Lean-to (moved from General)

[Honeybea]

Hello, I have been asking on other forums for advice and not got one answer so far!
Someone please tell me: I'm looking to have some kind of lean to or similar joined on to the back of my house....I cannot afford a conservatory, I have been looking at the cheap second hand ones for sale but then I realised you have to have someone to dig footings, mix cement and I just cannot do that as I am disabled. I have had a wet room put in my house but now I have no room for my fridge freezer and sofa bed etc....I thought the best thing I could do is have some kind of garden room attached to the back of my house so I can just open my back door and there is my fridge freezer etc. I was going to buy the one in Argos for £249 but I watched a clip on YouTube and a man on there had bought one and in the winter the windows all got blown out, I can't have this happen as everything would get ruined. I just want some kind of room no matter what size or what it looks like to put against my house where I open my back door and I can get to my fridge freezer without me actually getting soaked in rain. I just want something that will keep the fridge and sofa dry and safe.
Does every single conservatory have to have footings dug and a dwarf wall or the metal base put down as all of this cost a fortune. I can afford a second hand conservatory but not afford workmen to come in and build it all. Any ideas at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Caz x

 

[ladylola]

It reads as if your budget is in the hundreds rather than the thousands and I think that quite honestly you will struggle to get something up for that kind of money.
I did once see someone put a caravan close up to a house and seal the join with flashband . Not sure how successful it was and it certainly didn't look too pretty. I did think you could do the same with say a second hand greenhouse , they come up occasionally on freecycle and also eBay and gumtree . You would probably have to place it with the back covering the door to your house to allow for the greenhouse door to work to give access to the back garden , in effect a glass tunnel extending from your house. Again seal with flashband which will work , cheap but not a permanent solution. Perhaps even have the greenhouse free standing just close to the house might be better? You are going to have to pay someone to do this work for you especially the electrics and that isn't taking into account any legal problems that might arise from neighbours complaining or whatever.
Sorry I can't be more helpful . If you give details of your budget and perhaps post a picture of the rear of your house then other ideas may be forth coming.

 

[noseall]

Unless you know any willing volunteers, a generous charity or a lottery win, then spending money is the only way.

 

[ladylola]

I did wonder just what one would get for less than £250 so decided to look at the Argos site. I assume this is what you are referring to ? http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7058093.htm#pdpFullDesc

Something similar on YouTube

And he did a follow up And what problems he had and how he got round it
https://m.youtube.com/watch?annotat...&feature=iv&src_vid=Ocuidz7zMos&v=9EoTURQvGIg

 

[Honeybea]

Hello and thank you for your replies.....Ladylola yes that is the one i'm referring to and yes that is the video ive seen that shows the flimsiness of it. I do have hundreds and not thousands to spend, I do have offers of help to do things like the electrics and putting it together etc, but I have someone who has a conservatory that they are going to get rid of soon, it is all glass, floor to ceiling, no dwarf wall etc and I was wondering if this could just be drilled straight into the floor. The person who has it does not know how it was fitted as it was there when they bought the house. But it seems to be standing on a 5 inch deep base of concrete, underneath this is paving slabs, it does not look like any footings have been dug and no metal frame laid down...so I was wondering if the conservatory is attached to the floor by making a large 5inch concrete base and then drilling screws in to the base of the conservatory frame to hold the conservatory down? This person is happy to give me the conservatory so this would be so helpful to me.
Noseall I do have people that can do the electrics and things for me luckily enough....but no one to dig footings etc as that would take up too much of their time x

 

[Honeybea]

I must add that the way my house is positioned I get really strong winds at the back of my house so things go flying around the garden. My house is about 3ft higher up the the houses on one side of me? It is a bit of a wind trap so I feel that if I pick the cheap Argos garden room, I may have to get a wooden shield built, I was thinking of something in wood, as high as the garden room and as far out as it goes to attach to the house wall so that this takes some of the wind from hitting the garden room?

 

[noseall]

If you are looking for a glorified shed then no problem, but you must be aware that it will perform like one.

 

[Honeybea]

Noseall, all I need it to do is to keep my fridge freezer, sofa and table and chairs safe, i.e. no freezing up inside the unit or letting water in. I am happy to try and insulate it as much as possible and even put a small heater in there, but I just don't want it where I find my freezer is going mad using up tons of electric where it can't cope with the cold or the sofa becoming wet and mildew. I'm not really bothered what it looks like, I have seen these lean to shed that you can attach to the house but I just don't know if it will keep the frost and rain out!

 

[ladylola]

It would be interesting to see a picture of the conservatory that you have been offered. It seems a odd arrangement if a concrete pad has just been cast on top of slabs. It's possible the slabs simply butt up to the concrete ? Whether you could fit the conservatory to your house is going to depend on what you have at the rear of your house now. You really do need a firm base that will support the weight of the conservatory . Failure to do that could easily result in the conservatory moving , coming away from the house and possibly twisting and cracking the glass. As Nosall says it's very likely that you will have to spend money and you will need to get someone that knows what they are doing to get you a decent job rather than a bodge.

 

[Honeybea]

Hi, When you go out my back door I have a patio area all made of concrete....this is what the lean to will sit on and it will also be attached to my house. I don't suppose I can't just put a lean to conservatory on this concrete can I if I make sure it is securely attach to the house would that not take most of the weight. I am afraid it looks like i'm going to have to buy that cheap garden room in Argos, as I have search everywhere and I just can't see anything else that would work with out having to dig big footings. I have all my household stuff all piled up indoors and you cannot access the kitchen if your in a wheelchair. It just looks awful. I have been looking at lean to sheds but for one it would look awful attached to my house, and two I don't know if I would get away with it without getting complaints as you can just about see it from the front of the house and I think there is a law on this, I.E. it has to match the rest of the house and a should wouldn't do this.