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Advice on changing conservatory to tiled


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Hiya,

 

I'm looking at getting some advice, I'm in the process of buying a new house and would like to change the pvc roof on the conservatory to a tiled one with some velux windows put in. And the wall between the conservatory taken out making it one room and then install a kitchen diner.

 

I'm not very savy when it comes to building work! I've had a couple of builders come back to me so far, one of which says he can put a new roof on without building the existing conservatory down as he believes it should hold the weight. And has quoted 13k for this work to be completed (this doesn't include the cost of a new kitchen and installation). The other builder has advised he will need to pull the conservatory down and build it up from scatch and redig the footings etc. The quote has come as 50k-60k.

So I guess my question is, if the conservatory was built in 2013 will the footings be deep enough to hold the weight of a tiled roof without having to start all again and costing a small fortune? I've attached a photo of the inside of the conservatory and an outside view if that helps.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

Cheers

Conservatory 1.JPG

Outside view.JPG

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There does not appear to be much of a slope on your roof! The tiles will slope less than the roof by a few degrees. Personally I would not tile that roof, much too heavy fir the structure let alone footings. I would use steel roofing (in one piece), you can get it to look like tiles, then you can insulate etc below it.

https://www.cladco.co.uk/sheets/41-1000-tile-form-0-7-thick-mica-coated-roof-sheet

 

 

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I would personally not open up a room permanently to that conservatory. It's insulation levels will be appalling and it will lose heat like it's going out of fashion in winter, and overheat the house in the.

 

I would rebuild it with a properly designed structure, what most call these days an Orangery.

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It's near impossible to say if this is easily doable without more information..

 

What you propose would need building control approval because knocking through would involve removing a load bearing wall and inserting a RSJ/UB and probably for other reasons. 

 

Building control are likely to want evidence the foundations are adequate so you might consider digging a trial hole next to them to see how deep they are now. You might also consider asking a structural engineer to inspect the hole and comment on the ability of the conservatory frame to carry the weight and specify the beam needed above the new opening. His advice would go a long way to satisfying the Building Control officer that what you propose is structurally sound. 

 

To meet the building regs there are there are other things you might need to do because the conservatory amounts to a large window that reduces the overall insulation level of the living room. Many conservatories only meet the regs because the wall between is retained and the heating system is kept separate to the house (eg conservatory rad on separate timer or switch). How big would the new room be (floor area of living room and conservatory combined) and what would the total area of all the windows in that room be? Typically if the area of glass is less than 1/4 the floor area you are ok. If more than 1/4 you may need to do more complicated calculations. Depending on the figures you might even need to improve insulation elsewhere in the house to compensate. 

Edited by Temp
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13 minutes ago, joe90 said:

There does not appear to be much of a slope on your roof! The tiles will slope less than the roof by a few degrees. Personally I would not tile that roof, much too heavy fir the structure let alone footings. I would use steel roofing (in one piece), you can get it to look like tiles, then you can insulate etc below it.

https://www.cladco.co.uk/sheets/41-1000-tile-form-0-7-thick-mica-coated-roof-sheet

 

 

 

Probably planning to add a pitched roof?

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Thank you for your replies, and glad I asked the question as I've literally no idea in this field so good to get advice from the pro's.

 

And yes looking at a pitched roof.

 

I assume the builder would know to get building approval when installing an RSJ, but at least I now know. And I'd never thought about insulation following the work, thinking about I'm not sure if the conservatory has any rads in but will double check as I've not actually brought the house as of yet as it's all still going through. I've attached a copy of the floor plan so you get an idea of the size of the room in the end. As for the windows, we would like to keep the existing if possible

 

From the replies it's looking more likely that I would need to knock it down and start again. 

 

 

Floor plan.jpg

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1 hour ago, grich said:

Hiya,

 

I'm looking at getting some advice, I'm in the process of buying a new house and would like to change the pvc roof on the conservatory to a tiled one with some velux windows put in. And the wall between the conservatory taken out making it one room and then install a kitchen diner.

 

I'm not very savy when it comes to building work! I've had a couple of builders come back to me so far, one of which says he can put a new roof on without building the existing conservatory down as he believes it should hold the weight. And has quoted 13k for this work to be completed (this doesn't include the cost of a new kitchen and installation). The other builder has advised he will need to pull the conservatory down and build it up from scatch and redig the footings etc. The quote has come as 50k-60k.

So I guess my question is, if the conservatory was built in 2013 will the footings be deep enough to hold the weight of a tiled roof without having to start all again and costing a small fortune? I've attached a photo of the inside of the conservatory and an outside view if that helps.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

Cheers

Conservatory 1.JPG

Outside view.JPG

That roof would not take it, don't do it. If you look at what holds these things up all it is is uPVC windows supporting more uPVC windows! They only just keep themselves up.

 

If you want to make that into somewhat more of a "proper" building for a lower cost then I'd deconstruct the roof, and get structure in across the front to support a roof, you would need to go higher up the house to get a suitable pitch too.

 

Although, I did draw up the plans to do that myself I ended up demolishing ours and doing a rear of house extension/side abutment as I decided it was actually easier. 

 

If I was in the office I'd have our structural engineer eyeball it but alas we are all at home, but I can see his eyebrows now - those are all the indicator I need as to the suitability of something! 

 

 

 

 

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That 50-60k quote is doolally, unless you are in Knightsbridge.

 

The conservatory is about 15sqm.

 

A real extension of that size should be 25k-35k (ie £1650-£2100 per sqm) give or take. And that is not being especially mean.

 

Will come back with a few more comments after I have had my House Arrest breakfast ?.

 

Ferdinand

 

In the meantime, singing in the institution.

 

 

Edited by Ferdinand
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1 minute ago, Ferdinand said:

That 50-60k quote is doolally, unless you are in Knightsbridge.

 

The conservatory is about 15sqm.

 

A real extension of that size should be 25k-35k (ie £1650-£2100 per sqm) give or take. And that is not being especially mean.

 

Will come back with a few more comments after I have had my House Arrrest breakfast ?.

 

Ferdinand

 

I actually had another quote since posting this... he quoted me 60-80k and not including the kitchen ?

 

And I appreciate that, I don't want to run the risk of it falling down if I just changed the roof but if it's roughly between 25-30k for a proper job then we would have to look at that.

 

Cheers 

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Just an update as I've just had a call from the estate agent after they've spoke to the current owner of the house.. apparently the conservatory is built upon a steel frame? And not dug in... now this doens't make much sense to me. But does this make things more complicated? 

 

Thanks

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Just now, grich said:

Just an update as I've just had a call from the estate agent after they've spoke to the current owner of the house.. apparently the conservatory is built upon a steel frame? And not dug in... now this doesn't make much sense to me. But does this make things more complicated? 

 

Thanks

That means it is basically just a sort of garden building bolted to the side of your house - I suspect the best option is to get rid of it and start again. 

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1 hour ago, grich said:

Just an update as I've just had a call from the estate agent after they've spoke to the current owner of the house.. apparently the conservatory is built upon a steel frame? And not dug in... now this doens't make much sense to me. But does this make things more complicated? 

 

Thanks

 

I note that the estate agent has also included the leanto in the "floor area" of the house.

 

The plan above claims that it is a 1353sqft house. If you add it up it is actually 1200 sqft plus the 150 sqft leanto.

 

Ferdinand

 

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9 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

I note that the estate agent has also included the leanto in the "floor area" of the house.

 

The plan above claims that it is a 1353sqft house. If you add it up it is actually 1200 sqft plus the 150 sqft leanto.

 

Ferdinand

 

Ah ok is it unsual that they would inlude this too?

 

Would you advise to pull it all down and start again with it being a steel base? 

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18 minutes ago, grich said:

Ah ok is it unsual that they would inlude this too?

 

Would you advise to pull it all down and start again with it being a steel base? 

 

It may be a flag that the price is inflated (or not).

 

In any area there is a per sqm range of prices for each type and quality of house, which are usually based on the real parts of the house, and is one way EAs compare things. Compare with the selling prices of identical houses (allow for condition and selling date) as a check if you are doing well or less well.

 

Pretending that a not-very-solid conservatory is real habitable space makes the house seem bigger.

 

Not necessarily a deal-breaker or maker, but useful to know.

 

On the conservatory, I would certainly start again ... and take a very careful look at a real extension instead, especially if it gets much sun - in a conservatory you will either be a roast potato in summer / ice cube in winter or have very significant heating / cooling bills or only use it seriously in the spting and autumn.

 

If you had to replace the roof, glazing and an oversailing awning would be one way.

 

My take on conservatories is: 1 - Never let them get the sun, 2 - Get an inexpensive one or do an extension instead, 3 - Consider a secondhand one done professionally, which are all over Ebay, 4 - Divide it off by external quality doors from the house.

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited by Ferdinand
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49 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

My take on conservatories is: 1 - Never let them get the sun, 2 - Get an inexpensive one


I have to disagree, my 30 sq m conservatory faces due south, we have solar glass in the roof, large doors and windows to ventilate, double glazed bi folds into the kitchen and lounge, no heating in it but during the shoulder months it really adds heat into the house. We were told we would “cook” in the summer but no (you go to Spain fir these temps, except this year ?). We can keep the bi folds shut if it gets too hot but that’s not happened yet. Mine is hand made in Oak and cost £30k and worth every penny (IMO).

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3 hours ago, grich said:

Just an update as I've just had a call from the estate agent after they've spoke to the current owner of the house.. apparently the conservatory is built upon a steel frame? And not dug in... now this doens't make much sense to me. But does this make things more complicated? 

 

Thanks


Sounds like it was built using something like Durabase or Conservabase so that will not take the loads of a 2 tonne tiled roof. 

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We were in a similar position 5 years ago. Got rid of the conservatory and put in a full width songle story extension (5.5x3.8m) for about £20k. I wouldn't even consider repurposing the conservatory.

 

I would definitely hold off making any decisions right now, it might be worth saving for a year or two and doing a proper, full width, full height extension. 

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