The Benefits of a conservatory

The most obvious reason for building a conservatory would be to expand the downstairs living space of your property. Benefits of this extra room could range from using it as a dining area. Moving a large dining table from an existing room would create more space in an otherwise cluttered room, or maybe by simply placing a sofa in this new room would create a perfect area in which to just read or relax, in a much brighter room than the one you would normally use. With a large amount of natural sunlight and a seated view of a well-kept garden, this could prove a very relaxing experience after a hard days work.

As with everything, doing your homework on any project will prove vital, this will include everything from the design of the conservatory to the make of product and ultimately the choice of builder or coservatory fitter. There are a wealth of sources available to supply you with information on every aspect of purchasing or building a conservatory such as articles like this one, other resources include dedicated magazines the internet and even dedicated internet forums.

Obviously the type of design i.e Edwardian, Victorian, Lean-to or Double Hipped have all got their advantages or disadvantages when used in different scenarios and can have a massive impact visually on the property concerned, although I have also witnessed the opposite where a style of conservatory has been used in completely the wrong situation and has turned what could have been a perfect installation into an embarrassing eyesore.

Another reasonably recent development is the application of box gutters, which has meant that certain projects can now be completed that a few years ago would not have been possible. One such case that comes to mind would be attaching a double hipped conservatory roof to a bungalow, so that the conservatory shares the same roof drainage as the bungalow. This could be described as a perfect linkup.

Conservatory costs are typically around £12,000, but when you consider the chances are that you will not need planning permission, and that a conservatory, if built and designed properly, can look aesthetically better than a single story extension, then its not surprising that conservatories are more popular than ever.I mentioned briefly about planning permission. It is extremely important that you check with your local planning authority that you will need or not need planning permission as these rules are ever changing, if you do require permission you will have to allow for an extra six to eight weeks on your schedule.

With a patio area a conservatory provides an excellent transition from dining room to garden. On a further note, conservatory roof technology has changed drastically over the last few years. No longer are you stuck with noisy polycarbonate roofs or the 100 degree plus temperatures of glass roofs. With active glass roofs heat loss is kept to a minimum, and the heat from direct sunlight is dramatically cut. Add to this, argon gas filled roof units, self-cleaning glass and coatings to stop your new furniture fading due to sunlight bleaching. There never has been a better time to start planning your new conservatory.

I hope this article has been of some use to you, there is a lot more to this subject that can be discussed and I am going to go into the more in depth details of the actual construction in a future article but until then I wish you good luck on your project.