Conservatory that works on a terraced house?

January 17, 2011 12:29 AM

I am thinking of getting a conservatory put on our house. It's a traditional UK terrace with a "wing" at the back containing the kitchen, bathroom above. About 6 ft wide. The yard to the side includes our back gate so we can't fill that with a conservatory. Our kitchen doors are on the back. I want to find plans that show how a conservatory can work, but googling just brings either conservatory companies (no plans) or estate agent sites (all terrace houses with a conservatory for sale).

Bonus points if you can find a plan which has an outside toilet - or toilet included - our outside toilet lean-to was removed when the back doors were put in.

posted by LyzzyBee to home & garden (6 answers total)

Yeh, we've been looking at adding a conservatory as well, and I can offer up my research links; not all contain plans but they do have useful information, some to the point of offering PDFs. I've called a few of these folks and found them very helpful, even to the point of emailing across more detailed information (customised PDFs) and the like.

Just be prepared to make a friend for life if you do call one of these firms, as they just don't give up once they have your details. On the flip side, that tells me the market is competitive, and that knowledge can be used in your favour when it comes to negotiating a price.

UK Conservatories Design offer self build. We're frugal and are interested in saving money so we tend towards these options.

Direct 4U Conservatories have several plans on their site.

DIY Doctor keeps promising to post some plans, but there aren't any presently and I've been researching this for about two years.

If you think a conservatory a little daunting a patio awning might suffice; we've been bouncing back and froth and haven't decided yet.

Hope this helps!
posted by Mutant at 2:01 AM on January 17, 2011

If you would like to approach a potential builder armed with some insider knowledge then I would recommend "The Housebuilders Bible" - this (British) book is really for those who are interested in making an entire house - but it will give many of the the planning, material costing and technical details you will need for your conservatory. Besides these specifics - it is an entertaining book and great to have if you are planning any sort work involving building or re-decoration.
posted by rongorongo at 2:39 AM on January 17, 2011

Just to be clear - you're an end of terrace, so that is why you have a side gate for the garden?

If that is the case, are you not able to move your side gate further down the garden and put in a standard side return glass extension? It need not, necessarily, run the entire length of your kitchen.

I'm not an expert, but my house does have an older glass side return extension. Basically, the options are a cheaper build, in which you get an extension and dormer windows. Or a more expensive build, in which you get fancypants double glazed glass and a more bespoke structure. Mine was built, in London, by these guys. Part of the cost is the more work needed and part is the fact that due to newer regulations on home insulation you can't just slap in any old double glazing easily. You can find other ideas here and here and plans here (found using the search term of "side return extension").

If a side return isn't on, then you are just looking at a standard extension out into your garden. But if your home is like most Victorian terraces and has a tiny garden, the trade off will be what space you gain v what you lose in your garden. You can find a reasonable starting guide here.

There are two ways a builder would probably want to put a toilet in. One is to move the kitchen wall out, i.e. to basically put your new toilet under your existing bathroom. with a door into your hallway This allows it to use the same soil pipe. The other way is to put your toilet at the back of the house, normally at or near where your existing kitchen sink will be, so it can use the same plumbing.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:45 AM on January 17, 2011

Are you aware of any other people nearby who have had similar work done? If not, take a walk around your estate and see if you can spot anything. Many local councils now have online access to planning applications, including drawings, and they are often searchable by address.
posted by Jakey at 3:00 AM on January 17, 2011

Regarding planning permission - and please note I have't progressed to the point where I'm vetting these statements - according to ConservatoryInfo.co.uk, some 40% of conservatories don't require permission under current regulations.

If your planned work meets these points you don't need permission:

• Less than 50% of surrounding land to be developed
• Maximum depth for a conservatory on a detached property is 4000 mm
• Maximum depth for a conservatory on a semi deched property is 3000 mm
• The maximum height of a conservatory is 4000 mm
• At least 50% of area that will form the external boundary / edge of the conservatory must be glazed
• 75% of the roof area to be covered with either glass or polycarbonate
• Conservatory must be separated from the house by an external quality door, patio door or French doors

I haven't vetted these but noted them as our plans were to stick within these constraints (not really frugal to have to go through formal planning).
posted by Mutant at 3:46 AM on January 17, 2011

Thanks everyone!

Just to answer a few bits:

We're not an end of terrace; we have a passageway through between our house and next door (it's through the "short" side of the houses ie between the 2 sitting rooms, not the 2 sets of stairs/kitchens the other side) so we have a little diagonal gate at the end of the alley.

Can't see any more conservatories looking on googlemaps - not on our road - which seems odd.

We have a 25" garden with not much in it, not a tiny yard, so that works well.

I need specific plans rather than how to build a conservatory *at the moment* - need to see if/how it can be done.

Kitchen wall ends at the same point as bathroom above and we can't fit a toilet room into the end of the kitchen, the sink is on the wall facing the empty section to the side, but I'm sure they can work round that; I bet the old plumbing from the old outside lav is under the paving...
posted by LyzzyBee at 3:53 AM on January 17, 2011