bespoke orangery extension company or 'normal' builder?

[zimzam]

We're planning to take replace our conservatory with an extension. In thinking about the kind of look we'd like, we think an orangery type thing would suit as it would add the most light. There are companies that specialise in bespoke orangeries and take care of everything including planning submissions, building regs, plumbing, elecs, flooring etc etc. Now you'd think they'd cost a fortune BUT it seems that, based on initial quotes, it would cost similar to what the builders have quoted (going with an independent architect who'll take care of the regs stuff also). I would have thought the builder would be cheaper and I can't understand why they quote so much anyway (approx. £3k per square m) when on the internet and in mags they say about £1500/m2. Is it cos we's in Surrey??! Or just cos we want a utility, shower room and new kitchen fitted too?
Has anyone used one of these bespoke orangery companies and if so, why did you decide over a builder/architect and how did it all turn out?
Thanks.
Has anyone used one of these

No answer, but watching with interest as we are just starting out looking at companies. Which ones have you had quotes from?

Just one so far: Jeremy Uglow. Still awaiting his quotation to come through...
Another thing I wonder about is if its better to stick with the tradional, classic look (which is in keeping with the style of the house) or to be brave and go for the contemporary look, lots of panes of glass etc etc.
Have you had quotes from any companies yet? There are quite a few out there, some look as though they'd be pricier than others ie.g. f they only do bespoke hardwood and not aluminium/PVCu which I gather is cheaper..?

Just had a provisional budget this morning from Charles Christianson based on a 4.5 x 6m uPVC orangery for £37k inc vat. It includes underfloor hearing and bifolding doors (which are expensive). It is an estimate as he has done a rough calculation based on me sending through a few pics of the site and rough idea about what we want. Obviously the final quote may well be more than that but this at least gives us an idea about whether they are horrifically expensive. They have said wooden ones cost more but I'm not sure how much more. There is now apparently wood effect uPVC which looks nicer than the bog standard uPVC.

I haven't got a quote from a company that just does wooden orangeries but have found out that some neighbours have recently had one built by westbury so I might go and have a chat with them.

cough, splutter..we were given an estimate of about 60k for a 20m2 orangery but he said we probably wouldn't get much change from 100k in the end once the following are included: underfloor heating, structural supports needed as we're knocking through 2 walls, kitchen fitting (the kitchen itself is extra and of course variable in cost), utility room and shower room fitting, VAT. And I think we'll need to re-landscape part of the garden too. Actually when I list it like that I wonder if its not so unreasonable...Can it be done cheaper??

5 years ago we got quotes from regular builders to do a contemporary style 'glass box' kitchen extension. It would have had a glass roof and sliding doors to fully open one side, so not dissimilar to an Orangerie really. The cheapest quote was £40K, so it may be worth asking regular builders. We are in London.

I would avoid uPVC if you can, especially if you have a period house. It can put off future buyers.

ZimZam - eeek! I assume thats the quote from the builders?? As much as I like the look of the wooden ones, I think its out of our budget. We have a 1930/40s style house so we don't need to have a wooden one for it to be in keeping with the house. We also don't need much/any knocking through as it will lead off the lounge which already has patio doors the width of the room. We will have to rebuild the patio and wall and do a bit of landscaping so that will add to the final cost. And it doesn't include flooring I think. Going to do some more searching to see what other companies are out there. Got a few brochures through but most of them are from companies that only do wooden orangeries.

Spoke to Charles Christianson today and got a bit more information about what is included / excluded. The underfloor hearing was additional (misread the email) and so it would come to roughly £40k. I asked him how much extra it would be to do it in wood and he said 18-20k which would make 58-60k in total. Which is very similar to the quote you have zimzam.

Interestingly, he said the wood effect uPVC is so realistic that you can't tell until you get very close up. He also said that he is going to knock down his conservatory and rebuild an orangery. A few years ago he was sure he wanted bifold doors and it to be built in wood. Now he has changed his mind and is going to build a wood effect uPVC one. He said he can't justify the additional cost for a wooden one. I thought it was interesting that he wasn't trying to up sell the more expensive option.

Anyway, he is coming around next week to look at the site and do a proper quote. I still want to get a couple of other quotes so I'm looking for other companies who do similar orangeries.

I guess with what CC quoted you, my quotes aren't far off then.
I've switched tack a bit in the last few days and am thinking a very contemporary glass box type extension would be kind of groovy!! They can be very efficient at maintaining the heat in etc. and I'm not too concerned re them getting too hot in the summer (what we have of them) as it would be in a north-west facing position. And we're not overlooked so that's not a problem (its not like its a bedroom or bathroom anyway).
What's your opinion on these modern glass extensions?

I think they can look fab on the right house - but I don't think it would work with our house. Presumably they are cheaper than an orangery? I've got 3 companies coming around this week, will be interesting to see what they all say. We are now thinking of making it bigger and possibly knocking through the kitchen too but it will depend on price.

Ooh, v interested, especially if you're also now thinking of opening up to the kitchen as we are. Please keep me updated with how they compare. Where are you based, we're in Surrey..but I think most of the bigger companies will do anywhere in the UK..?

We used a company called Everitt and Jones. They have a website which mentions that they serve Beds Herts etc, but they also install much further south. They were absolutely brilliant, very reasonably priced. They only use wood, no plastic and took care of all the planning apps. etc. It was quite a big job, it has held 29 people for a sit down meal. Our original idea was to have the brickwork of the former outside wall exposed, though it would now be inside. When the conserve was nearly finished, we looked at each other and said "This looks terrible". Martin the boss said they would plaster it, a big wall, about 27' long and 17' high. When the final bill came in it was less than the original estimate, they threw in the plastering for nothing. Thoughout the job they were always on time, 9.am meant 8.55. Ten years on we are still thrilled with it, they advised underfoor heating and we are so glad we went for it, as it makes the space useable all year round. The external paint is still in perfect condition. If we moved and needed another conservatory I would not dream of using anyone else.

Thanks HintofBream, I'll have a look at their website.
Loueytb3, how did it go with your three company quotes? Did you get a good vibe from any of them?

Its just taken me ages to find this thread again...

So we've had one quote in and the other two we should be getting by the weekend.

First quote for approx 28m2 aluminium orangery with bifold doors (quite large ones), knocking through from lounge and taking out kitchen windows and electric underfloor heating was 82K. Quite impressed with the man we have been dealing with, we went to their showroom last weekend to have a look and play with the bifold doors and windows and they were good.

Second company that visited we were both less impressed with but we are going back to get a comparable quote on Saturday. They were much more we want to just build a orangery and we are not interested in knocking through walls or coming up with any more inventive ideas. I actually said to him when he got there that I wanted to hear what he would do in our position and he came up with nothing really. He said they were a one stop shop for orangeries but then said we don't do flooring and we don't do plumbing!

Quote from Charles Christianson is imminent although they are quoting for uPVC and so we might need to get them to quote for an aluminium one as well as I'm not sure about mixing uPVC with the aluminium bifold doors. We are also not sure about which underfloor heating system to use. CC use the water based one, the other companies only install electric.

We still can't decide whether to knock through from the kitchen, going round in circles at the moment. We have the people who did our kitchen 5 yrs ago coming round next week so hopefully that will help to see what we could do and how much it would cost. We want to make a decision in the next 2 weeks as we want to get on with putting in planning permission and we are going on holiday at the end of March.

We're in Middlesex btw so not too far away from you.