With more and more of us looking to gain more space in our homes, you may be considering moving or extending your home.  There are lots of ways to gain more space in your current property including loft conversions, garage conversions, building an extension or adding a conservatory or glass room extension.  One of the biggest questions you might have is about the cost of these options.  Adding a conservatory, orangery or glass extension can be much quicker, easier, and depending on requirements, can be more cost-effective too.  But how much does a conservatory cost?

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to give a price list as there are so many variables that affect the final investment for adding a glass room.  The cost depends on your space requirements as well as the style and finish that you want.  There are some companies that offer ‘off the shelf options, and while these may be cheaper the quality is unlikely to be as good and they will not take into consideration your individual requirements. You also won’t have the customisation freedom and options that you would get from a bespoke conservatory company. Often these lower prices are only for the structure and don’t include the groundwork and build costs, so in reality, the costs could be much higher, it’s important to be clear on exactly what is being offered for the price.

A good quality bespoke conservatory generally starts around the £20,000 mark for a uPVC which includes the whole build and materials.

Things you need to consider when planning a conservatory extension and deciding on a budget are:

• Size of the glass extension
• Preparation work: demolition of the existing structure, specialist groundwork and preparation
• Extension type: conservatory, orangery, glass box, glass extension
• Style and configuration: Lean-to, gable-ended, Edwardian, Victorian, L shape, P shape, square, chapel roof, lantern roof, flat roof, tiled roof etc. or a mixture of styles and shapes.
• Materials: timber, aluminium, uPVC, frameless glass as well brick or stone for any walls
• Glass: type and spec, fully glazed structure, part glazed, number of opening windows and doors
• Design elements: Lantern roof, skylights, bi-fold doors, dwarf walls
• Finish: Painted, stained, coated, glass protection
• Heating and electrical work
• Hardware: Door handles, window latches, finials, fixtures and fittings, plug sockets
• Whether the extension will be open to the main house or accessed via doors
• Internal finishes: painting and decoration, tiles, blinds, shutters, lighting etc.
• The intended room functions: kitchen, dining room, lounge, gym, office, playroom etc.

All of these variables will determine your final costs.  If you need to keep your budget on the lower end of the scale, you should identify which areas of the design are most important to you, so that when you start designing and choosing options you know where you want to prioritise your budget and where you are happy to compromise to reduce costs. When it comes to getting quotes and comparing costs of different companies, you can only really do a true comparison when you have the full breakdown of costs for the exact same specification and the companies have visited your property, measured up and ideally done a full site survey.  If this hasn’t happened before choosing a supplier you could agree to a much cheaper package on your conservatory, but then find you need extensive groundwork to be completed and these costs could be much higher in the end.

Planning your glass extension

Before discussing your potential extension project with suppliers, you need to write down exactly what you want to achieve in terms of space and functions with your conservatory. It is also wise to work out your available budget, and your must-have requirements, and perhaps get together some examples of styles you like from magazines, Pinterest or the supplier’s website to give you a good starting point. Then begin reaching out to companies to get quotes and discuss the options.

All Room Outsides conservatories, orangeries and glass extensions are fully bespoke; designed and custom-built to the highest quality and specification based on your property, your needs, and requirements, as well as your individual taste and style preferences. Our service is a one-stop-shop offering everything from the design, help with planning permission if required, groundwork, build, supply of materials, installation of our specialist temperature-controlled New Generation Glass, as well as internal painting and decorating and supply of the finishing touches if required.

Don’t try and navigate the options on your own, contact us to discuss your project further via a no-obligation phone call, virtual or socially distanced meeting with one of our specialist designers for more advice, inspiration, and a quotation.