Conservatory advice

[Scort]

After a little advice, maybe recommendations and experience.

Our conservatory is a couple of years past its 20 year guarantee, it came with the home we purchase a little over 5 years ago, and as FTBs we never noticed issues with damp when we viewed the house. Turns out, the door has a gap in one of the top corners, and the roof panels are prone to slipping.

Over the last few years I have done my best to brace the roof, and have attempted to adjust the door to fit better, but I think the time has come to spend some money on getting the thing sorted!

It's a 'Victorian style', and though I don't have measurements to hand, I would guesstimate it is in the region of maybe 12 feet by 8 (possibly larger). A friend is currently sorting us a quote on having the existing plastic roof replaced with poly-carbonate tiles - his son in law works for a firm who supplies such things, so we're likely to get the parts at a little over trade price. Initial price for just the parts is a shade over £4K. The interior will then have a membrane, and levels of insulation - along with spot lights.

I am worried about the loss of a good deal of natural light, there are also [possible] planning requirements for such a change, at least, that is what some Google results have suggested.

Our friend has told us that if we go for a glass roof, we would lose the benefits of the insulation (fair point) - what I cannot seem to find information on, is whether glass would sort some of our issues with the existing setup - the fact it is freezing in the winter (compounded by the door no doubt) and very hot in the summer.

We are hoping to find a local fitter to come and give us a quote, along with a national outfit (such as Anglian), just to get a view of different prices. I'm leaning towards glass, simply to retain the light; but only if it is able of retaining heat in the winter and keeping it cool in summer...

So yeah, sorry for a boring thread, but hopefully someone has been in this same position.

Thanks folks!

 

[200sols]

Get rid and build a proper extension.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

One of the stipulations we had when moving house recently was no conservatory. I feel your pain, our last place cost us £10k and it was still unusable really. I'd never have another house with one.

 

[Scort]

One of the stipulations we had when moving house recently was no conservatory. I feel your pain, our last place cost us £10k and it was still unusable really. I'd never have another house with one.

To be fair, ours is still usable - it's just not great with the flaws that have developed over the last few decades, but we love having the extra space it offers, and the dogs have their beds and whatnot out there - so it's pretty perfect for our home; or will be, with the roof/door sorted

 

[Steeps]

A proper glass roof system can be just as well insulated as a regular roof if the right glazing is used, the weakness regardless of whatever new system you use will be the existing glazing and pvc framework.

If the new roof is painted white inside the light loss is very minimal and is actually far more comfortable as you're not getting the extremes shining on the roof. Solid roof systems also have options for skylights but they add cost.

We went down the solid roof system with metal coated tiles to match the existing on the house when refurbishing our ~15 year old conservatory, it's made a huge difference to the use of the room but our door between the kitchen and conservatory was damaged so we opted to remove it rather than replace so can't comment about temperatures. In summer it added 1-2'c to the rest of the house compared to previous years.

 

[Scort]

A proper glass roof system can be just as well insulated as a regular roof if the right glazing is used, the weakness regardless of whatever new system you use will be the existing glazing and pvc framework.

If the new roof is painted white inside the light loss is very minimal and is actually far more comfortable as you're not getting the extremes shining on the roof. Solid roof systems also have options for skylights but they add cost.

We went down the solid roof system with metal coated tiles to match the existing on the house when refurbishing our ~15 year old conservatory, it's made a huge difference to the use of the room but our door between the kitchen and conservatory was damaged so we opted to remove it rather than replace so can't comment about temperatures. In summer it added 1-2'c to the rest of the house compared to previous years.

Excellent, sounds good - did you have to do anything with regards to planning permission? It may not be applicable now, as the thread was from 2013 - but people were commenting that adding a timber roof required planning permission.

Thanks

 

[SPG]

If the footings are sound (which they should be) it would be worthwhile to replace the lot and get a light weight roof installed (like the tiles you mentioned) Suddenly your use 3 times year conservatory turns into why didn't i do this sooner.

 

[adwol48]

Glass is better than polycarbonate but still no where near as good as tiles and insulation. My conservatory roof this morning was covered in ice and the temps in it was only marginally above the outside temp. If you can a proper extension is best but if you want to keep it as a conservatory a lightweight roof is a good option. As for planning it should be covered under building regs if your replacing the roof and most comapnies who fit the lightweight roofs can do that for you

 

[SimonR]

+1 for lightweight roofs. Turns what is basically a greenhouse attached to your house into another living space that is useable. We found that the light, even with a solid roof, was still very good. There are some very high performance glazing systems available, but they are eye wateringly expensive and still not as good as a solid roof for thermal insulation.

 

[Steeps]

We didn't get planning permission for our roof, building control came to have a look at the steel work in the house and didn't comment on it but this is for a detached house. Externally you're only changing the material (and maybe expanding the roof line by one brick to take into account the extra thickness of the frame) so it should be fine under permitted development as it's at the back of your house.

The insulation on our conservatory roof is that good last winter it was still covered in snow when all the other houses with vented roofs had melted.

 

[Scort]

If the footings are sound (which they should be) it would be worthwhile to replace the lot and get a light weight roof installed (like the tiles you mentioned) Suddenly your use 3 times year conservatory turns into why didn't i do this sooner.

Glass is better than polycarbonate but still no where near as good as tiles and insulation. My conservatory roof this morning was covered in ice and the temps in it was only marginally above the outside temp. If you can a proper extension is best but if you want to keep it as a conservatory a lightweight roof is a good option. As for planning it should be covered under building regs if your replacing the roof and most comapnies who fit the lightweight roofs can do that for you

+1 for lightweight roofs. Turns what is basically a greenhouse attached to your house into another living space that is useable. We found that the light, even with a solid roof, was still very good. There are some very high performance glazing systems available, but they are eye wateringly expensive and still not as good as a solid roof for thermal insulation.

We didn't get planning permission for our roof, building control came to have a look at the steel work in the house and didn't comment on it but this is for a detached house. Externally you're only changing the material (and maybe expanding the roof line by one brick to take into account the extra thickness of the frame) so it should be fine under permitted development as it's at the back of your house.
The insulation on our conservatory roof is that good last winter it was still covered in snow when all the other houses with vented roofs had melted.

Great stuff, thank you for the thoughts guys

 

[Entai]

We were in a very similar situation large space (24ft x 14ft) hardly ever used as too hot or too cold and went through all the rigmarole of looking at alternatives and weighing up all the options.
In the end I knocked the old one down reworked the dwarf walls, and added in a couple frames for two big 10 ft bifolds out onto the decking and into the garden.
Then got a company in to measure up and create the side panels and roof, to fill in around the bifolds etc.
We went for glass panels all around including the roof, we went with tinted glass for the roof and powered blinds were fitted for the brightest of summer days.
The conservatory is now in use all year round, as a dining room and lounge.
Got a couple of little electric heaters for the winter, so it never drops below 18-20 degrees, although have only used them twice so far this winter, as it has been so mild, and the rest of the house tends to heat the conservatory well.
Summer time the tinting and blinds work brilliantly keeping the temps under control so it is still very usable on all but the very very hottest of days last year.
Did the whole thing for a tad over 17k, but then the bifolds were 8k of that.

 

[Scort]

We were in a very similar situation large space (24ft x 14ft) hardly ever used as too hot or too cold and went through all the rigmarole of looking at alternatives and weighing up all the options.
In the end I knocked the old one down reworked the dwarf walls, and added in a couple frames for two big 10 ft bifolds out onto the decking and into the garden.
Then got a company in to measure up and create the side panels and roof, to fill in around the bifolds etc.
We went for glass panels all around including the roof, we went with tinted glass for the roof and powered blinds were fitted for the brightest of summer days.
The conservatory is now in use all year round, as a dining room and lounge.
Got a couple of little electric heaters for the winter, so it never drops below 18-20 degrees, although have only used them twice so far this winter, as it has been so mild, and the rest of the house tends to heat the conservatory well.
Summer time the tinting and blinds work brilliantly keeping the temps under control so it is still very usable on all but the very very hottest of days last year.
Did the whole thing for a tad over 17k, but then the bifolds were 8k of that.

Wow, that sounds like a massive overhaul A friend has a similar setup actually - it looks stunning, but sadly, out of our price range and maybe a tad overkill on our place. One for the next home though!