How much was your conservatory?

[BlueKarou]

Really boring subject, sorry!

I want to have a conservatory built, but won't be in the position to do so for a few years. I just want a vague idea of price (I know it's dependant on SO many things; size, style, all the different bits and bobs) without having someone come round and do a proper quote which would then be out of date by the time I'm ready to consider it.

If you've had a conservatory built, would you mind telling me the price, and maybe the dimensions/anything that might be a big influence on the price? Thanks!

I will state that ours was expensive but our house is large and worth a lot so doing cheap and cheerful was not an option.

It is 5m x 7.5m. It is oak framed and has high performance floor to ceiling glass on two sides and a glass lantern roof. It is my kitchen. It was around £80,000 and needed deep foundations due to clay and a fairly near oak tree! I expect it to last way beyond my lifetime! It is warm because it has underfloor heating and high spec glazing.

I woud just say be very wary of building something that is impossible to heat and one where heat escapes through cheap frames and glass. Conservatories that you use year round are not necessarily cheaper than a standard building and if you cannot afford high spec, do a standard building and add roof lights such as Velux or Heritage Roof Lights. It will be a lot cheaper. Smaller is also cheaper.

Do not have one facing South or it will be roasting in summer. Ours is North and East for morning light. We get overhead sun and we have two large opening french doors to outside patios and roif opens too.

We have had a cheaper one at this house and it was cold, it rotted and it was a liability. Choose one that suits the house. It needs to be high spec or it is not worth doing in my view.

Why a conservatory and not an extension?

That sounds gorgeous, Bubbles! Mine won't be quite that spacious, but your points of buying quality rather than getting it done as cheap as possible are very valid, will keep that in mind.

Thanks both, I'm going to look into an extension, with lots of glazing that might actually be better. It is south facing - my Mum has a south facing conservatory and it's lovely this time of year, but it's a case of opening the windows all day in the warmer months. I'm ok with that, but it is definitely an additional maintenance thing..

The main requirement is that it gives me some more space, but doesn't block too much light from the kitchen, where it would be attaching. I'm mid-terraced, so that corner of the house currently has french doors, but would be blocked off from the outside light if the conservatory/extension isn't light enough. (I feel like I was remiss in not including a diagram... Will get right on that!)

Thanks Rightmove for holding onto ancient floor plans! The downstairs layout has changed a little since this was produced, but the kitchen isn't too different. Purple is my starting concept for where it would go.

We are planning on similar, having one off the kitchen. We are thinking of having a normal room extension instead but with sun lights at the top though.
Out of curiosity, what do you have furniture wise in your hall? On the floorplan it looks as big as an extra room? Or is that what you mean when you say the layout has changed since?

I agree with Bubbles, get the best quality you can. A decent double glazed glass roof with an all seasons coating will keep it useable summer and winter. It's the cheaper polycarb ones that are a waste of money, too hot in summer and too cold in winter.

Which - the hall is insanely big for a hall. I covered the length of one wall with bookshelves, and have a couple of desks in there, one with computer, plus shoes and coats and stuff. It's a bit of a dumping ground really.

Other people on the row have blocked over just inside the front door and made a little study there, but it would be so dark.

The changes are around the downstairs loo - that's now pretty much in the grey cupboard, the blue room is now a utility room.

We had one done last year. 3m deep, 5.6m wide on a standard foundation cost us about £23k. UPVC frame, smart glass. We had electric Loggia heaters rather than underfloor heating. It is on an East-facing elevation, so the north wall of the conservatory (up against neighbour's garage) is actually a cavity brick wall, as is about a third of the long east-facing side although this has a big window. The rest is entirely glazed floor to roof (no dwarf wall) with French doors in both the east-facing side and the south-facing one. The brick wall part of the east side is there to allow for the installation of a wood-burning stove in the future.

Big influences for us:

We restricted it on depth and went widthways because for 3m we only needed a single pane of glass across with the snow loading requirements in this area (Manchester). As well as being a lot cleaner and sleeker than a ridged design, any deeper and we'd have to have had two panes which bumped up the cost considerably. The builders we went with in the end were the only ones to explain this.

We left the original windows and French doors in place, so building regs didn't apply.

We went for a pelmet with LED lighting - costs a bit but makes it fully useable in the dark.

Some installers (Anglian, that's you) pissed us about during the sales process before quoting over £50k for the same thing.

I should also add, that we built ours onto a new-build property which itself was only six months old. The builders we went with designed it deliberately to look like it was part of the original building and even sourced the exact same bricks the house was built from.

It didn't add anything to the cost, but makes a massive difference to the aesthetics.

BlueKarou: might I suggest you take the wall down between the kitchen/diner and the extension? You would need a beam but your span isn’t huge and the new room would be fully integrated into the kitchen/dining space. If you do this you MUST heat it effectively. The advantages are obvious though.

I would have a standard extension in your position but with modifications and have the biggest rooflights you can get. I love being able to see the sky through my roof and sun lights won’t let you do that. A huge advantage of roof lights is that they open and allow ventilation.

You could make your right hand wall (against the boundary) standard construction with insulation and have glass in the form of windows and doors on the other two sides. This will retain lots more heat and give you views out and easy access. This could be a lovely addition to your house.

I forgot to say - I have a huge hall. Part of it has built in storage, part is bookcases and we have a grand piano too. Another part has seating and my work station which is from Neptune and has doors that close. We opened the hall up deliberately (several beams deployed) to allow free flow around the core of the house but it is zoned into useful areas. My work station area was formerly the kitchen and the piano area was the kitchen when we bought the house 32 years ago! We have evolved and so has the house. Keeping it light was key and I love a big Hall! Don’t change it into small rooms. A big hall gives a feeling of space and it’s gracious. I could live in mine!