I thought I'd come here and ask this question about conservatories as you guys seems to understand the strange compulsion competent DIYers have to do things themselves. Conservatory forums seem to refer happy DIYers to a dealer or tell them to find a fitter and not to be so daft as to attempt it. Very annoying when you love turning your hand to complex DIY and can do a good job.
Anyway, my question relates to whether or not 'units/modules' on a conservatory can be interchanged and the post is a little long as a result.
You see, hubbie and I have bought an ex-display conservatory with all fittings, blinds etc. To have a look at all the pictures of the conservatory (still up and awaiting dismantling) and the site it's going onto, I have uploaded the photos to my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14226746@N04/
These will give you a much better idea of what it looks like etc so I don't confuse everyone with my terrible descriptions. All the structural bits are under guarantee for 5 years as is the double glazing.
We intend to butt the conservatory up against the brick outbuilding in the photos using a brick pier and structural box gutter - basically treating the outbuilding like a bungalow. The question is whether we can swap the door side of the conservatory to look out onto our garden, rather than the fence.
Now here's the interesting and somewhat complex part. If we can't switch the modules, we have to find a way of losing 3 inches off the width (without touching the brickwork of course) as the box gutter takes us over by that amount and we wouldn't be fully able to open the conservatory door - it would smack into the concrete base of the fence.
The door side of the conservatory is 12ft 2 inches and the out facing side is 13ft 2 inches. The outbuilding overhang is exactly 12 inches, the minimum width box gutter we'd be happy to fit (given the amount of wet weather we get up here) is 6 inches (150mm) and the door opens fully by 25 inches. Overall this is 16ft 9 inches. The width of the site is 16ft 6 inches.
Yep you've guessed it, when we bought it we forgot to factor in the box gutter into our calculations.
The uPVC window frames come in units of two glass panels and the glass is very easy to take out. The door unit and small side window are separate. The problem will be if the end of the small side window unit has been manufactured to be attached to a wall and can never be clipped onto other modules or adapted.
We accept the fact we'll lose some of the sills and possibly covering pices and have to buy new to match up. Not a problem. And we have some drainage issues and the old range chimney to contend with (the column with the black square embedded in it.) Not a problem. And we need to ensure all the walls are plumb and we have about 2 inches to play with if not. Not a problem.
The problem hinges entirely on the connections between the modules.
Can any one advise or come up with an ingenious solution to this very irritating niggle. The last thing we want to do is bungy things together with mastic and face a flood in 12 months time. It needs to be solid and completely watertight
Anyway, my question relates to whether or not 'units/modules' on a conservatory can be interchanged and the post is a little long as a result.
You see, hubbie and I have bought an ex-display conservatory with all fittings, blinds etc. To have a look at all the pictures of the conservatory (still up and awaiting dismantling) and the site it's going onto, I have uploaded the photos to my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14226746@N04/
These will give you a much better idea of what it looks like etc so I don't confuse everyone with my terrible descriptions. All the structural bits are under guarantee for 5 years as is the double glazing.
We intend to butt the conservatory up against the brick outbuilding in the photos using a brick pier and structural box gutter - basically treating the outbuilding like a bungalow. The question is whether we can swap the door side of the conservatory to look out onto our garden, rather than the fence.
Now here's the interesting and somewhat complex part. If we can't switch the modules, we have to find a way of losing 3 inches off the width (without touching the brickwork of course) as the box gutter takes us over by that amount and we wouldn't be fully able to open the conservatory door - it would smack into the concrete base of the fence.
The door side of the conservatory is 12ft 2 inches and the out facing side is 13ft 2 inches. The outbuilding overhang is exactly 12 inches, the minimum width box gutter we'd be happy to fit (given the amount of wet weather we get up here) is 6 inches (150mm) and the door opens fully by 25 inches. Overall this is 16ft 9 inches. The width of the site is 16ft 6 inches.
Yep you've guessed it, when we bought it we forgot to factor in the box gutter into our calculations.
The uPVC window frames come in units of two glass panels and the glass is very easy to take out. The door unit and small side window are separate. The problem will be if the end of the small side window unit has been manufactured to be attached to a wall and can never be clipped onto other modules or adapted.
We accept the fact we'll lose some of the sills and possibly covering pices and have to buy new to match up. Not a problem. And we have some drainage issues and the old range chimney to contend with (the column with the black square embedded in it.) Not a problem. And we need to ensure all the walls are plumb and we have about 2 inches to play with if not. Not a problem.
The problem hinges entirely on the connections between the modules.
Can any one advise or come up with an ingenious solution to this very irritating niggle. The last thing we want to do is bungy things together with mastic and face a flood in 12 months time. It needs to be solid and completely watertight
