What to do with conservatory

[blueflowersinthesnow]

We moved into a new house over the summer which has a conservatory. It's around 3.5mx3.5m (hexagonal). It was completely disgusting when we moved in (previous owner kept dogs and cats in there and never cleaned it!) but after many hours of scrubbing it's now hygienic at least. However, we still never use it - it's a really old one from the 80s so quite dated and was like an oven in the summer and is now like a fridge. Also, it joins on to our living room but the doors aren't great so we're losing a lot of heat out there at the moment.

If you inherited something similar in your house, what did you do with it?

Options we are considering:

A 'Upgrading' with a new roof etc. But the rest of it is still so naff that I'm not sure it would be worth it.
B Replacing with an extension. We could then use it as a kids playroom which would be brilliant. But I don't know if it's too much hassle with planning permission etc - plus it sounds like costs are really spiralling for this kind of thing.
C Replacing with a new conservatory - I do quite like the look of those lovely modern conservatories you can get now. But will I regret not just going for a full extension? Will it actually be a usable space?
D Knocking it down and just laying down new patio. But are we mad to reduce the footprint of the house?
E Doing nothing. We haven't ruled out moving again in 5/6 years...

First world problem I know but interested in any views or experiences!

Can't help, op, in same position so giving post a hopeful bump and following with interest!

OP depending on your budget I’d have a proper extension or knock it down. Sounds very dated.

What kind of budget would you realistically have to do the work.

Ideal would be replace with a proper extension, but that's only really an option if you can get together the money to pay for it.

I’d consider knocking it down and building a new conservatory but with a roof on. No planning permission and a useable room. When we moved into our current house five years ago, there was a conservatory that was maybe 10 years old and we’ve just had it roofed over this year, it’s now warmer in winter and cooler in summer, and is far more useable.

I’d have a proper extension if you can afford it and get planning though tbh!

Depends on your budget.
We got a proper roof put on ours, it's made a world of difference. Now have a room we can use all year, no longer a sweat box in summer and not as cold in winter. I put a dehumidifier in there and keep it heated and can now use it as another living room.
I'd have gone for a new extension if I could afford it but this was a good compromise for me.

Proper extension if you can (that will probably also add the most value) but yes, good builders and materials are crazily in demand atm

Ideally B if you can afford it. If not B then E. But depending on size, you might find a patio is surprisingly expensive.

I think A will be a waste of money and I think if you replace it with a new conservatory you will regret not having a full extension.

A- wouldn't bother with such an old conservatory.
B- I'd look into this depends on your budget.
C- A compromise better than you have now but not as good as an extension. Depends on E.
D- I wouldn't unless the garden is tiny and you don't need the space inside.

Friend was in this position. Her conservatory was on the end of her lounge as a dining room. She demolished it, and built a ground floor diner kitchen extension, with the tiny old kitchen now a utility and downstairs bathroom. It’s amazing.

I’d get rid of it and build an extension instead.

B

Possibly C but it would really depend on the standard. I'm not sure how good they are these days. Definitely don't just replace with something similar to what you have which would also be unusable.

It would also depend on the price differential between B and C. If possible to stretch to B I would.

We had the same, but decided to replace it "like for like" with glass roof, new PVC windows & doors, all to pretty high modern spec. We're delighted with it. Far cheaper than an extension. It's now useable all year round. Proper roof and modern high spec windows stops the heat loss in Winter and the anti-glare film on the windows and roof stops the excessive heating in Summer.

Do you already have a downstairs cloak room? Not exactly the same scenario, but we recently added a conservatory, plus a cloakroom. Sounds bonkers, and the company had never heard of such a thing, but it was worth it to have a downstairs loo. Only a tiny one, but it works.

Under permitted development, you can build a conservatory (and presumably replace) if under a certain size. We didn't want a door between the conservatory and lounge/kitchen to keep it all more open, but needed to get building regs. We didn't need to get planning permission though.

You may find that replacing it with an extension is a similar price, and likely add more value than a conservatory. Ours isn't finished, but the pics give a rough idea. I dont know how they were build in the 80's. The company doing ours, said that the foundations had to be made incase we ever did replace the conservatory with a 2 storey extension. If that was the case with yours, then an extension may be the best option.

We were quoted about £70k for an extension to replace conservatory. That included new drains, big sliding doors, 2 roof lanterns, new steel (£5k) for the opening, underpinning next doors wall….and a bit bigger than yours. So we could have done it cheaper.

It’s a really lovely useable warm light space that’s completely part of the house.

The old conservatory was deafening in rain, freezing, leaked heat from the. House and baking in summer.

In your shoes I’d only do anything if doing the changes would make your house more liveable and you more likely to stay.

If you can afford to make the patio look nice if you knock it down then do that, and the next people can have the mess dirt and cost of an extension.

If you built an extension or a new conservatory with a roof you will greatly reduce the light in to the living room. And to have it as a playroom - I'm just thinking mess off of your most formal space , which you'd be walking through all summer.
Unless you really need extra room, I'd tear it down, renew the French doors from the living room and make a lovely outdoor area, possibly with a pergola.

@badbadbunny I'm quite tempted by this! How much did it cost?

Knock it down and build a patio. It doesn't sound like you need the indoor space.

I would recommend a supalite tiled roof to match your roof which will convert it to an extension hence adding value to home. It will also mean you can use the space all year around. Make sure you go through a decent company for this with building regs/standards 5hat issue certificates. So many cowboys doing this atm!
We just had ours converted and it's great as meant we removed partition doors and now have it open plan. It's now part of our house and not just a room stuck on the side!

We inherited a conservatory which was built in the late 80s. It had started to sink and was a cold horrible room. We dismantled it, knocked down the dwarf walls and replaced the doors for good quality french doors. One day we may build an extension but we don't really need the space. We have so much light as it's gone and it's a much warmer house. We've no regrets, yes the house is smaller but a manky old conservatory which is unusable was adding value to the house.

Our previous house had a nice conservatory but it was expensive to heat and boiling in the summer. I would have replaced the roof there as it was a great space overall

We knocked ours down - hated it so much absolutely useless room!

Oh I feel your pain!
Ours had a leak in the roof too which was nice to discover in December
We put a new glass roof on (nor polycarbonate)
New thermal/blackout blinds
Air cooler unit in summer
Oil-filled radiator in winter
It's so got a ceramic tile floor so large rug

(My dh point blank refused to knock it down...)

Do you have another window in the living room or just the glass doors ?

Replacing with an extension. We could then use it as a kids playroom which would be brilliant. But I don't know if it's too much hassle with planning permission etc - plus it sounds like costs are really spiralling for this kind of thing.

this^

your planning should be fairly easy as there is already a structure in place