Change it for a solid roof with a couple of big velux windows.
Plenty of light will still get in and the glass will be double glazed, the roof will be insulated so heat will be more consistent. You can open them up in summer and they are easily cleaned from inside.
https://preview.redd.it/9r2de65ujnyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7dc865885eb9d7ce703225eb528a5529a52a587
We did this about 2 years ago and it has been great. It still gets cold when we had the very bitter spells 2 winters ago, but we removed the windows and doors between the kitchen and conservatory. But it's usable all year round now.
£12k for roof, 2x windows, raising the conservatory floor, tiling kitchen and conservatory, and the oak for the beam and sill.
Outside pic here too so you can see the roof.
https://preview.redd.it/mvszoo3osnyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a2f073a04fa2793cea9327c3c943ee1921ec519
price is pointless now as labour costs have like doubled in some places and materials are even more expensive. I would'nt be surprised if that same thing would cost £20k now
I had quotes for a 4x5m replacement roof including the frame ranging from 7k to 22k.
We have glass currently.
There was a mix of the known frame products quoted for too.
What sort of price have you been quoted? I ask because I’m just about to inherit a conservatory with glass roof that needs full replacement. The conservatory that comes with the house looks to be a similar size to yours
I'm thinking outside the box. There are no leaks from what I can see, you have not said there are any leaks so.
Instead of replacing it, double it. I'm not sure if it is possible to do what I'm thinking of. Put a new layer of Polycarbonate over the present. It would have to be sealed correctly, putting thin packing between the present in places to create an air gap.
I did this on my static caravan, the difference in heat & cold was great, before in winter it was like an ice box, summer, talk about an oven, no need for the grill. I did not drill anything, just adhesive & thin insulation. Sealed all the edges very well. I was at the end of an air field & the wind took everything else all over the place, the panels stayed in place even after one of the big storms, wind was direct off the air field. Was crapping myself. The static was moving all over the place even though 12 support points underneath.
Bear in mind that if you're in Scotland, replacing translucent for a solid roof needs a building warrant. A lot of installers seem to skirt around this and it creates all sorts of problems if you sell the property if it's not been done with the right paperwork.
Try eurocell, they have a system called equinox, they will come and measure it for you, and if you are somewhat handy, the old roof can be removed and the new one watertight within 48 hours
TLDR: Been advised to replace this eventually as it's 20 years old and the quotes are huge
Moved into the house last year and has a lovely 8x3m conservatory at the rear. There are no issues with it structurally, just it gets very hot Summer, very (very) cold in winter and extremely loud when our storm friends come to visit.
A lot of people who have come said that the UVPC frames won't support the weight of glass, which is likely why the quotes are so high.
Other half is not happy with anything that loses the light - so roofing or cladding is a no go.
I'm fairly handy, but this is likely out of my depth and not sure if I'm being ripped off by the quotes and advice.
They’re not wrong - glass is several times heavier than polycarbonate, and the likelihood is you just have plastic frames with no reinforcement whatsoever. It’ll be a complete replacement.
this is what I came here to say - you're getting quoted for a tear-down and replacement, and if you want proper glazing that's almost certainly what you need to support it.
Like for like will be much cheaper/easier, but depends if you can/want to put up with the thermal properties of it.
We have an old, leaky conservatory and were quoted £30k (8 years ago!) to replace the roof. We’ve decided to see how long it lasts and eventually replace it with an extension, which will last much longer and be able to be used all year round.
8 years later the conservatory is not in a noticeably worse condition, so waiting it out (whilst we wait for the most financially optimal time for us to extend the house) is working well.
Is it L shaped? (hard to see from photo)
I replaced mine with a "real roof" (not sure what roof it but insulatiopn and vbendy metal (no lead these days I bet but I dunno what!) but changed the downslope on the longer part to a gable end with glass (they tried to talk me out of it!).
Is great and still light. Think it cost near £17K just a couple of yearts ago.
Does make the roof higher though so there needs to be space.
The insulation and roof means no more maga rain noise (will be worse with glass) and noi more, your house is 38 degrees in the summer and your heating needs to be set very high in the winter (ok you can close the doors I guess).
Mine included a lot of plastering as well though (yes it's fully plastered), and lighting and covering up the right side windows above the double glazing (pointless in the wrong direfction for light in and was a beneficial for guttering changes needed bny gable end, yes cheaper to just put cladding over than change the unit).
So ion conmnclusion. Avoiud glass it will still be noisy and horrible, find a better way to get light in (inclusing avoiding windows in the roof, neighbour has a proper extension with these, is bad compared to my conservatory with a "real" roof.
Nope. Straight against the wall.
This is pretty much the shape from one of the quotes.
https://imgur.com/KnoFrJK
Really helpful to hear though, thanks!
We are interested in doing something very similar to you. Did you just get a regilar builder in to do the work or was it some kind of conservatory conversion specialist?
In January, I had some insulation retrofitted to my existing conservatory roof, and it had a much bigger impact on heat loss from that conservatory than I expected!
The company I used was this one:
https://conservandsave.co.uk/
And it cost just under £4k in total. Still expensive, but better than replacing the whole thing!
I also have this..... but I'm not convinced it does all that much. Maybe i was hoping for more drastic results, but my conservatory still hits 30+ degrees in the summer
I haven't seen what it's like for summer yet, but I found it really took the bite out of the winter temperatures. I guess it helped that I went into it slightly skeptical 😅 I'll keep my fingers crossed that it takes the edge off the summer temps!
Don't go with glass, mate has a glass roof and is trying to replace it because it's too hot in summer and too cold in winter.
You'll just be spending a load of money to have exactly the same problem you have now.
I've had mine internally cladded, it's not my preferred choice visually at all but the cost was a fraction in comparison to others. We're actually able to sit in it comfortably in summer, winter is still cold but I plan to put a radiator in there this year. It's still a very light room and for less than £2k it was a no brainer for us. If you were handy you could do it yourself, the cost to replace with a solid roof or glass is just sooo much for a room you sit in for collectively a few hours a week.
Polycarbonate is expensive, but this must be one of the easiest jobs going. Take the old sheet out, draw round it and jigsaw out. Blow shit out with compressor, tape edges up and refit. I really can't see that being more than two days work. We used to cut the sheets fresh and fit in half a day when I fitted these things.
At this point in the UK it’s cheaper to do a City & Guilds night course on the job you need doing and buy a van with all the kit to do the job yourself. Tradies are the new investment bankers it seems with hourly rates >£100.
I had a similar gripe with mechanics. Needed some work done on my wheel area. Asked if it would cost much for new brake pads. They quoted a price. Which was the same price as if I was only having brakes done.
I questioned the need to charge full labour to take the wheel off, twice...he didn't get my point.
They do the same with a service. open the sump, it drains for a while. Then bugger off and work on other cars whilst it drains for a bit. Double charging.
In that case probably not worth replacing at this stage. Cheaper to just stick couple of electric radiators over winter when you need it. Connect them via WiFi plugs and you can let the room get toasty before you enter.
Yeah you don’t have many choices here. They’re right about the weight and without rebuilding it you don’t have many options. Even with fitting double glazed glass though it won’t help with the heat in the summer, it will help a little in the winter but not much tbh. This is just one of the downsides of having a conservatory, everyone else is in the same boat.
I paid 14k north of England for a metal roof with 175mm of insulation (pir) and two roof windows, room is near 28m2. My south facing room went from 50c with polycarb to 26 tops. Some things I wish I did was get a ceiling fan installed and look at ir heating. The roof frame is wood however I was quoted 19k for a steel one.
These make the tiles, speak to them and they can recommend a few folk in your area. https://www.metrotile.co.uk/
Good luck
Edit: this was in 2022
Yes, the pvc roof itself isn't strong enough, there are a few YouTube videos kicking around if you wanted to insulate your existing one. But tbh I'd not risk it. My room is a simple rectangle so pitched roof.
Why are you changing to glass? It won’t retain heat any more than multiwall polycarbonate, and may well be hotter in the summer due to greater transmission of solar radiation.
I had my conservatory roof replaced with an ultraframe insulated roof with glass window inserts by a local window company in my area about 8 years ago, that and new windows and French doors cost about £16K. It's made an amazing difference to the space. Quiet when it rains and more habitable through the year (cooler in summer and warmer in winter). Best of all despite having less windows in the roof it's lighter in the room as the old plastic panels were tinted.
https://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/
Last winter, we changed our poly conservatory roof for a glass one - amazing difference in the winter and so much quieter in the rain that we no longer need to choose doors to hear the TV on the offer side of the house.
Cleared the old one down to the bricks, full roof (frame and glass), windows, and new double doors cost is £12k. We got it done at the same time as all the windows round the rest of the house (1930s semi, so including 2 bay windows), which cost £8k. All in took about 2 weeks, would've been quicker but the snow slowed them down a couple of days!
Orchard Windows in Rainham, Kent. Can't recommend them highly enough if you're local.
Yeah, feels like the 'I don't really want the location or scale, but I'll do it for enough money' rate.
Seeing some other quotes in the comments and remembering my aunty getting her conservatory changed to a solid roof , I think 30k is very steep.
Like my aunty and uncle did well for themselves, but not 30k spare in a one-er well for themselves as far as I know .
Surely a week or two of labour, at 1k/day and materials can't exceed 15-20k?
The cost will come from the complexity of cutting and fitting.
Have a solid roof built and add velux windows. You'll be able to add insulation and better lighting.
I used Chatsworth Windows in Northallerton to replace my conservatory roof. It was £20k, and is 20ft by 44ft, double glazed, self cleaning glass in hipped roof style. A few years ago but should give you an idea - never leaked so they did a good job.
How does that compare to a complete new conservatory? Double glazing itself is about £36 a square meter, or at least it was a couple of years ago. To give you an idea on materials cost.
8m is a very wide roof which may be contributing to the cost as most prefabricated systems would struggle to replicate the same style at that size, so are possibly having to look at redesigns of the roof.
You won’t be able to just switch out the poly for glass as the roof would fail under the increased weight and it’s not advisable to look at doing a cladover yourself for the same reason.
Most systems houses nowadays have authorised installer schemes - it’s worth getting in touch with them for contact details, and get three or four quotes. Bit depending on where you are, £30k doesn’t sound out of touch
Same boat. But live in NI so quotes alot cheaper. Fill insulated and replaced roof was 9600
Were going for insulation and cladding (so the glass part remains). It won't be as insulated id say but alor cheaper at about 3500
I don’t think that’s too bad to be honest, glass is expensive and the roof looks pretty wide. I wouldn’t recommend it all glass though. Recently went through a similar thing replacing a full conservatory, poly roof for a lightweight tile, all new windows and frames, large bi-fold doors and it wasn’t too far off the same as your quote for a fair bit more work and product.
We replaced ours with double-glazed glass in late 2022 for £7500. We rang up a local glass company “(town name) glass”. Our conservatory is a little small though, about 2.5m x 4m, Edwardian style.
We changed our polycarbonate roof for glass 6 or 7 year ago (5 X 5 meter conservatory, East London). Now consider it a waste of money (prices were 10-15k at the time) and wish we'd paid more and gone for a solid roof.
While it is quieter when it rains, there is negligible effect to keeping it cooler in the summer. It might let in less heat, but the slightly improved insulation means that heat stays inside and we can still hit high 40+ degrees inside in August with all the windows open. Heaven forbid you go away in the summer though and leave it closed though.....
It's probably slightly warmer in winter but still contributes 100s per year to our gas bill (we literally abandoned it for 2 months when the gas prices went totally bananas).
It's a great space for the kids and comfortable with the current weather, but I'll be cursing the lying sales people again in 3 months time!
Have you thought about insulating it from the inside by battening it, layer of insulation, battening and then Upvc cladding. Not sure if your roof will take the weight as it looks quite different to mine, but added some pics for context. I followed a couple of videos on YouTube, I’ve found it does generally hold heat better, you can actually warm the space up now and generally made the space more usable. It still looks the same from the outside. I’d say it cost me around £500
Before
https://preview.redd.it/b6k7v5gkeoyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25b432207885e31f5dd0c9f44c91f95af824098c
Ever thought about getting some blinds to help with the temperature? If you get a cellular/honeycomb fabric they do a great job of keeping heat out in summer and trapping it inside during summer.
You can get ones which clip into the spars and can be made into the shaped sections also, a conservatory like that would probably be <2k
https://preview.redd.it/a1rd2uyqkoyc1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3ffc8aeda6878b59236982d6edde767c9c05918
Looking at the picture as you said the upvc frames would not support glass so my guess it's a complete replacement for that cost even so seems a bit high in cost but then I don't have all the sizes and what they are replacing with ei .. upvc with structural support or aluminium plus what glass.
If you do get it replaced with glass look in to coatings like activ-blue or clean which will keep the heat down in summer
A single glass pane of the strength required, in the size of the long one is going to be expensive on its, that's before transportation and installation. Plus will the frame take the weight or are they including some form of strengthening? I'd seriously think about changing the whole thing.
Unfortunately that sounds about right... One way of looking at it is basically you're buying a new conservatory.. just without the brick plinth at the bottom. If you have that sort of money to spend, tear it down and put a proper, similar sized extension. Better insulation no overheating. Keeping it similar sized helps with any planning issues - check first if applicable in your area
Annoyingly we're in a similar position, though we have glass and it still cooks in the summer and freezing in winter. We have a short period in spring and autumn we can actually use the space. -- To put an insulated lightweight roof on ours, they'd also have to remove the frame because it's not strong enough = £32k... And then add insult to injury we had an estate agent come value the property and asked about our plans for the conservatory. Short answer was that we might never even see a return on it because of our area..
I've got a 30 year old 10m x 3m conservatory with poly roof and I have been putting off doing something with it for nearly a decade. It's basically a room for cats and crap. I was thinking of a SIPS build straight onto the dwarf walls which have a 800mm foundation. Has anyone gone that route and care to comment?
If the frame is fine and only use the space as a conservatory I’d look into replacing the polycarbonate with clear 8mm Perspex sheets and call it a day
Sounds horrifyingly expensive
Glass is heavy, I would just clean this and if needed replace with newer version of this which I would install
Change it for a solid roof with a couple of big velux windows. Plenty of light will still get in and the glass will be double glazed, the roof will be insulated so heat will be more consistent. You can open them up in summer and they are easily cleaned from inside.
I do like this option, but the quotes for this have still been huge due to the replacement of the frame
https://preview.redd.it/9r2de65ujnyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7dc865885eb9d7ce703225eb528a5529a52a587 We did this about 2 years ago and it has been great. It still gets cold when we had the very bitter spells 2 winters ago, but we removed the windows and doors between the kitchen and conservatory. But it's usable all year round now.
This looks great! Can I ask how much roughly it cost?
£12k for roof, 2x windows, raising the conservatory floor, tiling kitchen and conservatory, and the oak for the beam and sill. Outside pic here too so you can see the roof. https://preview.redd.it/mvszoo3osnyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a2f073a04fa2793cea9327c3c943ee1921ec519
Thanks thats really helpful.
price is pointless now as labour costs have like doubled in some places and materials are even more expensive. I would'nt be surprised if that same thing would cost £20k now
It looks so ordinary yet well done from the outside then inside it blows you away! Spectacular space
Thanks. Did you get a new frame/windows or was that from the old conservatory?
Frame and windows are from the old conservatory
My word, the outside looks standard, the inside looks epic
I had quotes for a 4x5m replacement roof including the frame ranging from 7k to 22k. We have glass currently. There was a mix of the known frame products quoted for too.
Cat tax paid in full
https://preview.redd.it/yn282qvbzqyc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d964b3e4f17ca52c92685be2476c4e7ab5d48c7 More cat tax.
His beautifulness
The roof looks a depressed face
Can’t unsee it now. 😂
Bloody hell, sort the fence. Joking aside, that's lovely. Really nice space
What sort of price have you been quoted? I ask because I’m just about to inherit a conservatory with glass roof that needs full replacement. The conservatory that comes with the house looks to be a similar size to yours
Keep getting quotes, someone will do it for 15-20k if you ask me. Especially if you do the remedial works inside
I'm thinking outside the box. There are no leaks from what I can see, you have not said there are any leaks so. Instead of replacing it, double it. I'm not sure if it is possible to do what I'm thinking of. Put a new layer of Polycarbonate over the present. It would have to be sealed correctly, putting thin packing between the present in places to create an air gap. I did this on my static caravan, the difference in heat & cold was great, before in winter it was like an ice box, summer, talk about an oven, no need for the grill. I did not drill anything, just adhesive & thin insulation. Sealed all the edges very well. I was at the end of an air field & the wind took everything else all over the place, the panels stayed in place even after one of the big storms, wind was direct off the air field. Was crapping myself. The static was moving all over the place even though 12 support points underneath.
Bear in mind that if you're in Scotland, replacing translucent for a solid roof needs a building warrant. A lot of installers seem to skirt around this and it creates all sorts of problems if you sell the property if it's not been done with the right paperwork.
Try eurocell, they have a system called equinox, they will come and measure it for you, and if you are somewhat handy, the old roof can be removed and the new one watertight within 48 hours
TLDR: Been advised to replace this eventually as it's 20 years old and the quotes are huge Moved into the house last year and has a lovely 8x3m conservatory at the rear. There are no issues with it structurally, just it gets very hot Summer, very (very) cold in winter and extremely loud when our storm friends come to visit. A lot of people who have come said that the UVPC frames won't support the weight of glass, which is likely why the quotes are so high. Other half is not happy with anything that loses the light - so roofing or cladding is a no go. I'm fairly handy, but this is likely out of my depth and not sure if I'm being ripped off by the quotes and advice.
They’re not wrong - glass is several times heavier than polycarbonate, and the likelihood is you just have plastic frames with no reinforcement whatsoever. It’ll be a complete replacement.
this is what I came here to say - you're getting quoted for a tear-down and replacement, and if you want proper glazing that's almost certainly what you need to support it. Like for like will be much cheaper/easier, but depends if you can/want to put up with the thermal properties of it.
We have an old, leaky conservatory and were quoted £30k (8 years ago!) to replace the roof. We’ve decided to see how long it lasts and eventually replace it with an extension, which will last much longer and be able to be used all year round. 8 years later the conservatory is not in a noticeably worse condition, so waiting it out (whilst we wait for the most financially optimal time for us to extend the house) is working well.
Is it L shaped? (hard to see from photo) I replaced mine with a "real roof" (not sure what roof it but insulatiopn and vbendy metal (no lead these days I bet but I dunno what!) but changed the downslope on the longer part to a gable end with glass (they tried to talk me out of it!). Is great and still light. Think it cost near £17K just a couple of yearts ago. Does make the roof higher though so there needs to be space. The insulation and roof means no more maga rain noise (will be worse with glass) and noi more, your house is 38 degrees in the summer and your heating needs to be set very high in the winter (ok you can close the doors I guess). Mine included a lot of plastering as well though (yes it's fully plastered), and lighting and covering up the right side windows above the double glazing (pointless in the wrong direfction for light in and was a beneficial for guttering changes needed bny gable end, yes cheaper to just put cladding over than change the unit). So ion conmnclusion. Avoiud glass it will still be noisy and horrible, find a better way to get light in (inclusing avoiding windows in the roof, neighbour has a proper extension with these, is bad compared to my conservatory with a "real" roof.
Nope. Straight against the wall. This is pretty much the shape from one of the quotes. https://imgur.com/KnoFrJK Really helpful to hear though, thanks!
We are interested in doing something very similar to you. Did you just get a regilar builder in to do the work or was it some kind of conservatory conversion specialist?
In January, I had some insulation retrofitted to my existing conservatory roof, and it had a much bigger impact on heat loss from that conservatory than I expected! The company I used was this one: https://conservandsave.co.uk/ And it cost just under £4k in total. Still expensive, but better than replacing the whole thing!
Thanks for this. Might get in contact with them and see!
I also have this..... but I'm not convinced it does all that much. Maybe i was hoping for more drastic results, but my conservatory still hits 30+ degrees in the summer
I haven't seen what it's like for summer yet, but I found it really took the bite out of the winter temperatures. I guess it helped that I went into it slightly skeptical 😅 I'll keep my fingers crossed that it takes the edge off the summer temps!
Ours was 25 today, highest it got was 47 a couple of summers ago. I'd be happy with it only hitting 30 in the summer.
I wish I had a cold and noisy conservatory :D I love sitting in them when it is stormy! Makes you feel very connected to nature!
You're already losing a lot of light there. Maybe it's just how the photo was taken, but it's the first conservatory I've seen that feels gloomy.
It looks way worse than it is. It’s actually a really light room!
You must own the same potato camera phone as me! 😉
Don't go with glass, mate has a glass roof and is trying to replace it because it's too hot in summer and too cold in winter. You'll just be spending a load of money to have exactly the same problem you have now.
I've had mine internally cladded, it's not my preferred choice visually at all but the cost was a fraction in comparison to others. We're actually able to sit in it comfortably in summer, winter is still cold but I plan to put a radiator in there this year. It's still a very light room and for less than £2k it was a no brainer for us. If you were handy you could do it yourself, the cost to replace with a solid roof or glass is just sooo much for a room you sit in for collectively a few hours a week.
Polycarbonate is expensive, but this must be one of the easiest jobs going. Take the old sheet out, draw round it and jigsaw out. Blow shit out with compressor, tape edges up and refit. I really can't see that being more than two days work. We used to cut the sheets fresh and fit in half a day when I fitted these things.
At this point in the UK it’s cheaper to do a City & Guilds night course on the job you need doing and buy a van with all the kit to do the job yourself. Tradies are the new investment bankers it seems with hourly rates >£100.
Reminded me of that quote in “the thin blue line”:
I had a similar gripe with mechanics. Needed some work done on my wheel area. Asked if it would cost much for new brake pads. They quoted a price. Which was the same price as if I was only having brakes done. I questioned the need to charge full labour to take the wheel off, twice...he didn't get my point. They do the same with a service. open the sump, it drains for a while. Then bugger off and work on other cars whilst it drains for a bit. Double charging.
Does it leak? No point changing it just based on age. At most you probably just need new seals.
Amen. My family have maintained theres with new lead, Polly and seals. Still good as new.
No leaks. I think it’s got years left to be honest, and any issues could probably fix myself
In that case probably not worth replacing at this stage. Cheaper to just stick couple of electric radiators over winter when you need it. Connect them via WiFi plugs and you can let the room get toasty before you enter.
Yeah you don’t have many choices here. They’re right about the weight and without rebuilding it you don’t have many options. Even with fitting double glazed glass though it won’t help with the heat in the summer, it will help a little in the winter but not much tbh. This is just one of the downsides of having a conservatory, everyone else is in the same boat.
I paid 14k north of England for a metal roof with 175mm of insulation (pir) and two roof windows, room is near 28m2. My south facing room went from 50c with polycarb to 26 tops. Some things I wish I did was get a ceiling fan installed and look at ir heating. The roof frame is wood however I was quoted 19k for a steel one. These make the tiles, speak to them and they can recommend a few folk in your area. https://www.metrotile.co.uk/ Good luck Edit: this was in 2022
Seems like a good option! Did you need a new frame?
Yes, the pvc roof itself isn't strong enough, there are a few YouTube videos kicking around if you wanted to insulate your existing one. But tbh I'd not risk it. My room is a simple rectangle so pitched roof.
For that much, you could get a whole new conservatory.
New conservatory would be cheaper.
Why are you changing to glass? It won’t retain heat any more than multiwall polycarbonate, and may well be hotter in the summer due to greater transmission of solar radiation.
I had my conservatory roof replaced with an ultraframe insulated roof with glass window inserts by a local window company in my area about 8 years ago, that and new windows and French doors cost about £16K. It's made an amazing difference to the space. Quiet when it rains and more habitable through the year (cooler in summer and warmer in winter). Best of all despite having less windows in the roof it's lighter in the room as the old plastic panels were tinted. https://www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/
Last winter, we changed our poly conservatory roof for a glass one - amazing difference in the winter and so much quieter in the rain that we no longer need to choose doors to hear the TV on the offer side of the house. Cleared the old one down to the bricks, full roof (frame and glass), windows, and new double doors cost is £12k. We got it done at the same time as all the windows round the rest of the house (1930s semi, so including 2 bay windows), which cost £8k. All in took about 2 weeks, would've been quicker but the snow slowed them down a couple of days! Orchard Windows in Rainham, Kent. Can't recommend them highly enough if you're local.
Why do you think the original buyers didn't specify double glazing? Not worth doing. Get a solid, insulated roof fitted.
Someone doesn’t want to change your roof, mate.
Yeah, feels like the 'I don't really want the location or scale, but I'll do it for enough money' rate. Seeing some other quotes in the comments and remembering my aunty getting her conservatory changed to a solid roof , I think 30k is very steep. Like my aunty and uncle did well for themselves, but not 30k spare in a one-er well for themselves as far as I know . Surely a week or two of labour, at 1k/day and materials can't exceed 15-20k?
The cost will come from the complexity of cutting and fitting. Have a solid roof built and add velux windows. You'll be able to add insulation and better lighting.
Any idea on the cost of something like that?
I used Chatsworth Windows in Northallerton to replace my conservatory roof. It was £20k, and is 20ft by 44ft, double glazed, self cleaning glass in hipped roof style. A few years ago but should give you an idea - never leaked so they did a good job.
How does that compare to a complete new conservatory? Double glazing itself is about £36 a square meter, or at least it was a couple of years ago. To give you an idea on materials cost.
Probably cost the same to build an orangary there as it will to replace the roof.
8m is a very wide roof which may be contributing to the cost as most prefabricated systems would struggle to replicate the same style at that size, so are possibly having to look at redesigns of the roof. You won’t be able to just switch out the poly for glass as the roof would fail under the increased weight and it’s not advisable to look at doing a cladover yourself for the same reason. Most systems houses nowadays have authorised installer schemes - it’s worth getting in touch with them for contact details, and get three or four quotes. Bit depending on where you are, £30k doesn’t sound out of touch
Same boat. But live in NI so quotes alot cheaper. Fill insulated and replaced roof was 9600 Were going for insulation and cladding (so the glass part remains). It won't be as insulated id say but alor cheaper at about 3500
If you don’t have, it might be a good idea to look at solar if they are putting up scaffolding. A lot of cost goes there.
Could you fit a suspended ceiling with insulation? You would still get plenty of light as it's glass all round or have a few spotlights fitted
I don’t think that’s too bad to be honest, glass is expensive and the roof looks pretty wide. I wouldn’t recommend it all glass though. Recently went through a similar thing replacing a full conservatory, poly roof for a lightweight tile, all new windows and frames, large bi-fold doors and it wasn’t too far off the same as your quote for a fair bit more work and product.
We replaced ours with double-glazed glass in late 2022 for £7500. We rang up a local glass company “(town name) glass”. Our conservatory is a little small though, about 2.5m x 4m, Edwardian style.
We changed our polycarbonate roof for glass 6 or 7 year ago (5 X 5 meter conservatory, East London). Now consider it a waste of money (prices were 10-15k at the time) and wish we'd paid more and gone for a solid roof. While it is quieter when it rains, there is negligible effect to keeping it cooler in the summer. It might let in less heat, but the slightly improved insulation means that heat stays inside and we can still hit high 40+ degrees inside in August with all the windows open. Heaven forbid you go away in the summer though and leave it closed though..... It's probably slightly warmer in winter but still contributes 100s per year to our gas bill (we literally abandoned it for 2 months when the gas prices went totally bananas). It's a great space for the kids and comfortable with the current weather, but I'll be cursing the lying sales people again in 3 months time!
Have you thought about insulating it from the inside by battening it, layer of insulation, battening and then Upvc cladding. Not sure if your roof will take the weight as it looks quite different to mine, but added some pics for context. I followed a couple of videos on YouTube, I’ve found it does generally hold heat better, you can actually warm the space up now and generally made the space more usable. It still looks the same from the outside. I’d say it cost me around £500 Before https://preview.redd.it/b6k7v5gkeoyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25b432207885e31f5dd0c9f44c91f95af824098c
After: https://preview.redd.it/0jvyvt32goyc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e8ea3f4755dbae27b8c1bbe4060a4d5b304a2ad Useful YouTube links: [https://youtu.be/vyEpSPIa1t0?si=yOAKgzT3RsK7cekm](https://youtu.be/vyEpSPIa1t0?si=yOAKgzT3RsK7cekm) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki2fF6-Rc0M&ab\_channel=VKSBIRMINGHAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki2fF6-Rc0M&ab_channel=VKSBIRMINGHAM)
Ever thought about getting some blinds to help with the temperature? If you get a cellular/honeycomb fabric they do a great job of keeping heat out in summer and trapping it inside during summer. You can get ones which clip into the spars and can be made into the shaped sections also, a conservatory like that would probably be <2k https://preview.redd.it/a1rd2uyqkoyc1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3ffc8aeda6878b59236982d6edde767c9c05918
Very nice
A potential saving could be made if you change the design of the roof for a more basic design
Looking at the picture as you said the upvc frames would not support glass so my guess it's a complete replacement for that cost even so seems a bit high in cost but then I don't have all the sizes and what they are replacing with ei .. upvc with structural support or aluminium plus what glass. If you do get it replaced with glass look in to coatings like activ-blue or clean which will keep the heat down in summer
Goggle cosy panels
Have it removed, cleaned and refitted.
I’ll do it with Geoff for 28 bag a sand and we’ll tidy up???
30k??? Not a chance, you're looking at most half of that from my work That polycarbonate is pretty pricey though , maybe better getting a solid roof
Everything has to change to support the glass panels, still sound a bit vertical id shop around.
Just no. You can do that yourself. Fkn chancers.
A single glass pane of the strength required, in the size of the long one is going to be expensive on its, that's before transportation and installation. Plus will the frame take the weight or are they including some form of strengthening? I'd seriously think about changing the whole thing.
Unfortunately that sounds about right... One way of looking at it is basically you're buying a new conservatory.. just without the brick plinth at the bottom. If you have that sort of money to spend, tear it down and put a proper, similar sized extension. Better insulation no overheating. Keeping it similar sized helps with any planning issues - check first if applicable in your area Annoyingly we're in a similar position, though we have glass and it still cooks in the summer and freezing in winter. We have a short period in spring and autumn we can actually use the space. -- To put an insulated lightweight roof on ours, they'd also have to remove the frame because it's not strong enough = £32k... And then add insult to injury we had an estate agent come value the property and asked about our plans for the conservatory. Short answer was that we might never even see a return on it because of our area..
I will do it for 25k
UK? Surprised it’s not £1,000,000
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Not that I’ve heard from any of the people so far. But in my head it makes sense
I've got a 30 year old 10m x 3m conservatory with poly roof and I have been putting off doing something with it for nearly a decade. It's basically a room for cats and crap. I was thinking of a SIPS build straight onto the dwarf walls which have a 800mm foundation. Has anyone gone that route and care to comment?
If the frame is fine and only use the space as a conservatory I’d look into replacing the polycarbonate with clear 8mm Perspex sheets and call it a day
Would the Perspex sheets help with the insulation? Better than polycarbonate?