Thinking of converting conservatory to ground floor terrace

8 years ago

We've moved into a new house and we have a poor quality conservatory on the back of the house. The house is large and we don't really need the extra space from the conservatory. We are thinking of pulling down the roof and windows although keeping the dwarf wall and foundation and turning it into a garden terrace with a patio to the side. The conservatory is joined to the living room with patio doors. We were wondering if people had any experience of this as as we can find our conservatory replacement projects?

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Comments (4)

PRO
Exact Architectural Glazing
8 years ago
Hi. We could help you with the supply of a thermally efficient conservatory/garden room.

Please feel free to call us on 01428 748255 to discuss your project. Or email sales@xactbp.co.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you!
www.xactbp.co.uk
Jonathan
8 years ago
If you are going to take it down I say sell the lot and start again rather than keeping some of it.
razorlid thanked Jonathan
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Wow! Thanks for the comments so far. It's great to get all these different perspectives. Where to start? So one important thing to mention is that we're really tight on our budget. I figured that the most cost effective option would be to keep the current kitchen where it is which I figured only really gives us option 1 or option 2. I wonder how much more expensive it would be to have a totally different design? The original house didn't have a bathroom upstairs but we managed to squeeze one in when we renovated the upstairs while still keeping 3 bedrooms. So this is the original bathroom downstairs. I wanted to keep a small toilet and shower at least for when the kids get a bit older or if we have guests. The pictures of sofas in the living room and extension are a bit optimistic. I'd be quite happy to have one sofa in the living room and one in the extension. Sophie, our builder recommended we keep the window in the bathroom if possible, but this means making the extension a bit less wide - not by much, but perhaps enough to make a difference. The actual side passage wall is the same in both options. We could ditch the window in the wider bathroom option actually and keep the same width of extension. His point about keeping (or having) a window was that it'd be good to have some natural ventilation and daylight in there. We checked the head height and it'd be enough for a shower. I kind of prefer option 1 from a flow point of view, but I'm very concerned about the door opening straight into the kitchen. Alky, I can't really see much detail in your pictures, are you able to upload something a bit higher res? From what I can see, it certainly looks like a big and creative change. The funny thing is that one of the neighbours whose house is pretty nearly identical to this design (apart from the toilet/bathroom) their house looks pretty awesome. But now I'm confused because you've all raised very valid points which make me wonder about the whole design.
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I think you'd benefit from using a drawing program to get this into a working plan with 3D views too - will help you visualise it all better ! There's various Apps and even free downloads you could try ... And you can move furniture around and see what works best. Or hire in a pro to do it for you .
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I think making the extension smaller will work, but you've thrown something extra in to the mix by way of a music room and a separate lounge. The designs above are good, but none of them have room for dining. ( except for Jonathan's ) I think as Jonathan suggests that you need a definitive list of items that you have to have, and items that you'd like if it were possible. I fear you will not fit all of them in and something will have to give. You barely have enough room for everything ( excluding the music room ) with a full width extension, if you make that smaller you will have to do without something. Maybe the office could treble up as the office / guest room / music room? Or dining could be dining and music? Therefore, a concept planner is a must. As you can see, it is possible to have the rooms opened up like this ( bearing in mind a supporting wall has been taken away to make extra room - so extra cost ) - however, the furniture placement isn't in my opinion favourable - so that's where a concept planner comes in - They know the sizes of the objects and what can fit in where. They can also 3d the plans so that you can have a look round them. Your plans are ok, but they haven't taken in to consideration the furniture and what you might be able to fit in the spaces, thus they don't work so well i'm afraid. This is the whole thing made smaller - As you see the downstairs loo went in favour of a hallway to the downstairs bathroom, the loo becomes a utility cupboard. You have a bench dining area with table etc This is it made a little larger:- The extra metre makes a big difference!
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Hi Navneet! Conservatories have very short useful times during the year. In the summer they tend to be way too hot and in the winter way too cold. So that's one thing worth deciding - is it comfortable enough to keep because you can use it for a lot of the year, or is it unused for a lot of the year. Some more questions for you, that I hope will help you define what you want: - is the conservatory blocking light into the kitchen? If so does this bother you? - Is the view of the garden more limited with the conservatory or do you enjoy the garden more from the conservatory? - Where would you have your dining table if not in the conservatory - the kitchen? Would this be big enough for you and for any entertaining you do - is the conservatory big enough for this now? Ask your local estate agent (perhaps the ones you bought through) about the impact on resale value for removing the conservatory. You should be able to replace the kitchen and bathroom for your budget. Depending on what materials, etc you choose. You could easily spend that £30k on just the kitchen if you wanted to! But equally you can cover a decent amount of redecoration and new fittings in that budget. I recommend that you keep a spreadhsheet to keep it on track. Hope this helps. Jane, iarchitect :)
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Bebe Price
8 years ago
Hey! I think it's a really great idea to convert your conservatory - my parents did this a while ago and it made such a difference. Please see photos below :) One shows the reclaimed (really inexpensive way of doing it!) bricks and railway sleeper that the converted room leads out onto and the other photo is of the actual room.

They kept lots of windows so that the room still acts as a half conservatory but they raised the ceiling and decorated as a more substantial room in the house - they added a beam and kept a tiled floor. The room is now perfectly warm and cosy in winter but light and with french windows for summer! Hope this helps and good luck!
My Parents' Garden · More Info

My Parents' Garden · More Info
razorlid thanked Bebe Price
razorlid
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the comments. The suggestion by Bebe Price is probably closest to what we are looking to do. I really like the idea and look of the reclaimed bricks. Did they keep the foundation and just lay the bricks? Do you know if there are any drainage / standing water issues with water on the patio bit?

jonathandb1972 - the reason we were hoping to keep the foundation rather then starting from scratch was in the hope of saving money - do you think this could result in a false economy?

Apologies for the novice questions / observations - I don't have any experience in this area and was looking for suggestions / ideas to see if it is a practical option.

Thinking of converting conservatory to ground floor terrace

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Exact Architectural Glazing

Jonathan

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Thinking of converting conservatory to ground floor terrace

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Exact Architectural Glazing

Jonathan

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Bebe Price

razorlidOriginal Author

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razorlid
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