Conservatory

We have a conservatory as part of the house we bought. IIRC it's 15 years old.
Temps in summer 60degC if the windows are closed.
Temps in winter - about the same as outside.
We have underfloor heating in there but rarely use it.

The area is usable but it's not quite as secure and we have a wall/locking doors/windows between the house and the conservatory. You will need to check your regulations etc as part of the process (including inspection of the foundations etc). We have one side wall and a small lower walls around.

What we want todo is replace this completely - changing to an Orangery where there are proper walls, roof with skylights/blinds and patio doors that open back direct onto the lawn. (moving the fish pond too). However for the time being...

PS if you sell the house and you don't have all the regulations you may find you get into difficult discussions (you may find that the local authority requests you tear down the conservatory - which impacts the sale).
 
Aruffell said:
But surely would involve planning permission?

This is the type of thing I was looking to have done - http://imgur.com/a/gG0tM

Would be around 30 square metres in total size.

Thanks,

Andy
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Something like that is likely to be nearer 40k than a standard conservatory as its not off the shelf panels knocked together.

FWIW my sister has a conservatory of the size you want but built entirely of windows and a french door - she has 2 air con units in it and 2 rads to get the temp right in summer & winter.

I would join the others and say build an extension with lots of windows and sky lights - it will be cheaper to run, more usable and add more value to your house.
 
I forgot to say - when we want the orangey done the deviding wall will be opened - so the kitchen, dining room will be moved outwards making it more usable and a downstairs loo added and possibly holding a washing machine..

I figure that the entire lot will be about 40-50K not including the kitchen as I suspect the foundations will need redoing between a conservatory and a basic extension...
 
Just an FYI, you will likely need planning.
New builds generally don't carry "permitted development" as its stripped by the builder. Additionally you will also need permission from the builder to add modifications like this, so they will need to see plans etc and approve it. Cost for the builder it about £100>£150 and don't loose the letter! If you come to sell in the future you'll need all of this documentation :)

Source - I purchased a 5year old house that had a conservatory added so had to got through all the paperwork relating to it.
 
So done some more digging into the style I want and it seems that they are all made by the same company (Ultra Frame) and are all part of their "livin room" range.

More information can be found here - http://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/orangery-products/livin-room-orangery/

You can choose to have dwarf walls or just pillars and go full height windows. They can plaster the brick wall of the house so that it looks more like a room and as long as you keep the doors, it's still classed as a conservatory so doesn't require any planning permission. The only thing it requires is consent from the builder of the house who have already told me for an "admin fee" of £125, they will give the consent as a covenant is in place otherwise.

The guy from the local installing firm is working on a more concrete quote but thinks it will be closer to the £20,000 mark so happy days :)

Andy
 
I still think £20k is bonkers for a conservatory.

We've got one, its got underfloor heating, its still mostly useless. Doesn't feel like part of the main house.

Save some more pennies and get a proper extension.
 
Aruffell said:
The ultra frame ones are a lot more efficient than a conventional conservatory.

http://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/thermal-performance/

The one I'm looking at is A rated.

Andy
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Hmm.. Well ours looks very similar in the materials in their images. Firstly they will have gaps that allow wind through... if not now then in 5-10 years they will! They do loose heat easily once this occurs and in winter they're almost as cold as outside.

Without blinds to prevent sunstroke and sun burn (yes!) then the space isn't really that usable during a summer's day. The fact that you may need sunglasses inside when looking at white paper - regardless of the 'solar' marketing claptrap means you will still want blinds..
 
Aruffell said:
So done some more digging into the style I want and it seems that they are all made by the same company (Ultra Frame) and are all part of their "livin room" range.

More information can be found here - http://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/orangery-products/livin-room-orangery/

You can choose to have dwarf walls or just pillars and go full height windows. They can plaster the brick wall of the house so that it looks more like a room and as long as you keep the doors, it's still classed as a conservatory so doesn't require any planning permission. The only thing it requires is consent from the builder of the house who have already told me for an "admin fee" of £125, they will give the consent as a covenant is in place otherwise.

The guy from the local installing firm is working on a more concrete quote but thinks it will be closer to the £20,000 mark so happy days :)

Andy
Click to expand...

From experience if the extension is designed as a room, with the insulation and limited heat loss by having only some windows on the roof, then the room is more usable for a longer period of time. Add to that if you're making an extension you want it as a extension of the space.. not another small pokey room that is too awkward to be used.
The fact that someone says "keep a door" in there.. and that there's no mention of extending the heating system to the new living space..

Just had a play on their site.. this is the sort of thing we're interested in:

http://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/orangery/ranges/winchester/

One other thing to think about is security.. the effect on insurance. If the doors are outward opening - the hinges are typically on the outside.. making it less secure. The sliding patio doors are better if they have individual locking because their hinges are inside the door not outside. It may be that the removal of the existing wall door will also be seen as reducing security.
 
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NickK said:
Hmm.. Well ours looks very similar in the materials in their images. Firstly they will have gaps that allow wind through... if not now then in 5-10 years they will! They do loose heat easily once this occurs and in winter they're almost as cold as outside.

Without blinds to prevent sunstroke and sun burn (yes!) then the space isn't really that usable during a summer's day. The fact that you may need sunglasses inside when looking at white paper - regardless of the 'solar' marketing claptrap means you will still want blinds..
Click to expand...

They have reflective roofing (a blue tint to it) - I went and saw one last night and could see the blue tint which assists with that.

NickK said:
From experience if the extension is designed as a room, with the insulation and limited heat loss by having only some windows on the roof, then the room is more usable for a longer period of time. Add to that if you're making an extension you want it as a extension of the space.. not another small pokey room that is too awkward to be used.
The fact that someone says "keep a door" in there.. and that there's no mention of extending the heating system to the new living space..

Just had a play on their site.. this is the sort of thing we're interested in:

http://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/orangery/ranges/winchester/

One other thing to think about is security.. the effect on insurance. If the doors are outward opening - the hinges are typically on the outside.. making it less secure. The sliding patio doors are better if they have individual locking because their hinges are inside the door not outside. It may be that the removal of the existing wall door will also be seen as reducing security.
Click to expand...

We looked at that idea but with a flat roof you'll find that your home insurance will go up due to the fear of trapping water etc...

We are keeping our doors from the kitchen/diner so it will be cut off completely and the underfloor heating will be on a separate zone so that we're not heating it when it's not needed.

Security wise, we are getting a Texecom Ricochet system which will include security on the conservatory too as well as sensors (IR) too.

Andy
 
I got a 4.5m x 5m conservatory added a few years ago, cost £12.5k total, really pleased with it (Direct Conservatory Co). All glass, no polycarb anywhere.
 
Aruffell said:
We looked at that idea but with a flat roof you'll find that your home insurance will go up due to the fear of trapping water etc...

Andy
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Interesting - I wonder at what point something is a "flat roof". If you could have a shallow apex with roof skylights. Technically not flat and at the same time stronger in the event of snow buildup.

Can be a little worrying with the roof -> conservatory avalanche with large amounts of snow we had previously :) Didn't have a problem in the end.
 
NickK said:
Interesting - I wonder at what point something is a "flat roof". If you could have a shallow apex with roof skylights. Technically not flat and at the same time stronger in the event of snow buildup.

Can be a little worrying with the roof -> conservatory avalanche with large amounts of snow we had previously :) Didn't have a problem in the end.
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If you check the ultra frame website then you'll see they have tested their structures to cope with that "once in 50 years" catastrophe that the British call snow and it's been tested under high winds too etc...

I'm lucky that I live in the south east. We don't get snow. We get the occasional white stuff for 5 minutes every 3 years but I'd never call it "snow".

Andy
 
Aruffell said:
If you check the ultra frame website then you'll see they have tested their structures to cope with that "once in 50 years" catastrophe that the British call snow and it's been tested under high winds too etc...

I'm lucky that I live in the south east. We don't get snow. We get the occasional white stuff for 5 minutes every 3 years but I'd never call it "snow".

Andy
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Ours has taken around a foot of snow. Pulled some of the gutters off. Main problem was the lack of snow guard on the main house which meant when the snow avalanched off the roof it hit the conservatory roof and pushed the polycarbonite panels through.
 
Chief Wiggum said:
Just an FYI, you will likely need planning.
New builds generally don't carry "permitted development" as its stripped by the builder. Additionally you will also need permission from the builder to add modifications like this, so they will need to see plans etc and approve it. Cost for the builder it about £100>£150 and don't loose the letter! If you come to sell in the future you'll need all of this documentation :)

Source - I purchased a 5year old house that had a conservatory added so had to got through all the paperwork relating to it.
Click to expand...

Definitely get this checked before you go any further. I'm in the process of purchasing a new build property, I've skimmed the covenants just this morning and remember seeing something about extending/changing the property within the first 7 years of ownership.
 
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