Tiled conservatory floor - adding insulation question !

[shd1970]

Hi there,

Can anyone advise me on the following please.

I have a tiled conservatory floor that i plan to have underlay and carpet installed in to make it feel a bit "more like the rest of the house".

The conservatory floor is lower than the lounge level so i have scope to add some insulation to add some extra warmth for the winter.

I seem to recall that when the conservatory base was put in, that no polystyrene was used in the base so i think i am correct in saying its just tiled direct onto the concrete base.

So, can anyone advise what best sort of insulation i should be looking to use please ?

I was thinking of some sort of dense boarding type stuff but i wanted to get some expert input as i dont want to introduce the risk of damp between a cold tiled floor, and where it meets my insulation.

All replies gratefully received.

thanks,
Sean

 

[^woody^]

Celotex, Kingspan or Xtratherm as thick as possible allowing for 18mm of T&G chip boarding - which you can screw through to the concrete below.

Polystyrene will be cheaper though and a shorter payback period - not much heat will be lost through the floor, so I would not spend too much on it

 

[shd1970]

thanks for the reply woody.

i'm not sure what depth i will have to play with yet, until i remove the patio door frame between the lounge and conservatory but to be clear, presumably you mean this order......


carpet
underlay
T&G boarding
kingspan
tiles on floor

cheers

Sean

 

[^woody^]

Yes in that order.

 

[shd1970]

cheers again !

Sean

 

[IJWS15]

until i remove the patio door frame between the lounge and conservatory .....

That changes the rules somewhat, changes the conservatory from a temporary building which is not subject to planning/building control rules into a permanant one which is.

Not an issue unless you want to sell the house at some stage in the future. There are recent posts on here about houses like this and buyers have been advised to walk away from them.

 

[shd1970]

Hi IJWS15,

Thanks also for your input.

Yes i am aware that the removal of the patio doors means that if we choose to sell that we will either have to put something in to replace the previous patio doors, or 'presumably' go through planning/building controls as the conservatory will effectively be becoming part of the house.

I'm interested in your comment regarding that on this forum builders have said to prospective buyers to walk away from such properties that have done this......are you able to supply a link to a thread so i can have a read through as I am interested to understand the issues and concerns raised and nip anything in the bud !

As a side issue, if we did decide to sell in the future so had to put some doors back, what would be the type of doors required ?

For example, what if we put internal 'lightweight' doors in instead of 'classic' external patio doors.

Would that suffice the planning/building controls ???

thanks again - appreciated

Sean

 

[IJWS15]

For one see

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=180552

The advise was from the buyer's solicitor.

I would expect them to require a normal external door.

 

[Richard C]

Yes i am aware that the removal of the patio doors means that if we choose to sell that we will either have to put something in to replace the previous patio doors, or 'presumably' go through planning/building controls as the conservatory will effectively be becoming part of the house.

Because it has thermal insulation characteristics not much better than a garden shed, a conservatory will never be capable of compiling with Building Regulations otherwise it would not be a conservatory but an extension so it can never effectively become part of the house in the sense you describe.

I'm interested in your comment regarding that on this forum builders have said to prospective buyers to walk away from such properties that have done this......are you able to supply a link to a thread so i can have a read through as I am interested to understand the issues and concerns raised and nip anything in the bud !

I assume you’ve followed the link IJWS15 supplied but there was at least one other instance about the same time. They were both special cases, however, in the sense that the cons. had been converted into the kitchen & the original kitchen turned into something else. This meant that the properties effectively had no kitchen that was Building Regulations compliant & it’s for this reason the legal advice was to walk away or negotiate a big enough discount to reinstate a compliant kitchen. One other fly in the ointment though is that it's unlikely that a mortgage company would advance a loan to prospective buyers on a property with unauthorised Building Works; usually no mortgage = no sale. Many people remove the interconnecting doors, it makes it rather cold & expensive to heat in winter (the very reason for the regulations) but as long as you put them back when you sell up & don’t turn your cons. into any sort of habitable room (in the sense of Building Regulations) that’s fine.

As a side issue, if we did decide to sell in the future so had to put some doors back, what would be the type of doors required ? For example, what if we put internal 'lightweight' doors in instead of 'classic' external patio doors.

Would that suffice the planning/building controls ???

When you sell you will have to refit external spec. interconnecting doors, internal are not sufficient due to their practically non existent insulation properties.