Putting a proper roof on a conservatory

[Chiwi]

We are likely going to offer on a house. It has a conservatory off the living room. I hate conservatories, they're a waste of space and you can use them for about 6 days in April before they're too hot or too cold.
I have been looking into putting a proper insulated roof on it. But struggling to get a feel for the cost? Has anyone done this and was it worthwhile and what was the rough cost?

It could be a great space for a playroom if it was useable year round. So I think it's either this or knock it down and think about a proper extension.

My only worry with having the roof done is that it would make the room too dark as I love the fact that it's so light. How big is your velux?

We had a conservatory when we bought our last house (had only been up a year). We rarely used it, freezing in winter and boiling in summer to the point my dh had a bottle of whisky there that he hadn't realised and it exploded! We put off doing anything because it was new and 'looked' nice. We eventually knocked it down and extended out the back creating a 6x6m kitchen/ diner room. Cost £55k . SE England.

@MaryIsA "They got a couple of radiators put in.". Sounds sensible,e but it isn't compliant with building regs as conservatories are required to keep the house external doors and not be connected to the house heating system. Classed as a temp structure

@Chiwi . Yes covering the roof. Ames a massive difference. We pulled our conservatory down and built a whole new extension (is wonderful!) with large Velux windows. They have blinds in which we occasionally pull over for a couple of hours in peak summer sun ahe and gosh, the change in light is incredible.....not dark but you get used to the lovely light airy feel of the room.

However, better a usable darker room than a room that isn't usable

@Sunflowergirl1 don’t know if building regs are different where I live then as the house we bought has radiators in the conservatory which was open yo the kitchen and snug. ...not saying it’s sensible ...

You would not believe the number of houses we have viewed that have a completely big standard conservatory open to the rest of the house. It must be freezing! One of them was a lean too just up against the external wall with no doors to the house. Bizarre.
Obviously doesn't meet building regs but what actually happens when a house doesn't meet building regs? Not a lot because those houses are still selling.

Going to look at the house again today before we put in an offer so going to look at the conservatory and get a feel for what would be best. But the point about a proper room cutting off the light is something I hadn't thought about and really something to think about.

Or I just keep it as a conservatory, have it as a play room and put my daughter in a snowsuit to play in the winter

The solid roof we put on ours has skylights so still lets lots of light in. It cost 8k whereas the proper extension would have been 30k

Have a look at the Ultraframe website to give you some ideas

I had this done at my previous house, we replaced a wired safety glass roof with a lightweight warm roof and also had the door and window to the kitchen opened up, then we insulated walls and redid the floor ourself. It made a lovely kitchen diner and the roof/lintel/knocking through cost around £10k almost 5 years ago. The company we used did an interest free finance scheme too.

My “conservatory” is my kitchen area and is open to the house Via two openings both around 2m. It has underfloor heating and deep foundations. It’s an oak structure and is perfectly BRegs compliant. Therefore build properly and have it open to the house. Of course it’s not freezing if you heat it properly and have a quality building!

We used to have a conservatory and used it all year round, I’m not sure why people think they are unusable.

It was lovely in winter because you don’t realize how dark the house is and the natural daylight was wonderful to read the papes in!

My grandmother for interest had hers boarded with plasterboard and skimmed so it looked like a proper roof with the corrugated sheet above. It worked as a fix.