# Backyard Office

In 2020 I renovated the small building in our backyard which had [fallen into disrepair](https://www.jefftk.com/p/outbuilding-thoughts). It was zoned for use as a home office, and had electric but not plumbing. I wrote about how I was [thinking about insulating it](https://www.jefftk.com/p/estimating-the-roi-of-insulation) and [comparing framing options](https://www.jefftk.com/p/shed-wall-plans) but then apparently I never got around to writing up how I finished it!

I hired someone to replace the roof:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-new-roof-outer.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-new-roof-outer-big.jpg)

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-new-roof.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-new-roof-big.jpg)

Doesn't look like I have a picture of the top, but it's rubber membrane.

I hired them to put in a window as well. If I'd realized how much space would be lost to casing I'd have asked the mason to make a larger window hole.

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-new-window.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-new-window-big.jpg)

Plans for the walls and floor:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-inner-design.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-inner-design-big.jpg)

Covering the walls and floor in 2" foam:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-entirely-purple.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-entirely-purple-big.jpg)

Anna helped:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/lily-shed-insulation-help.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/lily-shed-insulation-help-big.jpg)

The floor is one layer of OSB, then one layer of plywood, screwed to each other but floating: [![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-floor-and-subfloor.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-floor-and-subfloor-big.jpg)

Vapor barrier around the top, and 2x3s the flat way to attach the drywall to. I used fiberglass batts to insulate the roof:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-insulation-and-vapor-barrier.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-insulation-and-vapor-barrier-big.jpg)

One more layer of foam, around everything.

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/insulated-shed-no-drywall.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/insulated-shed-no-drywall-big.jpg)

Help from Lily:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-more-insulation-help.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-more-insulation-help-big.jpg)

Drywalling it all:

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-drywall.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-drywall-big.jpg)

Casing the old windows. This was annoying since nothing was quite square.

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-cased-window.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-cased-window-big.jpg)

Finished!

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-finished-1.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-finished-1-big.jpg)

[![](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-finished-2.jpg)](https://www.jefftk.com/shed-finished-2-big.jpg)

A major thing I liked about this house project is that no one was depending on it being done at any specific time, so I could work on it when I had free time.

Now one of our tenants uses it as an office, and we rent it for $400/month (utilities included). The total cost (ignoring my time) was $17k, and utilities might be $500/y, so if we're able to rent it continuously the payback period is 4y.

It's nice to have more usable space!

*Comment via: [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/pfbid0A8nwUqGy13NJdqcNutPBtsbzyziRydMCQtowF4pf5YtBuQfzZ74WgHQHCqnKHyAJl), [mastodon](https://mastodon.mit.edu/@jefftk/112295033933961578)*