Your conservatory roof works hard than you can imagine. It does not necessarily just keep the rain out but controls temperature, amount of light and basically whether your conservatory is a usable room or a costly greenhouse.

Glass roofs are the classics not without a reason. They fill your area with a lot of natural daylight and offer you this fluid space between indoors and outdoors that makes conservatories so popular. The sky views are clear and they can transform even the smallest conservatory into a roomy and breezy location. The downside? In summer heat could make your lovely extension a sweat box and in winter nights could make you reach out to additional covers.

Polycarbonate: The Practical Option

Polycarbonate roofing present a compromise that would suit most people. It is lighter than glass, i.e. it puts fewer strains on your conservatory frame. The material also gives good insulation levels relative to that of single-glazed glass, so in the event that a football happens to fly over the fence, you are less likely to incur emergency roof damages.

The multiwall polycarbonate sheets sandwich air causing natural insulation. This amounts to improved climate control throughout the year. The hot summer afternoons become more-bearable, and your heating bills might thank you. The compromise is in lighting, polycarbonate does not produce the crystal glass clarity, making everything slightly blurred.

Tiled Roofs Change Everything

When you replace your roof with tiled roof, you entirely change the functionality of the conservatory. You lose that green house effect, and have a room which appears to be more of an extension of your house. The changes of temperatures will no longer be so sharp and the room will be comfortable all year round.

Tiled roofs introduce new opportunities of ventilating and lighting. Skylights may be installed where you need it and not where the whole roof is a giant window. Such fixtures as spotlights, ceiling fans become practical. This strong building is also about sound proofing, rain tapping on roof becomes light rain drops not roaring down.

The Insulation Game

The contemporary conservatory roofs have become very competent in terms of temperature control. The glass units in buildings are now double glazed with special coating giving reflection to the heat but light is still passed on through glass. Certain manufactures produce glass that is pre-shaded, which adapts to the amount of sun light.

Insulated roof panels can be retrofitted on conservatories without much structural modifications. These panels are usually of sandwiched, insulin, and an outer layer of some glass or polycarbonate panel. The effect is a roof that acts more like a normal house extension and still has some light advantages of conservatory.

Installation Reality Check

And it is not most people who are going to put a new conservatory roof up over a weekend. There are building regulations which come into consideration particularly when you want to change a lightweight material like polycarbonate and adopt a heavier one like tiles. Your current frame may require support in order to withstand the additional load.

When you are putting up a planning permission, you need to thing about where you are going to be located and what sort of changes you are going to be making. There are roof replacements that are under permitted development rights and there are those which require a complete planning permission. Before any construction is commenced your conservatory may require an evaluation by a structural engineer of the foundations and frame.

Cost Considerations That Matter

There is a huge disparity in the costs of roof replacement according to their size, materials and difficulty. A simple polycarbonate roof replacement is a couple of thousand pounds, whilst a complete tiled roof conversion and building alteration could be to the tune of several thousand pounds. The cost of labor that goes into it is usually higher than the cost of the materials used especially in the case of intricate installations.

Consider other expenses such as building control charges, structural surveys and possible foundation works. There are roof types that need special methods of installation which restricts your options of contractors. This will make obtaining several estimates very important but in order to compare prices fairly, it is worth knowing what exactly each contractor is giving you when they provide you with that price.

Living With Your Choice

The roof of your choice forms the personality of your conservatory. Glass roofs make spacious light areas that are open to the outside yet they have to be thoroughly thought of regarding blinds and ventilation. Polycarbonate stands as a reasonable middle equal that would suit most families and not constitute too big a blow to the budget.

Conservatories became rooms with tiled roofs and with many windows by accident. They perform superbly in home office, playrooms, or eating places where the choice to have temperature is preferred over utmost light. In most cases, the decision usually boils down to how you actually intend to make use of the space and not how you envision using the space.

The roof types vary substantially in terms of maintenance. Glass should be frequently cleaned; it should be kept clear and looking good. Polycarbonate may sometimes develop low clarity and may hardly need professional care. Tiled roofs should be treated like any other house roof, i.e. paying attention to loose tiles, gutters that need to be cleaned out and leakages.

The choice of a roof on your conservatory influences other factors such as the positioning of furniture as well as the heating system. Spend some time in pondering how you live on a day-to-day basis and how the space will operate in your daily life.