Addition of Sun Room

Make sure you talk to contractor about insulating the steel poles that they use to support the sun room roof.

Great idea if done properly. But I have seen sun rooms that face to the north. Unbelieveable - but true!!!
 
Mine is due south, its so bright and lovely. The room its off is like a dark cave in comparison and is used as little more than a corridor. Consider what it will do to the rest of the house.
 
Genius! Thanks for that :) it will be facing East. I'm going for a tiled roof and velux windows, and possibly some stonework.
Any tips regarding size?, planning?

anything to the front or side of your dwelling will require planning...
you can build 40 sq m to the rear (about 430 sq ft) once its pitched roof doesnt exceed 4 m and you keep to the existing eaves line.

have a read of the requirements for exemption here:
[broken link removed]

if you are going for a high percentage of glazing versus wall, the definitely budget for a good quality window (u value 1.2 ish)....
remember, splayed corner windows and high percentage of glazing may require a steel frame to support the roof....
 
Kaplomb

The biggest recommendation I would say other than position is size. The crowd we used last year brought me out to two of their previous jobs - one was massive about 5m x7m. The other was small at 3mx2m. This gave me a good appreciation not only of their quality of work, but also on practicalities of the room. I would have made a massive mistake had I not gone for 3m*3m. (even if it did take up more garden space against other halfs wishes).

its a lot of cash to spend on a room that wont be used, so think it through and plan well..

I used Craft conservatories based out in meath

Paddy
 
Thanks Paddyodoors....thats exactly the kind of advice i was looking for. I want to make sure it's big enough, but not too big.
 
no worries,

another thing that helped me on size other than seeing the other ones was I used a couple of old curtain poles (what happen to be handy at the time) to indicate the floor space it would take up.

This helped to show the impact in the garden and the desired floor space, just left it there for a while to get used to the idea.

Paddy
 
Padyodoors that's great advice.

Many people - including architects - forget that some people cannot read drawings.

Even those that can read them often have a hard time visualizing things "on the ground".

I'd add that you should be aware of all the regulations in relation to additional rooms in terns of ventilation ope sizes between the existing and proposed.

I'll also note that as a sunroom, you avoid the limitations on having no heating and requiring a closable connection between the existing house and the addition that is required for glazed conservatories.

ONQ
 
Marking the proposed extension out is a great idea....i'll be doing that!

The only problem i'm having with ope sizes is the 800mm from FFL height restriction. The existing dim on the living room window is lower than this and i was hoping to match it, its about 100mm lower.

Interesting points on the heating and closable connection, could you tell me where you found that out please? I am hoping to have a clear ope into the sun room from the existing kitchen and provide one radiator.
 
I added a Sunroom 2 years ago. I have no regrets.

I used Sunshine Ltd in Galway. They gave great advise and the finished job is excellent. They said it would take 3 weeks to complete but it took 7 as they went missing for a while. I paid 12% upfront and the remainder on completion. The price did not include painting which was pointed out to me before they started.

I suggest :

Install a sliding door with internal bolts as sliding doors are easily removed from the outside by burglars.

Use spotlights for lighting.

Externally, install integrated spotlights in the facia.

Connect your heating system to the room.

Locate plug sockets on all 4 corners of the room.

Add venetian blinds for effect.

Before you make final payment, test the structure by hosing it with high pressure water from every angle.


Good luck.
 
Kaplomb
its a lot of cash to spend on a room that wont be used, so think it through and plan well..

I used Craft conservatories based out in meath

Paddy
i have these guys doing a job at the moment,we got a conervatory a couple of years ago but it was that badly done it's after being taken down and is being replaced with a proper sunroom. as paddy says theres no showrooms, or should i say their show rooms are the jobs they're doing so you can actually have a look at the work as it's going on. on one of the site visits i managed to have a quiet word with the guy they were doing the job for. but i suppose the main thing that sold it for these guys was that they have their own surveyor to oversee their work. i told craft i'd get my own independent one , no problem from them. they're quite happy to work along side him (so to speak.) in other words whatever my surveyor says goes.
one other thing o.p. if your getting a sunroom with glass all round check out the legalities on the boundary wall. if it's glass there has to a mini distance of one metre between the glass and boundary wall as far as i know.
 
What is the price range of sunrooms?
it depends on alot, i know of a place thats advertising sunrooms for around €12k but you'd be mad /insane to go near this guy with a barge pole let alone buy any sunrooms of him. on the other hand we got ours for around €23k and the way things are going it looks like it's money well spent.
best thing is shop around. just ring a few places and ask how much on average does a 12x12 sunroom cost. i'm new to this but i'm sure other posters would have a better idea.
 
Hi
we have an existing conservatory and builders have told us that they would have to remove entire structure for a sun room however a conservatory business said that a new light weight roof could be put on existing structure about 7500€ to include gable roof completed with downlighters and 2 veluxes and fully plastered. has anyone else other info
 
Hi
we have an existing conservatory and builders have told us that they would have to remove entire structure for a sun room however a conservatory business said that a new light weight roof could be put on existing structure about 7500€ to include gable roof completed with downlighters and 2 veluxes and fully plastered. has anyone else other info

Hi,

Welcome to AAM.

The builders probably feel that the foundations are not sufficient to take the weight of the existing conservatory along with a heavy duty roof or they may just be looking for more work but don't take my inexperienced view on this :)

When I was making enquiries about getting a conservatory or sunroom I was told that you can get a few different types of roof one of which might be metal tiles and these would be lighter. This may be what the second company are going to use. You may find some info on these previous threads with regard to the roof on the conservatory.
 
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