putting a ceiling in a conservatory

Remove the DG glass units and substitute insulated panels?

Not to mention the trapped heat above it of course.

It really depends on whether the actual framework is up to the job and if it has get attable fixing points. Brian

Have you calculated the heat loss through the roof versus the heat loss through the sides?

Bill

If it's no longer letting light through, your local authority may no longer class it as a conservatory, in which case it would probably need different planning permission than it originally had. The only absolute requirement to make something a conservatory is that it must have an external grade or insulated door separating it from the house and any heating in it must be separately controlled from the rest of the house. Above this (such as glazing requirements), it's up to each local authority to decide if something is a conservatory or not.

In England and Wales at least , that rule has changed - ie is not longer relevant.

Here:

The requirement for x % to be glazed was dropped not to long ago (cannot recall how many years, not many IIRC).

And my neighbours insulated their conservatory roof without issues.

I'm assuming that you have a glass or plastic roof which you would also want to replace with something opaque so that the insulation would not show from the outside?

What you *can't* do is replace a lightweight roof with conventional concrete tiles - they're far too heavy for the structure. *But* there are a number of firms which specialise in providing lightweight tiled roofs - using thin metal tiles with a coloured textured finish to look like real tiles.

If you Google for "lightweight tiled roof for conservatory" you'll get quite a few hits.

One of the companies (can't remember which now) sometimes advertises in one of the free advertising magazines which drop through our letterbox. We invited them to quote for converting our 12' x 12' Victorian conservatory. What they were offering looked quite impressive - removing the complete existing roof and building a lightweight aluminium structure on top of the walls - with plasterboard on the inside, faux tiles on the outside and rigid foam insulation between. From memory, I think they were planning to preserve the existing "cathedral roof" shape rather than just installing a horizontal ceiling.

In the end, we didn't go ahead because the cost was more than we wanted to spend on a 25-year-old uPVC conservatory which may not have all that many years left in it. But it may be the type of thing which you need to look at.

It's not necessary - the insulation can be covered with a thin white uPVC sheet or just painted.

I can see the insulation through the neighbour's conservator roof, but it just looks opaque - I agree, seeing the words "Celotex" or whatever would look a bit tacky...

Another option...

Quite, you'd need something more classy like 'reject.'

NT

/Roger Mills

- show quoted text - I'm assuming that you have a glass or plastic roof which you would also want to replace with something opaque so that the insulation would not show from the outside?

What you *can't* do is replace a lightweight roof with conventional concrete tiles - they're far too heavy for the structure. *But* there are a number of firms which specialise in providing lightweight tiled roofs - using thin metal tiles with a coloured textured finish to look like real tiles.

If you Google for "lightweight tiled roof for conservatory" you'll get quite a few hits.

One of the companies (can't remember which now) sometimes advertises in one of the free advertising magazines which drop through our letterbox. We invited them to quote for converting our 12' x 12' Victorian conservatory. What they were offering looked quite impressive - removing the complete existing roof and building a lightweight aluminium structure on top of the walls - with plasterboard on the inside, faux tiles on the outside and rigid foam insulation between. From memory, I think they were planning to preserve the existing "cathedral roof" shape rather than just installing a horizontal ceiling.

In the end, we didn't go ahead because the cost was more than we wanted to spend on a 25-year-old uPVC conservatory which may not have all that many years left in it. But it may be the type of thing which you need to look at./q

The idea was to retain the polycarbonate multiwall roof, not replace it. As others have pointed out rigid insulation can be painted to ease 'disguis e' when viewed from above.

On balance I'll think again, the risk of overloading the plastic structure and/or potential condensation problems in the 'roofspace' so formed are rat her off putting. Also the lifespan of the polycarb roof is finite & I expec t when it does eventually fail the mess created would be memorable...

Thanks all

Jim K

I saw a van today indicating they were a specialist in doing this very thing. Whether that means their product was any good is, of course, another matter. I wouldn't for a moment suggest getting such a person in to quote, picking his brains about how it would be done, then deciding it would be a job you would do yourself......