Choosing the right Outdoor Living Garden Pod

High End Outdoor Living Pods

As you consider purchasing an Outdoor Living Pod, this cost and pricing guide will help you develop an initial budget and plan for the costs associated with each type of Outdoor Living Pod.

Ultimately, prices vary by manufacturer, roof type, size and specification. SWR Home and Outdoor only work with established high quality European manufacturers where you will notice the benefits of strong performance characteristics and design, alongside reliable service and manufacturer support – all of are systems are fully tested and verified and every SWR living pod has great optional extras and quality drainage systems built in.

It is imperative that your living pod is structurally sound, produced from thicker and stronger aluminium sections, and has excellent strength properties once installed to withstand harsher environments. This will ensure greater longevity than the weaker systems in the market place.

Costs of Outdoor Living Pods: Things to Consider

There are several things to consider when researching the cost of Outdoor Living Pods:

• The initial purchase price of the “Roof Only” Pod (all outdoor living pods are supplied “roof only” as standard.)
• Whether your Outdoor Living Pod is to be attached to your home (2 Post System) or free-standing (4 Post System).
• The Roof material and movement – The three popular materials are Fabric, Vinyl or Aluminium. In addition, the roof can either retract, or in the case of an aluminium roof can be “tilt only”. (retractable roofs gain the benefit of offering shading and protection from bad weather as well full access to the suns’ rays as and when required.)
• Side Infill Options include Automated Vertical Blinds, Sliding Glass Doors, Louvered Panels, Glass Balustrade and Bespoke Aluminium Fixed Facades
• Whether you would consider Optional Outdoor Living accessories such as Infrared Heaters, Lighting and Sound Bars.
• The space and circumstances of your installation, for example, uneven ground, or where concrete footings (often referred to as pads) may be required
• The warranty and lifetime cost of ownership associated with the Pod.

First, let’s take a look at the initial cost of the most popular Outdoor Living Pod roof covers – to get an idea of how much to budget for each.

Fabric Roof, Louvred Roof and Vinyl Roof Cost Comparisons

1. Fabric Roof : Initial Cost

A quality Automated Markant fabric roof only system from Markilux provides excellent outdoor living areas with good protection. Whilst not 100% weather resistant, these will ensure excellent cover for outdoor living with the exception of challenging weather conditions such as storms.

If choosing a roof only system, the obvious cost advantage is what you save from not including the costs of additional side infill elements and optional extras, we will discuss these options later.

Fabric roofs have the additional benefit of being retractable as standard, this is a high cost additional extra with Louvred Roof systems which are “tilt only” as standard.

Before we go into the next section it is important to understand that all Fabric Roof Outdoor Living Pods should be installed by professionals with experience of the product. We’ve found this produces the most successful outcome for our customers due to the nuances of the product, installation, warranty and long-term performance expectations.

The price of the Fabric “Roof Only” Living Pod is determined by three things: the size of pod, system (2 post attached to home or 4 post free standing) and the cost to install the pod to your home.

Markant Automated Fabric Roof Outdoor Living Pods are basically classified into three size groups:

• Small—3 metre in both width and depth, up to 9 metre squared.
• Medium—at least one side is between 3 metre and 6 metre in length, up to 18m squared.
• Large—a maximum size of 6m x 6m, up to 36 metre squared.

In most cases, you can expect a small automated fabric roof outdoor living to cost between £18,000 – £22,000 delivered to site and fully installed.

A medium automated fabric outdoor living pod will cost between £22,000 – £30,000

A large automated fabric outdoor living pod typically costs between £25,000 – £35,000

Note – These prices range from “lower cost 2 post systems attached to your home” up to “4 post free-standing systems. The prices do not include side infill or extras such as heating and lighting.

Fabric Roof Side Infill Options

We recommend the Markilux Markant as the best Fabric Outdoor Living Pod on the UK market. These are manufactured in Germany with high quality fabrics and running gear. They have excellent Side Infill Options, such as below. Prices vary for each depending upon the size, these are for guidance only.

• Automated Vertical Fabric Side Screens £3,000 to £4,000
• Sliding Door Panel Systems, Various Materials/Styles £4,000 to £8,000

2. Louvred Roof : Initial Cost

Outdoor living pods with louvred roof systems from Weinor, Renson and Deponti provide superb all year-round weather protection. The standard automated tilting blades also allow great shading or the sun to come through depending upon your needs. There are options to have retractable tilting blades which we have itemised further down the guide. Louvred Roof Systems provide the greatest outdoor living areas from a weather protection perspective.

As previously mentioned, with any “roof only” system an obvious advantage is what you save by not including the costs of additional side infill elements and optional extras. These are explained further down the guide.

Before we go into the next section it is important to understand that all Louvred Roof Outdoor Living Pods with Automated Tilting Blades should be installed by professionals with experience of the product. We’ve found this produces the most successful outcome for our customers due to the nuances of the product, installation, warranty and long-term performance expectations.

The price of the Louvred “Roof Only” Living Pod is determined by three things: the size of the pod, the system (2 post attached to home or 4 post free standing) and the cost to install the pod to your home.

Louvred Roof Outdoor Living Pods are basically classified into three size groups:

• Small—less than 3 metre in both width and depth, up to 9 metre squared.
• Medium—at least one side is between 3 metre and 6 metre in length, up to 16m squared.
• Large—at least one side is in excess of 6 metre in length. Up to 30 metre squared.

In most cases, you can expect a small louvered roof outdoor living pod without side infills or extras to cost between £10,000 and £17,000 delivered to site and fully installed.

A medium louvred roof living pod will cost between £16,000 and £24,000.

A large louvred roof living pod typically costs between £22,000 and £32,000

All prices include Automated Tilting Blades.

Automated Retractable Louvred Roof Systems – Additional Cost

Only some of the manufacturers offer a retractable louvred roof.

For those that do, you can expect the additional cost for the Automated Retractable System to be in the range of £6,000 to £12,000 more depending upon the manufacturer, and the size and specification of the Living Pod.

Louvred Roof Side Infill Options

All Louvred Roof Systems have excellent Side Infill Options, such as below. Prices vary for each depending upon the manufacturer, and the size and specification of the system. These prices are guide only.

• Frameless Glass Panels £2,000 to £5,000
• Framed Glass Sliding Door Panel Systems £3,000.00 to £7,000.00
• Automated Roller Screens £2,000 to £5,000

3. Vinyl Roof : Initial Cost

Outdoor living pods with Automated Vinyl Roof Systems from Markilux (Pergola Stretch) and Weinor (Pergotex), both German manufactured provide excellent outdoor living areas with good protection. Whilst not 100% weather resistant, these will ensure excellent cover for outdoor living with the exception of challenging weather conditions such as storms.

As previously mentioned, with any “roof only” system an obvious advantage is what you save by not including the costs of additional side infill elements and optional extras. These are explained further down the guide.

Before we go into the next section it is important to understand that all Vinyl Roof Outdoor Living Pods should be installed by professionals with experience of the product. We’ve found this produces the most successful outcome for our customers due to the nuances of the product, installation, warranty and long-term performance expectations.

The price of the Automated Vinyl “Roof Only” Living Pod, whether a Markilux Pergola Stretch or a Weinor Pergotex, is determined by three things: the size of the pod, the system (2 post attached to home or 4 post free standing) and the cost to install the pod to your home.

Automated Vinyl Roof Outdoor Living Pods are basically classified into three size groups:

• Small—less than 3 metre in both width and depth, up to 9 metre squared.
• Medium—at least one side is between 3 metre and 6 metre in length, up to 16m squared.
• Large—at least one side is in excess of 6 metre in length. Up to 30 metre squared.

In most cases, you can expect a small Vinyl roof outdoor living pod without side infills or extras to cost between £10,000 and £17,000 delivered to site and fully installed.

A medium Vinyl outdoor living pod will cost between £16,000 and £24,000.

A large Vinyl outdoor living pod typically costs between £22,000 and £32,000

All guide prices include Automation

Heat, Light and Sound

Optional Outdoor Living Extras

All of our partner manufacturers offer a great range of optional extras including various lighting, heating and sound. Prices available on application.

Installation

All Outdoor Living Pods covers should be installed by professionals with experience of the product as this produces the most successful outcome for our customers due to the nuances of the products’ performance.

Installation costs could be anywhere from £1,500 to £4,000, depending on your specific installation circumstances. A free survey can be carried out to ascertain what is required and whether items such as below are needed,

• Concrete pads to provide an even base / long term stability.
• Drainage
• Electrical installation work