If your home seems to be running out of space as your household – and, consequently, its demands – grow, you might be contemplating getting a house extension or conservatory. This would be especially understandable if you live in London, where moving home can be a very expensive endeavour.
The good news is that either an extension or a conservatory would add more space – practically a whole new room, in fact – to your current residence. You could also install doors – such as sliding or bi-fold doors – that would let you easily access the room as and when you see fit.
However, this is largely where the similarities between a house extension and a conservatory would end, as the two otherwise significantly differ in form. This discrepancy has implications for how each of the two spaces can be used and thus which of them you should choose for your own home.
One of the main differences is the materials used in their structures – as, while many conservatories are at least 75% glazing, extensions tend to be made predominantly of solid brickwork or concrete. Nonetheless, with a conservatory, you would still have the option of a solid or tiled roof in place of the largely glazed roof that customarily features on this kind of structure.
Extensions are much more varied in their build than conservatories, as the former can incorporate not only glazing but also solid walls, doors and cavity insulation. As a result, extensions are also more demanding to build – which is why, if you establish that an extension would be the better fit for your needs, you could benefit immensely from arranging for seasoned professionals to design and assemble it.
As glazing accounts for a huge proportion of a conservatory, this structure can work especially well at allowing natural light to shine abundantly into your home, thereby enabling you to save significantly on your energy bills. However, glazing isn’t exactly the best insulator.
For this reason, conservatories are notorious for their relative inability to keep heat inside the property. Too often with a conservatory, you could casually enter it only to feel too chilly during the winter months or sweltering when the outside temperatures are high.
A house extension, on the other hand, is often capable of regulating temperature much more effectively. This is largely because of the structure’s solid walls, which would also give you the option of fitting cavity wall insulation to even further limit the amount of heat likely to escape.
You can choose from many different designs for a conservatory, including such traditional designs as Victorian and Edwardian. If you fancied a more modern-looking conservatory, you could consider a lean-to conservatory – a relatively compact and squared-off unit with a flat roof.
However, there remains even greater scope for customisation with a house extension. For example, you could have a bigger say over what types of door and window you choose for that space – and an extension can afford you more privacy more easily than a conservatory typically would.
If you indeed live in London and you have a few ideas for what you would like to see included in an extension to your residential property, we invite you to get in touch with us to book a free, phone-based consultation.
It’s easy to get in touch with us to discuss your ideas for how you would like to develop a property with our expert assistance.
