mahogany of plastic conservatory ?

[fred]

SWMBO insisted 12 years ago on getting a mahogany framed conservatory. Maho gany my arse. "Philippines Mahogany". The sort you can sink a thumbnail int o. The inevitable has happened. A combination of bad design and poor constr uction now means the base plate has rotted away.

I'm hearing mutterings about replacing it. Now that I know the pitfalls of hardwood construction what are the expected problems with a plastic frame ? What should be specified ? What details would I need to watch out for ? An y other tips from those with experience of these things ?

[Roger Mills]

Mahogany my arse. "Philippines Mahogany". The sort you can sink a thumbnail into. The inevitable has happened. A combination of bad design and poor construction now means the base plate has rotted away.

hardwood construction what are the expected problems with a plastic frame ? What should be specified ? What details would I need to watch out for ? Any other tips from those with experience of these things ?

We've had a Victorian-style uPVC conservatory for 24 years, and it's still going strong.

You need steel inserts inside strategic parts of the uPVC sections to stiffen them up, and you may need high-level steel lateral tie rod(s) to stop the sides bowing under snow loading, etc. - but they needn't be intrusive.

Ours is white, but you can now get brown uPVC with a wood-grain effect, which looks tolerably like wood unless you look closely. In one or two cases, I've only been able to tell by looking to see how the joints are made. Welded mitre joints are a giveaway!

[Frank Erskine]

I didn't think the Victorians _had_ PVC, let alone uPVC.

[fred]

Mahogany my arse. "Philippines Mahogany". The sort you can sink a thumbnail into. The inevitable has happened. A combination of bad design and poor co nstruction now means the base plate has rotted away.

of hardwood construction what are the expected problems with a plastic fra me ? What should be specified ? What details would I need to watch out for ? Any other tips from those with experience of these things ?

Thanks Roger. That gives me something to go on. I've no wish to get involve d with cowboys but sometimes they are well disguised so its useful to have some prior knowledge

[Roger Mills]

I don't recall saying that they did! "Style" implies appearance rather than precise construction method and materials used.