The Step-By-Step Guide To Getting a Conservatory

Adding a conservatory to your home is not just a way to add a beautiful room that can help you get the best out of summer, at the same time you will create a focal point to your house where friends and family can relax all year round. A conservatory addition to a house is not just a way to enhance your garden and your home with a cosy space for snuggling in the winter or for basking in the summer. Conservatories are also a great way to add value to your home.

And in the economic climate, with house prices uncertain and negative equity abound, adding a conservatory to your home can give you the edge when you eventually do decide to sell, thus protecting your investment for years to come.

Once you’ve decided to take the plunge, the first question that pops into the mind of most is, “Do I need Planning Permission?” The good news is that since October 2008 most conservatories have been exempt from Planning Permission, although there are a few conditions. For example, you can’t extend forwards or sideways if that part of the house faces a road. Secondly, you can’t extend if you plan the extension (in this case, the conservatory) to be higher than the highest point of the original house.

There are other conditions too, most of which wouldn’t really apply to conservatories in any case (such as the ‘no verandas or balconies’ rule) though you do have to take into account certain rules that dictate the maximum size of the conservatory (no more than a depth of three metres for an attached house or four metres for a detached house).

So, the chances are that you won’t need planning permission for your conservatory. But what next? Well, to keep costs to a manageable level, you may have decided to consider self build conservatories. If that is the case, you certainly will keep the costs down, but of course there is a lot of work for you to do first. You need to flatten the ground where the conservatory is to be built; it needs to be dead straight. Next you will need to prepare the foundations, as you would for any structure, and then you are finally ready to build.

If DIY conservatories aren’t for you, then you would be better advised to look for cheap conservatories. It need not cost the earth to add this wonderful extension to your house, and spending too much will negate the amount that has been added to your home’s value. The key to finding the right conservatory is research, and once you have done your research, you can find the cheapest supplier that matches your needs.

Make a checklist, before you start looking, of what you want from a conservatory. Think of size, think of style. Visit friends and neighbours who already have conservatories and see what works and what doesn’t work. Think about where on your house you want it attached and try and picture your garden; if it doesn’t seem right, picture it somewhere else.

A conservatory is a wonderful addition to any house but, like anything worth doing, there is plenty of planning and thinking to do beforehand.