Hello everybody
I'm planning to replace a lean-to knackered conservatory with a new double glazed one. I'm going to try the self-build approach - it will either save me a load of money OR turn into a total clusterf**k!!!
The original one has been there for at least ten years and is a light weight aluminium/ greenhouse type thang. The curved sections on the roof are glazed with perspex and are completely perished (can you spot the gaffa tape?!) The door falls off EVERY time you open it and it looks rubbish!!
The whole thing is so fragile i haven't dared to get above to paint the house!
Last weekend i decided to remove the old one. It took a while to find somewhere to store all of the tat that had gathered in there over the years - (including 2 kayaks!) as i don't have a garage and it's only a single bedroom cottage i had to be ruthless!
Despite all the glasss panels being siliconed in place i was able to remove all the "upright" panels with out breaking a single one! However the roof panels were a bit harder. They had years of silicone and other sealants sticking them to the roof beams and i couldn't get through it with a stanley knife. In the end i went for taking all the walls away and letting the roof fall down approach!! this sounds dodgy but i soon discovered that the roof was made from toughened glass and none of it broke either!
All of the timber frame that it was fixed to was rotten so it came away quite easily, just leaving me with a few bits that need re-pointing and painting
I left some of the old render and flashing above the door to keep any rain away from the door. You can see from this photo how much painting is needed to match this part in with the rest of the terrace!
I plan to expose the red brick above the window too, the ones above the door had so many layers of paint on them that a few hours gentlly tapping the with a pointing hammer got it all off. The roof height of the new structure will be a few inches higher than the old on so you the red bricks should be fully in view
I will be extending the base slightly - it will come out to the top "step". The existing base is well built from six inch blocks on their side and a good concrete in-fill. (i saw the previous owner build this base so i'm confident of it's quality , i also saw him cover two granite steps going up to the door when he did it -what a waste!!)
I was a bit worried about planning permision for this as it's a very small plot (there is a rule about the % of your plot that you can build on)- when i bought this place i didnt buy it's garden so the only land it has is what you see - the back of the terrace is right on the edge of a road and the gardens are down over a wall to the right of the pictures. I decided to not risk doing this without permision, so went to see the local planning guy (caradon district council) and was eventually given a letter saying that "as it stands at this moment in time they see no problem with this proposal" or words to that effect!
I've done some hunting around and have found a company who have given me a good quote for the replacement :-
(i will probably turn these plans up the other way before i start using them!!)
They have been very helpful so far and i have seen good reviews of there products. Finger crossed now that they maintain this approach and that i have measured everything properly!! They have said that it will be ready in approx 4 weeks time. So i'm hoping for a few good weather weekends so i can get all the prep jobs done!
I've done a lot of searching through this site and couldn't find many posts about self build conservatories, so i thought i would do my own for anyone else who may be considering it!!
Hope you all "enjoy" reading this and i'll keep you updated
Cheers
D
I'm planning to replace a lean-to knackered conservatory with a new double glazed one. I'm going to try the self-build approach - it will either save me a load of money OR turn into a total clusterf**k!!!
The original one has been there for at least ten years and is a light weight aluminium/ greenhouse type thang. The curved sections on the roof are glazed with perspex and are completely perished (can you spot the gaffa tape?!) The door falls off EVERY time you open it and it looks rubbish!!
The whole thing is so fragile i haven't dared to get above to paint the house!
Last weekend i decided to remove the old one. It took a while to find somewhere to store all of the tat that had gathered in there over the years - (including 2 kayaks!) as i don't have a garage and it's only a single bedroom cottage i had to be ruthless!
Despite all the glasss panels being siliconed in place i was able to remove all the "upright" panels with out breaking a single one! However the roof panels were a bit harder. They had years of silicone and other sealants sticking them to the roof beams and i couldn't get through it with a stanley knife. In the end i went for taking all the walls away and letting the roof fall down approach!! this sounds dodgy but i soon discovered that the roof was made from toughened glass and none of it broke either!
All of the timber frame that it was fixed to was rotten so it came away quite easily, just leaving me with a few bits that need re-pointing and painting
I left some of the old render and flashing above the door to keep any rain away from the door. You can see from this photo how much painting is needed to match this part in with the rest of the terrace!
I plan to expose the red brick above the window too, the ones above the door had so many layers of paint on them that a few hours gentlly tapping the with a pointing hammer got it all off. The roof height of the new structure will be a few inches higher than the old on so you the red bricks should be fully in view
I will be extending the base slightly - it will come out to the top "step". The existing base is well built from six inch blocks on their side and a good concrete in-fill. (i saw the previous owner build this base so i'm confident of it's quality , i also saw him cover two granite steps going up to the door when he did it -what a waste!!)
I was a bit worried about planning permision for this as it's a very small plot (there is a rule about the % of your plot that you can build on)- when i bought this place i didnt buy it's garden so the only land it has is what you see - the back of the terrace is right on the edge of a road and the gardens are down over a wall to the right of the pictures. I decided to not risk doing this without permision, so went to see the local planning guy (caradon district council) and was eventually given a letter saying that "as it stands at this moment in time they see no problem with this proposal" or words to that effect!
I've done some hunting around and have found a company who have given me a good quote for the replacement :-
They have been very helpful so far and i have seen good reviews of there products. Finger crossed now that they maintain this approach and that i have measured everything properly!! They have said that it will be ready in approx 4 weeks time. So i'm hoping for a few good weather weekends so i can get all the prep jobs done!
I've done a lot of searching through this site and couldn't find many posts about self build conservatories, so i thought i would do my own for anyone else who may be considering it!!
Hope you all "enjoy" reading this and i'll keep you updated
Cheers
D