Conservatory Roofs

DaveHemmerman

We are planning on getting a conservatoy built in the next month or so will be 4m x 4m. what i am wondering is, is it worth paying around £1000 more to have a glass roof fitted or stick with the normal roof?

What pro/cons is there with either roof?

Just wondered what other people thought and if they had any opinions?

Regards in advance

Dave

brig001

We had a glass roof fitted to ours and don't regret it. We think it is much nicer and just saved up longer to pay the difference. Whether it is worth an extra £1000, is really up to you and your finances, having said that, I would do the same again.

Edit:
Sorry, pros: Warmer, lighter (we are north facing), quieter in the rain/hail.
Cons: Cost.

economiser

I agree with brig001. If you can afford it have glass. Glass is also easier to clean, does not discolour and is not so easily damaged but best of all you can see the sky.

paddy's_mum

Only my personal opinion, but I would never again have a 'plain' conservatory. I'd rather spend the extra money paying for planning permission and having a 'proper' sun or garden room built.

We have an absolutely beautiful 4m x 5m pvc conservatory. It has very efficient heating, a quality multiyork suite (from a generous but fashionable relative) an expensive rug (from a charity shop) ceramic floors and all the mod cons. But ... it was a mistake. Given the choice again, I would rather pay another possibly £5k, get the planning permission, put up the brickwork, huge expanses of glass and a really well built and sound roof, insulate to the nth degree, hang proper curtains and be able to enjoy the space all year round.

If I may say so without being rude (not my intention) whether you have glass or opaque polycarbonate, you will lose massive amounts of heat through it! Whatever you try to do to minimise heat loss will be either ineffective, ugly or dangerous (polystyrene).

For what it's worth, our house (before the rebuild) caught fire and was 75 % destroyed. The small back porch/conservatory my husband had at that time became a death trap. Molten polycarbonate spattered down upon my back as I crawled out upon my knees from a catastrophic fire in the adjacent kitchen.

When everything had been put out and cooled, the polycarbonate sheeting hung down, melted, like boat sails in a still day. Glass would have been just as deadly, by heating and shattering.

Please google 'heating a conservatory' to discover just what problems you may well encounter. I'm not the only, nor the first one, to discover the problems of conservatories, despite what the double glazing men will tell you!

They are a great way of utilising and enjoying space, for about 8 months of the year, but my next one will be a proper, brick built, warm or cool as the season dictates, year round asset to our lives. Sorry if I've depressed you but hope that helps!

Poppycat

Thats my intention one day to have a proper sun lounge with a good roof on it. I think spending all that money on a conservatory only to use it a 6 months of the year because its too damn cold is a waste of money.

My friend has one and it doubles as a sitting room even in Winter it isn't too cold. MIL has a very large conservatory with polycarbonate roof double skinned and its freezing in there and lots of condensation admittedly she doesn't have heating on a lot

becs

firstly I would say I think you would be very lucky to get a proper extension built for only £5k more!

secondly a good conservatory need not feel like a conservatory. We've just had a 6m x 3m edwardian upvc conservatory built. one side is a full height wall though as we built it onto the side of the garage. We have 2 x 1400watt radiators in it with wooden flooring. We also have a glass roof. The roof is absoloutely fantastic, everyone said don't get glass you'll always be cleaning it etc etc, now it's built every single one of them has agreed it's absoloutely fabulous. the room is so bright even on the dullest days, even when it is hammering down with rain it's not very noisy and it's beautiful to sit in there in the dark and look up at the stars or the sky during the day.
We had the dwarf wall option but had the walls built higher 750mm which makes it feel more like a room. We had 7 people over for dinner last saturday and they all said how much like a room it felt and not a conservatory. It was also so hot in there saturday night when we were all sat down in there to eat that we had to open a window! It's currently exactly the same temperature as the rest of the house so it's total cobblers about only being able to use it half the year if you put adequate heating in.
I would also add the conservatory really has a "wow" factor and everyone that has seen it thinks it's the most amazing space and I really don't think an ordinary extension would have had anything like the same effect.

rtw123

Hi Becs

Your Conservatory sounds lovely. We are just getting quotes at the moment and will be going for a glass roof also. May have to have it tinted or frosted though as we are slightly overlooked at the back of our property.

I just wondered, with you saying you had the wall size increased in height and a full wall down one side, did you have to get planning permission for this? We are having 1 full wall and I like the sound of having the dwarf walls made higher however I know that 75% of the Conservatory has to be glass otherwise you need planning permission?????

Also, we are wanting to remove our patio doors to make it an open plan kitchen/conservatory as we are struggling for space if we leave the doors in. I know the Building Regs guys will not allow us to do this as I have already spoke to them about it. I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on what would happen if I didn't tell Building Regs and just went ahead anyway and removed the doors. I know we will have a problem when we come to sell but we can look at that then.

Our next door neighbours have a walk through conservatory so I know it can be done, just not sure of the consequences due to building regs not agreeing to it. Has anyone removed their doors without getting approval?????

becs

no we didn't require planning permission. Not sure if it 75% glass that requires planning sounds quite high to me. I'm not sure if ours would have been different because the full height wall was already there and not something we built?
As for the doors we were told the best thing was to have them put in and then take them out. Then you just need to rehang the doors when you sell the property.

jen1

Hi rtw123, What about having bifold doors put in they are a bit expensive but i would say worth it for the open space. If you haven't heard of them then google. I hope this helps!

redballoon_2

hi all sorry to butt in on this conversation, our conserv has a poly roof and its really cold in the winter, can i add a glass roof on to it? or am i best to put a "proper" roof on it.

we are south facing so get a lot of sun in it, in the summer months
thanks.

rtw123

Thanks Jen1 I'll have a look at bi-fold doors, something I had not thought of before.

With regards to fitting a 'proper' roof, I have seen this asked on other forums and the answer seems to be that the conservatory foundations would not be able to support the weight of it. I think you should be able to replace with glass though. We are also geting elec underfloor heating and a double radiator in ours to make sure it's not too cold in Winter. Are you able to take up the floor and put underfloor heating in yours? What about instaling a radiator?:rolleyes: