Changing A Conservatory Roof To Slate, What to Watch Out For

Conservatory roofs have a typical life span of 25 years after which they can be upgraded or replaced. Conservatory Designs are known as the specialists in this field with a dedicated team now full time employed at the Conservatory Roof Refurbishment division. While the task may appear simple, there are many pitfalls to watch out for. In this article, Peter Clarke outlines the key things to understand before you undertake the task.

Firstly you are increasing the weight of the conservatory roof, you need to be sure that the frames and the base work is able to carry this additional load. Check for cracking or failure of the existing base walls, if there has been settlement it may be wise not to increase the weight bearing on the foundation.

Check the rigidity of the frames, frames may have no reinforcing, some reinforcing or may be fully reinforced, this can be checked by removing some of the side glazing and checking for screws which would hold the reinforcing in place. Our surveying team will be happy to do this for you.

A significant amount of heat is lost through an old conservatory roof, but not all of the heat. Converting your conservatory roof to a sunroom will significantly increase the temperature in the winter months, however the floor and walls may not have insulation and therefore may remain cold. This is difficult to check without actually opening holes but it is important to be aware of possible problem. If we built your original conservatory then it will be insulated, not to current standards but insulated all the same.

A new conservatory slate roof while insulated may not be as warm as you expect if not constructed correctly, we make our sunroom roofs airtight by employing a professional spray-foam company who sprays the insulation to the underside of the roof ensuring a draught-free warm room. However if your insulation is installed using an insulated board fitted between the rafters, there may be gaps which will allow heat out and draughts in, spray foam eliminates this

Here is an example of a recent Conservatory roof conversion we carried out, this was a conservatory we installed in the 90’s

We removed the old roof and installed a new slate roof with three roof windows

We used a light weight slate to reduce the loading on the window frames

Be careful of natural light. Many of the companies offering conservatory roof conversions are in a race to the cheapest price with little regard to what will work best for the customer, in this job we installed three roof lights to maximise the light to the inside room, one to the left to catch the morning sun and 2 to the right to take advantage of afternoon and evening sun.

Finally remember there is a multitude of roof coverings available from the cheapest metal sheet used to barns to the high quality slate effect we use. the cheaper lighter roofs will drive you mad with the noise of the rain hammering on it.

For more information on converting your conservatory roof to a sunroom or slate roof why not give our expert team a ring for some advice and a quotation on 045 844002