Extension or Tile Conservatory roof?

jimihat

Hi All

I have a dilema at the moment. We want to knock through our kitchen/dining room (which is no problem) but also want a larger kitchen.

I've had a quote for a small single storey extension off the existing kitchen and the builder says £1600 sqm is roughly where we'll be. This puts the whole thing way over budget.

We have a conservatory coming off the dining room so I'm thinking about putting one of these new light tiles roofs on the conservatory and using that as a dining room (conservatory has a glass roof at the moment - freezing in winter, boiling in summer) - sounds like these are about £6k though We could then just knock through the kitchen/dining room and use all of it the as a kitchen.

I don't really want to lose the conservatory but it may be an option. The other snag with this is obviously we have to have an external quality door between the conservatory and main house and I really want an open plan kitchen diner I know we could just remove the doors and re-install if we ever sell but the heat loss from the conservatory would be awful so I think the doors would have to stay.

Basically I want a considerably bigger, open plan kitchen diner but have a very limited budget (we're looking at £20k max including the new kitchen

Any ideas, tips, or thoughts, would be appreciated.

Furts

Bear in mind that the light weight tile roof falls into a grey area. There are many people, in particular in Building Regulations, who would regard these as illegal.

Otheres would regard these as one of the latest home improvement con tricks.

The manufacturers and sales people will tell you otherwise.

It is your decision, but there are risks with these roofs.

If the budget is tight consider doing some of the work yourself, or with family or friends. Also consider buying your own materials. Or take on labour only tradesmen. Should you follow these routes, an extension can be built for exceedingly good value.

As a guide figure I did this on a 6metre by 3.5 metre sun room for well under £10000.

jimihat

Hi Furts

I've seen a few people advising against these new roofs; what is the problem exactly? (aside from the cost) I've found one or two that are BBA approved.

Sounds like you got great value there with your extension. My problem is that I have no building experience whatsoever and not a great deal of spare time on my hands. I had thought about taking on labour only trades but then who is responsible for adhering to building regs etc? that put me off a bit in all honesty.

andrewf75

Are you able to borrow the additional money you need for the extension?

Its worth bearing in mind that a proper extension will add to the houses value whereas anything you do to a conservatory probably won't. Thats what I keep telling myself anyway, as I'm about to break the bank for an extension....

jimihat

Yes, I had thought of that but this one is a keeper for probably the next 20 years so not incredibly worried about that side of things.

I could borrow the money but mortgage is huge as it is....maybe we need to learn to love our small kitchen

Furts

jimihat wrote: »

Hi Furts

I've seen a few people advising against these new roofs; what is the problem exactly? (aside from the cost) I've found one or two that are BBA approved.
.

In essence a conservatory has to have a clear roof in order to be classified as a conservatory. Having established that the structure does not have to be built to any accepted standards of good practice, insulation, energy efficiency...

The dubious manufacturers are offering tiled roofs that contravene the spirit of the Regulations. Further, nobody knows if the conservatory will take the weight and loadings, because the work is not regulated. That is not to say it will fail, but if you were changing your house roof to something else it would have to be approved. (Another area where conservatories fall foul of good practice.)

I have seen misleading adverts where these roofs are advertised as retro-fit to replace existing roofs...then sold as new roofs for new conservatories.

It is a great money spinner for the conservatory companies, for the public love affair with conservatories has waned in recent years. The companies have to find work, and profits.

Dan-Dan

reported....