Can anyone explain to me why conservatories are so expensive?

[YodhrinForge]

What I want to add to my plans isn't actually a conservatory per se, more of a glass porch, but the prices I've seen both by doing research online and in a couple of cases from local companies are, to my eye, lunacy. Assuming an aluminium frame, triple glazing, and the groundworks already being done the small lean-to design I have(which isn't even a full lean-to, it's a pitched roof 1.6mx3m and a 2.5m front elevation, plus a triangle on one side of the pitch - it slots between two existing extensions to the building) I'm getting back numbers in the 9-14 grand range. For something that - even buying stuff at pleb non-tradie prices and building a frame from scratch - can't have more than 5 grand's worth of materials involved, and that's using the worst pricing I could find, I could get it down to 3.5 if I went dealhunting and compromised here & there. It's a job that would take two or three days, max, for two guys(you'd need four guys for about an hour to do one heavy lift). Are they paying their lads like FTSE100 CEOs? Are the frames alloyed with gold? I get that you pay a premium to have professionals do a job, but almost doubling the cost of labour & materials seems like simple banditry.

[Gus Potter]

I undestand you frustration.

 

But this can be tricky work. The flashing details and how you marry that into the existing can be complex and very time consuming = cost. 

 

The you have the drainage.. do the levels work ok to make the roof work.

 

The base can be easy or hard. If you have a vented solum to the existing house then you need to maintain that for example. 

 

10 minutes ago, YodhrinForge said:

It's a job that would take two or three days, max

It's probably not if you want a durable job executed by skilled trades persons. 

 

All companies need to make a profit, if they are turning over more than 90k then they should be vat registered so 20% goes on the labour plus profit margin as well as the materials. Most companies allow for a bit of contingency in the pricing. Very roughly if doing a very fag packet analysis of a price you have been given, say 14k then to strip out the vat, profit, contingency their in house cost will be roughly 40% less. So 14000.00 / 1.4 = £10000.00. 

 

Taking your cheapest material price of 3.5 k leaves 6.5k for labour but you still have all the flashings, mastic, fixings and so on. You might have to strip out some of the existing to make the weathering details and then reinstate. Once you put all that together then you might conclude that the lads are not on a CEO salary. If they are sub contractors / self employed then they also have to make their own pension provision.