How Durable are Office Pods?
Hully garden office Pods are becoming an increasingly popular way to add extra living and working space to your home without breaking the bank. They not only create additional space, but they can increase the value of your property and improve its visual appeal as well.
Whether you choose a fully customised or ready-made garden pod, it could be the perfect addition to any work-from-home setup, or just a separate space to escape the hustle and bustle of home life for a short while.
If you want to keep valuables or electronics in them, you will likely be wondering, how durable are office pods? Let’s take a look.
How durable are office pods?
Because office pods are made from a range of different materials, the real answer to the question does vary. Wooden garden pods, for example, are going to eventually decay if they’re not regularly treated and maintained, which can cost a lot of time and money. The main reason for this decay is that untreated wood is porous, and the pod is going to be left outside, exposed to all of the elements the UK climate can throw at it.
Wood does have advantages, such as being easy to work with but it is no longer very cheap and now the negatives tend to outweigh the positives. Wood is too susceptible to moisture and water to be used to build a full office pod. It will rot, crumble, and can easily become infested with insects, moulds, and mildew.
Materials like glass and steel have other problems, such as being expensive to make, ship and install. Therefore, it’s important to opt for materials like fibreglass, which is not only incredibly durable and weatherproof but is also low-cost, enabling the overall price of your pod to remain reasonable.
The overall design of an office pod can also make a huge difference to how durable it ends up being, and how long it lasts. For example, rectangular construction will have a lot of corners and joints, which represent weak spots that the wind, rain, and frost can start to breach.
This is why it’s recommended that you opt for a smoother, rounder design that will help to deflect as much of the bad weather as possible.
Are fibreglass office pods the most durable option?
The properties of fibreglass make it the ultimate material for creating an office pod, but what is fibreglass, and what makes it so suitable for this purpose?
As its name suggests, fibreglass uses extremely fine glass fibres to give strength and rigidity to a substance that it’s mixed with. Most fibreglass will use the fibres suspended in a solution of resin or thermoplastic, allowing for an incredibly durable, heat-resistant material that is capable of being formed into any shape.
The mixture of materials that we call fibreglass is stronger than some metals, whilst remaining a fraction of the weight – helping to further keep costs down. Fibreglass is waterproof too and has excellent resistance to fire and heat. It will not rot like wood or corrode like metal.
Fibreglass is also a non-conductive material and used in the right way, it can be an electrical insulator – meaning wiring electronics into a garden office pod is very safe.
All of these reasons highlight why fibreglass is perfect for constructing items like boat hulls, which face extreme weather conditions regularly. And it’s the exact same properties that make it the most suitable material for making a garden office pod that will remain comfortable all year round.
Why should I choose Hully Pods?
Hully Pods lean on boat-building techniques to create garden office pods that are capable of withstanding the elements whilst ensuring a calm and cosy environment inside. Our Dory and Skipjack (named after boat shapes) Pods have an incredibly durable exterior fibreglass shell, with a multi-layer fibreglass and structural foam insulating floor – meaning there is no need for concrete foundations, just a firm, flat and level base.
To add to this, there are over 1,000 recycled 500ml plastic bottles in every Skipjack Pod, and over 370 in every Dory Pod. Again, not only does our smart use of materials allow us to deliver a quality product whilst making savings to pass directly on to the consumer, but we are proud to be giving otherwise single-use plastics another life.
All Hully Pods come with a 16A hook-up connector and 1 twin 13A mains socket as standard, but can be customised to include even more, such as extra plug sockets, wired interior and exterior lights, Ethernet and USB ports and solar power capability. The hook-up connector can also be upgraded to 32A if required.
So, whether you need a space to work from home or you want a sanctuary where you can get some peace and quiet, a Hully Pod could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Consult the experts
Hopefully, you now have a better answer to the question, how durable are office pods? It does depend, and that is why it’s important to consult a professional who has the experience and knowledge to build a sturdy garden pod. Hully Pods began when our founder, Aidan, realised that his houseboat-building experience would translate perfectly to designing and building a durable, weather-proof garden pod that didn’t quickly spiral in costs.
If you’re ready to get started, you can build and buy your garden pod today by browsing our Quick Start Guide here on our website. Our Pods are customisable and hand-made to order in our workshop on the River Itchen in Southampton. We ship anywhere to England and Wales and mainland Scotland, in approximately 6 weeks.
For more information call us on 02382546400 or email hello@hullypods.com
