Which Conservatory Company & Spec?!

[pmurray]

We have had two quotes for our conservatory, one from a local guy and one from Everest.
Not quite like for like because the local guy suggested perspex where everest quoted on their glass.

the difference is essentially £4000 between the two. Are we really going to get that much better quality with everest or is it just all sales BS?

Any advice much appreciated as it's now getting on my nerves! With that much glass to chose from and so many frame options i really dont know which way to turn

 

[Richard C]

IMO your better off using a small local independent FENSA registered company (not that you need registration for a cons). Many go with the large nationals because they think it will ensure a quality job but, in many cases nothing may be further from the truth; they mostly use self employed local fitters & it’s the quality of installation that can make all the difference. Small locals are very competitive & would quickly go out of business if they didn’t do a good job. Virtually no one makes their own windows any more as they can’t complete with the quality & price of large regional factories who manufacture most of the quality profiles so you may even end up with the same units. I have Rahau K glass units, been in 7 years now absolutely no problems.

Two quotes isn’t enough get a few more & make sure your comparing like with like as far as specification goes, for the base, electrics, floor/cavity wall insulation, tiling etc & the window profile itself. By Perspex are you referring to a polycarbonate roof? If so it’s the most common & you should go for the thickest you can get, my own is 5 wall & around 45mm thick but I believe you can get up to around 60mm now. A glass roof will be quieter when it rains but won’t offer much if any improvement in insulation over a decent poly roof & it will be quiet a lot more expensive.

Don’t pay more than 20% up front (only 10% if you get away with it) & don’t hand over the balance until you’re entirely satisfied with the job. Make sure you get an independently underwritten 10 year insurance warranty as smaller DG companies (& sometimes even larger ones) have a habit of going bust every few years.

 

[pmurray]

Thanks for that Richard

Sorry yes i meant polycarbonate. I will check to see the difference in price as I have Elmhurst coming out today to quote also.

All the quotes i have are split, one for me doing the base and final fix and one for the complete job. I know i can maybe save 1500 quid+ on the building work but that maybe a getout clause for the company.

What i dont want to end up with is a freezing room in the winter and a sauna in the summer. It's gotta be an all year round room otherwise it's a waste i think.

 

[Richard C]

All the quotes i have are split, one for me doing the base and final fix and one for the complete job. I know i can maybe save 1500 quid+ on the building work but that maybe a getout clause for the company.

I think you see the problem with that for yourself; I can’t see any company giving you a guarantee that’s worth anything & even if you get one, guess who’s fault it’s going to be in the event of a problem!

What i dont want to end up with is a freezing room in the winter and a sauna in the summer. It's gotta be an all year round room otherwise it's a waste i think.

In all honesty if you want year round use you need to invest in a proper extension or a garden room (amounts to the same thing). You will almost certainly be disappointed with a cons. they are about as heat efficient as your average garden shed & although it’s possible to pump enough heat into them to keep it comfortable, it will cost you a fortune during the winter months. I have a 22sq/m cons & a total of 8Kw I can call on split 50/50 between electric under floor & convector heating but, apart from odd sunny days, we don’t use it from around the end of October & only started using it again last week.

You can keep it cool in the summer though; go for an opaque roof or better, one with heat reflecting foil inserts & have at least 2 sets off doors in opposing walls, I have doors in all 3 sides.

 

[pmurray]

Hmm, i suppose it will be a trade off then as i have literally just finished the full house inside so dont want to even think about doing an extension yet. I'd sooner sell up

I'll see what the other companies come up with and decide

 

[Mw Roofline]

We have had two quotes for our conservatory, one from a local guy and one from Everest.
Not quite like for like because the local guy suggested perspex where everest quoted on their glass.

the difference is essentially £4000 between the two. Are we really going to get that much better quality with everest or is it just all sales BS?

Any advice much appreciated as it's now getting on my nerves! With that much glass to chose from and so many frame options i really dont know which way to turn

So add a grand on by the other guy for a glass roof and thats only 3k difference between Mr Local guy who will probably be bust in 4 to 6 years time and a 200million pound national company.

I'm sure Everest will come down a little more if there is the chance of a deal, their sliding scale is huge.

 

[pmurray]

We decided to go with Elmhurst. The sales guy didnt give the hard sell, wasnt there 3 hours like everest and actually listened to what i wanted which is a bonus.

They are doing the full thing including wiring to second fix and a radiator. All plastered with window boards for not much more than the local guy and can back it up with a 15 year guarantee.

Glass is Celcius Elite too

Lets hope we made the right decision!

 

[Richard C]

As I said, I don’t think the large nationals offer any real advantage & can often lead to disappointment but get a specification, make that part of a signed contract & remember, don’t pay too much up front or be bullied into paying the rest until you’re entirely satisfied.

With the wiring your better off having a separate supply to the cons but if you’re only having sockets/lights, taping into the ring main with fused spur for the lighting will probably be the way they will go but the circuits must still be properly tested & make sure you get a minor electrical works certificate (BS7671) which you will need in the future. If you have a new consumer unit you should have no problems but if the wiring is very dated or you have an ancient fuse board you may have problems so be careful, there could be a nice little money spinning (for them) surprise in store for you but that’s another story.

What sort if radiator exactly are they fitting? Not one that's tee’d off the main property heating system I hope! What size is the cons? One rad doesn’t sound much & you will need to provide at least 200w/sqm to make it useable in spring & autumn & to stand any chance of your ambition for all year round use, considerably more.

I assume you are aware you must maintain an external spec door between the main property & the cons or it ceases to become Building Regs. exempt & therefore must comply which, for a cons, is impossible!

Good luck with it.

 

[steveb1964]

They are doing the full thing including wiring to second fix and a radiator. All plastered with window boards for not much more than the local guy and can back it up with a 15 year guarantee.

Ant decent local firm will be able to give you the guarantee, all it is is an insurance backed guarantee.

I wouldn't trust the nationals with a barge pole. We had several quotes from nationals and local firms. Found a very good local firm who have been operating for 30 years and were much cheaper than the likes of safes style, everest etc.

The big nationals grap your money and run and you're just another notch on their bed posts

 

[pmurray]

I managed to get them to have their builder start this week and the dwarf wall is already up! So far i have only paid 1.5k deposit.
A friend of mine is a brickie by trade and he's impressed with the workmanship which makes me feel better tbh!

I have two seperate rings covering the downstairs so told them to use one and continue it through with 3/4 double sockets. There will only be a lamp and tv really so no issues there. Ligting is on a seperate circut as i did this when fitting the two outside lights where the conservatory would have been going

I was going to use the existing system for the rad yes, i took the pipes there ready when i re-did the whole house. Maybe not ideal but i cant see it been a problem if fitted with a TRV? I only have a pretty small system (8 rads) running on a 42CDI combi....

We are keeping our existing french doors between the house and conservatory yes.

Cheers for the advice it's much appreciated

 

[pmurray]

The big nationals grap your money and run and you're just another notch on their bed posts

Totally agree on that yes, we once had safestyle do some windows in a flat after i knocked about 10000000 pounds of the initial price. They were rough!

Elmhurst have been around for years, certainly 30+ so that must say something i hope!

As i said before, everest we on with the hard sell which i didnt like where this guy was straight up, i told him what i wanted and pretty much what i wanted to pay. He worked out what he could do and job done!

 

[Richard C]

I was going to use the existing system for the rad yes, i took the pipes there ready when i re-did the whole house. Maybe not ideal but i cant see it been a problem if fitted with a TRV? I only have a pretty small system (8 rads) running on a 42CDI combi....

Unfortunately the revised (2010) Building Regulations now seem to specifically prohibit teeing off the main system even with independent isolation & controls;
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADL2B_2010.pdf
see clause 3.21 -3.22.

 

[pmurray]

That really sucks

What would you advise for heating? Small a/c unit maybe?

 

[Richard C]

I have 4 Kw electric UFH system (on a separate switched circuit) over 3” slab insulation & backer boards directly under the mat; it works very well. I also have a 3 Kw radiant plug in heater I can bring into play or rare occasions around mid October when the wife starts moaning she’s cold but that’s when I know it’s time to shut it down for the winter months. I did originally consider an air con unit but decided I didn’t really want a bloody great heat pump + a condenser on full view outside; the air con would be impractical & pretty unusable in our particular case as well. Our cons is quiet cool in summer though as I have doors in all 3 sides. My sister has a cons half the size of ours & has couple of those wall mounted conservatory radiant heaters which seem to work quiet well but I’m not sure if you would need an additional circuit to power them or just plug directly into the ring main extension; plan on providing 200w per sq/m.

I also installed tee’s off the main house system with isolator valves ready to accept a radiator loop from the kitchen but decided the UFH did the job perfectly adequately so never bothered but the 2010 B Regs update now seems to have squashed that one anyway.