Why is my conservatory stepped?

Ben1989

Hi all,

My semi-detached had a conservatory installed before we bought the house.

I visited a neighbour's house for the first time recently and discovered that their conservatory is flush with the floor and ours has a step.

This means we're limited for furniture at the back of the house and also it also means there is a large step to get outside.

If it were flush this would lead to so many options in moving furniture, making it more integrated with the living room and overall create a lot more space.

We have a suspended floor and there are two airbricks under the conservatory (whether they're for show or not I'm not sure. Would it be a mammoth task to rip up the floor and make it flush?

Bendy_House

Photo?
And what height difference are we talking about?
Would it be easier to just lay insulation on top of the existing floor - even cheap Jablite - a layer of glued T&G floating on top, and then the flooring of your choice? That would be pretty cheap, and also add useful insulation.

Would loss of head height be an issue?

TELLIT01

If it's a conservatory there should be doors between it and the main part of the house, so the different levels wouldn't make any difference to positioning of furniture.  The different floor levels were probably just the simplest way to construct the conservatory.  The floor on ours is at the same level as the main house. The airbricks should connect to those in the main house via trunking.

stuart45

If you drop the floor.level on the conservatory then you will be stepping down into it from outside as the threshold will be the old height.

Bendy_House

I look forward to Ben's response, 'cos I have no idea which way this step is going!

Rosa_Damascena

It sound to me like the neighbour spent additional money on having the floor raised, which is not cheap.

I do share a bit of his frustration though, as I had the same in my old conservatory. I was forever worried that someone might not see the step / trip over it. WhenI had the place renovated last year, flush floors was a key part of the spec. I now have a signing drop from the house to the outside though.

grumbler

Rosa_Damascena said:

It sound to me like the neighbour spent additional money on having the floor raised,

Not necessarily if 10 cm of insulation was added. Also, soil from the foundation.

SAVED money by raising.

Bendy_House

One day, Ben will hopefully come back and tell us which way this connie steps.

Unless he's become a victim of it.

Assuming he has dwarf walls as opposed to full-length windows, rasing the floor height will be cheap and likely beneficial in a few ways.

stuart45

It could be the floor wasn't finished. If it's concrete it might have been waiting for insulation and then a screed on top. It's a bit odd to have a step down from the dining room, and then a step up to the garden.

Rosa_Damascena

grumbler said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

It sound to me like the neighbour spent additional money on having the floor raised,

Not necessarily if 10 cm of insulation was added. Also, soil from the foundation.

SAVED money by raising.

Doesn't explain why the quotes for my raised patio are coming in so high! The garden is full of hardcore for that exact purpose.

stuart45

How high above ground level is it being raised?