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Improvement Guide
A new Conservatories and Lateral living
If
you need extra space in your home but can’t extend upwards,
a conservatory could be the answer. Kathleen Hennessy
considers your options
If you’d
like to be able to enjoy your garden whatever the weather,
a conservatory offers a sort of half-way house between the
comforts of home and the joys of the great outdoors. It provides
you with somewhere to relax and admire your horticultural
labours – without getting cold or wet.
You can buy conservatories ‘off the peg’ from
an enormous number of companies country-wide. Most of them
sell uPVC frames, though you can also get hardwood and aluminium
versions. If you’re buying a ready-made conservatory,
the most common styles are Victorian, Georgian and Edwardian.
Victorians are five-sided with a steepled roof; Georgians
are square or rectangular with a steepled roof; and Edwardians
are square or rectangular with either a flat or a steepled
roof. There are also sun-lounger rooms and lean-to styles,
just in case you run out of options.
Of course, you don’t have to stick to one of the main
designs – there are lots of variations possible. You
might want to join two styles together to create a bigger
conservatory, for example.
No matter which style you choose, however, if you buy off
the peg you will have to get a builder to lay foundations
and build a dwarf wall (unless you choose a full-height model,
in which case you’ll need only the foundation base).
If you’re pretty handy with DIY, you could tackle this
yourself, but builder Stephen Palmer sounds a note of caution.
“The foundations are the most important bit to get right
– because they have to be exact,” he says. “The
conservatory has to fit precisely on to the dwarf wall. Everything
has to be exactly level and the angles must be precise, too.
If the dwarf wall is slightly out, you would need packing
material between the wall and the conservatory panel to level
it off – and that would look dreadful.”
The cost of getting a builder in to clear the site, dig foundations,
lay a concrete base and build a dwarf wall is around £3,000,
and would take around five days. The cost and timescale are
likely to increase, however, if there are drains to bridge
or manholes to move, for example.
When working out what size conservatory (and thus foundations)
you want, make sure you use the same measurements as the supplier
you choose – some quote internal space measurements,
others quote external. Otherwise, you could be several centimetres
out and your conservatory won’t fit.
With foundations laid, your conservatory is ready to erect.
If you choose a wooden conservatory, you will have to paint
the frames before you construct the conservatory, so you need
to factor in another couple of days. All the major suppliers
provide tips on erection and say most competent DIYers should
manage it in 7–10 days.
A new Conservatories and A more personal plan
Of course, if you’ve always fancied yourself as a bit
of a Diarmuid Gavin or you don’t fancy any of the styles
on offer, you can always design your own conservatory –
or get someone else to do it for you. Several conservatory
suppliers have their own in-house design teams who can draw
up plans to a specific brief. You don’t even have to
supply detailed drawings in some cases.
“If you can provide some idea of size and style, we
can design a conservatory for you,” says Paul Trevail
of BalticPine, a supplier of wooden-framed conservatories.
“We can also work from an architect’s drawings
if you want to pay out for that separately. But our design
service is free – there’s no separate charge.”
Trevail estimates the project would take eight to 12 weeks,
depending on the size of the conservatory and the complexity
of the design, or longer if the customer wanted to make changes
part-way through. That timescale doesn’t cover construction,
however, as BalticPine only supplies.
If you’d prefer something more personalised or you don’t
have a strong image of what you’re after, you could
use an architect. “An architect can help you not only
to design a conservatory but also – crucially –
to design one that will match the design of the rest of your
house,” says Hugo Tugman of ArchitectYourHome.com. “With
our service, we start with a half-day consultation for £400
to discuss the idea, and that would be more than enough for
these purposes. The architect would visit the client, listen
to his or her requirements and wishes, do a rough survey and
sketch out a drawing. The customer can then take that drawing
to a conservatory supplier.
“Conservatory firms don’t really offer free design
services – that price is worked in there somewhere.
Besides, it’s very difficult to compare like with like
between suppliers if they’re doing the design, because
each design will be slightly different. But if you already
have your drawing, you can get precise, comparable prices
for the design you actually want, not the conservatory company’s
best approximation of it.”
You can find a local architect through Tugman’s website,
by word-of-mouth recommendation, or through the Royal Institute
of British Architects’ website, which has a search facility
that allows you to locate architects by region and project
size.A new Conservatories and Interiors
Another area an architect can probably help you with is the
interior – which might not be covered by a conservatory
supplier’s in-house designers. You need to think about
whether you need heating, for example, and if so, what sort
– underfloor or radiators?
Your heating needs will largely be dictated by the direction
your conservatory faces. North-facing structures get the least
sun and will definitely need heating in winter and in the
evenings. If your conservatory faces south, you’re more
likely to have a problem with keeping it cool, especially
since the Kyoto Agreement on climate change made it mandatory
for heat loss from all new constructions to be kept to an
acceptable minimum. That’s why many conservatory manufacturers
recommend and use Pilkington K glass, as it has low heat emission.
Conservatory roofs are generally made of polycarbonate,
and the thicker this is, the less heat will escape through
the roof. You can get glass roofs but they are considerably
more expensive. Another option for better insulation is double
glazing, which obviously costs more. For a BalticPine Victorian
3m x 4.5m conservatory, double glazing adds an extra £570
to the cost.
There are several options for keeping the conservatory cool.
Doors and windows can be opened, as can roof vents, to allow
airflow, and tinted roofing material cuts down both heat and
glare. You can also control heat with roof and window blinds.
The most common types are pleated fabric blinds, Roman pinoleum
blinds (made from thin strips of wood woven together) and
fabric roller-blinds.
Don’t forget important extras like locks for the doors
and any windows that open, as this is likely to be a requirement
of your home contents insurance policy. A
new Conservatories and All in the planningProvided your conservatory
is no more than 50–70 cubic metres in size (or 10–15
per cent of the volume of your house, whichever is greater),
you won’t need planning permission. But bear in mind
that if you have previously extended your house, you will
have eaten into some of this permitted development, so you
might need planning permission.
You still need to check with your local council whether there
are any local building restrictions. In newer housing estates,
for example, developers often stick a covenant into the contract
requiring their permission before further work can take place.
You might also be restricted if your house is listed or you
live in a conservation area.
Assuming there is no planning-permission hurdle to get over,
the next thing to consider is building regulations. These
rules govern how buildings are constructed and which materials
are used – and they exist for the very good reason that
a poorly constructed building is apt to collapse.
“People often treat building regs like some big bad
beast, preventing them from achieving their construction dreams,”
says Hugo Tugman. “In reality, they make sure what gets
built is fit for its purpose and safe to use.”
Conservatories are generally exempt from building regulations,
provided the following all apply: the roof is transparent
or translucent; the walls are at least 75 per cent glazed;
the floor area is less than 30 square metres; there is a door
separating the conservatory from the rest of the house; the
glazing meets specific requirements; and there are no drainage
facilities, such as a sink or toilet. If the conservatory
is near a balanced flue, it might also have to comply with
the gas safety regulations.
And you can’t use any old glass, either. “Toughened
safety glass is required in all conservatories,” explains
Paul Trevail. “It’s a safety issue. Previously,
there were incidents of kids running into patio doors and
great shards of glass raining down. Safety glass is incredibly
tough and, in the unlikely event it does break, shatters into
pebble-sized pieces, which are not as dangerous as great sharp
shards.”
If your conservatory doesn’t comply with all the above,
you might need building-regulation approval, which you get
from your local council. It will check your drawings to make
sure they meet the regulations and send a building inspector
to check the works to ensure they are of a satisfactory standard.
If not, the inspector can force you to have the work redone.
A new Conservatories and All in the planningThe cheapest option is to buy
an ‘off the peg’ conservatory and put it up yourself.
Screwfix, the builders’ suppliers, sells a Victorian
uPVC conservatory measuring roughly 3m by 4m for £2,999.
Other ready-made conservatory suppliers charge anywhere from
£3,500 to £8,000 for the same size and style –
so it’s vital to shop around. But if you plump for a
wooden conservatory instead of uPVC, it can be far cheaper.
For example, BalticPine charges £2,725 for a 3m x 4.5m
Victorian model.
If you’d rather have a more comprehensive service, several
companies offer fully fitted prices that cover base construction,
dwarf wall building and complete installation. Again, prices
vary dramatically – for a Victorian 3m x 4m, expect
to pay anything from £7,000 upwards.
A fully bespoke service obviously costs more. Special FX Double
Glazing offers a complete service that includes construction,
installation, lighting, heating, floor tiling, internal window
sills and electrical supply. It estimates the cost of a fully
inclusive 3m x 4m uPVC Victorian-style conservatory would
be around £12,000, and that the work would take around
six weeks to complete. |
