Conservatory and Drive help please.

toniq

We were naive before and ended up paying £3,000 for a substandard garden paving and lawn. We did then use checkatrade and wont now.

We have a £20,000 cash budget for a conservatory and tarmac to our front to get the car off the main road.

Hubby has left all this to me to sort out as he works long hours in the city.

I know we need to apply for drop kerb with council for drive and that's it for that I think?

For conservatory some sites say planning isn't needed on our planned size, 3.5m x 4m.

I don't know anyone who has had either done recently or how to properly source either trade.

Any help of do's and don'ts to point me in the right direction?

I ideally want both jobs done before September.

Thanks

Toni

macman

You won't be able to use tarmac where there was formerly earth or grass-the driveway will need to be permeable, to prevent run off. You will probably require PP for the driveway if you are widening the entrance, so talk to the planners at your LA-most offer a walk in or appointment service.
You will need building regs approval if the conservatory involves structural work, which it presumably will. Possibly a party wall notice if not detached?
If you are in a conservation area, different rules apply, which is why no one can give you a definitive answer on a forum.

toniq

Thank you they are helpful pointers, I will speak to council tomorrow regarding pp and building regs.

We are not in a conservation area and the conservatory wont be on the boundary, it's a dwarf wall construction, again I'll seek advice from council.

Many thanks.

Furts

Countless people post on this Forum regretting the day they agreed to having a conservatory. Think carefully before going down this route. Provided you have weighed up all the pros and cons then fine.

With a budget of £20000 and some lateral thinking, or DIY, or family or friends help a lot of good building could be achieved. But even if you are getting contractors in I would be looking for a lot of change out of the £20000.

I had a similar size conservatory built for under £9000, and this included proper foundations, insulation, dwarf walls (properly built unlike most), plastering, electrics, path, landscaping.

toniq

We have weighed up the pros and cons, we need the extra space and this is the easiest way than to move just yet. We also have a massive garden so this wont eat into our outside space too much.

I'm hoping by setting a realistic budget for both jobs we should come in more like the 15 mark than the 20.

I have zero way of getting any help to do it so i'm at the mercy of sourcing a firm to come in, I wont go with the likes of anglican, everest etc as I can clearly see they are over priced.

If I could come in at your budget I'd be over the moon!

Thanks

Furts

Do not rule out a proper sunroom, or a room extension to your house.

I had a single storey extension built, around 6m by 3.5 m, for under £10000. I did help with the foundations, groundwork, tidying up and did the decorating and odd jobs. Of course this helped bring down the price, but countering against this the floor, ceiling, walls and glazing were to a high standard and all added extra costs that would not be applicable to an ordinary extension.

You can see this sunroom came out a lot cheaper than the conservatory when looking at cost for floor area.