To ask your advice re conservatory upgrade

DH tried the DIY approach. He bought cellotex blocks and then white plastic. The roof was like an inferno. You couldn't touch the glass. He was worried the glass would shatter,so removed the cellotex.

You're welcome. Worth messaging them as they quote remotely using measurements and pictures. I checked back on my quote and it was closer to £2k. It really is a great solution and looks good. I'd never heard of it previously (a friends mother recommended it). I was getting quotes closer to £40k for a new roof. This option makes it a usable room without breaking the bank. Really lovely company to deal with too.

We did a diy job, so insulated and boarded the roof on the inside. Then insulated and boarded half the glass walls on the inside and then put wooden boards on that half on the outside. It is now my office. I do have a heater for winter but it a very usable room.

I have a conservatory approx 20-25 years old (it was here when i bought the house)
I had the plastic roof replaced with a solid roof with roof windows and also insulated the floor. Its made a huge difference and its now my favourite room in the house. Mine comes off the kitchen (I still have double glazed doors in between) and i use it as a separate living space.

The work was done by a local builder who I know so he gave me "mates rates" so I wont say price but just saying it's worth renovating what you have rather than replacing entirely.

We've always had a glass, blue tinted roof (previous owners did it) and ours is still freezing in winter and too hot in summer (south facing garden).

So I wouldn't bother personally, ours is still just a large garden storage area.

Thanks Travelmore,ours is 21 x11, I know costs have rocketed since Covid..
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@snapdragongirl

So I’m thinking of other options, eg could we just put a new roof on? Would this make a significant difference to the temperature? I think most heat is lost through the roof rather than the windows (roof is nasty corrugated plastic type material, windows are double glazed although at least 20-25 years old and probably not the best). Could this be a cheaper but still effective solution?

YES! We had one of those old conservatories with the corrugated plastic roof. Same here, too hot in Summer, too cold in Winter. We kept the conservatory (again, brick walls etc) and replaced the glass windows and the plastic roof with glass. We got the best quality glass they could provide - it had a special name which I can't remember, and we had the glass panels coated with something too, which reflected the sun. I think it's all triple glazed or maybe just the roof is triple glazed. Cost was around £10k for the conservatory which is roughly 10 ft by 10 ft. It made a massive difference and now it's a useable room all year round. It's hot in Summer sun, but not unreasonably so and is fine with a few open windows - it's fine in Winter too, even on cold/windy/icy days, it never feels particularly cold in there - all we have is a single relatively small (3 feet long) radiator which seems to keep it warm enough to use.

We'd also got silly quotes for turning it into a proper room with solid roof etc and we're very glad we took the leap of faith simply to update the windows/roof panels with modern thermal efficient glass. Those plastic corrugated panels are neither use nor ornament!!

Hi, it's 13"2 x 11"6. I had it done in 2021. A friend used the same company last year, his was almost double the size and looks great. It's a really good solution that looks great and doesn't cost a fortune (longer term I'm knocking down to extend so this has made it very usable in the meantime). Looks good from outside too, not much different to how it was before. Insulation under panelling is silver. The company who did it (link in previous post cam send you example pics).

Travelmore, how big is your conservatory, what does it look like on the outside? How many years ago did you have it done? Assuming it's some type of insulation fitted inside the glass..

I think conservatory/window companies take the piss. Ask a general builder to quote, maybe in the process adding a bit more brick and reducing the window sizes. Also check if the current brickwork is a double wall, not built with a single layer of bricks, like a garage, as you'd lose a lot of heat through the walls if they're not up to standard.

Get a few more quotes. The ones we got kept the brickwork and only updated the frame and roof.

Also, we have an air conditioning unit in our conservatory that also does heating in the winter. It was already there when we bought the house, we didn't use the first year as we thought it would cost a fortune. The conservatory was an absolute waste of space!

We actually started using on our second summer and it's actually amazing! It's the perfect playroom for the kids now. It's surprisingly cheap to cool down in the summer. It cost a bit more in the winter to heat up, so we only turn it on for a few hours when then kids want to use the room.

https://conservatoryroofinsulation.com/

I bought a house with a conservatory and longer term plan is to knock it down. This has made it usable in the meantime and looks great! I was sceptical at first (under £5k) but it really is wonderful. A few friends have used this company too. Keeps the conservatory cool in summer and warm in winter. I also had exposed brick walls which I had plastered which also helps. DM me if you have questions.

We replaced our hideous plastic conservatory roof recently with a proper tiled roof and it has made a massive difference to the temperature. We live in the Highlands so it's not the warmest place at the best of times, but we've been able to use the conservatory as a second living room this winter as it's just as warm as the rest of the house.

I think it cost about 10k all in, but that included plastering, painting etc. We kept the doors, windows etc as they were as they're still sturdy enough.

Yes. It was the very best thing we ever did.

We are SW facing and it was cold in winter and hot in summer. Not now. It is just perfect.

We had a roof put in like this
https://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/replacement-roofs/solid-roofs

We didn't use this company but it was a similar roof. It's probably 8 years ago now, and we use our conservatory all the time. Perfect temp. And the fact the roof inside is plastered just makes it feel like another room. I can't remember the exact price, maybe £10k, no more

We recently insulated the roof in our conservatory, and it has made a big difference. It’s still not quite as warm as the rest of the house, but with the addition of a small electric heater, it’s perfectly comfortable to use in the current weather. It will be interesting to see how much of an improvement we notice in the summer.

It’s not perfect, but for £3k we now have a usable extra room. DS loves playing there, and we spend most of our evenings and weekends in there. I’ve moved all his toys from the living room into the conservatory and turned it into a lovely playroom. I’m really pleased with the result.

We did exactly that @snapdragongirl - our garden room extension had a rubbish triple walled polycarbonate roof on it, boiling in summer and freezing in winter. It actually melted in the heatwave of 2018 and the aluminium struts inside for structural stablility pierced through the softened plastic and made holes in it. So we were forced to replace the roof sooner than we wanted. It cost around £6k for taking off the old roof, debris removal from site, new insulated roof with LED lights and replastering.

It has made a big difference but as our room (illegally) has no doors between it and the adjoining rooms, nor any heating, it's still really cold in winter. Lovely in summer though!

We bought a house with a conservatory with patio doors between it and kitchen ;the roof leaked so replaced with a new glass one at about £6k. Was supposed to make cooler in Summer and warmer in Winter. It was actually useable for about 6 weeks of the year and became a dumping ground. Just demolished it and replaced with small extension, velux windows. We’re in the SW too, cost about £38,000 (VAT is a shock!). I wouldn’t waste money on trying to sort an oldish conservatory.

A warm roof shouldn’t need new frames, the existing are used and a lightweight roof is fitted in place of the glass or polycarbonate that you already have. 60k is ludicrous, around 15k I would say for an average size conservatory.

Replaced conservatory roof 2 years ago, was £8k, its a pigmented glass which reflects uv rays and means it stays cooler. It has central heating so being too cold is not an issue.

How much would it cost to replace it with a good proper extension? Id price that up before deciding on a refurb.

We replaced our plastic conservatory roof with a glass one and it’s made a big difference. Less hot in the summer and less cold in winter as the glass is insulated and tinted blue. Ours is off our kitchen so we needed to keep light coming in.
This. MN is funny about conservatories, I think they are all harking back to what their parents (or grandparents!) had 30/40 years ago.
Glass roofs are a game changer: they are better insulated, reduce glare, self-cleaning, quieter. Conservatories and extensions fall under different building regs and, as you have found, have vastly different prices.
Link

Sounds exactly like ours, we have three rads though. Used everyday all year round. Only time it gets stupid hot is if the temp is 30+ ...... but the rest of the place is pretty warm too then!

stapletonesguitar,DH has debated this route
How big is the conservatory,how much,how long ago?

I had a company that specialises in conservatory roofs to replace ours with a lightweight insulated roof.

it’s amazing, it’s transformed the room. I work from it every day and there is only a slight drop in temperature from the main house.

We had exactly the same as you and chose new windows, a fully tiled and fully insulated roof with two electric Velux windows. It’s made a massive difference. For only a couple of weeks a year when it’s really cold do we close it off from the kitchen.

I’ve got to be honest, we had a “warm roof” put on the conservatory and although it’s made it useable in the summer (was way too hot before) it hasn’t really made it warmer in the winter. They left our glass roof in place, put insulation on the inside and a panelled upvc ceiling with spotlights in, and lightweight tiles on the outside.