counturchickens Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 We have inherited a lean to conservatory, which opens out from the living room. It is freezing in there already, and making the living room the same. Oh fancies properly roofing it, however I suspect this will cost a fortune and we will need to rebuild it, new footings etc. I spoke to our local friendly window man who is going to have a look at it, but he thinks bronze polycarbonate might be the way to go (I originally thought glass, which would have been more expensive without seeing it he is talking polycarbonate - he is an honest type!). Does anyone have any experience with this? It is poly carbonate currently, but proabably 10 or 15 years old and I guess the technology has moved on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I know someone who runs a conservatory & double glazing company, although they are too far away from you to help practically. I will ask the proprietor (35 years experience) what he thinks tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 a 'proper roof would be to heavy for a upvc conservatory with out a lot of extra strengthening work all a glass roof would do is let more light.technology hasn't moved on that much in ten years as far as conservatories are concerned changing the ploy carb might help if you have less than 25mm thick or or heat shield poly in now heat shield is white on the outside and stops about 40% of the heat and light getting through reglazing the 'walls' of the conservatory might be an option ie change the current double glazed units to new 'A' rated ones but I doubt you will get much improvement.I assume the conservatory is not south or west facing should add I've been in the window glass trade 30+ years myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Having been in a similar position once I would save up and do it properly with footings and glass. Then it will be a proper extra room. Polycarbonate makes a dreadful racket when it rains and can attract algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Our conservatory is N facing and cold and we tend to shut it off in the winter, except at weekends when I light the woodburner in there (the chimney goes out through a brick wall and up out of the roof of the brick shed next to the conservatory) and the heat floats into the kitchen as well. OH was keen to explore some sort of 'paint???' that you paint onto the polycarbonate roof but I am not at all keen to lose the light. Really we'd like to pull it down and replace with a proper brick built extension but that will be costly and I can't see it happening anytime soon. On the plus side, the conservatory lifts the spirits in autumn and spring, when you enjoy can really the light knowing it is chilly outside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Our very honest window man said we'd be better of taking it down and starting again with glass, and all the proper gear, or in his opinion change it into a proper extension. Might be a plan for next year. I've lit the wood burner in the sitting room tonight which is helping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeky Chooky Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I'm in the same position; I've lived in this house for 12 years and the Conservatory is a few years older than that...and has needed replacing for a couple of years now The roof leaks in heavy downpours, a couple of the seals are shot so those windows are constantly full of condensation...it's a mess I had a quote of £25k for an extension which is totally out of the question and the worry is that a new conservatory will be too costly as well *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Having been in a similar position once I would save up and do it properly with footings and glass.Then it will be a proper extra room. Polycarbonate makes a dreadful racket when it rains and can attract algae Agree - especially about the noise! My parent plastic roofed conservatory is so noisy, you can't sit out there if raining hard. We have a new conservatory with a glass roof and it is so much quieter. We have the blue glass, that is supposed to cut down on heat lost, and stop the conservatory reaching boiling point when the sun is on it, and it does seem to be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 OH built our conservatory about 12yrs ago and we did put really deep footings in, I think you could build a two storey house on them However we built a regular conservatory with the little dwarf wall which is a cavity wall and then the rest is glass with the polycarb roof. Have to say, although we use it a lot, it is always cold in there in the Winter, despite having 2 radiators in there. We do keep the doors from the living room that go into the conservatory closed in the Winter as I really don't think there is any way of keeping it warm in there with all that glass. A neighbour of ours spent a lot of money on some little strips of stuff that you slide into each of the little gaps in the roof but I don't think it's made the difference that he thought it would. Having said all of that I do love our conservatory as it's really handy for keeping chicken stuff in there and other things that you'd rather not have in the house. Also great at Christmas time for a real tree as it's so cold the needles never drop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 We have underfloor heating in ours which is wonderful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Marple Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 We have a glass roof on our orangery. It has an electric heating system in some of the glass panels which works a treat. I do not use it all the time, just when we are using the room with visitors in winter or take off the chill. It is surprisingly economic but I can't remember it's name. Will go and look it up. You can feel it inside the room and the loss through the roof is minimal. In fact if you go onto the roof and feel from the outside, the panels feel cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 An orangery That sounds so glamourous Are you growing any citrus? Do let us know what the heating system is, it sounds interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
