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Adding a lean to conservatory to your home or property comes with a whole lot of benefits. It provides you with the much needed additional living space within your property, add value to your home and creates a link between your home and garden. As advantageous as it is, one of the major concerns several homeowners have is whether or not is requires a planning permission. This is a crucial question that must be answered before you make financial commitment to the project. If you don’t know what you’re doing the entire process can be very tedious and you definitely do not want to go through the stress of completing your remarkable new conservatory, only to be instructed to have it removed again. In this post, we’re going to consider if obtaining a planning permission is required before adding a lean to conservatory to your property.

Generally, adding a lean to conservatory to a property is considered to be a “Permitted Development, which implies that you won’t have to apply for a planning permission to complete the project without any risk of interruption from the appropriate authorities. However, there certain circumstance that’ll require a planning permission. These circumstances include:

• If the conservatory covers more than 50 percent of the land around the main house.
• If the conservatory will be placed on the side of the house that faces the road.
• If the conservatory will be higher than the highest point of the main building’s roof.
• If the main building is lower than the height of the eaves and ridge.
• If the conservatory will be constructed to the side of the house and more than a single storey or it goes higher than 4 metres.
• If the conservatory will be wider than the width of the main building, if it’s to be built beside it.
• If the conservatory will be constructed at the rear and higher than 4 metres.

If you’re worried about your conservatory being too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, you can insulate it. Older conservatory roofs are made from inefficient polycarbonate, which means that up to 25% of all the heat lost in a conservatory escapes from the roof.

To insulate your conservatory roof, you can install blinds or curtains – but they can go mouldy from condensation. There are two other options that are more long-term that could be better: upgrading the polycarbonate in the roof or opting for a solid conservatory roof.

You can add a thicker polycarbonate roof panel with better thermal efficiency if the glazing bars on your conservatory will expand to fit. This will offer better insulation, but may not last very long – maybe less than 10 years.

A solid conservatory roof is a new way of making your conservatory usable all year round. Most existing conservatory frames will be able to support a lightweight metal structure and slate-like tiles to match your home’s roof. Or you can opt for a hybrid option where the solid and glass parts are merged together. This will insulate your conservatory roof so it never gets too hot or too cold.

It always an exciting decision to extend your home, be it adding to an existing room or building a new one all together. However, the problem starts when you realize there are so many options giving you a tricky challenge of knowing which to choose or where to start. There are great differences in renovations between homes, but a common question that remains is whether to go for a conservatory or an orangery.

There are large array of differences between the styles and knowing a thing or two about the special attributes is definitely a great way to get started. Let’s have a look!

• Orangeries are generally best suited to traditional-styled homes or with older property making use of matching stone or brick in construction. Meanwhile for a more recent or modern property, a conservatory will be the better option to add the flair to your property.

• Conservatories tend to be larger than orangeries, therefore if you want a smaller extension, an orangery would be your best bet.

• Orangeries are typically rectangular in shape and is traditionally a more regular building meanwhile a conservatory can be shaped to suit your needs. With an conservatory, you can get a T-shaped, L-shaped, curved, double ended and lean-to extensions to suit your preference.

• An orangery usually possess a flat roof at the edges with a glazed lantern section right at the centre. You can also find more luxurious orangeries having two or more lantern sections. However, when it comes to the roofing, conservatories generally have more options. Some are gabled or pitched, others are lean-to with a plethora of choice to finish off the roof.

• Due to the fact that orangeries are made of more brick than glass when compared to conservatories, they usually provide more insulation than their counterpart. If your goal is to use the extension during the winter months, then constructing an orangery is the best bet.

If you are considering building a wooden conservatory in your home, it’s normal to be curious about whether or not the home improvement effort is costly. Basically, wooden conservatories are ones that have been constructed using a wooden structure. There are options to choose from which timber and this can also play a part in the amount you’ll have to pay. Conservatories using hardwood, which are more durable and requires less preparation, are also considerably costlier than the softwood counterpart.

For just the timber in a kit build your own conservatory you would be looking at around £10,000 to £20,000. Generally, a wooden conservatory built for you will cost you a range between £20,000 to £50,000 based on the type of wood, the size as well as the style you opt for.

In addition, wooden conservatory prices are also determined by the supplier you’re dealing with. As a result, it’s advisable to conduct a proper and detailed market research about the available suppliers and identify the one who truly offers quality materials at an affordable rate. If you wish to go for an Oak frame, the price will typically be higher.

To give your house a more traditional look, you can go for a timber conservatory rather than a uPVC one. However, it requires more maintenance than the uPVC as well as regular weatherproofing to prevent it from warping or rotting as a result of changes in humidity or temperature. If you want the timber look there are options with modern uPVC which can give a similar style but at a lower cost.

Are you considering extending your living space into a visually appealing orangery? However, before you go ahead with the project, you may want to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. It is rather important to let you know calling on a seasoned professional for help when it comes to building an orangery is the best bet especially if you lack proper training or experience. This way, you get to avoid costly errors while also saving yourself some time and money. Here, we’ll give you the needed information on how to go about building an orangery.

• Orangery Planning

This is, perhaps, the most important step when it comes to orangery building. There is a need to conduct a proper planning to ensure everything goes right and exactly the way you want it. The first thing to do is to perform the required planning permission checks to determine whether or not your orangery covered under the “permitted development. In some areas, there may be some strict restrictions as the structure’s size. So you just might want to consult your local planning development before taking any step forward.

You can contact any architect for help with the acquisition of the right planning permission. While doing this, also have it in mind that your plans will need to be approved before you can proceed. Once done, it can be very challenge to alter the plans without extra delays or additional costs.

• Construction of Orangery

Do you have any builder in mind? If yes, make sure you inform your architect to be sure he’s happy to work with them. The selected builder will take your plan and build the orangery to your taste as given in the plan. The fitter will put the doors and windows in place as well as the roof lantern.

Are Solid Roof Conservatories Any Good?

If your old old glazed conservatory roof is starting to yield to the elements, perhaps it’s time to starting putting your money where your roof is. In recent times, most homeowners in the UK are now opting for the solid, tiled conservatory roofing alternative and for a good reason. If you’re also wondering if solid conservatories are of any good, then you’ve come to the right place! In the article, we’re going to discuss whether or not solid roof conservatories are a solid worthwhile investment and reasons for the stand.

Firstly, let’s look at what wrong with the normal conservatory roofs. Despite the fact that these are the cheaper alternative, it must however be said that they’re lacking in terms of insulation. A bad insulation can only mean discomfort all year round - winter will be cold and draughty and summer, stuffy and baking.

Solid roof conservatories, on the other hand, are made from special material that resembles traditional roof tiles but will only have a fraction of the weight. They’re able to deliver a much better insulation than a glazed roof which implies comfort all year round. What’s more? They’re very easy and quick to install, and as a result of their lightweight, you can easily transport them and use them for an underlying structure. The solid roof conservatories are a worthwhile investment which also provides the following advantages:

✓ It helps you save money. If they actually cost more, how can they save money? The solid roof conservatories provides many benefits but the most obvious one is improved insulation. And when a space is properly insulated, your heating bills will be significantly reduced. Hence, saving you some money.

✓ It also improves the safety of both you and your loved ones.

Lean-to conservatories are often known as Mediterranean conservatories or sunrooms and are a great way to add more living space when you’ve only got a small amount of room to work with. They usually have clean lines, a rectangular shape and attach to the side or rear of your home, which makes them one of the easiest conservatory types to build yourself.

So how do you build a wooden lean-to conservatory? The first step is to decide what you want it to look like. Most lean-to conservatories are constructed of glass and the wood frame, but you can choose to have dwarf walls too. Dwarf walls are low brick walls that are useful if you’re planning to plumb in radiators, have air conditioning installed or put plug sockets in the conservatory.

When you’ve decided what your wooden lean-to conservatory is going to look like, you’ll need to get the materials. You’ll need to choose a hardy wood – oak is the most expensive but also the most durable – and source glass for the windows. You’ll also need to decide on a roof material and work out the correct pitch.

The first step to building your wooden lean-to conservatory is to dig the foundations. You’ll then need to level the earth, then add concrete to the correct height, which should be lower than your property’s existing damp course. Then, you’ll build up to the damp course, which will be your conservatory’s floor level. Don’t forget to make sure it’s even.

If you’re building a dwarf wall, start it from the base and build up to no more than 1 metre high. Once the cement is dry, place external sills on top of the dwarf wall. You’ll then need to secure the frames; start with the one that secures to your property, then do the same for the rest, connecting outwards until they meet from the two sides. Then put up your doors.

Now it’s time to build the roof. This should be simple if you’ve bought your own custom-made kit. Place the roof ridge on top of the frames, then add the roof rafters between the roof ridge and hip bars. Fit your glazing sheets and guttering – it’s important that your wooden conservatory roof has guttering just like your house, otherwise your conservatory roof won’t last very long and could even cause rainwater to rot your wooden frames.

Once you’ve built your wooden lean-to conservatory, all that’s left is to decide on how you want to decorate it. But if this all sounds like too much, get in touch with specialist wooden conservatory installers who will be able to give you a quote for building you a lean-to conservatory.