To ask you about conservatory

I hated my conservatory when I moved in to my house, we alway had the door closed in winter as it was mainly freezing, humid and expensive to heat. To hot in summer and anyway who wants to sit inside on a hot day .

When I got some redundancy money I had a proper roof put on it and now we all use the room all the time with the door open. It has a radiator and heats to a nice toasty temp along with the rest of the house. I WFH in it and l love looking at my garden through the seasons.

I would be very careful about what roof option you went for and you might be better with an extension.

Yes. My mum had one. What a racket in heavy rain.

We had a conservatory on the back of our house when we bought it. It had a sliding uPVC door separating it from the living room, but the door broke early on and had to be removed, and it was one of those jobs we never got round to sorting, so we ended up having an open gap between sitting room and conservatory

It was AWFUL. Whatever temperature the conservatory was (either baking hot in summer like a greenhouse or freezing cold in winter even with a radiator in there) it affected the whole of the downstairs. It honestly was really, really, really bad!

A couple of years ago we pulled some of the equity to afford turning it into a proper extension and it’s amazing. The whole of our downstairs is warm in winter and cool in summer. It was particularly eye opening when they were partway through doing the building work in February whilst there was snow on the ground and our sitting room was warmer and less draughty when they’d ripped the conservatory out and just boarded up the opening to the sitting room with a bit of plywood!

So short version - the house with open conservatory that you’re admiring would be absolutely awful to live in, and listen to the builders who say you need a door! Or better yet, save up for an extension rather than get a conservatory. Having lived with one I’d never, ever, ever buy a house with one again!

I don't think it's an extension or a conservatory. Looking at the next door house having the same I would say it was part of the original build.

Google Alice in Scandiland conservatory and you get all your answers @LolleePop

I love them! maybe more suited to a riverside park but they're lovely

I would strongly recommend saving for a proper extension, or keeping the doors.

Our conservatory has an insulated solid roof with a sky light, and is half brick. Looks similar to your example. It's north facing and freezing 10 mo of the year. We almost never use it. Without the doors we'd spend a fortune on heating.

I really wish we'd put in a proper extension instead.

It is a conservatory (it’s the percentage of walls that are glass that I believe defines it as one) but some conservatories need building regs due to size, lack of doors etc. We bought a house similar to this, it was built by a conservatory company but has building regs.

From personal experience, go for a solid roof (you can have glass/windows in the roof still) or look at the cost difference between what you want and an extension. We’ve had a solid roof put on ours now (was a glass roof) and I’d strongly recommend it - it didn’t get cold in the winter as was very well insulated but still got too hot in the summer due to the volume of glass. Glass roof also constantly looked dirty due to moss etc falling on it.

We had a conservatory which had no separating doors.
It was the main reason we moved out.

We have a glass roof, we often have to shut the door or we can't hear the telly in the front room. I suppose it depends on how much rain you have where you live.

6x18 feet isn't worth doing op - deffo go wider than 6' if you want to make it a proper room, even if open plan.

My new conservatory has a door but iirc you might need planning permission and/or building regs for an open plan one.

That is not a conservatory . It is a brick extension with large windows on one side and a translucent lean to roof .

Is there a need to be obtuse, its obvious I mean what are the circumstances as to why someone thinks or has lots of noise in the rain

We have a glass roof, ours is not noisy in the rain

Honestly OP if you can afford to do a bank loan get a proper extension done. With velux windows in the ceiling rather than a conservatory roof.

The issue with conservatory is the solar gain and lack of insulation.

It's honestly not worth it. Go for a proper extension.

Their own experience? 🤔 Just a guess but I'd say that was it.

Actually they call it a 'part conservatory'. There's a difference. It was built with the house.

If you want this you'll need an extension with a support joist etc.

Ahh, and the estate agent's word is law? 😄 They're not builders or in charge of building regulations.

Lots of folk would call that a conservatory but it is, legally, for building regs purposes and as far as a builder is concerned, an extension - different regs, different costs, potentially planning app required etc etc. And that's due to the lack of doors between it and the main house.

Its not particularly noisy in our conservatory when it rains, where are people getting this from?

That's an extension to the house not a conservatory in the link. You will want a door to shut when it rains,believe me!

The pictures you show are of an extension.

Conservatories are with a door inbetween them and the house. Im sitting in mine now

Its about the regulations for heating and building control

You can have the style you want but it will take the planning and sign off to do it and will cost more but they certainly add more space

That's not a conservatory, it's an extension with a clear roof. That will have been built when the house was built new.

That kind of extension being put on at a later date needs steel structures down the sides and across the top to support the upstairs of the house (it's irrelevant what you have their currently as that would have met building regs at the time but is unlikely to meet building regs now. The sides of the extension in the photo will have certain insulation again (again to meet building regs), the sides will also have certain fire retardant plasterboard (different to normal plasterboard) because it's in the kitchen.

If you just want a conservatory you need to keep a door between the house and conservatory which is of an external lockable type, you need a heat source in the conservatory, you need a certain amount of glass or brick ratio etc.

A conservatory will be cheaper but in the UK often unusable due to being too hot, too cold, too noisey (raining)

How an estate agent describes a house is not relevant.

@Catza gave you such a detailed and well informed response and all you could say was 'how much would it cost'.

I mean, an estate agent can say whatever they like, doesn't make it true!

I'd say what you're proposing sounds really impractical and like something you'll massively regret down the line. Noisy, expensive to heat in winter and boiling hot in summer. It's got no benefits as far as I can see?

My friend moved into a house with something similar years ago but larger about 12× 15ft, roasting, freezing, chilly or noisy....awful.
Her mum made a heavy curtain to pull over as it was baltic the first winter. The curtain helped but the following year they paid for doors to be installed and that made a huge difference.

You could look at a proper extension instead, but that would be dearer. It would save you roasting and freezing though.