advice conservatory or extension

Vegastare

Have talked about either conservatory or extension. What we want is a conservatory type extension - with parital brick then glass sides, patio end door and a proper tile roof. The room in the house it is constructed off to be open and a continuation of the room (no seperating door)

What has always stopped us commiting is the idea that others have said it's rains in or the classic it's too hot in summer and too cold in winter, so we felt this would not be the case and a proper living space with roof.

But I am still anxious to move forward, nightmare conservatory feedback and builder etc. So any pointer/advice and I would be grateful.

So can I ask just a few starter questions,
Is it a builder I need to look for or a conservatory company.
Am I right that you cannot have opening flowing from house to conservatory without a secure inner door seperating the two(this is not what I want).
Finally these tile replacement conservatory roofs, are they really as good as house tile roofs, are they safe both on the security front, reliability front - are they worth the cost compared to a conventional tile roof.

What other questions should I be thinking about.

Many thanks

AndyMc.....

Sounds like you want a proper extension not an unregulated addition. It!!!8217;ll come at a cost and will require a builder.

Aylesbury_Duck

If you want it open plan it cannot be a conservatory so there's your decision made.

AndyMc.....

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

If you want it open plan it cannot be a conservatory so there's your decision made.

Well it can be but it won’t comply with building regs.

glasgowdan

A conservatory might be £15k for a good one. You'll need to retain doors, but you can leave them open if you like. I fitted a 50mm flat insulated ceiling to our conservatory and it's genuinely a 365 day a year room.

I suspect you could triple that price or more for a reasonable extension. Glassy modern extensions cost more than brick from what I hear too.

Clive_Woody

We had an extension done a couple of years ago with a tiled roof with 4 velux windows, big windows and double doors opening on to the patio. It's a lovely light room yet plenty warm enough in the winter.

We got an architect to come up with the design and then got quotes from builders based on the plans. We did some interior modifications while we were at it to make everything as we wanted.

Definitely no regrets

Davesnave

It sounds as if you want what's called a garden room rather than a conservatory, with a fake tiled or slated roof rather than a real one, because that would weigh too much.

You then want it to be well insulated, so that if there's no external grade door between it and the rest of the property, the whole house still meets building regs..... Tricky!

The tricky bit is that you want all this at a conservatory-type price....or otherwise you might build a conventional extension.

In your situation, I'd accept a bi-fold door and be done with the angst. Having also dealt with one conservatory company which has mainly 5 star Trustpilot reviews, I'd get a builder to do the foundations and walls, rather than leave myself in the tender care of those guys! We built our own.

However, getting a well-built, well-insulated base won't be cheap, because proper foundations and walls + an insulated floor slab will cost almost as much as for a 'real' extension.

Beyond that, I can't comment on the fake roof, because we had tinted glass. I should think it could be insulated to an OK standard, but will it allow ventilation? Upward vents are important on buildings which can become hot, and they let flies out too!

We didn't choose a solid roof because the lack of light would have had a detrimental effect on the bright living room behind. We also wanted a space that felt like it was almost a part of the garden. Although we insulated to a high level, we knew there would be heat losses through the roof, so we also accepted external grade doors between main house and 24m2 conservatory.

We've had recent experience with real winter temperatures. During the 'Beast's' worst day, it was -6c outside and 19c in the conservatory, where we were working on something that needed space. The 28m2 living room and conservatory were being heated by a 5kW wood burning stove. As the stove's fuel costs us very little, we were prepared to run the CH, but it wasn't necessary.

On 'normal' reasonably bright days in winter, we find the conservatory is a source of free heat too, so more often than not, those doors are open during daylight hours.

ComicGeek

AndyMc..... wrote: »

Well it can be but it won’t comply with building regs.

Not strictly true as it is possible to get a conservatory open to the house to comply with building regs, I just completed the final sign-off on one only last month. What it means is that there may need to be changes to the standard conservatory construction build-ups, foundation design etc to comply. But trying to get a conservatory company who isn't used to it to deal with the necessary changes and inspections etc might be more trouble than its worth! And by the time you've done all of this, why not just build a proper extension!

I personally would still want the option to close off the conservatory from the rest of the house though, and have independent control of heating.

Vegastare

Thanks for your views, thought that a garden room be a way round, we are going to tip our toes in the murky waters with a builder and conservatory company.....see what they throw at us first.

Knowing us we shall still be thinking about it in six months time

Vegastare

One other question, if we have internal doors(bi fold) would this surfice for building regs, then another external bi fold naturally locks on enternal door also.

Typhoon2000

You would need external bifold doors between a conservatory and the house. You can keep then open of take them off and store them for when you sell, once you have the building control certificate.