Before I buy house with conservatory.....

[OwainDIYer]

Thanks for all your posts.
 
The open plan style is what appealed to us and we would not really want to lose this.  

Can you get doors on lift-off hinges - put them in place during the winter (or if you're leaving the house unoccupied for a while) and take them off during summer.

 

[Richard C]

Thanks for all your posts.

The open plan style is what appealed to us and we would not really want to lose this.

Can you get doors on lift-off hinges - put them in place during the winter (or if you're leaving the house unoccupied for a while) and take them off during summer.

The Rahau UPVC external grade French doors I have between my kitchen & cons have lift off hinges (most do) but doors of that quality is going to cost you £1k+ ! As already stated, your winter heating bills will be horrendous without them.

Security of the doors/windows would be the issue I would check out as far as insurance goes, practically every policy now requires key locked windows & either muti-point locking doors or 5 lever deadlock with mortise pins top & bottom. Personally I think the level of security insurance companies now insist on is pointless, the best locks money can buy won't stop entry through the nearest smashed window !

Incidentally, when I spoke to the vendors agents yesterday they told me that Planning Permission covered building regs! I thought this wasn’t the case so checked with the council and they said no they are two separate matters. Later on yesterday when I spoke to the vendors agents again they ‘told me off’ for contacting the council myself and said I should leave it to solicitors.

They are either just plain stupid or lying; if they “told me off” I would tell them to take a hike, demand an apology & suggest to the vendor their estate agent is at serious risk of loosing him the sale if they didn’t.

 

[mikric]

Just a thought folks, how old is the conservatory ?
Perhaps it was put up before part L put a stop to this practice and therefore does not present a problem

Direct from the Building Act 1984 Section 36
"A notice under subsection (1) or (2) above (called a “section 36 notice”) shall not be given after the expiration of 12 months from the date of the completion of the work in question".

Not just an informal policy but the law.

 

[Richard C]

Just a thought folks, how old is the conservatory ?
Perhaps it was put up before part L put a stop to this practice and therefore does not present a problem

Direct from the Building Act 1984 Section 36
"A notice under subsection (1) or (2) above (called a “section 36 notice”) shall not be given after the expiration of 12 months from the date of the completion of the work in question". Not just an informal policy but the law.

Absolutely; but it wont give you a discount on the astronomical heating bills that will follow from buying said property or stop a repeat of ever increasingly difficult questions when you come to sell up! In this age of “green environment “ the kick back of trying to sell such a property is only going to get worse!

 

[big-all]

for anyone reading this thread that think that richard c and my self are being kill joys or spoil sports
we have done our homework and and the heat loss is real not a fiction
if your house is well insulated you can loose as much through the conservatory as the rest off the house so double your winter bills for a bit off nice glass

we are not trying to put you off but make you aware off the trade offs and pit falls

 

[Richard C]

for anyone reading this thread that think that richard c and my self are being kill joys or spoil sports
we have done our homework and and the heat loss is real not a fiction
if your house is well insulated you can loose as much through the conservatory as the rest off the house so double your winter bills for a bit off nice glass

we are not trying to put you off but make you aware off the trade offs and pit falls

 

[geraldthehamster]

As far as I’m aware it’s 4 years (& in some cases 10) not one; maybe that’s just their informal internal policy.

I believe the 4 years period applies to Planning Permission. For Building regs I've always understood the period during which enforcement action can be taken to be one year (although I think there's another regulation which would give them 2 years). That's unless a structure is dangerous.

Cheers
Richard

 

[Richard C]

I believe the 4 years period applies to Planning Permission. For Building regs I've always understood the period during which enforcement action can be taken to be one year (although I think there's another regulation which would give them 2 years). That's unless a structure is dangerous.

Your right about the 4 years only applying to planning but in some cases it can be up to 10.

The situation for BR’s seems to be somewhat confusing; I’ve looked briefly at several sources which suggest anything from 6 months up to 2 years; one local authority web site even stated they would never bother unless the breach was a threat to safety

The work would always remain non-compliant though unless it went through regularisation.

 

[garyo]

I echo the heat loss comments. I have a exterior spec doors still in place on ours, and a separate heating system in the conservatory which means I know exactly how much it takes to keep it warm on the odd winter occasion that we actually decide to use it. In Dec/Jan this year when it was around 8 degrees outside it needed 6KW to keep it comfortable - so call it £1 an hour. It's a 7Mx4M 'P' shaped one, so not small, but not particularly large either.

Conversely, it's equally unusable in some of the summer months due to the greenhouse effect!

Gary

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yea but you're all missing the point though that an extension cost £1000/m² to build and a conservatory does not. You're heating bill costs more because of it. Pro's and cons and all that.

 

[^woody^]

The point is that is someone wants to sit in a glazed room, and enjoy the view and general feeling of sitting there, and want to crank up the heating or air con to maintain that enjoyment then that is up to them.

The same "killjoy" comments can be made for gas-guzzling, high tax, high insurance cars, a toaster, designer clothing etc.

If someone wants it, and wants to pay for it then it's up to them

In addition, many people are short of space and short of cash, and spending £15k on an extension or £3k on a conservatory of similar size and which will give a similar end result, is not to be sniffed at

 

[garyo]

My comments were in the context that Matt is about to buy a house because the open plan conservatory appeals to him, and the discussion has moved to to suggestions of fitting doors with lift off hinges.

The reason I built my conservatory is because 7k was a smaller number than 30k, and I like looking at the garden. In hindsight it was a decision I made without my eyes fully open.

When it comes to selling the house I'll make sure I sell it in the summer too though