conservatory questions

[danlightbulb]

hi everyone.

i am looking into building a conservatory on the back of my house.

at the moment, the conservatory position would mean that it interferes with the mains stop tap and a rainwater gulley which takes the downpipe from the roof. the guy we had round seemed quite dismissive when i asked him about the gulley and i didnt really get an adequate answer.

the guy weve had round has suggested a lean to type roof. i want to be able to use the conservatory as a proper room really, cos we need extra downstairs space. ive asked that the inside be properly plastered so its more like an internal room. i'm worried that this type of roof would lose too much heat and not provide a good enough weatherproof seal.

the third thing is that next to the consevatory is an existing flat roofed utility building. this would stay, so the conservatory needs to be butted up to this existing building somehow. picture below illustrates this.

Untitled

• danlightbulb
• 4 Feb 2010
• 2

the brick shed on the right will be demolished so the conservatory will be almost full width. this picture is a bit old now, the window on the right is now a patio door and the horrible flowers have been dug up!

would really appreciate any advice on what is the best way to proceed.

many thanks
dan

 

[stem]

Moving the drain and rainwater down pipe, would require some excavations, but it's not too major a project if you do it at the same time you're digging out for your conservatory base.

the guy weve had round has suggested a lean to type roof. i want to be able to use the conservatory as a proper room really, cos we need extra downstairs space. ive asked that the inside be properly plastered so its more like an internal room.

To be a conservatory it needs to have a minimum of (if I remember correctly) 50% of the external walls glazed, and 75% of the roof otherwise it's not classed as conservatory and will need a planning application and building regulations approval as an extension.

i'm worried that this type of roof would lose too much heat and not provide a good enough weatherproof seal.

A lean to roof is the simplest, and if any less likely to leak than other types, it also has less surface area than a apex roof for a given size conservatory.

As an example a lean to roof with a 25 degree slope on a 4x4 metre conservatory has 25m2 of roof glazing, including the sides of the roof slope.

The same size conservatory with a 2m high apex roof will have 30m2 of roof glazing.

The material of roof construction is the key factor. If you intend to use it a lot, any non glazed wall, and the floor should be constructed and insulated as if it were part of the dwelling.

 

[Richard C]

Don’t expect too much from a conservatory, they are about as heat efficient as a greenhouse & will be expensive to heat in winter. If you want year round use as a proper room, have an extension built instead. Looking at what you have there already, it may be better to loose the current utility & build a new full width extension across the back. A lot more expensive agreed but it will provide what you want & look a whole lot better than attempting to marry a pitched roof conservatory up to it; in fact you’d stand a better chance with an Edwardian which would also look better IMO.

For a cons. to be Building Regs exempt, you must retain an external grade door(s) between it & the rest of the property so the patio door would have to stay, open plan is a no, no. Some folks remove the door after it’s built & store for re-fitting when they need to sell up but you’re heating bill will go through the roof (literally).

Any heating system in a cons. must be capable of isolation & be independently controlled but that’s not really difficult to achieve.

Do you know if the gulley discharges into the foul drain system? You can retain them under a double sealed hatch but, frankly, who wants one of those inside & you would still have to re-route that waste pipe. I would remove it & reroute the under ground works to suit; if that’s possible depending on what you have.

The rainwater down pipe is not a problem as the surface water can be directed onto new guttering around the cons & off into a new soak away. Water authorities will not usually allow any new surface water drainage into the foul drain system even if that’s already what you have.

 

[JoeMar]

i agree with Richard. Get rid of the utility and build and full width x 3m extension if you can afford it.

IMO conservatories are is a waste of money. Too cold in winter and too hot in the summer - beside who wants to sit indoor when it's nice and hot outside?

my in-laws had a nice cons erected last summer. they used it for a few week and now it's full of junk.

 

[Nige F]

hi everyone.

i am looking into building a conservatory on the back of my house.

at the moment, the conservatory position would mean that it interferes with the mains stop tap and a rainwater gulley which takes the downpipe from the roof. the guy we had round seemed quite dismissive when i asked him about the gulley and i didnt really get an adequate answer.


would really appreciate any advice on what is the best way to proceed.

many thanks
dan

Also gulley takes the kitchen sink - does it still And you should have a cavity tray fitted right along the top of the new cons.or extension - like those poking out above the windows @ the moment. Unless you want to gamble on water coming in Though loads of people haven`t got them . IF the wall is real sheltered and Never gets the wind/rain , you can get away without.

 

[danlightbulb]

hi thanks for all replies.

i agree with the idea of a full width extension, however the current utility houses the kitchen sink, washing machine and i don't think we could do without it for the length of a build. Also i think the cost would be prohibitive. Weve been quoted about £6k for the cons, I know i shouldn't ask what an extension might cost on here but i'd guess it would probably be triple that as a ballpark.

i'm unsure on the exact route of the gulley. The sink waste pipe in the picture is redundant. The utility used to house a downstairs toilet so the foul drain from this runs somewhere under there. Will the whole lot have to be rerouted? And also the water mains stop tap?

cheers
Dan