Improve your home with a conservatory (From Free Press Series)

Improve your home with a conservatory

There are many good reasons to invest in a conservatory. It will make your home bigger, fill it with light, enhance its value and make your home a more attractive proposition when you come to sell.

Another advantage of a conservatory is that it's very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways.

A conservatory kitchen extension, incorporating a dining area, is an increasingly popular choice. You'll need to work closely with the kitchen designer to ensure that it's properly planned as glass walls will limit where some units and appliances can be positioned.

If you go for a sunroom you'll want to lie back and relax in here, so make sure there's enough room for loungers.

A conservatory makes a great spot for a playroom as it leads straight out into the garden. Keep it uncluttered with low level storage units for toys - ones on castors are ideal.

If you decide to use your conservatory as a home office, the room needs to be kitted out properly, with sufficient space for a desk, chair, computer equipment and additional storage.

Check, too, that there are plenty of electrical sockets.

Probably the most common use for a conservatory is for a family room. You'll need comfy seating and a dining table and chairs if space allows.

Timber frames are fortunately becoming more affordable. Timber is hard-wearing, a good insulator and can be painted. However, it requires regular maintenance and needs to be re-sealed and re-painted from time to time to prevent rotting.

PVCU is strong, a good insulator, reasonably priced and requires virtually no maintenance.

However, colours are limited to white, which can discolour over time. It may also creak as it expands due to temperature changes.

Aluminium is strong, low maintenance and can support large panes of glass, so it's ideal for a large conservatory. But it's not as good an insulator as PVCu, and is prone to condensation.

Glass is an important consideration, too.

Double glazing will enable you to use your conservatory throughout the year, but if it's north or east-facing, you should choose a low emissivity glass such as Pilkington K, which lets sunlight in but reflects heat back into the room. For the roof, choose between glass or polycarbonate.

Glass costs more but lets in more light - try Ultraframe for a range of energy efficient roof glazing options.

There's usually only one obvious spot for a conservatory at the back of the house. It's also possible to build one at the side, or even on top of a flat roof at first floor level.

Go for the biggest you can afford, but you might be limited by the size of your garden or planning restrictions. Mark out the planned area with string or a hosepipe to get an idea of the size, and calculate the inside dimensions as well as the external ones so you know exactly how much space you have to play with.

The way it faces will affect how much sun it gets and how it's used. A south-facing conservatory gets plenty of sun, but can become far too hot during the summer. You'll need ventilation and blinds to reduce glare.

A west-facing room catches the afternoon and evening sun, so makes a great place to relax at the end of the day.

East-facing conservatories are sunny in the morning, and make good breakfast room. North-facing conservatories are the coldest as they get the least amount of sun, and will need heating for much of the year.