Replacing Conservatory Roof

fluffymuffy

cteb wrote: »

hi
i too would like to replace our conservatory roof with a tiled roof to improve the rooms usability. Did you do this if so any hints tips suggestions would be gratefully recieved

You cannot replace a conservatory roof with a solid one as to be classed as a conservatory it must have a roof which is at least 75% transparent or translucent. It needs to be classed as a conservatory as it would otherwise come under Building Regulations and to make a conservatory pass BR retrospectively would generally involve demolishing it and starting from scratch.

rando

fluffymuffy wrote: »

You cannot replace a conservatory roof with a solid one as to be classed as a conservatory it must have a roof which is at least 75% transparent or translucent. It needs to be classed as a conservatory as it would otherwise come under Building Regulations and to make a conservatory pass BR retrospectively would generally involve demolishing it and starting from scratch.

Maybe BR is changing - see this link http://renegadeconservatoryguy.co.uk/why-are-some-non-translucent-conservatory-roofs-exempt-from-building-regs/

TomsMom

fluffymuffy wrote: »

You cannot replace a conservatory roof with a solid one as to be classed as a conservatory it must have a roof which is at least 75% transparent or translucent. It needs to be classed as a conservatory as it would otherwise come under Building Regulations and to make a conservatory pass BR retrospectively would generally involve demolishing it and starting from scratch.

We recently had a house renovated including a substandard loft conversion being rebuilt, planning permission and building regs approval were required for the works.

The house had a conservatory with a poly roof. We decided we would prefer to make the room more usable throughout the year and discussed with the planning officer and the building control officer whether it would be possible to replace the poly roof with a slate roof to meet up and match the kitchen extension (existing) roof. They had no problem with this, the planning officer was very keen as it would be a great improvement to the look of the house.

We had to have a steel support sunk into the ground on the one corner of the conservatory and a second one above the window to support the extra weight involved. The poly roof was taken off and the new roof constructed and slated without any problems.

You can see the before and after photos here

I don't know anything about a conservatory can't be a conservatory unless the roof is 75% transparent, that never cropped up but the architect did call it a "day room" on the plans but that was never discussed with us. We just refer to it as the sun room.

fluffymuffy

rando wrote: »

Maybe BR is changing - see this link http://renegadeconservatoryguy.co.uk/why-are-some-non-translucent-conservatory-roofs-exempt-from-building-regs/

No BR are not changing. The link goes to someone asking "Why are some non-translucent conservatory roofs exempt from building regs?" - and no one's answered the question. The answer is that they are not exempt.

Sometimes a Building Inspector will use his discretion to allow things which fall outside the Approved Documents (those white and green books which provide examples of what are acceptable solutions - these are commonly referred to as "The Building Regulations" but are merely "deemed to satisfy" solutions). Building Inspectors can use their discretion but most commonly do so on non-standard conservatories when SAP calculations are provided to prove that other work taking place at the same time will keep the house at the same level in terms of thermal efficiency, or improve it. Such work might involve replacement windows, cavity wall and loft insulation and/or the installation of a condensing boiler.

gordynic

knowloads wrote: »

+90% of the heat loss in winter is via the roof. I just fitted a wood frame to ours level to the top of the window frame, use 3" thick kingspan type insulation boards ( ply backed) to create a ceiling , and added 6 downlighters and a vent. Painted, Great and a lot warmer. The conservatory looks the same from outside and only slightly less light inside. We can now use it year round too

we are thinking of using kingspan to infill the roof window sections , leaving the existing glass in place, as opposed to fitting an insulated ceiling. there is no upper roof ventilation at present and I fear that if a false ceiling is fitted it will turn the space between it and the roof panels into an oven, I say this as recently had solar collecter for the water fitted and before the tank and pipework was fitted the actual temperature of the empty collecter was 160 degrees centigrade. Anyone out there know if this is viable , or better still has anyone done this successfully

pault100

Hey Rando, what was the outcome of changing your roof, im wanting to change my roof also but just wandered how you or anyone else got on?
Thanks
Paul

rando

pault100 wrote: »

Hey Rando, what was the outcome of changing your roof, im wanting to change my roof also but just wandered how you or anyone else got on?
Thanks
Paul

Paul,
In the end I replaced the old polycarb roof with a glass roof with argon gas filled units . It also has the pilkington k active blue which is supposed to help with the insulation. We had it done in Nov 2009 and have been extremely pleased with it. At the same time we also bricked up one side of the conservatory and installed a LG Air Con unit which also acts as a heater. It was a costly job in total but we do use the conservatory all year round so in my opinion it was worth it. The roof is certainly much quieter in the rain and its is great sitting in their and being able to see the sky.
To replace our roof took nearly a week and for a couple of days we had no sealed roof at all which made it interesting in the torrential rain we had that week !! I spent one morning clearing the water out with a bucket - so try and pick a decent time of the year would be my advice.

sunshinetours

Rando
When you say you bricked up one side of conservatory - was that an easy job?

I've been thinking with ours that may be a good half way house to do than and replace the roof with either glass units or a solid roof until we can do the full extension in the future

Can I ask roughly how much and roughly what size we are talking to get an idea of what costs you had by comparison

Thanks

rando

sunshinetours wrote: »

Rando
When you say you bricked up one side of conservatory - was that an easy job?

I've been thinking with ours that may be a good half way house to do than and replace the roof with either glass units or a solid roof until we can do the full extension in the future

Can I ask roughly how much and roughly what size we are talking to get an idea of what costs you had by comparison

Thanks

Sent you a PM.

john_howard_fisher

hi all, thank for the tips and tricks
just a quick question. we have conservatory with wall at back (obviously) and two wall either side. there is already one wooden beam going across from side-wall to side-wall. currently we have a polycarb roof. we want tiled roof. could we add more wooden beams side-wall to side-wall and then space them out right so we can simply put tiles on top or would we have to do the normal way? what would building control make of this idea? the wall to one side is the house wall so very strong and on the other side is attached garage (i think it should have sufficiently strong foundations as you are required to make foundations in case of two storey extension- could be wrong though)
tanks in advance