Conservatory! What are you recommendations?

[Katebucketandspade]

So looking at getting a conservatory

1. any companies to recommend? (I’m in SE London)
2. buying the conservatory and then getting someone else to fit it (local tradesman) seems cheapest - anyone have any experience of this?
3. any do’s and dont’s?

What did you decide, in the end? I was going to post the exact same thing, but thought I’d do a search first. 😁

I’ve barely made a start 😂 but a bit of googling seems like getting a builder to do it would be cheaper.

i could essentially get aluminium frames/fancy glass/bifold doors for the same price in total as upvc/less fancy glass/patio doors.

but im really in need of some recommended builders and suppliers!

people are so against conservatories but i think a) they’re thinking of the 90’s monstrosities and b) not taking into account that we simple can’t afford to move or build and extension.

We're not in SE London so dont know local companies to you

We dont regret ours and really wish we had done it years ago. We have the blue glass for the roof, its lovely and warm in there with an oil filled radiator so we use it all year round
I put a wool carpet underlay down and bought a massive jute rug and cut it to size. I have proper furniture in there, not rattan or anything like that. Its the most beautiful room in the house

We have some lamps but not lighting. Ours is only small, we didnt need planning or anything like that.

In hindsight what I would change is having opening windows on both sides so you get the air flow through

Thanks @soupfiend - that’s really helpful.

ours is to be a dining room come play room. We only have 1 reception room so it’s essentially the only affordable way of adding another room on for us

Well you probably dont want rugs and things then, you'll want a hard floor. Get enough plug sockets input and you can have a couple of rads in there then. You can get nice slim ones. We also removed our windstays after some years so that we can open the doors folded right back on themselves, we put some little hooks on the outside and some chains to hold them back when we open them.

Think about what you want in terms of roof.

If you have a glass roof in summer the thing will be like a greenhouse, especially if it is south facing. You can open the doors to make it cooler though. In the winter it will be freezing, because even if all the windows are triple glazed they are much worse at insulation than walls.

If you want a room that you can use all year round you are probably better off getting a garden room, something with a proper tiled roof. Make sure it is well insulated and you have room for wall mounted heaters if necessary. Make sure you can use the roof as useful storage space if it is sloping.

I would say altogether don't bother with a conservatory.
Thanks to uk weather they are rarely usable due to being to cold or to hot, even with heating and fans.

Or get one and pay more for the newish roof systems that make it more of a room. However if doing this then it would be best to have at least half height solid walls.

@soupfiend yes, hard floor with some sort of cheap but hard wearing rug I think. A landlord special! Plug in rads is a good tip.

@GasPanic it has to be a glass roof else our living room will be gloomy. Realistically, an unattached garden room isn’t going to work - no one is traipsing out to the back of the garden for daily dinner.

The blue roof is beautiful, I would never have a solid roof, I cant think what on earth people are thinking when they suggest that. I want to see the sky, I want to see the sun, I want to see the clouds going past. The blue glass enhances a blueish sky and its really vibrant

We have some window blinds, just from ikea on a thin rod (I dont like heavy blinds) that have magnetic fittings, they're roman blinds so that the sun is shaded when its through the window

Yes it gets hot in the abolute heat of the summer, but that isnt that often

No its not unsusable in the winter because you put the rads on, just like you would in the rest of the house!

Sometimes I think about getting a triangle of fabric with eyelets in it, sort of like a sail and hooking it up for July and August perhaps, not covering all the ceiling, just for that period where the sun is right overhead but then I'd lose all the lovely light

Things will go very white in there, Ive only got white furniture in mine

Ours is north facing.