Conservatory options

[ItsNotInMyMind]

We have recently come into a little money and have a budget of max £20k to do something with our conservatory.

Just after the pandemic we had a well known local company round to quote and they said that if we stuck to the foundations we have (typical sort of hexagonal shape, but large - maybe 5m x 4m) it would cost around 10k.

The wood frame and brickwork needs replacing so it’s not something we can decide against doing, neither for us or our future sale. We use it all the time. We have a wrap around garden and it’s really peaceful, despite being rickety and dated!

The problem is, I really want an extension to take the kitchen outwards but no way can we afford the 40-50k. Our max really is 20k. Although I’m someone who would do my own thing generally, I can see that conservatories are not popular amongst the MN demographic and this makes me think of future buyers.

I’m thinking a modern looking orangerie might be the answer but wondering if we’re missing a trick.

For context, house is a large 4 bed detached valued upwards of £800k so whatever we do, I don’t want it to look “cheap” (even if it is!). We can’t increase the budget, so that as a suggestion isn’t viable unfortunately.

Also, removing it and replacing with an open terrace or similar won’t work. We use this space all year, especially at Christmas somewhat bizarrely!

Does anyone have any left field ideas?

Any general thoughts re orangeries?

Would appreciate some input, thank you,

Following along as considering similar for a house we’re hopefully buying! Wooden sun room/conservatory that needs pulling down, attached to a stone cottage so don’t want a standard pvc conservatory. We haven’t got as far as getting any quotes though so scared of how much a replacement (with better materials) would cost!

Looks like we’re on our own SunnyDay!

I would think twice about a conservatory and save up the money to do the extension. They don’t last that long at all.
I had one built onto my house back in 2008, we demolished it just 10 years later as we constantly had roof leaks and had an extension built (which we regret not doing all those years ago)

Would your bank give you a loan?

We had a hard wood conservatory that was pretty tatty with a plastic roof that leaked, and so had that removed and a new uPVC fitted onto the original foundations (full glass, no brick dwarf wall). No planning required as original footprint. Double glazed, slightly reflective roof glass. It is 2.4m by 7.5m and cost £13,000 in 2017.

I know a lot of people seem to hate conservatories but I think that may be based on the older single, glazed types with polycarbonate roofs. We use ours all the time.

The only thing I personally don't like are the hexagonal shapes but it does depend on the house as I feel a conservatory (or any extension)should be sympathetic to the property and not many houses suit hexagonal shapes - but that's just me!

We’ve just retired so not wanting to take out a loan at this point. Also having to manage budget because windows need replacing too.

The current one has been in 30 years and the structure is holding ok, just the wooden frames are starting to rot (ditto re windows in house). It also looks v dated.

Thanks for this, it’s really helpful.

Funnily enough, I think we decided tonight to do something v similar - replace the wooden frame and roof but keep it on the same foundations. Like you, not keen on the hex. shape but you’re right actually it does suit the house, well - the garden anyway.

If we stay here, we will probably replace it in the future if we have access to more funds. If we sell, at least it will look smarter and more useful in winter without throws and extra plug in heaters! So it’s a bit of a stop gap solution, but I think it’s probably the right thing to do. I’m going to phone the local company tomorrow so we can talk it through.