Conservatory Buying Guide

Planning your conservatory

How do you plan a conservatory build? A good place to start is to decide what it is you want your conservatory to be used for. Is it to house all the growing toys in your house and create a playroom? Is it for a dining room used for social entertaining? Perhaps you want to be able to enjoy your garden more from the comfort of a glass room and use it as a place to relax. With people working extra hours these days or setting up their own businesses a home office is often the motivation behind building an inspirational conservatory.

Budget

Set a budget for your conservatory. This should include the cost of the actual conservatory. Decide what material you are going to use for your frame? uPVC or aluminium? What colour do you want the frame to be or do you prefer woodgrain? Do you want a polycarbonate or glass roof? Remember that good quality double glazing or the specialist triple-glazing are going to save on energy costs in the future by keeping the sun heat out and the room warmth in. It’s important to get the right roof as spending less on a polycarbonate roof will mean higher energy bills later on, and could mean that you don’t use your conservatory in the hottest and coldest times of the year. 

Costs should include what type of flooring you are going to use, heating or air-conditioning installations and all electrical points and lights to be installed. If you want the conservatory to be used in the evening to relax soft lights and small lamps work best but if you want to work you may need something brighter with more lights. Remember to include costs for your furniture and accessories.

It’s also important to think about what type of door you want. They range from the cheapest being a single door up to the expensive bi-folding doors with choices of double and french doors in between.

It stands to reason that the bigger the conservatory the more expensive it will be, so choose your conservatory style at the start.

HELP ME CHOOSE A CONSERVATORY STYLE

Planning Permission

If you live in a conservation area or are in a listed building you will need to check with your local council. Otherwise you do not necessarily need to apply for planning permission for your conservatory. Building regulations may only apply if the conservatory floor space exceeds 30msq.

According to Building Regulations, the definition of a conservatory is:

Not less than 75% of the roof area is made from translucent material.
Not less than 50% of the wall area is made from translucent material.
It is either unheated or heated by its own separate system & controls.
It must be separated from the main house by ‘external’ doors.
Anything outside of these standards will be considered a single-storey extension and require planning permission and possibly Building Regulations.

Take a look at HOW MUCH DOES A CONSERVATORY COST to give you a better idea of how much you can expect to pay.

If this conservatory buying guide has given you some ideas why not contact us for a FREE QUOTE. We will help you envisage your conservatory in your garden from the start and make sure you have a speedy and easy installation process.

Why Choose Academy?

Great value

We offer competitive prices but do not compromise on quality