Conservatory/Extension?

[chouglez]

With a new addition to the family near Christmas time more space is inevitable and am thinking about a conservatory or an extention but commission based salesmen are giving a rosy picture [I wish I could capture it and post it here] and mucking with me head

Anyone know of any good company doing extension/conservatory would be highly appreciated.

 

[Steep]

I guess you could look on which site for recommendations, or watchdog for companies to avoid.

 

[TheKrikkitWars]

Use a local builder who's established, well known in the area and positively thought of by their customers. It's not the cheapest option, but its generally a much safer bet than some random company.

 

[russdaz]

I dont know any builders in Sunbury area? But am in the industry, a couple of things to bear in mind at the moment is that an extention will be very costly, so best to make sure you have the funds the sorted before hand, planning can sometimes be hard to get and is costly if there being a pain.

Another thing is if you putting electrics in the extensio or conservatory then expect them to reconmend at the very least a new fuse board to comply with the latest 17th Edition, if they dont mention it then walk away, as unless you property was built within the last 2-3 months your current system is 99.9% not goin to comply with them nor Part P

 

[chouglez]

I dont know any builders in Sunbury area? But am in the industry, a couple of things to bear in mind at the moment is that an extention will be very costly, so best to make sure you have the funds the sorted before hand, planning can sometimes be hard to get and is costly if there being a pain.

Another thing is if you putting electrics in the extensio or conservatory then expect them to reconmend at the very least a new fuse board to comply with the latest 17th Edition, if they dont mention it then walk away, as unless you property was built within the last 2-3 months your current system is 99.9% not goin to comply with them nor Part P

Thanks to all of you wonderful people. . Everest was around last week and quoted a whopping 27 Gs for a 4 mts X 5.8 mts conservatory and my jaw literally fell on the floor

Will be looking into local builders and see what they may have to say?

Also have a decent size garage and could do a garage conversion

 

[russdaz]

Quite abit involved in a garrage conversion, you'l again need to meet the same 17th- part p regs that could mean alot rewiring in the main house too. I believe you also need planing permission again same as the extension, but it should be a hell of alot cheaper then a full on extension.

What where Everest giving you for that kinda money? fully bring property up to 17th edition? heating/cooling etc.

 

[fletch5]

everest have always been expensive. personally i would go for extension, worth the extra money as you will gain a full room. conservatories suffer rather badly with cold and heat. not to mention noisy in rain(unless you have a glass roof which gets expensive). if you shut the doors between the two then you can still hear it on the roof.
where in the country is sunbury?

 

[chouglez]

Quite abit involved in a garrage conversion, you'l again need to meet the same 17th- part p regs that could mean alot rewiring in the main house too. I believe you also need planing permission again same as the extension, but it should be a hell of alot cheaper then a full on extension.

What where Everest giving you for that kinda money? fully bring property up to 17th edition? heating/cooling etc.

Aplogies for late reply. Been busier than a bee

They offered a one window shopping incl plannin permission.

Everest sounded great with their base work specs on which the consevatory would stand. It sounded solid and why would it not be as it was 11K.

They also offered solar glass as a free upgrade. Doors and windows which sounded pretty safe and sound. Plus 3 electrical points.

During the 3 hour conversation no word about 17th edition stuff from the sales rep :shrug:

 

[chouglez]

everest have always been expensive. personally i would go for extension, worth the extra money as you will gain a full room. conservatories suffer rather badly with cold and heat. not to mention noisy in rain(unless you have a glass roof which gets expensive). if you shut the doors between the two then you can still hear it on the roof.
where in the country is sunbury?

Sunbury is just round the JCT1 of M3 around 5-7 miles from heathrow airport.

 

[russdaz]

Aplogies for late reply. Been busier than a bee

They offered a one window shopping incl plannin permission.

Everest sounded great with their base work specs on which the consevatory would stand. It sounded solid and why would it not be as it was 11K.

They also offered solar glass as a free upgrade. Doors and windows which sounded pretty safe and sound. Plus 3 electrical points.

During the 3 hour conversation no word about 17th edition stuff from the sales rep :shrug:

Hmm ripe for hiden extras, or they simply wouldnt worry which could leave you issues if when you sold, or after inspection, so id ask them question.

The 17th Edition regs have only very recently in full force.

 

[fletch5]

so russdaz, if an electrician goes out to work at someones house they have to replace the fusebox?

 

[russdaz]

so russdaz, if an electrician goes out to work at someones house they have to replace the fusebox?

No, unless you pay them to do it.

Not that striaght forward an answer, depends on a few factors, the work being carried, the current state of the installation, and the type distrubution board already fitted, and how acurately you want to fit into the new regs. But basicly pretty much every house installation will need some form of upgrading done.

Vitually every circuit now needs a 30ma RCD protection.

I can see alot of people reconmending fitting a main 30ma RCD switch at the very least, but ideally in most cases it would be better to fit RCBO's to individual circuits too main discrimination between circuits which you wouldnt with the RCD main switch, which you need to fully comply with the regs.

But like most things theres loop holes, but for something the size as being talked about you have no way around them.

Sure you'l still find people that will do almost anything you like, but come anything that comes under the buildings inspection that doesnt conform then you wont get your sign of, and you may find impossible to get any insurance cover with it, or if you do, and something goes wrong and the inspectors from the insurance find it doesnt comform then you'l find most now have disclaimers and will void the policy.

 

[apkent]

My work deals with larger sort of extensions and new build stuff but not conservatories. The last new build we completed worked out to around £1000 per square metre of floor space for new build. I would guess an extension would be around the £750 mark at current rates.

My interpretation relating to electric works however was that, yes, you will likely need a new consumer unit with full RCD protection and the electrical installation must be generally safe. However you're unlikely to need to re-wire the house unless the installation is particularly old or in poor condition. Also relating to build regulations, they will be far more interested in the area you are working in, that the state of the rest of the property (ie. make sure the extension is structurally sound and services safe) but not so much the rest of the house.

Whilst the regulations might seen very stringent, most include a 'reasonability' clause meaning that minor works don't end up costing owners a fortune upgrading the entire house to latest standards.

 

[mikeyb]

Hi,

maybe not much help to you but I do know my local builder up here ( Fife, Scotland ) works on a rule of thumb of about £1500 per square metre for an extension, that was from a few months back and might have changed with the current economic climate, although I suspect to the good of the client

Mike.

 

[Foggy]

Dunno if you have had it done yet but we had Anglian do ours (I think we came under the Walton branch?) and received excellent service. Every one of the guys that came were top notch, did a cracking job and cleaned up after themselves.

My Mum down in Southampton wasn't impressed with her local Anglian representative so obviously they aren't all great but I thought the local ones to us (who would probably also be your local ones too) were excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

 

[wack61]

Most of these big window companies sub contract the fitting out so quality of work can vary widely
a decent extension will outlast a conservatory by decades, I never see the point of a conservatory, boiling in the summer, freezing in the winter and you lose a big chunk of your garden.

Budget 30K for a decent size extension and you won't be far wrong, the way house prices are dropping it may be cheaper to move up than extend

 

[fletch5]

Most of these big window companies sub contract the fitting out so quality of work can vary widely
a decent extension will outlast a conservatory by decades, I never see the point of a conservatory, boiling in the summer, freezing in the winter and you lose a big chunk of your garden.

Budget 30K for a decent size extension and you won't be far wrong, the way house prices are dropping it may be cheaper to move up than extend

not just the big boys, everyone does it, avoids tax etc being the main reason they dont employ them directly. conservatories are considerably cheaper than extensions and dont come under building regs(unless it is big).

if a conservatory is what you are after, make sure you confirm the underground details of what they will do, from what i have heard a few companies in brum arent putting deep foundations in on any of the cons they build(3"-4" deep).