conservatories

Rosesarered, we had a motability car for my husband. I drove it because he couldn't any more. It was only 18 months old.
When he died, I had to buy it, otherwise I would not be able to get around much. It cost the same as the conservatory would have done.
So no funds left for the conservatory.
Anyway, we'd only lived in this bungalow for a year before he was diagnosed with brain cancer. It does not have happy memories for me.
It is also at the top of a hill in a village that gets the first snows in Durham and can be cut off.
Although I want to stay in the village as my son and his family are here, I will probably move down to the village centre.

rosesarered go go go girl..you will not regret it! go for it..we built our own conserve (kit from B N Q) about 8 yrs ago, came on big wagon all in kit form..OH was a lot better then, ours is I think if I rem right about 3 mtres by 4..biggest we could afford at the time, we had big radiator put in after the first year as our house faces north so needed the extra heat, since OH has been il lhe has enjoyed sitting in it as it's light and airy, although yes it did make the lounge slightly darker..but we use both the lounge and conserve all year, we don't have doors in between so our lounge sort of runs through to the conservatory, it's the best thing we have done! (although house up for sale now and will miss it if we move)..!

Ah, Sunflowersuffolk, I can tell you about that because our daughter has a house with a North facing lounge, which when they bought it already had a conservatory 'in situ'. The short answer is yes, it does reduce the light coming into the lounge BUT if you had underfloor heating [or connected to central heating with a radiator] then you would use the room a lot by sitting in the conservatory, during daylight hours. In the evening you can be in the slightly darker lounge, watching tv.But there is no doubt that it does reduce the light coming into the main room.The upside would be the extra sunshine/light when you sat out in the con. so you would have to make it as attractive as possible so you would use it.If you would only be able to have a small con. then I wouldn't go ahead, as it means that when you have visitors you couldn't use it.

This thread is giving me ideas! I have always wanted a conservatory, but our house is built the wrong way round, in that the lounge faces north, and the sunniest side of the house has the utility and downstaires loo and study!

As our lounge faces north, it only gets a little sun in morning and evening, because as well as the french doors to the patio, we have a small window on the south side which gives evening sun. Sorry to go on, but I always dismissed the idea of a conservatory off the lounge as I thought it would make the room darker still. But I suppose when its nice, we'd actually be in the conservatory a lot instead of lounge. Has anyone else with north facing lounge found a problem with reduced light?

Thank you all SO much for your very helpful comments.
I have made a list of things to go for, and things not to have, all we need now is to get some quotes from reputable builders. I'm getting excited already] even though we won't want it done util next June.

We love our conservatory. It faces South so we can use it all year round. In summer we use blinds and have the windows open. The floor is solid so we used terracotta coloured floor paint which was really cheap but it looks great - just chuck a couple of mats down.
If you come in from the rain and you're dripping wet you can leave your brolly, boots and mac there to dry out. I keep the airer there and never have a problem getting washing dry. I love to take my book and cup of tea and just relax in the conservatory enjoying the warmth. There are lots of sunny days in winter when it's warm enough to do that. Never regretted getting it- a local builder did the lot. Worth every penny.

whenever it rains. Pshawww.

rosesared I have had my north facing one for 15 years and still love it. Sun in the morning for breakfast, and in the evening, good light all day but rarely too hot even in the summer. My advice would be (apologies for repeating others' points):
Avoid greyed roof (north facing wants the light, not to cut out the heat), but as nfk says, definitely have roof ventilation
Choose glass for the roof if you can, it lasts much longer than polycarbonate and doesn't sound like a drum whoever it rains
Tiled floor is great for in and out of the garden, but very chilly in the winter - if you can afford it, I would now choose underfloor heating, which wasn't really an option when we got ours.
Ours is 8 sided, with number 8 being the house. I think now I would choose rectangular for easier use of space, because we use it SO much. We have folding, sliding doors into the house so it can be completely opened up for parties, and even just when the weather is good.
As others have said, definitely as big as you can.
I would just say yes, yes, go for it!

I'd just like to add to all the good advise - to consider some sort of opening roof ventilation. Ours has supposedly special roofing which should stop it overheating but it still gets to 40C plus when left closed up when we go out. It faces east on a house wall so looses the sun mid afternoon but I still worry about spontaneous combustion when it's left closed up in summer.

rosesarered, I had my conservatory when I retired from teaching. It was built by friends from our local darts team and this meant weeks went by while they were busy doing other things. There's bits of it that aren't perfect and brickwork that isn't as neat as it could be. BUT, I love it to bits. Sitting in there, looking at the garden and the birds is heaven. I love doing my cross-stitch in there and also talking to friends on the phone - usually while DH is watching football. I love decorating it at Christmas time and hanging lights in there that reflect back from the garden. Just bought a white 'spriggy' paper tree which I'll use to hang Advent Stockings from. Idea is the GC will take a stocking off and replace it with a red bauble from a basket. I love my conservatory in all weathers and times of the year. Think of it as your special place and find your own peace there. x You'll enjoy it I'm absolutely sure.

This is very sad Jendurham, very sorry for your loss, it must happen a lot just when you both make plans.Perhaps you should still go ahead with his drawings and have it built? however, you may not want to stay there now, and a conservatory is so expensive on a single pension.I could not afford it if on my own [so good to get it done soon.]What a great builder you had as well, not so many of those about.

Jendurham I know exactly where you are coming from. Could you not contact the builder and have the conservatory built anyway - you have the drawings and if you haven't yet got planning permission, I'm sure the builder could deal with that for you.

I have been on my own for just over 2 years now and I still find it difficult to dispose of even his work records.

Sunseeker, my husband was an architect. He drew the plans to turn our second bedroom into an ensuite for us and added a conservatory for a second bedroom for friends and family to stay. We had it priced, and had a builder lined up for the next year. Then my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, and died less than four months later, so we never had it built.
The drawings, which I cannot bring myself to get rid of, are on his computer. He died in January 2012.
So I know where you are coming from. Unfortunately, I cannot advise anyone else on conservatories, as it was individual, designed just for us, and the builder understood as he was here when Ken was diagnosed with brain cancer. He was repairing a roof for us, so we used to give him the keys to lock up whenever an ambulance turned up for Ken.
That's the sort of builder you need, someone who cares.

We had a conservatory built on the back of our bungalow in July.We went for one that is the width of the building-so 22ft by 8ft.We chose a local conservatory specialist and it was all very painless!
Our floor tiles are a good quality composite that look like stone but not quite as hard and cold-we were worried about our 13 month old GD falling.They are also non-slip.
We were advised to live with it for the summer before we ordered blinds, and despite being south facing we really enjoy the view of trees and sky-we have doors either end and loads of window openings for ventilation.So will not bother.

I have tiles in mine - I wear slippers in doors so haven't notice that they are any colder than laminate (which I have in the sitting room).

Never heard of Amtico [but sounds expensive]I will google it!Yes, perhaps a light coloured faded look is the thing.

Friends have Amtico but it was beyond our budget. I had forgotten that when I posted before.

I think the sun goes for almost anything, so you need to choose a design that will still look Ok when faded.

thank you all for your replies.I think the answer is a resounding yes from you in regards to 'is it worth it?' So pleased about that, as I thought there would be some negative thoughts I had overlooked, but you all seem very happy with your conservatories.Hadn't thought about the floor covering fading in the sun.... hmmmmmn;tiles are cold, so if laminate fades what about other things [carpet? or carpet tiles,cushion flooring?]Or the modern form of lino [don't know what it's called now!]Maybe it all fades.

Yes, sunshine fades the laminate. It is now nicely woody under the furniture but yellowish where the sun catches it. If it were bigger I would shift the furniture around, but that is impossible. I don't know what I would do without it. It is off the kitchen so I can sit out there with a cup of coffee, or cook while talkng to guests with full glasses, the clothes-horse of washing dries in a day without using power in the tumble dryer, and when I need space indoors I can shunt stuff out there quickly. Plus I can take off wet raincoats or gardening shoes, store the recycling until I can face taking it outside to the the appropriate bin, do messy DIY or craftwork out there.

Definitely worth the money.

We have had our conservatory now for 14 years and consider it the best money we have spent on the house and we love it. It is east facing and can get hot in the summer but we use a fan and it is very pleasant in the evening As others have said go for the biggest you can afford and also so you don't lose too much garden. We have a laminate floor but I have to report that it has faded where the sun shines on it most. I felt that ceramic tiles might be cold but havn't thought of any thing better. We do have a small dining table and do actually spend nearly all our time in there from April to October.

Mine is rectangular and not very big, as we are on the side of a hill and even a little one cost £20K. It had to have a lot of building-up underneath it to reach floor level, which was expensive but did at least give us a usable store room/potting shed below it.

I know of a very nice P-shaped one, just along the road. The door from the house and the exit door are in the narrow part, and the round part has a three-piece suite, coffee tables and a dining table and four chairs in it. You could live out there.

Forgot to mention that the roof of the conservatory is slightly darker glass than the rest, this does give a bit of shade on hottest days but as yours would face north that may not be necessary.

We also used a local company rather than one of the bigger national ones, but my husband was a builder himself and knew all the local companies and what their work was like. The company we used didn't want any money up front but said to pay them when we were happy. The last day they were here I got the cheque book out but they said they needed to come back because one small piece of trim was missing (I hadn't even noticed it)!

We were limited for space so ours is oblong - but I have a couple of tables with plants and a table and 2 chairs. This leaves lots of room for plants in larger pots which sit on the floor. I also find it invaluable for drying clothes in wet weather!

Another question that I have just thought of! What shape is your conservatory? Does a certain shape look better, or what is most practical? We would like a small sofa in there and two small-ish chairs.