At the beginning of 2021, Darren, an area manager for a major supermarket, had just moved into a new home and was considering renovation options. ‘We’d downsized from a five-bedroom house to a two-bedroom bungalow. In the last house we’d spent a fortune on a conservatory, but it was totally useless. We kept seeing fabulous pictures of people’s gardens with summerhouses and thought, why don’t we look into getting one of those?’
After doing some research online, Darren quickly ruled out the big national companies as he didn’t want his garden room project to be ‘just a number.’ He came across Horto Garden Rooms and arranged for Gary and Ellen to do a site visit. Darren was impressed with how they approached the project, especially when they didn’t insist on trying to upsell for their own benefit. Instead, they gave thoughtful advice on how to make the most of the available space. ‘I knew straight away it was pointless looking anywhere else,’ Darren says.
Besides Gary and Ellen’s experience, knowledge and professionalism, Darren and his wife were also very reassured by how Horto manages deposits. Not only was nothing due until four weeks before the work was scheduled to start, the 50% that was then payable was fully backed by a guarantee.
The planning and installation stages all went smoothly, and Darren really appreciated Horto’s attention to detail. ‘The communication I got was exactly what I needed. How, when and what, just straight down the line.’ He was also impressed by the experience and dedication of the whole team. Nothing was subcontracted; everyone on site was friendly, experienced and a permanent member of the Horto team.
Originally, Darren and his wife had planned to use their garden room as a space for guests, but as soon as the 6 x 3.5m room was installed in September 2021, Darren decided to scrap that plan completely and take the space over as a TV and games room. He set it up with a beer fridge, a full-sized arcade game and the comfiest seats possible, which means he can ‘watch as much football as I want without my wife getting bored.’ It’s not quite all fun and games, though. Darren does a lot of work from home, so he’s included a mobile partition to allow for an office area too.
Now that he’s in and settled, Darren really couldn’t be happier with his garden room. He spends hours in it every day, even in the depths of winter, and has been hugely impressed with how energy efficient it is. ‘Because of the thermal capacity, sometimes it’s warmer than my house without even putting the radiator on.’ This is a world away from the conservatory Darren and his wife invested in at their previous home, which was so cold it was unusable for almost half the year. And better still, the total cost of the garden room came in at £5,000 less than an equivalent conservatory.
Not only can Darren now enjoy his beautifully warm garden room safe in the knowledge that he’s the envy of his neighbours, he also knows he can rely on Horto’s after care. ‘I’ve got no doubt at all that if I find a problem in five years’ time, one of the guys would come out and solve it for me. How can you put a price on that?’
