused.
- Harvard says bedrooms are for sleep and sex!
- I’m also the kind of person who can’t listen to music or podcasts while working. My brain isn’t wired to do it.
- I also didn’t have a clear understanding of my employer’s policies are around expenses for co-working space. It’s further anxiety to figure out if you can ask, who to ask, what to ask for, and what the expectations are. To me, upwards of $200 per month for a floating desk downtown seems expensive.
- Science Friday – Desktop Diaries: Michael Pollan
- Infamous for slowly learning the importance of work and life balance.
- I want to acknowledge that while I received no special assistance or compensation for this project, the foundation has contributed via staff benefits.
- My anxiety and fear of the unknown prevented progress on this project for well over a year. It wasn’t until a bout of suicidal ideation came around in early 2019 that my wife and I recognized something more needed to happen. She agreed to take on the work of organizing the project, which to me felt incredibly daunting. I agreed to let my anxiety go. As my dad reminded me, they are scary choices, but not life-or-death.