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Our Conservatory Replacement Build Thread...

43K views 145 replies 37 participants last post by  WHIZZER 
#1 ·
Evening everyone,

One thing we've had a love-hate relationship with since moving into our current home is the conservatory hanging off the back. In the summer it's unbearably bright and hot and conversely in the winter it's a cold space to be in. Most people that come to the house seem to love it but having lived with it for 3 years we made a decision late last year to replace it.

So we got the ball rolling, spoke to an architect, drafted some plans, went through the planning process and found the right builder. Many months later the project kicked off in August of this year and we're currently half way through a 12 - 14 week build. I've been trying to capture progress as we've go along and thought I'd share the build process and progress with you.

Hopefully this gives anybody else thinking of doing something similar some insight into what to expect…

So here's the conservatory in question, cleared and ready for demolition.






An area was cleared in the back garden for access, skips and deliveries.



First day and the builders crack on taking apart the conservatory. They also built a temp wood partition wall to the kitchen including a lovely window as shown...





Wasn't long before the foundations were being dug and being inspected by building controls…



That space we cleared at the back of the garden didn't take long to fill up…



Digger makes fast progress with the foundations, the yellow sprayed lines shows the new footprint of the extension…



Once building controls were happy the muck was poured, yey!…



Foundations left for a few days before we started to come out of the ground.







Aerial plot view…



Ground works continued in preparation for the floor slab…







Floor slab poured and left to go off…





Whilst we waited for the first part of the structural steels to be delivered the builders turned their attention to removing a set of French doors and preparing the opening for some bi-folds. Cue the acrow props and lots of banging as each layer is carefully pealed away…

Note: Cracks in render were existing.





Builders put up a temporary partition splitting our dinning room, this has really helped keep the dust in the house down. We also taped up all doors as well.





Slab was now well dry, new lintel delivered ready for installation.



Opening prepared and ready for lintel…



Yikes…





Lintel installed and brick quoins were rebuilt.





All done and ready for door installers…







After a weeks delay, the structural steel work finally begins…







Quickly followed by the block work and things move along quickly again…







Scaffolding goes up with the walls…





Boom! A-frame is in and it's quite a bit bigger than we thought…








Roofers are now able to start and make quick progress…









Meanwhile, preparations continue for the steels that will be installed to open up the existing house to the new extension. As we're got to have a goal-post arrangement, the foundations need to be beefed up to support the frame. This entails digging under the existing foundations and filling up with additional concrete. I'll come back to this later…







Starting to look like a room now…



In preparation for the big steels going in, the builders start to prop up the rear of the house. This entailed holes being made across the section being removed, which meant we lost a bedroom and bathroom.









Beefed up foundations for steels were filled with concrete and left to go off over a few days.



Velux windows have arrived; we're having 4 motorised panels in the new roof.



Meanwhile, our existing kitchen was placed on eBay and sold for an unexpected decent price, which was a nice bonus. Buyer came and stripped it bare.





The acrow props are starting to go in place and the holes created plugged...







Steels are here and they're massive! One will span the opening the other is used internally, more on that later.







With the acrows in place the walls were again carefully pealed back. ..










Which brings us bang up to date.

More to follow…
 
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#12 ·
That looks great, thanks for sharing!

I want to do an extension which would be about double the width of your conservatory and 3 meters out but am paranoid about relying on builders and other tradesman as I haven't got a clue when it comes to these matters, but progress pictures like these are very motivating.

Is there any practical experiences you can share to ensure I don't end up being kicked out by the wife? She wants it done as much as I do, but I'll be the one taking the blame and funding it!
 
#14 ·
That looks great, thanks for sharing!

I want to do an extension which would be about double the width of your conservatory and 3 meters out but am paranoid about relying on builders and other tradesman as I haven't got a clue when it comes to these matters, but progress pictures like these are very motivating.

Is there any practical experiences you can share to ensure I don't end up being kicked out by the wife? She wants it done as much as I do, but I'll be the one taking the blame and funding it!
I'd say first start by having an idea of what you want the space to be used for and look like, Pinterest is a great resource to start from. You can get a good idea on colours and layouts that work best. Make a wish list.

We got an architect to provide a full package (plans, building regs, planning application, structural engineer) however in hindsight I don't think it was worth the fee they charged and I wish haggled harder there. Advice here is to shop around if you go that route.

On the plus side, we did get a full set of plans, including structural calculations from the architect that we could give to builders to quote upon. This did allow us to get detailed quotes with far fewer cost caveat in them that could potentially increase overall costs at a later date. This is good if you're working to a hard budget.

With regards to builders, good ones are generally always busy and you need to book in quite far in advance, we choose a local firm who are well known and established in the area. They weren't the cheapest but they are known quantity and I was pretty sure we wouldn't have issues with them. We got 5 quotes and prices varied massively, our dearest quote was almost double the cheapest. We got our builders recommendations from multiple sources including local Facebook groups, friends and also Checkatrade.

When you meet the builders you usually get a feeling for whether they know their stuff or a bit of a chancer fairly quickly. We had some people quote who literally spent 5 minutes in the house, didn't ask many questions and weren't particularly thorough going over the plans. These are the ones to avoid.

Be prepared for some disruption for a few months. Depending on the scale of the work, chances are you will lose areas of your house temporally. In our case we've lost our kitchen, dining room, spare bedroom and family bathroom. We've relocated the kitchen to our utility room which is a bit cosy and all other furniture has been moved to other rooms so we're cluttered.

Final point is neighbours. Make sure you're considerate to them and let them know when the build is starting and for how long. Some days we have 6 vehicles parked on site or outside with delivery trucks coming in and out also. Most people are fine but this has aggravated some people.
 
#15 ·
Small update:

Roof tiles delivered...



Lintel and block work removed all the way across opening ready for steels to go up into.

The 2 steels you see will both go up next to each other (side by side) and then bolted and welded together. We're waiting on the structural company now to come and install them, hopefully in the next few days. Once they are in a soil pipe needs to be relocated and then we can start putting it all back together again.

First set of bi-folds are ready however we've put them off for a week or so as we don't want them getting damaged whilst so much is still going on.

The eagle eyed will see the ceiling is slightly different heights across the house which means a section of ceiling will need replacing to feather in the difference one its opened up between kitchen and dining room.



 
#18 ·
Looks awesome, seems like your builders are considerate too with you still living in the house, and doing a great job.

We're in the middle of doing our house, but unfortunately our builders were a nightmare (and have since departed) so ours is taking much longer then expected! :(

Looking forward to the updates.
:thumb:
 
#21 ·
Fantastic thread/read/pics etc etc....

You'll love the extra space and I guarantee you'll love the bi-folds.

Replacing our wooden French doors with modern bi-folds has transformed our lounge and the look of the rear of the house. I was sceptical about them initially when my wife suggested them, now, I'm so glad we opted for them.

Like the other comments on here, well done and I can't wait to see the finished project.
 
#22 ·
I'm glad you've said that. I am looking at 3 panel bi-folds and my dad said that was a bit OTT and to stick with UPVC dual french doors. My thought is if your going to do it, do it property and the extra light/visual space that it creates and how it looks will be worth it. Also been recommended a couple of sky lights as well.
 
#24 ·
Here you go Arvi.

Not the best pics as they don't do the bi-folds the justice they deserve.
BTW, the fitting of the new bi-folds massively increased the insulation properties of the house.

Old wooden 4 panel French doors.



New bi-folds, well, 3yrs now since they were fitted.

Too much sunshine affecting the pic from inside/out.



Pics from outside. Beauty is, you can open the single door or simply fold/slide all the panels with a single finger until they are fully open.





 
#26 ·
Great question, I'll find out as the boss took care of it.

He's a local guy who does quite a bit of work locally. He fitted our front door also, again, transformed the look of the house.
The internal an external finish is faultless with all of the old units disposed of by them, like the door, the bi-folds were fitted in less than 4hrs. Quality workmanship also imo.

Door was thru the books, the bi-folds were cash x £2300.

No idea if that's cheap/steep as I wasn't involving myself with it.
 
#28 ·
Looks great nbray, massive improvement.

We’ve gone for Origin bi-folds. They were recommended to us by a number of people and builders. Good reputation, mid-price point and excellent aftermarket support.

We looked at the blinds in the glass but didn’t like it to be honest. We’ve got an idea of what we want with regards to blinds but will probably live with it for a while before fitting.

Steels are going in tomorrow, structural company are coming mob-handed so hopefully in and secured. All being well lots of progress planned for next week.
 
#30 ·
Evening all,

Productive day, main steels are now in which is major milestone.

Next 2 week plan is as follows:

Carpenters back to finish roof.
Roof tiler to cover in roof and finish.
Scaffolding down end of next week.
Doors and gable window installed.
Electricians starting first fix.

A combination of muscle power and steel jack were used to raise the steels into position...











 
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