Conservatory Problems

Madwitch69

I have an L shape dwarf wall conservatory attached to my house. I have noticed cracks down both sides where it attaches to the house, the roof starting to pull away, and a large crack under the outside door. At the base of the dwarf wall I can slide my hand right under under it. It is out of warranty so who should I contact to get it fixed?

Doozergirl

Conservatories are built with shallow foundations. The purpose of any foundation is to hit solid ground, preventing the natural contraction and expansion in the upper layer of ground from affecting the building. Conservatories aren't built like that, generally, as they aren't built to building regulations and it's a matter of risk.

You can call out a structual engineer to give an assessment on what the issue is. It could be something else, but most of the time it is that movement which hasn't been prevented. You do want to be sure that it isn't something that could affect the main house - like a broken drain.

Otherwise you call out a conservatory company and see if they carry out repairs, but a piecemeal approach is not going to rectify the original cause.

frankie

I'm having a conservatory installed in the next few weeks. The local company doing it, said at the survey that they would dig down to firm ground.

Is there a 'standard' depth that foundations should be for the dwarf wall and floor slab?

Hong_Kong_Phooey.

frankie wrote: »

I'm having a conservatory installed in the next few weeks. The local company doing it, said at the survey that they would dig down to firm ground.

Is there a 'standard' depth that foundations should be for the dwarf wall and floor slab?

It should be down to firm ground but as they don't have to comply with building regs there's no standard depth.

frankie

Any advise for me to check that the foundations are deep enough without upsetting the builders. ie what is 'firm ground'?

robotrobo

frankie wrote: »

Any advise for me to check that the foundations are deep enough without upsetting the builders. ie what is 'firm ground'?

hi frankie.
i have had 3 conservatories in my life, & i have experienced problems of every thing from water ingress , movement, etc.
Have you not thought about buying a orangerie ?, my neighbour has one & its far superior than a conservatory in my opinion.
My eldest son built a sun room with plenty of big windows , a proper slate roof, thats the way forward if i had my choice again.
the one i have at the moment is to cold in winter & to hot in summer, to me its a waste of expensive space. save your money:)

Madwitch69

Thanks, Thats what I was afraid of. We had had a lot of rain over the last few years and the ground has swelled and its not helped by neighbouring trees . I will get a surveyor round to take a look. If it does need to be re-built I'll apply for a change of use to an extension

Doozergirl

Building regs is usually a metre depth, but this can be deeper depending on the local ground conditions.

Doozergirl

Madwitch69 wrote: »

Thanks, Thats what I was afraid of. We had had a lot of rain over the last few years and the ground has swelled and its not helped by neighbouring trees . I will get a surveyor round to take a look. If it does need to be re-built I'll apply for a change of use to an extension

Structural engineer, not surveyor.

You don't need a change of use. Anything attached to a dwelling is related to the dwelling.

An extension might need planning permission it may well fall under permitted development but it will always need building regulations approval.

Building control and planning are separate depaetments with separate permissions. The 'planning portal' (google it) is your friend.

Slinky

Our neighbours had a leylandii hedge close to where we were planning to build, we had to go down 2 metres for our extension. Annoyingly a few years later they got rid of the hedge.

Davesnave

robotrobo wrote: »

Have you not thought about buying a orangerie ?, my neighbour has one & its far superior than a conservatory in my opinion.
My eldest son built a sun room with plenty of big windows , a proper slate roof, thats the way forward if i had my choice again.
the one i have at the moment is to cold in winter & to hot in summer, to me its a waste of expensive space. save your money:)

I suspect that orangeries are just the latest gimmick to encourage people to spend more.

Tell me what's so superior construction-wise about them, because I'd really like to know.

A sun/garden room is great, if one can be added and not lose too much light. However, if someone severely darkens their main living space, making it depressing, then they too aren't so great an idea.

The advisability of a conservatory is down to lifestyle, aspect and the amount of money someone wishes to spend. They can be good, but most end up rather disappointing, because they were skimped, with cheap build standards and materials, or the owner had unrealistic expectations.