New Conservatory Roof

Jonno73UK

We are looking to get my conservatory made in to a room for use all year round by getting a lightweight tiled roof and boarded inside with insulation.

From the 3 quotes we have had, 2 of them take off the current polycarb rood and add the new one. The other builds around the existing roof, i.e. leaves it in place.

I quite like the sound of leaving the polycarb roof in place, although I am wondering why the other 2 don't leave it there ?

Can anyone give any thoughts, pro's/cons' on this ? Thanks in advance

Furts

General pointers...polycarb roof suggests you have a cheap/poor quality conservatory. This may not be suitable for the weight of the new roof.

Polycarb suggests an old conservatory - the energy efficiency will be poor. A tiled roof will not correct this.

Tiled roofs are a grey area with Buildings Regulations - so you decide where you stand here.

Pushed for an opinion I would say tiled roofs are the latest "must have home improvement". They represent dubious value and I think they are dreadful. I would not entertain what you are proposing and would regard it as burning money.

The technical, cost effective answer is often to renew the structure - either with a new conservatory with a glass roof, or a properly built sun room.

I know of consumers paying £7000+ for a tiled roof and of consumers who have the roof fitted then get endless problems with defects and workmanship. There is no sense with either proposition here.

ComicGeek

You don't insulate the roof only and magically get a warm room in the winter and a cool room in the summer - you'll still have an uninsulated floor, and lots of uncontrolled heat losses and gains through the windows.

An old double glazed window performs worse than uninsulated solid brickwork. Even a brand new sun room extension built to current insulation standards can still feel cold in the winter and hot in the summer - it's the amount of glass that creates most of the discomfort.

Silvertabby

We had our poly carb roofed conservatory knocked back down to foundation level and rebuilt as a conservatory/orangery hybrid with a glass roof.

It's east facing, and we use it all year round.

Before going down the solid roof option consider the light levels in the adjoining room.

Davesnave

Another one here who knocked-down a previous old conservatory and re-built.

Although we've had problems with the company, our design has worked well. Today, with temperatures in the mid 20s, our south-facing conservatory was still at a tolerable temperature, thanks to filter glass and 8m2 of ventilation.

Even in mid-winter, with an efficient wood burner in the room behind, we've often opened up the doors and enjoyed the space....and that was with the old one!

We wouldn't expect to use any conservatory for 100% of the time, but 80% is easily achievable here. We didn't want a solid roof because light losses in the living room would have been too much of a price to pay.

You won't kid anyone that it's a 'real' room IMO, so focus on getting good use through careful design.....or save up and do an extension.