consevatory or extension???

[BauerTime]

This is hypothetical at the moment as we haven't found a house or anything, but my dream house has a massive kitchen/dining/living room all in one, but with a separate lounge-type room that would be a retreat at the end of the day, totally separate from the big room. An adult space if you like. So as most houses have that room at the front, with the kitchen and dining rooms at the back that lend well to being knocked through, the obvious choice would be to extend out the back to make this room a big big room IYSWIM.

I'm wondering (mainly on grounds of cost) whether an extension would be the say to go - and this would be the ideal, or whether a 'nice' conservatory would suffice and be cheaper? I'm thinking that by opening up as much of the back wall as possible and having one of those folding doors between the house and the conservatory space, and keeping the floors level, that you could still get the illusion of one room but could still close the door to keep the heat in etc when not in use to save heat.

But what I dont know is whether having a conservatory instead of an extension is actually much cheaper, or whether it would be a bit of a false economy? I'm not worrying about re-sale value as our next house will be where we live for many many years but I'm trying to get an idea of what we should be looking for based on what is best.

I hope that makes sense. Also, we will have to live in the house while any work is ongoing so I'm thinking about disruption too. Although obviously I want the finished product to be something we love and don't regret.

I could have written this. We have a lounge front to back, kitchen/diner at the back which is next to dining room at the front (think double fronted house). We want to knock through kitchen/diner into dining room and extend kitchen half way across the back. We had a quote of 25k for conservatory (good quality as we plan on never ever moving), and extension of 30k. We are planning on going with the extension as it is a permanent structure and will feel more like a room.

Thanks have that's what I'm after really. 5k extra for an actual room that's insulated, proper roof etc seems like a no brainer. Id want a high quality conservatory if that's what we went for as id want to use it year round. Plus the level floor to make it seem like a seamless space when the doors were open. I guess that would plump up the cost to!

Id go for the extension even if the price difference was more than that. Conservatories are rarely comfortable to be in for most of the year so you should really weigh up the cost relative to how much use youll get out of it.

Conservatories are noisy when it rains unless you spend more on the roof and cold in winter. I'd go for an extension.

Extension all the way. Conservatories are hot in the summer and cost a bomb to heat in the winter.

Do not believe what conservatory salesmen tell you, ever!

What about these new tiled conservatories? Anyone got one of those? Surely they deal with the heat in the summer and keep in a bit more warmth in the winter?

I didn't think you could have a tiled roof one bur apparently you can!

I thought if it had a tiled roof it was a sun room.

Sil has one. Theres no wall space for furniture. She would like a book case or a dresser or some sort of storage in there but its all window so theres no where to put it. She also has a tv in there. Its backed up against glass and you cant see it with the glare.

Extension over conservatory every time.

When we moved in to our house, it had a small kitchen and a massive conservatory where we put our dining table. It was freezing in winter, cost a bomb to heat, and then boiling in summer.

Last year we removed it and had a massive room built across the back of the house, then knocked through between kitchen and new room. It is so much better in every possible way. Plus we still have a living room and study downstairs, so lots of grown up space as well.

I would never buy a house with a conservatory again.

Extension! I have a large conservatory which I rarely sit in. You can't put a telly in one really, they're cold or hot, there are no walls for furniture. Too much faff imho.

Having said that, I quite like the noise on the roof. Sort of cosy..

Extension every time, even though I love my conservatory and use it all year round.
An extension will add value, be cheaper to heat and be more versatile. These days people often have bi-fold doors and roof lights in extensions to achieve the high levels of natural light found in conservatories.

My home came with the conservatory - it's too good to demolish but I'd have gone for an extension if I'd been choosing.

Depends on how much you are willing to spend and what the original house is like. My kitchen is in an orangery which is oak framed. It has high performance glass and underfloor heating. It is bright and sunny in summer and I love being able to see the sky in winter. It is uplifting just to walk into the kitchen. I had better not say what it cost, but every day I love it even more. However, if you cannot afford a high spec one, then definitely do an extension - it is way cheaper!!!!

We are currently planning to knock down the glass 'structure' (it's too awful to deserve the term conservatory) off our kitchen and knock through to create an L-shaped kitchen/diner/play room. We have a separate adult living room at the front of the house.
Ditto all the advice above to go for a brick/stone walled tiled roof extension over a glass conservatory.

Extension! Same as others, we have a conservatory that we use year round, and I wish we could knock it down and put an extension up. Lack of walls, hot/cold etc etc etc

Def extension every time.

Our house came with a decent conservatory but it's still cold in winter and boiling in the summer and most of the year is shut up in the evening to stop the rest of the house being cold. I love the light though so at some point we will replace it with an extension with a pitched roof with skylights.