I’m looking to get a conservatory put on the back of the house and starting to arrange for quotations; what do I need to know / look out for?
– Size will be roughly 12 x 12 ft. (maybe even 14ft x 12ft)
– one wall will be on the boundary so would prefer this to be brick & plastered on the inside
– the other two sides glass with a dwarf wall.
– I want to use it all year round so tempted with a tiled roof and velux windows although would prefer glass for maximum light
– I’m assuming triple glazing will help with temperature control.

I’ll get quotes from both major national suppliers and also local firms but want to be educated before they visit.

I may also get quotes for a brick built extension but my understanding is that building regs state only a certain percentage of the wall / roof can be glass and unless I get a company to measure the efficiency of the house and implement changes elsewhere to offset the efficiency reduction introduced by the increase in glass I won’t get approval.

I didn’t realise people still bought conservatories, how very 80’s.

As above cold in winter, too hot in summer so you never use them.

If you think you are middle class enough then an Orangery is the way to keep up with the Jone’s and still have the same problems.

If however you want a useable space, build an extension.

Cold in winter
Noisy in rain
hot in summer (56 degrees C in ours once)

single storey extension is the better way to go and engineer it to a price you can afford. You can then have it open to the house and the building regs are different for a good reason.

Replacing mine with an extension next year. Hateful thing.

Ours has brick walls either side and a dwarf wall at the back, so it’s about 20ft by 8ft.

Great for extending the time of year you can spend ‘in the garden’, because you can have a BBQ etc then bring food/drink in rather than have everyone freeze their nuts off after 8.

In winter it’s just a store room, utility and mini-gym. Hot/cold is a none issue, it cools down in minutes if you fling the windows open, and it’s always going to be more insulating than just having the door/window/wall.

If doing it myself rather than it coming with the house it’d have a solid roof + velux windows, and I’d have taken out the doors/windows from the kitchen and dining room, but that’d require building regs etc.

We are demolishing one in the NY, planning permitting, and its about that size.

It’s yours if you want it!

They are a truly terrible structure for all the reasons mentioned above.

Makes the room it goes off darker – you might need to have the lights on more.

We had one put on our prior house. Never again. Colleague did likewise then demolished it for an extension with lots of windows and a roof like this

If you think you are middle class enough then an Orangery is the way to keep up with the Jone’s and still have the same problems.

Might I suggest a Media Orangery would be the way to go.
Wood Burner required for heating purposes. Obvs.

You can have mine – for all the reasons said above. Useless carbuncle on the side of the house.
Being knock down and an extension going on in March ….
HTH

If you do an extension you’d need proper footings too.

The trouble with most conservatories is that people tend to stick them where it’s sunny! Ours is on the back (shaded) part of our house, so has shade in summer, and is sheltered from weather in winter. We use it all year round.

We had one put on our prior house. Never again.

this…

Got an extension with big bi folds and a roof lantern now… much better.

When we had ours done we found that the cost for a conservatory with a proper roof was very high still with many of the compromises stated above.

We couldn’t afford this and went with a normal conservatory with upgraded glass. It was still too hot and too cold at certain times of the year but did give us a lovely bright extra room the majority of the year for a fairly reasonable sum.

If you can afford it get an extension

We’re converting the roof on ours to a solid one next year (like this example), which will cost around £10k. I would definitely build an extension and perhaps fit wide bi-fold doors.

We’re converting the roof on ours to a solid one next year (like this example), which will cost around £10k. I would definitely build an extension and perhaps fit wide bi-fold doors.

In laws had their conservatory roofed. Not sure it was £10k worth of difference they still don’t use it in winter

Yes, save your money and build a proper extention.

Had one built on to the house 10 years ago and never sit out in it. As others have said freezing in the winter and like a furnace in summer.
I use mine for stacking logs in to dry them out, and also keep my bikes in there.

Our past two houses we’ve had have had sunrooms – conservatories with solid roofs. Despite the current one having an insulated roof it’s still cold, partly as its not on the central heating, mainly as the floor isn’t insulated at all.
Save up a little more and get an extension

When we were viewing houses having a Gods waiting room conservatory was a big negative for me.

I’m looking at getting one built to! 6m x 3m on the back of our house (we have already extended). We have bifold doors currently but they are going.

We really miss ours (demolished to build the extention) hence now wanting another. Looking at a nice Aluminium Conservatory. Not cheap but will be nice when done.

I built my conservatory, fully insulated floor and heated, we can use it right through the year without any issues other than it’s noisy when it rains, we just open up the doors and windows when it’s hot.

Ours is used all year round. About 16′ x 16′ with 4 rads. Warms up super quick in winter and cools down easily in summer (7 openable windows).

Yes, rain is noisy. Yes, blinds (custom) can look good but can be bloody expensive. I/we don’t care as it’s light, airy and does the trick.

Unlikely to add any monetary value to one’s home, but can be a selling point.