DIY Conservatories - DIY Conservatory Supplier in the UK

Self build Conservatories

Its early June and we are in the depths of a recession. There’s no point in trying to sell your house as you want the market to pick up and your savings aren’t earning any interest. You’ve decorated your house to death and your garden is all done and ready for a barbeque. So now you are investigating the possibility of a self build conservatory.
What are the main criteria for selecting a self build conservatory
1.Decide what you are going to use it for.
With self build conservatories this needs to be thought about rather carefully as this will denote the size and the style of the project.
2.How big do you want your conservatory to be ?
Where self build conservatories are concerned this is really a two edged sword, as the obvious answer is as big as possible for my budget. But think practically and go outside with a tape measure and mark it out. There’s nothing worse than sitting in one thats to small or the sofa wont fit !
3.What style of conservatory would I like?
Self build conservatories come in a range of styles with the most popular being the Edwardian,lean to or Victorian style. Most come in a range of three colours White , Light Oak (caramel) or Rosewood. The best advice I can give is match it to your windows.
4.What type of base would you like ?
types of base I hear you say what’s he going on about . Well for self build conservatories the base market has been brought into the 21st century over the last couple of year. The big development is steel bases. These fundamentally are a floating steel raft that your conservatory sits on. There are no back breaking footings to dig just 450mm pads that you then fill with quick setting cement. These bases are great in difficult situations where drains are in the way of your building and go up in no time at all. In fact one Saturday i dug and concreted the pads for mine in around 3hrs. Admittedly I did get a move on as I was going to the rugby that afternoon but still I surprised myself. These bases also have prefabricated walls that have different slip brick styles to match your house.
5.Glass roof or polycarbonate roof ?
Which is better well it depends on your budget and what you are going to be using it for. Glass roofs are more expensive but offer greater sound insulation but are more expensive. This is because of the glass itself is always toughened and the rafters and roof aluminium use to support the extra weight is reinforced. Polycarbonate offers great value for money but always make sure it is at least 25mm thick. Beware some diy high street chains offer 16mm as standard. At 25mm or 35mm if possible its insulation properties are superior to glass keeping the heating bills down.

6.Your budget and finance
Self build conservatories usually have a 10yr warranty and so Stick to you budget and don’t get seduced into finance there are much better deals to be had from the banks than any company can offer. And don’t forget to haggle there’s always a promotion round the corner.

Blog article on www.diyconservatoryquote.co.uk where you can design, price and buy your diy conservatories.

Conservatory Kits
Conservatory kits are a great way to improve you the value of your home if done well. Conservatory kits can also be cheap and nasty and create an eyesore.
It is a common misconception that all conservatory kits are the same. Well let me tell you now they aren’t. Like everything there are good and bad and like everything in life you generally get what you pay for. What they are, is great way of adding space and value to your home.
So what should I look out for and what are the differences between the different types of supply only conservatory kits ?
Generally it’s not what the salesman tells you it’s important to know what he has not told you. When buying a conservatory kit make sure that you get at least 2 quotes. All diy conservatory kit companies will do this free of charge. Some of the better ones will supply you with a 3d drawing of your choice so that visualising the build is much easier. Always ask for a Conservatory Kit product specification. Below is my minimum recommendation
1. The conservatory kit is pre-glazed i.e. the window panels come out to you with the glass in and then are joined together using aluminium joiners. This prevents you smashing the glass when trying to glaze the frames. Don’t listen to the salesman that his unglazed conservatory is easy to glaze ask him to explain how the beading fits and he will soon run out of the room. He will have never glazed one in his life. Trust me I have and you have to match the glass to the aperture, mark and remove the glass, pack it correctly so that the drainage isn’t blocked and then put the beading back in. It’s a ball ache and he doesn’t want to tell you that. Do you know how to toe and heel a door so it doesn’t stick ?
2. That it is a 70mm System. This means that the conservatory window frames are at least 70mm thick some systems brought in from sunnier climates are 50 or 60mm these have lower insulation properties and so you build will lose heat rapidly
3. That the glass in the windows of the conservatory kit is 28mm and internally glazed. This is a great trick on low end cheap conservatory kits. Make the glass units thinner usually 20mm or 24mm and then externally glaze the product. This means that again you lose heat due to thinner glass units but more worryingly your glass units can be removed from the outside. They are less secure and easy to break in to as the beading can be removed from the outside.
4. The roof polycarbonate is at least 25mm easy this one just watch the high street diy superstores as some of their conservatory kits contain 16mm polycarbonate roof sheets
5. That the windows and doors are multipoint locking. A cheap alternative on the window locks are espags (roller cams) always ask for Shoot bolts these lock into the frame of the conservatory providing greater security and usually a second position night vent. Doors again multipoint locking with twin handles. You will be amazed how many companies offer you a conservatory kit with only one handle on one door. Well you didn’t ask for two did you!

Don’t let me put you off buying a Diy conservatory Kit they are great and easy to build just make sure you have printed off this document when the sales guy rings. Happy building!
This article was written by www.diyconservatoryquote.co.uk

Building a conservatory is not as difficult as you think as long as you get the design right from the start. If you would like to know more then please read on.

The base for any conservatory is extremely important and your choice of base types is varied. There different types of base are denoted by the style of conservatory that you select.
For a full height building with either panels or glass at the bottom you can elect to go for a concrete base or a small footing and damp course wall. The most efficient and quickest base type for this conservatory is Pre-fabricated type such as a durabase or the new easy base system. These allow for the fastest base construction times usually around 2-3 hrs including digging the concrete pads. More recently these prefabricated systems come with a 525mm bolt on brick slip wall. No more digging deep trenches and back breaking footings.

If you are going for traditional conservatories then it is important to hire a good local builder to create the base. You must ensure that your builder is supplied with a decent set of plans and understands exactly what you require. I.e. brick types and finish etc. Some companies will even supply you the base specifications so that you can cost and buy the base materials yourself saving even more money.

After the base is laid, installing the conservatory becomes very easy. The best systems on the market come pre-glazed i.e. with the glass already in the frames. This means that they need a jointing system to couple to frames together. This system saves time and money in the building construction and you don’t smash the expensive glass trying to glaze the conservatory

Roof design is next once you have decided on the conservatory shape. Lean to designs are great for bungalows as are hipped back conservatories in height restricted sites.
The most common are the Edwardian and Victorian conservatory with the Edwardian design maximizing the floor space available.

Once you have decided on the roof type the roofing material is also a factor that needs to be taken into consideration. The two types of roof are glass roof and polycarbonate roof.

Polycarbonate roofs are always cheaper than glass roofs this is mainly due the fact that polycarbonate is cheaper and lighter than glass and the roof does not have to be structurally reinforced to take the weight. But polycarbonate roofs do have that advantage of coming in a far wider range of colours including bronze, opal, and heat guard.

Both roof types can be upgraded to reflect the sun to keep your building cool.

On the internet, you come across various companies trying to sell you great conservatories and instillation techniques.

Purchasing your conservatories and the accessories is easy with www.DiyConservatoryquote.co.uk. This company sells online, retail and wholesale products. But remember that they do not install. If you want to save money and make sure that the jobs done right building your own conservatory is often the best way