Insulating conservatory roof?

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Not for me... My Mum all of a sudden wants to do this. Her conservatory is about 5x5m, access out of sliding glass doors from her dining area. Dining area is part of the living room which I always find incredibly dark. So I'm worried it's going to make the whole area even more dark.

The company she had a quote from was saying about £2k which I also thought was very expensive. I get a really bad feeling from these companies.. perhaps it's just because "older" people have conservatories but all of their sales stuff is full of pensioners saying how great it is they can sit in their conservatories all year now. I feel like these companies might prey on pensioners a bit? I dunno.. that's not what happened here mind. My Mum's friend had it done apparently, hence the idea.

Any thoughts? Anyone had it done? She does like her conservatory so I get the idea. I'm just worried (a) all the companies look like cowboys and (b) it might make her living area much more dark.
 
Is the roof currently just glass? The problem with many conservatories is that they are too hot in the Summer, and too cold in the Winter, so anything that can help with that seems like a good idea. Where does the insulation go? If it's just in the roof, I can see it helping in the Summer, but if there is still a large glazed area it may still be cold in the Winter.
 
radderfire said:
Is the roof currently just glass?
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It's crappy semi transparent plastic iirc. They essentially attach some wooden beams across the inside and fill it with silver insulation stuff, then put a white wood-look plastic ceiling. I get the idea about temps, but yeah... Not convinced.
 
If your mum is considering living there long term, consider getting a solid roof.

I has mine done and it transformed the whole room. The room became usable 24/7. Abit more expensive but worth it
 
2k seems a lot but material prices are through the roof at the moment. I tried to talk my mum into it but she was concerned it would stop all light to the living room.
 
ultim said:
If your mum is considering living there long term, consider getting a solid roof.

I has mine done and it transformed the whole room. The room became usable 24/7. Abit more expensive but worth it
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Did you go for the light weight composite style roofing tiles? What sort of structural modifications did it require?
 
Yes light weight tiles. Apart from removing the polycarbonate roof, nothing else’s had to modify. I was also told building regs was not required but I applied for it anyway.
 
ultim said:
If your mum is considering living there long term, consider getting a solid roof.

I has mine done and it transformed the whole room. The room became usable 24/7. Abit more expensive but worth it
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We were trying to convince her to downsize but that's another story :p So yeah I imagine she'll be there for the duration.

I'll get her to investigate the roof. It'll look much nicer that way too. I just think she likes sitting in the conservatory because it's light and airy and 'different' from the lounge. If it turns into basically another lounge I'm not sure why she needs that or how she'd use it differently?

In my mind she needs to knock the wall through to make a big kitchen diner, create a wall to make a separate formal lounge. Then ditch the conservatory altogether and have big doors out to her patio from the kitchen. But hey..
 
I was wondering about this a while back too. Same crappy plastic roofing on mine that makes it unusable most of the year. used 10 times in 20 years. The sales pitch got me tempted so can see why she's tempted by it. Seemed a lot for insulation though so passed. Let us know how you get on
 
I did this myself with mine which has a polycarb roof - attached battens, insulation, plaster boarded then got plasterer in to skim it. Cost a couple of hundred at most. It does help a bit but you'll still get a lot of heat coming in through the glass windows so you would need to put UV film on those as well to help.

Ideally a solid roof (tiled - think you can get plastic ones so cheaper/lighter?) would be better.
 
My parents went with a full replacement solid roof on their 4x4 curved, the insulated type just looked too cheap compared to a fully plastered roof. They were discouraged getting a roof window due to complications in the build and its made a massive difference to the usability of the room, so much the sliding door between the rooms had a bit of an incident and was removed. It feels just as bright as before (had to get blinds as it was too bright to sit in) and outside looks better too.

They created a new metal ring frame to sit on top of the existing windows, then a new frame on top.
Textured light metal tiles, insulation in the frame, then extra timber work underneath with more insulation and finished with plasterboard.

The company they used delayed the start by a day, then took the roof off on a day with a downpour. The existing laminate floor got ruined which they refused to replace. Fortunately deposit was paid on credit card so a refund was issued to replace the floor as the company went bust not long after.
 
gazref said:
Let us know how you get on
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Will do.

Steeps said:
The company they used delayed the start by a day, then took the roof off on a day with a downpour. The existing laminate floor got ruined which they refused to replace. Fortunately deposit was paid on credit card so a refund was issued to replace the floor as the company went bust not long after.
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Oh dear. Appreciate the info, doesn't help change my mind about these companies though!

I'm just frustrated though because she's lived in that house for 10+ years. 3/4 bedroom house all to herself and has barely done anything to it. I really don't like the layout (lounge/diner and separate kitchen). But her garden is lovely so creating a big kitchen/diner with your bifold doors etc. (and separate lounge) would be so much nicer imo. It's desperate for a new kitchen.. well and a complete redecoration. But I'm not sure she's got the budget for that... and it's not my house :p

Will definitely get her to ask about proper exterior roof though.
 
They did theirs for similar reasons, the house had a back sitting room with a window, a kitchen too small for the size of the house, a dining room between the two then patio doors to the conservatory from the dining room. It was supposed to be a bright seating area but as there was a lounge at the front (tv room) then a sitting room it was never used and always looked a mess. In the end it was a big project but they turned the sitting room into the dining room, knocked through the kitchen and diner to make one large kitchen area with an island (the amount of storage only increased 20%) then the conservatory converted into a seating area, all open plan with the kitchen. Completely transformed how the space was used and a much better house for it.

They regretted getting the conservatory after seeing just how unusable it was but the roof has made a big difference and making it open plan with the rest of the house.
 
Scam said:
Not for me... My Mum all of a sudden wants to do this. Her conservatory is about 5x5m, access out of sliding glass doors from her dining area. Dining area is part of the living room which I always find incredibly dark. So I'm worried it's going to make the whole area even more dark.

The company she had a quote from was saying about £2k which I also thought was very expensive. I get a really bad feeling from these companies.. perhaps it's just because "older" people have conservatories but all of their sales stuff is full of pensioners saying how great it is they can sit in their conservatories all year now. I feel like these companies might prey on pensioners a bit? I dunno.. that's not what happened here mind. My Mum's friend had it done apparently, hence the idea.

Any thoughts? Anyone had it done? She does like her conservatory so I get the idea. I'm just worried (a) all the companies look like cowboys and (b) it might make her living area much more dark.
Click to expand...

We had this done to our conservatory in the house we moved out of last year - iirc we paid either 5 or 7k for the work, and that was mates’ rates (apparently lol). We had the old corrugated [looking] plastic roof before, and the place was almost useless, boiling hot in summer and cold in winter.

They took the old roof off, fitted a mixture of wooden beams and aluminium struts, externally I believe chip board (or the like) went down, then a weatherproof membrane on top of this, followed by another layer for the polycarbonate tiles to be attached.

Internally we had some wiring for lights re-routed and then the inside of the roof was insulated, plaster boarded, and then a layer of plaster added.

Our lounge/diner was a little darker with the change of roof, but the temperature was noticeably much better – in winter we used a small plug-in heater out there, to keep the dogs toasty, but that wasn’t needed, and in summer it was lovely an cool. The rest of the house also benefitted from the new insulation, both warmer and cooler downstairs.

It certainly made the room a lot more usable, and added a decent chunk of value when we came to sell too.
 
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