Conservatory vs Extension

Tancred

Doozergirl wrote: »

An extension will cost in the region of £100 per square foot, but it does vary - mainly in an upward direction depending on how you choose to spec it.

Conservatories are considerably less but they don't add genuine value and are often difficult to live with. They don't require building regulations approval as an extension and have to be considered outbuildings - hence you need to keep decent quality doors between the existing house and the conservatory.

If you can raise money for an extension, it's a no brainer.

I disagree. If a conservatory is done properly, with the latest climate control technology, it is perfectly effective as usable space.
And an extension will cost considerably more than £100 per sq ft, unless you're in Northumberland or a similar place.

Tancred

gazfocus wrote: »

Thanks for your post. We're looking at something approx 4m x 3m so an extension would be approx £13,000 given the £100/sq foot guide.

How much should we be looking at for a similar sized conservatory with a dwarf wall? I found a website that gives a 'guide price' for conservatories and the price came out at £13,600 for 4m x 3m victorian style conservatory with a dwarf wall, but this seems massively over the top if an extension is cheaper.

You can get a conservatory of that size done for less, I'm sure. Ignore the 'official' prices - you have to negotiate like you do for double glazing. When I had double glazing done in 2006 the Anglian rep quoted £8,000 at me but I pulled him back to £6,000.

Tancred

gazfocus wrote: »

Went to see a conservatory company local to our area and they estimated about £9000 for the size we want and are coming out to do a full quote. I'll post the quote when we get it to see what's what.

£9,000 seems about right, but ensure you budget for underfloor heating, and heat reflecting glass. Also make sure you get blinds fitted.

gazfocus

Tancred wrote: »

£9,000 seems about right, but ensure you budget for underfloor heating, and heat reflecting glass. Also make sure you get blinds fitted.

Thanks - Do you think we should get heat reflecting glass and underfloor heating within the £9,000 price?

The company we've got coming round today gave us £9,000 as a ball park figure but that was without the underfloor heating and not sure what the glass is.

They did hint that we could get the price down by knocking bits off here and there so will definitely give haggling a go (although I'm not good at it - paid full asking for a car from a ford dealer because they wouldn't budge), so any haggling tips would be much appreciated.

keystone

gazfocus wrote: »

...........so any haggling tips would be much appreciated.

Walking away in the opposite direction usually has a positive effect.

Cheers

Tancred

gazfocus wrote: »

Thanks - Do you think we should get heat reflecting glass and underfloor heating within the £9,000 price?

The company we've got coming round today gave us £9,000 as a ball park figure but that was without the underfloor heating and not sure what the glass is.

They did hint that we could get the price down by knocking bits off here and there so will definitely give haggling a go (although I'm not good at it - paid full asking for a car from a ford dealer because they wouldn't budge), so any haggling tips would be much appreciated.

The best way to haggle is to present them with a better quote from another company.

mineallmine

gazfocus wrote: »

Thanks - Do you think we should get heat reflecting glass and underfloor heating within the £9,000 price?

The company we've got coming round today gave us £9,000 as a ball park figure but that was without the underfloor heating and not sure what the glass is.

They did hint that we could get the price down by knocking bits off here and there so will definitely give haggling a go (although I'm not good at it - paid full asking for a car from a ford dealer because they wouldn't budge), so any haggling tips would be much appreciated.

How did you get on? :money:

gazfocus

mineallmine wrote: »

How did you get on? :money:

We're waiting for the written quote which could take 3-4 days

mineallmine

gazfocus wrote: »

We're waiting for the written quote which could take 3-4 days

May be a good time to get some other quotes in so you have (like someone else said above) something to haggle with. :money:

Dan-Dan

you should have had your chosen `competetitors` lined up to quote all in a couple of days , then you could have took your sweet time comparing them etc