Conservatory advice / questions

[ALTEA]

We are thinking of putting a conservatory up and i would like to know some information. The double glazing chap that fitted our windows has given me a ball part figure of around £10000 for an edwardian 9ft X 9ft with dwarf wall. This seems alot too me even though i know i could knock him down a bit. So my question is this,

If I was to source a conservatory from somewhere like screw fix (as they seem to offer a 9ft X 9ft for around £2800);

How much should I expect to pay for a builder to come around and lay the foundations ie the floor, dwarf walls, rendering and plastering of the walls and maybe a socket or two?

is there much to putting the conservatory and roof up once the builder has done the above?

can anyone recomend a conservatory supplier such as screw fix?

What would be a fair price for a builder to do the lot?

Any other advice for such a project?

 

[Static]

Cheaper conservatories are harder to put up so chances are youll spend almost as much on the build cost as you would buying a good quality one.

In the end get 3/4 builders round to give broken down quotes for what you want.

 

[Richard C]

They can also be colder, something to bear in mind with the current price of energy! Conservatories under 30sq/m don’t yet come under BC so not all manufacturers/installers follow the same standards that apply to the property. Be careful you get 70mm frames & glass units with a 20mm air gap; my conservatory also has K glass with Argon filled units & a 40mm polycarbonate roof instead of the usual 20-30mm. Make sure the builder also puts in a decent footing & that the foundation slab has some insulation in the floor (Celotex is best) & cavity bats in the dwarf wall. Although the building part will be exempt, the electrics will have to comply with BC – in my case it resulted in the fuse panel being condemned & having to fit a new C/U before I could power it up; the builder paid the bulk of the cost as he had dropped off & I just paid for the hardware!

As a guide, I paid £15k for my 5.5m x 4.6m Edwardian conservatory last year to the above spec, with quality Rahae glass units, electrics, lighting, plastering, ceramic tiling, under floor electric heating & a 10 year independent warranty - conservatories are not covered by FENSA! I steered well clear of the big DG/Conservatory companies (way too expensive), got 6 quotes from local builders & did some very hard bargaining as the job was part of much larger renovation contract. You generally get what you pay for but the price you’ve been quoted seems high for a conservatory of that size. I didn’t like the quality of the DIY units I looked at & putting them up is hard work if you’ve not done it before + you will not get a warranty!

 

[gullarm]

I'm still in the progess of finishing my conservatory off.

The specs are :-


Dark brown out side - white inside ( 3m by 3.3m Internal )
One 3/4 full wall - which backs onto the drive - with windows on top
The other 2 are dwarf walls.
4 small top openers
2 large window openers
Bricks are a perfect perfect match to the house ( same manufacturer )
Inside walls are thermalite blocks
All walls are fitted with 75mm kingspan insulation
Wet under floor heating with 100mm kingspan underneath.
4 double sockets
Outside lights on 3 sides of conservatory
Drive light powered from inside of conservatory
Out side 13A power socket - currently powering outside garden lights ( can power lawnmower/ stereo etc)
Foundations are deeper than is necessary as well



Jobs still to be done

The door to the house is being delivered tomorrow, and plan to cut thru to the living room this weekend.

Boarding out conservatory ( have started ) - and skimming

Floor tiling

Laying slabs around the side

Building new gate post




I was quoted 9K for a white conservatory, no underfloor heating, 2 sockets, 1 radiator, 2 window openers, No extras ( eg wall insulation, underfloor heating etc ), the builder would not say what colours the bricks would be???




I have spent just under 7K so far ( including things like skip hire/cement mixer hire/raw plugs??? ) - and the total cost will prob be £7200.

The actual conservatory itself was £4200 including replacing two windows in the house.



I could have saved a bit by buying cheaper bricks, not used thermalites, not bothered with UFH, the list goes on........problem is that it has taken me 6 months, but what the heck!

 

[Richard C]

The specs are :-


Dark brown out side - white inside ( 3m by 3.3m Internal )
One 3/4 full wall - which backs onto the drive - with windows on top
The other 2 are dwarf walls.
4 small top openers
2 large window openers
Bricks are a perfect perfect match to the house ( same manufacturer )
Inside walls are thermalite blocks
All walls are fitted with 75mm kingspan insulation
Wet under floor heating with 100mm kingspan underneath.
4 double sockets
Outside lights on 3 sides of conservatory
Drive light powered from inside of conservatory
Out side 13A power socket - currently powering outside garden lights ( can power lawnmower/ stereo etc)
Foundations are deeper than is necessary as well

No bad so far but you don’t list any specs. for the glass or the roof? These are probably the most important parts of the conservatory as far as keeping cool in the summer & warm in the winter!