How would you spend 25k to improve this? (pics)

[BobbysSox]

We have a 1920s house with a cold leaky conservatory, currently used as a playroom.
It's got to the point where we need to do something with it. We have a small lounge on the front of the house, decent sized kitchen & dining room at the back which I opens into a conservatory. I'd guess it's around 20 years old

I'd like to turn it into an extra useable living space that extends from the dining room.
Ideally with bifolds that open onto the garden.
Budget is around 25k which rules out an extension as we'd need to borrow against the house which I don't really want to do with interest rates being so high.

Any ideas? Are those warm roofs any good? Thermal glass & a log burner maybe?
Any ideas welcome.

Excuse the mess in the pictures, it's pretty much a dumping ground at the moment!

If an extension is likely to be doable financially in a few years' time, then you could just get it repaired / re-roofed at a fairly low cost.

Alternatively, you could have a completely new conservatory, and get the look you want. Replacing it altogether to a high spec would probably be around the top end of your budget, but might be better than patching up the old one in terms of adding some value to the house if / when you come to sell.

a solid roof would make a huge difference but what is feasible depends on the walls because you’d need solidish walls to take the weight of a proper roof. I think there are some lightweight options that might work though.

Thanks, I think an extension would be feasible in about 10 years but I can't wait that long!
We're going to look into some of the replacement roofs. I have no idea what the walls will support but hopefully if we get a few people out they can give us an idea.

@BobbysSox , just a thought... if you replace the roof with something solid, how will that affect the light in room behind the conservatory?

I think we would need to have velux windows in the roof or a sky lantern type thing.
My brother has just had a brand new conservatory built & it has a thermal glass self cleaning roof but I think that would still make things too cold.

I'd save up and put a proper extension on if you are going to stay a while....

I agree an extension would be better & absolutely would do this if we could afford it but it would be many years and by that point the kids would have left home - they are the reason we need the extra space. I have pondered using the money to move but we live in a great location and otherwise we love the house.

It's only about 3m x 4m so quite a small space but I imagine an extension would be 50-60k.

We got an ultraroof - it's honestly very good. Conservatory now feels like a real room. That might come in around top of budget. We had 4m x 10m for £53k. This included 2x tri sliding doors and all new windows (all aluminium), fully plastered, led spotlights inside and out. We painted ourselves. Would recommend.

I’d get quotes for an orangery type extension.

Costs will vary considerably for an extension. It might be worth getting a builder or two to have a look and give you a more accurate picture, since what you are suggesting sounds relatively basic. If it can be done more cheaply than you expect, then that's the best option, and would add more value to the house.

That's interesting, thanks - did you go with a local company? How do you heat the space? I'm pondering whether we'd go for underfloor heating.

It was a local supplier of ultraframe - I think my husband just went on their website and it lists local suppliers. We have underfloor heating - we were going to put in radiators, but haven't needed them.