Removal of conservatory cost?

Jaguar_Skills

Following on from my post yesterday about a nightmare conservatory, we are trying to get an idea of what it might cost to demolish it (because of cracks as incorrect construction methods by original vendor) and make good the brickwork (with bifold doors) and lay a patio where the footprint stood.   I have attached an image of the conservatory below, it runs the full width of our house.   Any questions, please ask and any advice gratefully received. 

FreeBear

Finger in the air - £2-5K for new doors & windows - Make sure you get FENSA (or similar) certificates for them.

The conservatory, I'd suggest advertising it on Gumtree with a "Buyer dismantles". If no takers, cut it up and stick it in a skip. To remove the dwarf walls, existing paving, and reduce/level the site, a company specialising in groundworks would probably do it for £3-5K. And yes, you do need to reduce the ground level as the paving appears to be flush with the DPC.

Paving the area would be dependent on what type of surface you want.

Ganga

Shame it has to come down, I bet it cost a lot to build.

vacheron

Consider selling the conservatory first via eBay of local selling group stating "buyer to disassemble" 
We made £1250 selling ours on eBay about 3 years ago, (very similar size and layout to yours) and saved the labor charges into the bargain as all he had left to demolish was the dwarf wall.

We even found a buyer for the laminate flooring and the original conservatory furniture. 
Heartbreaking to do though as we still had the previous owners receipts for £20K when they had it built just 7 years earlier! 



 

Jaguar_Skills

FreeBear said:

Finger in the air - £2-5K for new doors & windows - Make sure you get FENSA (or similar) certificates for them.

The conservatory, I'd suggest advertising it on Gumtree with a "Buyer dismantles". If no takers, cut it up and stick it in a skip. To remove the dwarf walls, existing paving, and reduce/level the site, a company specialising in groundworks would probably do it for £3-5K. And yes, you do need to reduce the ground level as the paving appears to be flush with the DPC.

Paving the area would be dependent on what type of surface you want.

Thanks for this - very useful.   I think the additional cost would be reinstating the original wall of the house and making good or was the cost of the doors and windows including that cost? 

vacheron

Looking at your other threads, that layout must be costing a fortune to heat as the conservatory is completely open to the house so the heat losses through it could be huge (ours still had the second set of double glazed windows / patio doors between them which we could at least close in winter).

This was the reason we demolished ours. It was a lovely place to be for 20% of the year, but for the other 80% of the time was ether boiling hot or freezing cold!  

Also, that open plan arrangement into a conservatory would have required building regs approval by the previous owner. Do you have proof of that as it appears that you may now be looking to sell?

Rosa_Damascena

vacheron said:

Looking at your other threads, that layout must be costing a fortune to heat as the conservatory is completely open to the house so the heat losses through it could be huge (ours still had the second set of double glazed windows / patio doors between them which we could at least close in winter).

This was the reason we demolished ours. It was a lovely place to be for 20% of the year, but for the other 80% of the time was ether boiling hot or freezing cold!  

Also, that open plan arrangement into a conservatory would have required building regs approval by the previous owner. Do you have proof of that as it appears that you may now be looking to sell?

Not seen the thread but does it really need to be removed altogether? Can no remedial work be done?

I am replacing my conservatory (not dissimilar to the OP's) with an orangery. The space will come out a bit further to maximum permitted development dimensions. I enjoy the social space (I speak of times before 2020) too much to return it to the garden.

Jaguar_Skills

vacheron said:

Looking at your other threads, that layout must be costing a fortune to heat as the conservatory is completely open to the house so the heat losses through it could be huge (ours still had the second set of double glazed windows / patio doors between them which we could at least close in winter).

This was the reason we demolished ours. It was a lovely place to be for 20% of the year, but for the other 80% of the time was ether boiling hot or freezing cold!  

Also, that open plan arrangement into a conservatory would have required building regs approval by the previous owner. Do you have proof of that as it appears that you may now be looking to sell?

Yes it is freezing in the winter.  I am sat in it now! 
It should have required building regs but the previous vendor did it without it and gave us an indemnity policy when we bought. 

Rosa_Damascena

Jaguar_Skills said:

vacheron said:

Looking at your other threads, that layout must be costing a fortune to heat as the conservatory is completely open to the house so the heat losses through it could be huge (ours still had the second set of double glazed windows / patio doors between them which we could at least close in winter).

This was the reason we demolished ours. It was a lovely place to be for 20% of the year, but for the other 80% of the time was ether boiling hot or freezing cold!  

Also, that open plan arrangement into a conservatory would have required building regs approval by the previous owner. Do you have proof of that as it appears that you may now be looking to sell?

Yes it is freezing in the winter.  I am sat in it now! 
It should have required building regs but the previous vendor did it without it and gave us an indemnity policy when we bought. 

Mine too but in truth it started to warm up in the sunshine last week. The difference is that my 2 rooms are partitioned off with doors and windows so at least they heat up.

Jeepers_Creepers

Rough estimates above seem to be in the ~£3k+ ballpark to have it removed and the ground made good. In addition, £2-5k for new bifolds, windows and making good the rest of the house wall.

So, quite possibly around £8k and even more, and you end up with - nice bifolds, pal.

Shoooorley potential buyers would much rather at least have the option of it being dismantled, larger founds put in, and it reassembled, but with an insulated floor, dwarf walls and solid roof - ideally with some 'lights? I know I would. It looks like a lovely addition to the house, and could be amazing if made into a 'proper' room. (You might have to pretend it's separate - ie with doors between it and the kitchen - until BC walk away...)

Just be upfront when you come to sell, tell them the options they'll have depending on their whim, and make clear you are including a £5+k discount for this. I'd be dismayed if I found that such a lovely connie had been thrown away from a house I was looking at. What a project. And what a room it could be at a fraction of having it bought from scratch.

I also suspect that many buyers would just fill these cracks and live with it... :-)   

Jaguar_Skills

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Rough estimates above seem to be in the ~£3k+ ballpark to have it removed and the ground made good. In addition, £2-5k for new bifolds, windows and making good the rest of the house wall.

So, quite possibly around £8k and even more, and you end up with - nice bifolds, pal.

Shoooorley potential buyers would much rather at least have the option of it being dismantled, larger founds put in, and it reassembled, but with an insulated floor, dwarf walls and solid roof - ideally with some 'lights? I know I would. It looks like a lovely addition to the house, and could be amazing if made into a 'proper' room. (You might have to pretend it's separate - ie with doors between it and the kitchen - until BC walk away...)

Just be upfront when you come to sell, tell them the options they'll have depending on their whim, and make clear you are including a £5+k discount for this. I'd be dismayed if I found that such a lovely connie had been thrown away from a house I was looking at. What a project. And what a room it could be at a fraction of having it bought from scratch.

I also suspect that many buyers would just fill these cracks and live with it... :-)   

That's really useful thanks.  You'd think buyers would rather the option but it doesn't seem so! 
We have been totally upfront and told them we are taking £15k off the house price because of it - you don't want to buy it do you?