Building a self build conservatory is really quite a straight-forward task and if you are a competent DIY enthusiast you will find adding a new conservatory to your home is relatively simple and not as daunting as it may first appear.
The following is designed to provide a general handbook to the process of installing a new DIY conservatory and whilst not intended to be a detailed construction handbook should provide you with the basics.
1) CONSERVATORY BASE
You have two choices with regard to the type of conservatory base. You can either select a traditional excavated base or you can use a pre-fabricated steel base which will speed up the installation process.
Traditional Base
If you choose the traditional base route you may prefer to use a local builder to build the base for you as the accuracy of the brickwork is vital in ensuring that your new conservatory can be installed easily and efficiently. Your DIY conservatory supplier will provide you with the base diplomacy to suit your selected conservatory and the base must be constructed exactly to these diplomacy. Using an experienced builder to build the base should make sure that the base is built square, to the right dimensions and that the footings are excavated correctly. If drains need to be re-routed your builder will have the necessary experience to do this for you all through the course of construction. Always agree the cost before work commences and make sure you check the base yourself when the builder has refined to make sure you are pleased with the refined result. It can be hard to get a builder back on site once he has went onto his next job and any discrepancies in the brickwork could cause problems all through the conservatory installation.
Of course you can construct the traditional base yourself and many of our customers have done so but it is time-consuming and very hard work so the savings you will make here by responsibility-it-yourself will need to be justified against the amount of free time you have to do the job and your expertise in building the foundations and laying bricks.
Steel Base
Installing a pre-fabricated steel base is much quicker and simpler than constructing a traditional base as there are no large excavations to undertake so there is minimum disruption to your garden and no need to go any drains. These bases are naturally made to order, delivered in kit form and are quite straight-forward to install by two persons over a couple of days or so. If your conservatory features dwarf walls, these will naturally be provided as steel cassettes with a variety of external finishes including brick tiles or alternatively, supplied ready for rendering. The base itself is fixed to the wall of the house and sits on adjustable legs that are seated onto concrete pads making it very simple to level the floor which will naturally be supplied with insulation and often comes complete with carpet. A steel base can be a cost effective alternative base for your new self build conservatory, especially when you compare construction times and the fact that there is small disruption to your garden. Once completed, these factory built conservatory bases are often very hard to tell apart from a traditional constructed base. You could even take the conservatory with you when you go house!
2) INSTALLING YOUR NEW DIY CONSERVATORY
Most DIY conservatories are supplied complete with installation instructions that are designed for the novice installer and will cover fixing the walls of the conservatory, installing the conservatory roof and glazing the conservatory structure.
In general terms these instructions will walk you through fixing the French door, the welded cill, the conservatory windows, the corner posts and the conservatory roof. The most vital factor to continually check when installing any conservatory is to make sure the frames and cill remain utterly and level throughout the construction. All screw fixings and their positions should be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the DIY conservatory supplier.
The roof structure will include an eaves beam that will sit on top of the window and door frames, a ridge beam or wall plate that will be fixed to your house wall and glazing bars that will connect between the ridge or wall plate and eaves beam. All components should be supplied factory cut, marked and pre-drilled ready for fitting and apart from trimming the guttering to size there should be no need for you to cut any of the roof components. The roof layout plot will enable you to identify which component and which glazing panel should be fitted in which position. Where the conservatory joins the house you will need to fit lead flashing to form a weatherproof seal.
3) FINISHING THE CONSERVATORY INSTALLATION
With the conservatory walls and roof installed your next task will be to glaze the roof. If you have chosen polycarbonate roof glazing this is a relatively simple task and involves placing the glazing into position and knocking on the PVCu cappings to form a weather tight seal. The roof plot will indicate the required position of each panel. If you have chosen a glass roof the process will take longer due to the additional weight and nature of the material.
Budget DIY conservatories may be supplied with the windows and door factory glazed but made to order conservatories are commonly supplied with windows and doors unglazed. Not only does this help to make sure that glass is not broken all through the installation process but the windows are commonly supplied much longer to provide slimmer sightlines and there could be shape and safety issues if the frames were supplied glazed due to the considerable weight of a glazed window.
Most windows and doors are now internally beaded using a “knock-in” glazing bead and the glazing process should become relatively simple once you have glazed a couple of apertures. Glazing packers are used to support and pack the glass so it is square in the aperture and the glazing bead is knocked into place using a rubber mallet. If you are glazing all through cold weather it is a excellent thought to emerse the glazing bead in warm water which will help make the bead more bendable and simpler to position. Your installation handbook will detail the exact process used.
Finally, silicone sealant will need to be applied to all joints in accordance with your installation handbook and the internal PVCu trims will need to be fitted to the roof eaves beam, ridge beam and glazing bars.
Your new self build conservatory should now be structurally complete and weather tight ready for the dying internal touches.
You will find much more information on installing a
DIY conservatory here or for detailed information on the
alternative base here
