Conservatory roof.

Nanny Beach

Has anyone had "cosy roof" installation? Rough costs,(you can't get one,they come and quote) For those who don't know,it's plastic panels,with inner insulation,  fitted internally,which slot in-between the roof bars. Meant to keep conservatory,cooler/warmer/ shadier/quieter.

Lyn

Did you find the info on the CosyRoof?
Lots of info on the net,  I’m sure one of the companies would give you a free quote.
 

Nanny Beach

Hi Lyn,yes lots companies,all telling how marvelous their products/workmanship is. Frankly, don't even trust reviews anymore. Yes,they do give free quotes,but I don't then want pestering. The 2 most expensive building works we had done,driveway checkatrade, don't publish negative reviews, people who installed solar panels,so I wanted to speak to folk who've actually had them fitted

BenCotto

Our conservatory was nearly 30 years old when we replaced the perspex roof in 2018. It was starting to leak and had the traditional failings of being too hot for three months of the year and too cold for the other 9 months and, in heavy rain, the noise was deafening.

We went for a fully insulated complete new roof with one skylight and the transformation has been wonderful. The room is comfortable all year round, it’s cheaper to heat, the reduction in light levels is negligible and it now feels like a proper room more than a lean-to extension.

The way we chose the company was very conventional/unconventional. A chap knocked on the door and asked if we had considered a new roof for the conservatory. No doubt to his great astonishment we said we hadn’t but, now you mention it, tell us more. This was a local company, happy to provide details of nearby clients who could offer first hand opinions, there was no hard sell or spurious discounts and two weeks later we signed up. The replacement took two days to complete and the price was just over £7000. 

I realise a complete new roof is not what you are considering but I offer my experience should you choose to go down this route.

Editing to add a photo from about 9 years ago showing the old roof, and the garden prior to renovation.

Nanny Beach

Hi Ben,we had a new roof 4 years ago, from the plastic lean to,to the high glass lantern. Looked into got quotes,roof blinds, hugely expensive, plus it  doesn't stop heat.Our conservatory is 21by 11ft. So bought kookaburra shades blinds. It's north facing,we didn't want a solid tiled roof, for this reason.   We were quoted £13k, for a solid tiled roof.Have seen various adverts for these white blocks that slot into the sections,but I have read reports of problems with condensation, between the glass roof and blocks. We paid extra for pilkington triple A rated, blue glass... meant to be self cleaning, stopping glare,(same with opaque glass on the side walls, meant to stop glare and heat....it doesn't! 

Suesyn

We went to a village open gardens pre pandemic and admired a conservatory with those white panels in the roof. It was probably 3.5m square and they said that it cost them about £10,000. Ours is a similar size and we recently had a rough estimate for a warm roof (looks like BenCotto's) and that was between £8,000 and £ 10,000. The salesman said that prices have gone up by about 35% in the past 18 months. Don't think it's worth it for us, we do use the conservatory most of the year, although during the winter it tends to be only when the sun is shining as it still gets quite warm in there then.

Nanny Beach

Hello Suesyn, blimey that's expensive, pre-pandemic! My conservatory is double that size

 It had a German very clever design tilt and turn patio door. The end cap was missing and a little plastic cover, it was 25 years old so you couldn't get parts anymore,or even this design. The roof was yellowed,lean to plastic quite low,then it leaked a tiny bit. The roof was £8k,4 years ago,we then thought,if we're having a new roof,it made sense to replace glazing,doors,at the same time.  We used Hubbies tax free pension lump sum,I can't remember the final bill.We went for the opaque glass, meant to stop heat/glare, nope! We also wanted roof opening vents,we had one in our last tiny conservatory,we used the same small local business that had done all our glazing, Barbara,the boss said don't,they always leak....our last one didn't! The old conservatory blinds don't fit now either,we also didn't bother to have opening windows on the east/west sides,too late now. Its dwarf brick wall,very well insulated,2 double rads. Although its north facing, being a bungalow, the sun is over the roof,all day

 It's hit 44c in there. I put that on here a few months back,and it was disbelieved! Thanks anyway
 Will try and post some pictures. We have got both a portable air cooler and a proper air conditioning unit, obviously we don't casually sit in there,with that blasting,haha!

 

KT53

We have a 14' x 10' conservatory, pitched roof, and also had a complete replacement rather than replacement panels.  Cost was about £8k, and from what I recall the prices weren't much different.  Complete roof takes longer, typically up to a week for complete installation, although they ensure it's waterproof all the way through.

We did have a quote from the company who had supplied the conservatory, but they wanted almost double the price for exactly the same roof so shop around.  We used a local company recommended to us by somebody who had used them.

Nanny Beach

KT,we don't need a new roof,we had one 4 years ago,was just wondering about insulation, for it. Very sceptical about the claims,that it would be cooler/warmer.

Suesyn

Nannybeach, I  rigged up a shade for the roof of our conservatory using very cheap plain white fabric from IKEA. It's attached using curtain wire but at least provides some shade. It was a bit of an experiment to see if roof blinds would make a big difference. The only problem is that the flies etc get up there and then perish ( presumably from heatstroke) so I have to keep shaking them off. My neighbour has expensive blinds and has the same problem but it's not so easy to remove them. At least my shade only cost about £50, although I may replace it with nicer fabric when the weather gets cooler.

Nanny Beach

Hi Suesyn
 Our first conservatory  faced south like an inferno! 2 mortgages,(4 jobs at one go,,lots of redundancy) I bought deckchair fabric online,thick/cheap and definitely cheerful! Made roof blinds,with the net curtain wire,they didn't "pull" of course. It was a small lean to we were quoted £3.5k for roof blinds....that was 30 years ago! Here we bought kookaburra shades, meant for outside use,you put them on wires or a frame, normally quite expensive, but I got them on a site,e bay in a sale. I think they reduce UVA & B by 90% . I know what you mean about insects. Maybe yours is the same as ours....false widows in the roof, daily I have to vacuum window sills, and I bash the blinds with a broom,to knock down the dead carcasses. There was vertical blinds when we moved here on the sides,was worried about toddler grandaughter,and she did in fact stick her head through the cords,(all the blinds everywhere were removed) the were always covered in fly poo.... impossible to clean off.