Conservatory Options
Discussion
probably an FAQ so apologies for any repetition but my OH needs a place to work from home (counselling, Pscyhotherapy etc) and we havea number of options.
Part garage conversion - average quote thus far c £4,500
DIY conservatory £2,400 for a 3m x 3m but not sure on quality or how hard to DIY, would it be about as much again to have it built??
dwarf wall conservatory - what ground works are needed etc its a new build property so it might infringe on the housebuild gaurantee?
the other alternative is a summer house but again not sure what ground works are needed, whichever option we'd need a sparky to do the garage or summer house wiring...
is there a buyers or options guide somewhere? the missus ahs tasked me as a project manager
for this...
thanks in advance
Part garage conversion - average quote thus far c £4,500
DIY conservatory £2,400 for a 3m x 3m but not sure on quality or how hard to DIY, would it be about as much again to have it built??
dwarf wall conservatory - what ground works are needed etc its a new build property so it might infringe on the housebuild gaurantee?
the other alternative is a summer house but again not sure what ground works are needed, whichever option we'd need a sparky to do the garage or summer house wiring...
is there a buyers or options guide somewhere? the missus ahs tasked me as a project manager
for this...thanks in advance
Pheo said:
Conservatory isn't going to provide a temperature stable environment unless you throw all the doors and windows open, or spend a fortune heating it. We have one
(previous owners installed it) and while useful, I wouldn't put in another for what you want. Do the garage conversion.
Very much this. We have also inherited a large (8m x 4m) conservatory when we moved house last year. It's a complete and utter waste of space IMO. OK it's awesome for the 2-3 months of year it is usable, but is akin to Death Valley when the sun does come out (110deg +) and too chilly for day-to-day use in the Winter months. And this is after we swopped-out the hailstone damaged twinwall polycarbonate to 28mm DGU roof glazing last Autumn. Winter use could be upped if we had a decent underfloor heating system (it is ceramic tiles on a solid floor) but the previous owners stuck to rads and it simply cannot cope with the heat loss.(previous owners installed it) and while useful, I wouldn't put in another for what you want. Do the garage conversion.
I was all for ditching the roof and UPVC frames, firing in some steels at the corners and putting on a proper roof but Mrs F was still getting her head round the upheaval from moving so we went with changing the glass only. In retrospect a poor decision
. Even more so every time I hear the conservatory UPVC creaking and groaning as soon as the sun comes out. darren f said:
Very much this. We have also inherited a large (8m x 4m) conservatory when we moved house last year. It's a complete and utter waste of space IMO. OK it's awesome for the 2-3 months of year it is usable, but is akin to Death Valley when the sun does come out (110deg +) and too chilly for day-to-day use in the Winter months. And this is after we swopped-out the hailstone damaged twinwall polycarbonate to 28mm DGU roof glazing last Autumn. Winter use could be upped if we had a decent underfloor heating system (it is ceramic tiles on a solid floor) but the previous owners stuck to rads and it simply cannot cope with the heat loss.
I was all for ditching the roof and UPVC frames, firing in some steels at the corners and putting on a proper roof but Mrs F was still getting her head round the upheaval from moving so we went with changing the glass only. In retrospect a poor decision . Even more so every time I hear the conservatory UPVC creaking and groaning as soon as the sun comes out.
May I ask who did your conversion to glass and at what approx. cost? I have a 4.5x3.5m conservatory and could like to change the poly roof to glass at some point.I was all for ditching the roof and UPVC frames, firing in some steels at the corners and putting on a proper roof but Mrs F was still getting her head round the upheaval from moving so we went with changing the glass only. In retrospect a poor decision
. Even more so every time I hear the conservatory UPVC creaking and groaning as soon as the sun comes out. Esseesse said:
May I ask who did your conversion to glass and at what approx. cost? I have a 4.5x3.5m conservatory and could like to change the poly roof to glass at some point.
Apologies for the thread hijack! It is a 8.5m x 3.5m lean-to roof with 2 hip ends, so not the smallest or easiest to replace. The quote was around £9k, but a huge chunk of that we got back through the household insurance as the hail damage (2 days after we moved in 
) 'did for' ours and 2 other conservatory roofs in our cul-de-sac. Having just moved in we wanted it sorted quickly so we didn't 'shop around' massively and I'm sure we could have got it cheaper. The guy who did it for us GJ Kirk Installations (it is our roof on this webpage 
) is Norwich based and tends to work in and around Norfolk and may not travel as far as you. I would recommend him though- he's a good guy though and a committed petrol-head to boot! (a keen kart racer). Going back to the OP, reading it again, if it is to be a workspace for it really needs to be an easily controllable environment, even more so for something like counselling where the comfort of the 'clients' is paramount. I'd strongly suggest 'biting the bullet' and spending the extra on a traditional-build conversion, it will prove worth it in the end.
darren f said:
Pheo said:
Conservatory isn't going to provide a temperature stable environment unless you throw all the doors and windows open, or spend a fortune heating it. We have one
(previous owners installed it) and while useful, I wouldn't put in another for what you want. Do the garage conversion.
Very much this. We have also inherited a large (8m x 4m) conservatory when we moved house last year. It's a complete and utter waste of space IMO. OK it's awesome for the 2-3 months of year it is usable, but is akin to Death Valley when the sun does come out (110deg +) and too chilly for day-to-day use in the Winter months. And this is after we swopped-out the hailstone damaged twinwall polycarbonate to 28mm DGU roof glazing last Autumn. Winter use could be upped if we had a decent underfloor heating system (it is ceramic tiles on a solid floor) but the previous owners stuck to rads and it simply cannot cope with the heat loss.(previous owners installed it) and while useful, I wouldn't put in another for what you want. Do the garage conversion.
I was all for ditching the roof and UPVC frames, firing in some steels at the corners and putting on a proper roof but Mrs F was still getting her head round the upheaval from moving so we went with changing the glass only. In retrospect a poor decision
. Even more so every time I hear the conservatory UPVC creaking and groaning as soon as the sun comes out. If I had the money, I'd pull our conservatory down and replace it with a small extension incorporating bi-fold doors and the biggest skylights I could get in.
90% of the light and airiness of a conservatory but cold and draught-proof (therefore actually useable) in the winter.
We got a house with a 5.5x5m conservatory, with a poly roof it was totally totally unusable, that was with insulated walls as well.
Anyway, activ blue glass in, floor insulated and the biggest thing was an air to air aircon and heating unit. I assure you it's the warmest room in the winter and coolest in the summer, the unit isn't silly money to run but obviously not free and probably not as cheap as normal central heating. The summer is great though. Feels like walking into a fridge
I'd love to pull it down and do a proper extension but it would be 25k of money I doubt I'd see again.
Anyway, activ blue glass in, floor insulated and the biggest thing was an air to air aircon and heating unit. I assure you it's the warmest room in the winter and coolest in the summer, the unit isn't silly money to run but obviously not free and probably not as cheap as normal central heating. The summer is great though. Feels like walking into a fridge
I'd love to pull it down and do a proper extension but it would be 25k of money I doubt I'd see again.
Muzzer79 said:
I agree
If I had the money, I'd pull our conservatory down and replace it with a small extension incorporating bi-fold doors and the biggest skylights I could get in.
90% of the light and airiness of a conservatory but cold and draught-proof (therefore actually useable) in the winter.
Thats what we would want to do with ours. Terraced 1970s ex council though so not sure its worth the money! If I had the money, I'd pull our conservatory down and replace it with a small extension incorporating bi-fold doors and the biggest skylights I could get in.
90% of the light and airiness of a conservatory but cold and draught-proof (therefore actually useable) in the winter.
We live at 1000ft with the front of the house facing the prevailing winds so a conservatory was out on noise grounds as well as safety.
Going for a garden office instead. Not cheap at around 15k but cheaper than an extension and creates a bit of space between me and all the toddler mess!
Going for a garden office instead. Not cheap at around 15k but cheaper than an extension and creates a bit of space between me and all the toddler mess!
Ours comes down this year.....double glazed wooden dwarf wall, but useless for much of the year. Putting up a much bigger "orangery" - two 3.8m bifold doors plus a 7m x 2m lantern roof with "solar/'self-clean'" glass should give enough light for the rest of the house....& underfloor heating may help a bit too ;-)
Worth spending a bit more for something that is truly usable, IMHO
Worth spending a bit more for something that is truly usable, IMHO
Nom de ploom said:
so for a new build garage with a flat floor, high roof (no roof storage), and a partial say 1/3rd conversion to include an o/s door, window and electrics is about £4,500 a fair enough quote?
Assuming you mean including the build cost of the garage, better than fair enough I would say, bloody cheap in fact. I'd expect £10k-£12k tbf.darren f said:
Esseesse said:
May I ask who did your conversion to glass and at what approx. cost? I have a 4.5x3.5m conservatory and could like to change the poly roof to glass at some point.
Apologies for the thread hijack! It is a 8.5m x 3.5m lean-to roof with 2 hip ends, so not the smallest or easiest to replace. The quote was around £9k, but a huge chunk of that we got back through the household insurance as the hail damage (2 days after we moved in ) 'did for' ours and 2 other conservatory roofs in our cul-de-sac. Having just moved in we wanted it sorted quickly so we didn't 'shop around' massively and I'm sure we could have got it cheaper. The guy who did it for us GJ Kirk Installations (it is our roof on this webpage ) is Norwich based and tends to work in and around Norfolk and may not travel as far as you. I would recommend him though- he's a good guy though and a committed petrol-head to boot! (a keen kart racer).Thanks, not cheap then. Was that just glass or did it require an entire new roof?
Edit: Looking at the pics now it appears to be a new roof. I think my roof is strong enough just to need the glass.
On-going thread hi-jack alert! Yep, indeed, we had to have the eaves section 'beefed up' and all new ally glazing bars, the old knackered twin-wall polycarbonate was 2001-vintage and was thin section. Moving to 28mm DGUs, we needed chunkier bars and hip sections due to the increased unit thickness and weight. You may struggle to get glass as a direct replacement in your existing bars- and we were advised to go for 28mm units to maximise the benefits of changing to glass.
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