SHould I get a conservatory

BarmyBubba

Hi, I have just bought my first house and I love it.

Outside round the back there is room for a conservatory which I think would compliment the house, increase its size and add value to it.

Whilst money is pretty stretched I would like a conservatory ready for next Spring/Summer.

I dont, and probably never will have the cash upfront to be able to afford to pay out in whole for one. What would you recommend I do?

I reckon I could afford £100 a month.

Alan_M_2

I suggest you put your £100 a month in a cash ISA and enjoy the fresh air of your garden.

If in 18 months time you'd still like a conservatory, then you'll have some cash there ready for it, and you'll have a better idea as to what is occuring in the property market.

dld2s

If you do go for a conservatory, do put underfloor heating in it, I have one without and in the winter it only gets used for storing my lager to keep it cold, and this is with a electric fire on the wall pemanently on a low setting to kep condensation and dampness at bay

Jeff121

I had a conservatory built onto the house 8 years ago, total waste of money as far as I am concerned. Its too hot to sit in during the summer and too cold in the winter. I have 2 radiators built into the conservatory for winter time and it still doesn't heat it up and fan for summer which doesn't cool it down. The house next door which was identical when built had a garage conversion done so its now a 4 bedroomed house, both houses were recently valued by the same estate agent and although both have similar decor etc the house next door valued up at £15,000 more than this due to the (extra) 4th bedroom. With hindsight I would have been better off spending the cash that the conservatory cost on a garage conversion not only for financial reasons but the extra room would have been more practical.

McAzrael

A well designed and built conservatory is a real bonus during the spring and autumn, when it is too cold to be outside but not wintery enough to be in hibernation. However, a badly designed/built/insulated conservatory is just a money pit. I agree with the advice about saving up. Even the cheap conservatories are too expensive to get wrong. Do your homework, make sure that you can afford to do it properly and don't cut corners.

Bertville

The increase in property value will be less than the conservatory is going to cost you so that alone is not a good reason to have one.

never_enough

I wouldn't rush into doing something like that, especially as you don't have the cash up front. I always like to live in a place for a decent amount of time before doing any major work. Often a conservatory is added to a house without (it would seem) much thought & I've seen many more bad than good ones. Often seems to be the 'solution' to add a conservatory rather than move to a larger house, which is fine if you use it, but so many end up as expensive storage areas.

sue_balu

Something I didnt really think about before I had my recent new conservatory....
...
It has 59 panes of glass (each with two sides) and therefore 472 corners to window clean!!:eek:

Talk about the Forth Bridge!!

Can I afford the Windowlene??;)

lisaann72red

Will houses with conservatories have a higher council tax banding in the future or is that just houses with extensions?
lisa x

deanos

Bertville wrote:

The increase in property value will be less than the conservatory is going to cost you so that alone is not a good reason to have one.

Not quite true, we bought and fitted ours ourself it cost around £2800 all in, we have had our house valued recently and all the surveyors said it added £5k to the house, however if we had it done by a conservatory specialist the cheapest quote we had was 6k so we would have lost 1k

Make sure you get a roof vent and plenty of opening windows ours has been good even when we had the really hot sunny days recently but our friends one is a no go area as they have no opening windows or roof vent and it is too hot to use.

Oh and if you get a permanent radiator hooked up to teh central heating or it has no dividing door leading to inside your property you are meant to get planning permission, so the council office told us anyways

jackieb

I don't have one but if I was to get one i'd get one with a solid roof, not a glass one. Built by a builder not a glazing firm. My sister has one with the solid roof and she can use it all year. My brother's one has a plastic roof and is very noisy when it rains. He's also had to go to the expense of getting blinds on the ceiling windows to block out some of the heat in the summer.