Spec me a conservatory

[theone8181]

Hi guys so me and the wife have been discussing now we've had a second child and we think a conservatory is the best move for use as a kids play room. Do any of you have any reccomendations/who to stay away from? We're looking at a victorian style with a solid roof (tiled but im not sure if there are any other alternatives as dont want it to turn into a greenhouse in summer?

Cheers

 

[chief barker]

Have you considered a glass extension/box?

Friend's of ours have just had one installed and I would have to say it's beautiful - won't be cheap though so it depends on your budget.

 

[theone8181]

When you say glass extension, you mean so it looks like a posh greenhouse? I just thought a glass roof would let in too much heat, how do your friends find it on a hot day? The reason i was looking at a normal conservatory is that the dwarf wall will hide kids toys which will likely line the walls. Also we're thinking of electric underfloor heating if anyone has used it before. The area is approx 9m square.

 

[Solus]

Remember to check out your local council regulations. A conservatory without a transparent roof doesn't count as a conservatory. Therefore you will be liable to building regulations and a conservatory will not pass.

 

[theone8181]

Remember to check out your local council regulations. A conservatory without a transparent roof doesn't count as a conservatory. Therefore you will be liable to building regulations and a conservatory will not pass.

I did not know that, however one of my neighbours has a solid roof so its shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Solus]

You can have one, but you would find difficulty selling your house with a building that requires regulations but doesn't comply.

 

[peterwalkley]

I would suggest an Edwardian i.e. square one over a Victorian as the amount of usable space you lose from the rounded walls is silly. You are likely going to want something to store the children's stuff in, so drawers units etc - maximise the wall space.

We also had the wall that faces the neighbours built to full height rather than just a view of a fence 3 feet away. It also meant we could put full height bookcases along that wall for storage.

Now is probably a good time to buy as they will be scaling down from the peak and looking for work to keeps the crews busy in the winter period. Ask around locally for recommendations. We used a local firm with a good reputation rather than one of the nationals. We just got a straight price without the usual inflated BS price followed by the gazillion "discounts" palaver.

Conservatory firm should check on any planning and building regs issues. Its very area dependent - for us, nothing special was needed as the increase in floor area we were gaining was below the threshold of needing planning permission.

Underfloor heating is good for maintaining a temperature, but we find it doesn't really warm the conservatory during the winter. We tend to blast it for 10 minutes with an electric fan first. You may not need that if you go with a solid roof type and also depends where you live.

If you don't have an external mains socket, get one done when you do the conservatory. Its so useful when doing power tool jobs outside, no more trailing cables through the window.

 

[theone8181]

I would suggest an Edwardian i.e. square one over a Victorian as the amount of usable space you lose from the rounded walls is silly. You are likely going to want something to store the children's stuff in, so drawers units etc - maximise the wall space.

We also had the wall that faces the neighbours built to full height rather than just a view of a fence 3 feet away. It also meant we could put full height bookcases along that wall for storage.

Now is probably a good time to buy as they will be scaling down from the peak and looking for work to keeps the crews busy in the winter period. Ask around locally for recommendations. We used a local firm with a good reputation rather than one of the nationals. We just got a straight price without the usual inflated BS price followed by the gazillion "discounts" palaver.

Conservatory firm should check on any planning and building regs issues. Its very area dependent - for us, nothing special was needed as the increase in floor area we were gaining was below the threshold of needing planning permission.

Underfloor heating is good for maintaining a temperature, but we find it doesn't really warm the conservatory during the winter. We tend to blast it for 10 minutes with an electric fan first. You may not need that if you go with a solid roof type and also depends where you live.

If you don't have an external mains socket, get one done when you do the conservatory. Its so useful when doing power tool jobs outside, no more trailing cables through the window.

Some good ideas there, I was thinking of storing bins down the side of the house where the fence is so a full wall would make sense as does the Edwardian, I'm going to have a chat with my neighbour and see how his is. Noticed last night that his is not solid roof as it was reflecting, it's just very dark so must have a tint to it.I fitted an outside plug when we first moved in, I don't know how running cables thru windows didn't **** off people for the previous 10 years, it would annoy me. I guess with underfloor heating it depends how hot it does and how long it's been on. I had a look at some mats that are 140 watts/metre squared which is low enough to be run from a mains plug but I would probably get it wired in proper if not too expensive.

 

[NickK]

We have a conservatory on a southerly facing garden.

I've measured 56degC on the handle of the door between the conservatory and the house. Air temps hot as a sauna. It kills all plants, bugs or living things. In winter it drops to the same temps (give or take wind chill) as outside. We have underfloor heating but an oil radiator is just as good in the cooler autumn/spring evenings.

So get some blinds on the tops and something to shade when required. It's too bright during sun to read comfortably, you can/will start burning..

Personally I would look to an orangery where you can heat with the CH and the windowing can be set up better for normal use.

 

[Solus]

It really is not worth it. If you want a fake tiled roof, you're going to have to stump up for building regulations approx £500.

Unless you're getting an amazing deal, I would guess with the fake insulated tile stuff for 15 square metres you're going to be stumping up around 16.5k.

Compare that to a proper extension and you're looking at around the same cost.

 

[theone8181]

It really is not worth it. If you want a fake tiled roof, you're going to have to stump up for building regulations approx £500.

Unless you're getting an amazing deal, I would guess with the fake insulated tile stuff for 15 square metres you're going to be stumping up around 16.5k.

Compare that to a proper extension and you're looking at around the same cost.

So what's the difference between a conservatory and an extension, me and the Mrs quite like the idea of a dwarf wall with glass on 3 sides and a solid roof. Also I've seen a few people mention longetivity of a conservatory not being as good as an extension but I'm not sure whether would be.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

So what's the difference between a conservatory and an extension, me and the Mrs quite like the idea of a dwarf wall with glass on 3 sides and a solid roof. Also I've seen a few people mention longetivity of a conservatory not being as good as an extension but I'm not sure whether would be.

Conservatories are made of glass. Extensions brick?

Conservatories just dont work. Too hot in summer too cold in winter. Nobody I know uses theirs.

 

[Jez]

We had a conservatory on our house when we bought it. A couple of years later i smashed it down and built an extension over where it used to be.

Useless things, i honestly dont know why they are bothered with.

 

[the_r_sole]

So what's the difference between a conservatory and an extension, me and the Mrs quite like the idea of a dwarf wall with glass on 3 sides and a solid roof. Also I've seen a few people mention longetivity of a conservatory not being as good as an extension but I'm not sure whether would be.

A conservatory has a defined percentage of glass for the walls and a certain percentage of translucent material on the roof - it's basically exempt from building regs compliance if you have an external door between the house and it (there are some exceptions)
With an extension you would have to comply with minimum insulation/glazed area requirements in the regs but it will give you a much more useful space.
There is a bit of dubiety around the solid roof thing that conservatory companies are flogging you really have to check with the local authority whether it would be acceptable to them on a new thing.
In planning terms/permitted development there is no distinction between a conservatory and extension so you would only require permission if it was outside of the scope of pd - for either. Check with your local planning office that you have permitted development rights as there are some situations where pd is removed

 

[theone8181]

I popped into a showroom today and had a nice long chat with the salesman (not a greasy salesman which was nice) and basicly what we want it makes more sense to go for an orangery. He is coming to quote us on thursday night but he said it would be around 14k initally so not cheap.

 

[koolpc]

Just bought a house with a conservatory. Awesome! Really love it

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Conservatories are made of glass. Extensions brick?

Conservatories just dont work. Too hot in summer too cold in winter. Nobody I know uses theirs.

We use ours all the time - especially my boys as they have their tv/ps3/sky q set up in there. Roof blinds on sunny days and oil heater on in the winter - jobs a good in. Dwarf wall (1/3rd height, solid pic panels on the left on neighbours side, glass an patio doors at the front and one glass panel on the right - the rest is brick wall where it Nutts up against the kitchen extension - its an awesome little space.

 

[Adam]

Invest your money elsewhere. You can't control the temperature so it's very rarely usable without expensive and inefficient heating etc.

 

[Cosmic182]

Traditional roofed extension all the way. Don't go for an awful glass box, too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and noisy as hell when it rains. Put a couple of nice white velux's in a traditional tiled roof and will add a lot more to your property than a horrid glass box.

 

[Pottsey]

Conservatories are made of glass. Extensions brick?

Conservatories just dont work. Too hot in summer too cold in winter. Nobody I know uses theirs.

That because most people use the cheap rubbish roof instead of going for smart glass which costs more but keeps heat out in the summer and heat inside in the winter. There is a massive difference between the type of glass used. Modern smart glass is x10 better then what was used in 5 or 10+ year old Conservatories.