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Cost of conservatory

10 replies

AmIAWeed · 11/10/2018 08:02

Can someone offer some advice please?
We have been looking at a conservatory and just got a quote in, we're looking for one 4 metres by 4 metres so in my head that's quite small? Flat fibreglass roof with a roof light in. French doors into it from the Lounge and then one normal door - no bifold or anything out into the garden.
We've had a quote that excludes electrics. My husband would fibreglass the roof and it's come in at over £15.5k
So is this about average?
Could we build ourselves?? Or at least co-ordinate and get all the bits separately?

OP posts:
CountingToThree · 11/10/2018 08:13

Sounds about right depending on where you are.

Ours was about £13k 7 years ago for about 3m x 6m in Buckinghamshire. We already had patio doors to the outside so there were no changes to the existing house.

pacer142 · 11/10/2018 08:28

Whether it's reasonable or not, you need at least another two quotes, not just for comparison, but also for potentially highlighting alternative options or problems you may not have considered.

We've just had a small back porch replaced, straight swap of old PVC/DG to new, exactly like for like, no electrics, no plumbing, no plastering - just "making good". We had about 8-10 firms round to look at it and quote as we couldn't find anyone we were confident with. Lowest quote was £2,500, highest was £6,500, but that was a small porch, something like 2 metres by 1 metre. In the end, we didn't choose on price, we chose on other aspects, such as how many workers they'd put on the job, therefore how quickly it would be done, and also how thorough they were with the quote, measuring, etc., as we didn't want a sloppy bodge-it firm.

About 5 years ago, we had our main conservatory replaced, about 4 metres by 4 metres. We had triple glazed/coated windows around and a glass, coated roof, so all anti-glare, best insulation, also lots of opening windows, etc. That was £10,000 done by a local independent firm who turned out to be absolutely brilliant in every aspect. We'd had quotes up to £25k from some of the cough specialist bigger firms.

Pretendingtobe · 11/10/2018 20:26

Whatever the initial quote, expect that half is about reasonable. Negotiate hard. A big chunk is commission.
I used to work in the industry. Not proud!

The 'calls to the manager' are calls to any random person in the office. They used to call me and talk complete nonsense that was irrelevant to me, or my role. Then they pretend to have got a special deal, just for you!

Had a quotation for one, a guy I used to work with.
I said 'let's start at a sensible price, or not bother'. When he called the office it was literally 'Un, no. She used to work with me'.

Mine cost half the price of my neighbours', and was bigger.

Beesandfrogsandfleas · 11/10/2018 21:48

But why do they quote so high, I got a high estimate at a local conservatory village so I just gave up on the idea, it didn't make me invite them out to wait for discounts...

united4ever · 11/10/2018 21:54

there must be some people who just say yeah ok...or can you knock £500 off. I guess that's why they always start at the top hoping you will be one if those.

IWantMyHatBack · 11/10/2018 21:58

Try to find a contractor near you. We went for one that local builders use, but it's also a part of a larger glazing company.

Similar sized conservatory, with glazing company, was £13k (4 years ago). Buying trade, plus installation, total cost was £5.5k.

IWantMyHatBack · 11/10/2018 22:01

Including electrics and doors into conservatory it would have been about £7.5k, but we couldn't afford that so went for the cheapest option.

My brother has had a similar one, glass roof and electrics, done recently. Was £8k.

Beesandfrogsandfleas · 11/10/2018 22:57

This is really interesting. The firm I saw said they started at £15000 for one about 3x3.
What Im reading here sounds much more affordable.

IWantMyHatBack · 11/10/2018 23:08

You need to find a supplier rather than a glazing company, you'll need to employ someone to build it etc.

Just measure really really really carefully.

CrazyDaisy2018 · 12/10/2018 13:44

That does seem a bit pricey to me.

We paid £17k for a 4m x 4m with Edwardian style roof in self cleaning tinted glass. That included new French Doors in to the house, French doors to the patio, electrics (was supposed to be 2 wall lights + 2 double sockets but we got 6 double sockets instead as I was only wanting lamps), relocation of a drain and additional drainage and soakaways being installed.

We used one of the most expensive window companies in our area as they have such a good reputation, so we know we could have got it cheaper elsewhere.

I would shop around OP.

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