Would you knock down a £40k conservatory?

[Killerqueen2244]

Got a big ole do-er upper, which needs a lot of more important work doing to it first however in the back of my mind the conservatory is bugging me. It’s large and feels like a

No underfloor heating but 2 radiators and a fan heater built in. It is a really badly sealed conservatory though so it may be that yours is better. To be honest it was a good idea to move it and we thought it was lovely when we viewed the house but the practicalities of living with it are very different.

We love ours. Same as fruit ours is across the back. Doors from kitchen (used all the time) and living room (only used in summer). Under floor heating for winter and ceiling fan and two doors outside for summer. Used as a playroom (all year) and extra sitting room (summer). East facing. Only too cold to use after dark in winter, but even then all DS’ toys are kept in there so the small living room stays tidy

We got rid of a huge, expensive conservatory when we extended our house. It's now an office and utility room, with a master bedroom above. It used to have beautiful hardwood parquet flooring, and looked gorgeous, but was only really usable in April and October. It ended up just being used to dry washing. Don't regret it for a single second. We sold it on eBay and got about a grand for it, and also the bonus of someone dismantling it, and taking it away!

Is there no way of adapting it to suit. I'd be reluctant. Have you got a photo you could post?

How about sorting the heating out, sticking doors on and putting the dining room table in there so you then have to use it? Friends did this and it works well. Conservatory is now used every day, old dining room is a play room.

We had a roof put on ours with insulation and lightweight tiles. We used the same flooring through from the kitchen and it now looks part of the house iyswim

You're right, building regs will like insist on doors to a conservatory or even an expensive orangery. It's to do with heat loss fundamentally. Even with the latest rated glass, it will still be relatively warm in the summer and cold in the winter.
Of course, there's nothing stopping you building your dream conservatory with doors and then simply removing the doors once building control has been signed off..

We love ours, it’s has double doors leading from the kitchen, under floor heating and a wood burning stove. We use it 52 weeks a year.

OP why don’t you get costings for the work required to make it legal and useful and others for knocking it down? I think you will be suprised.

I’m unsure why your solictor would let you buy a house that’s doesn’t comply with building regs but that’s another issue.

We knocked our ancient conservatory and replaced it with a stone built orangery with bifold doors and roof lantern. We actually took down the whole side of the house and opened it up with the lounge to make a huge kitchen diner. The ceiling heights are the same and we managed to get away with a huge steel (so no need for a beam or pillars which would have ruined the look.

It’s an absolutely lovely space now, never cold despite the relatively large amount of glass and I use the room for most the day every day.

If it’s your forever home I’d consider doing something like that - would turn your small lounge into a big one!

Terra, I would say that conservatories haven’t been in fashion for a long time, decades, probably. Especially for the UPVC bolt on style ones. People would much rather have the space as a solid extension.

Those wooden orangery type ones can look lovely but can end up as expensive as a solid extension but aren’t as ‘valuable’ (not proper permanent square footage) and can be difficult to use year round. They have a more limited lifespan than a brick built structure with a tiled roof and maintenance of all that wood can be a PITA.

IMO, UPVC ones (even the £££ ones) look tacky and yellow with age. They can look ok on modern builds but are a disaster on period houses.

I suppose the latest generation of conservatory is the ‘glass box extension’. Eyewateringly expensive, prone to leaks, zero privacy and a nightmare when it comes to year round use.

I hate conservatories, can you tell?!

We did just that. It was well built etc but not to our liking, so we removed it. We added a solid wall and now have a sloping glass roof. Also knocked another two rooms into it to make one large family space with 3 sets of bi-folds. It's a very large room with UFH and even this morning, it is really pleasant to sit here. It is south facing and quite bright but I will not be putting blinds up as the whole point is to have the view and bright room. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can finally open the whole of the back of my house. It wasn't cheap but money well spent as we plan on staying here into old age.

• we did have structural drawings done and needed planning permission, which was all a bit of a hassle but it's done now and has been signed of by Building regs department.

No building regs insistence here on doors! Does anyone see a building regs inspector these days? We have an orangery kitchen and it’s partially open to the lounge and the hall. Not a door in sight! We have an open plan space and many houses do these days. Our oak frame orangery isn’t treated any differently to any other part of the house.

However my orangery was nearer £70,000 and has high performance glass and has underfloor heating and is only glass on 2 walls. We heat the house properly and it’s highly insulated.

If you don’t like the conservatory get rid of it. Turn the heating up or have it on longer in the meantime!

Ours is my kitchen but I used to have a soft wood one off the lounge and it wasn’t used. We have a big lounge already and it was too far from the kitchen. We find the large kitchen with a dining area suits the new orangery, and we have great views of the garden and woods beyond, but you really have to splash the cash to get something good and useful year round.

Get rid, live in the space then see what you need. Conservatories are the devil's work. We have booked out the Easter holidays to get rid of ours which actually has dead slugs wedged inside the roof panels.

Thank you everyone- great to hear what you’ve done in similar situations. I’d love to take a photo but the previous owners have a ‘unique’ style of decorating so it would be a bit too identifying!! The other not so massive issue is that we will be replacing the windows at some point from old mahogany stained wooden ones to something a little more up to date and weatherproof, so we’d have a mismatched mahogany conservatory! I can’t have that!!

@expatmigrant what you’ve done sounds very similar to what I have in mind. Do you mind telling me what kind of price you paid for it all- or at least the structural part of your build? Although I want this house to be even better than amazing, with all the other work we need doing I don’t want to go past it’s resale value, I do get carried away quite easily! I don’t think with such a small wall the current conservatory foundations would be sufficient to use so we’ll be starting from scratch.

killerqueen bearing in mind that we live in the home counties, we paid about 50K for the built itself including electricals, plumbing etc. Builder didn't do the UFH nor the glass roof, doors and kitchen, so all that was extra. (my DH is still in recovery ). Round here getting anything done is expensive because we all have big mortgages whether builder or banker. We're also new to the area so no mates round to help out with some of the jobs. I expect builder prices will be relative to where you live in the country so it could come in much cheaper. If you know anybody who works in building surveying it might be worth asking them round to give you some ideas of how to improve on the existing or start from scratch. Luckily for us this is the only structural job that needed doing, the rest is pretty much cosmetic and we will do as and when.

Thanks @expatmigrant we’re in a Cotswold-y village so I expect the pricing will be similar to what you’ve had. We know a plumber and even he won’t give us mates rates!!! Guess I better start learning some DIY skills!

I think our 3m by 4m conservatory is only about 8 years old. Not sure how much it cost as it was there when we bought the place. Now I hate it and we are having it replaced, it gets up to 45c in the summer and with the heaters going full blast it can just about get upto a respectable temp in the winter but it has to melt the ice off the roof first.
They just arn't practical as a useful room only as a bonus room I feel.

I absolutely hate conservatories and don't understand why people have them. I would definitely either knock it down or see if it can be made into a useable room

I would put the doors back in and see how you get on. A friend of mine uses her conservatory regularly with oil filled radiators so it can be done, and you could replace the roof with something more insulating and possibly even paint the woodwork.

Incidentally much as I loathe the whole open-plan-to-heat-sucking-conservatory concept, our normal lounge is regularly 16 degrees C or so in the morning. I'd have thought that's pretty normal after the heating's been off all night. But if you've kept the heating on all night to achieve that, not good!!

I heard a lot of bad things about conservatories AFTER we bought our house with one attached, and had the right collywobbles about it.

But it's fine. It's south facing, and yes, it's very warm in the summer (30 when I get home from work), but I just open up the doors and sit in there looking out on the garden - people pay good money to sit around in 25 degree heat!

Yes, it's cold now, but heats up easily and the door into it is excellent at keeping the rest of the house separate. I WOULD get a proper extension if we stay here long term, but only because I would want a utility room too.

OP - for what it's worth, I would see how it goes at least until summer, to find out if you have a nice use for it.

I dislike conservatories, lots of people do, and suspect yours will make your house harder to sell. It doesn’t sound like you can afford an extension though, so it’s between making the best of it at minimal cost or knock it down and replace with patio and french windows/bi-folds.

Our previous owners built a big conservatory and then opened it up to the kitchen. Huge mistake, all the heat in the house flew out the plastic roof 🙄 last winter DH spent a few weeks boarding out the ceiling with insulation and tongue and groove, to make the best of what we have - it’s made a huge difference to he warmth of the house but realistically it still needs knocking down and a proper extension putting in.

Just a thought but are your foundations good enough to take a solid roof with veluxes? That might be one way around it. If you have the money personally I would have no qualms knocking it down and building an extension!

We have a 30k one and are getting rid, freezing in winter and boiling in summer with doors open. We looked at a solid roof for it - but think we are just going to replace with an extension.