Outdoor SunSpaces News

Adding a conservatory to your home is a big investment. It costs a lot of money - tens of thousands of pounds - plus the building work will likely mean weeks of noise and disruption for your household.

Of course, you may feel that the results justify these sacrifices, but before you start planning your new conservatory, you may want to consider a streamlined glass sunroom as a possible alternative.

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If you're thinking about putting your house on the market, you'll want to make sure it's in the best possible condition. Ther's a lot of competition on the housing market and obvious problems, dirt and general dis-organisation will really put potential buyers off. Here are a few things you can do to prepare your house for sale:

Cleaning

Before you have photos taken of your house, or before you have people come to look round, it's important that you give your home a deep clean. This means, tidying away any children's toys, piles of documents, toiletries and shoes. Windows and surfaces should be wiped to remove dust and sticky hand-prints. 

As part of your cleaning process, we'd recommend removing most of your 'family' items, including photos and children's drawings. Remember, the person viewing your home needs to be able to imagine living there, which can be tricky if the home is clearly yours. Stripping the house back and depersonalising it makes it easier for people to see it's potential!

Small details

People notice when you've put effort into every detail of your home. Spending the time to freshen up the decor, invest in some eye-catching pieces and create focal points can catch people's eye and spark their interest. We'd generally recommend sticking to neutral tones rather than bright pops of colour as this can distract from the beauty of your home.

Improve kerb appeal

If you pop a 'for sale' sign in the front garden, then it's important that your home gives a good first impression. This means it needs lots of kerb appeal! One of the ways you can improve your house's curb appeal is to add a SunSpaces garden room or veranda.

These striking structures are sure to make your house stand out! You should also make sure your lawns are in good condition, weeds have been removed and that the front of your house looks inviting. This is the first thing people will see when they arrive at your property so you want to make a good impression. 

Expand living space

If you want to maximise the profit you can make on your home you should consider expanding the living space inside. This might include, converting the loft into an additional bedroom, adding an extra bathroom or en-suite or adding a deck, patio or sunroom outside. 

Investing a bit of extra money in your home at this stage can really increase its value when it comes to putting it on the market. We do a lot of work with people who are preparing their houses for sale because people understand the benefit of adding that additional space.

As you know, the weather here in the UK can be very temperamental so homeowners can be put off by large gardens with minimal features. For some people, this just looks like extra work that they won't really be able to enjoy for most of the year. By adding a SunSpace, potential buyers will see that they can use the garden all year round and will be more inclined to put an offer in. 

So, if you're preparing your house for sale, you might want to take note of a few of these hints and tips. If you're interested in adding a SunSpace before putting your house on the market, get in touch with our sales team now - 01727 845 788.

Over recent years, more and more households up and down the country have added a sunroom to their property with the aim of combining their outdoor space with the indoors. As well as this, sunrooms bring a host of other fantastic benefits such as providing extra space and adding greater value to your property. For these reasons, it comes as no surprise that more homes are seeing the introduction of sunrooms, rather than conservatories, which have been the go-to for UK homes over the last 20 years. 

Despite the popularity of conservatories, one of the biggest drawbacks that they bring during the warmer, summer months is overheating, another reason why more homeowners are switching to sunrooms. Now, we're not saying that sunrooms do not get hot during the summer, they do, we are just saying that they are far less likely to turn into a walk-in oven that's attached to your home. However, if we are lucky enough to get a sustained period of warm weather in the UK, you may feel the temperature beginning to rise within your sunroom, something you might want to avoid if you or your family spend the majority of your time there getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

So, what can you do lower the temperature? Here we present you with five simple ways to keep your sunroom cool in the summer! 

Insulate, insulate, insulate 

As sunrooms are often added to homes after the home is initially built, homeowners tend to forget to insulate them which can lead to increased temperatures during the summer. Therefore, an easy way to keep your sunroom cool during hot periods of weather is to add proper insulation. One great way to insulate your sunroom is to add multi-foil insulation. This acts as a vapour-controlled insulation blanket that will not only keep your sunroom cool in the summer but warm in the winter. It also helps to prevent damp, reduce glare and minimise the risk of the fading of your furnishings as a result of extensive exposure to the sun. 

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Our range of verandas and garden rooms are available to order with a variety of customisable options. From sound, heating, locking doors and gutter options, with SunSpaces you are truly able to make your veranda or garden room your own.

One of the main options available, however, is the material of the roof. Choose from either glass or polycarbonate, but which is better? Here we take a look at the two materials, providing the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Glass Roofs

Advantages:

• Glass roof provide ideal acoustic properties, meaning less noise will be made during heavy rainfall
• Completely clear material results in great opportunities to gaze outside at the stars at night and birds in the day
• Clean, polished appearance brings a classy look to the property

Disadvantages:

• Potential safety risk if panels are not of a good enough quality
• Little to no UV protection
• Sometimes slightly costlier

Polycarbonate Roofs

Advantages:

• Life expectancy of up to 25 years
• Cost-effective option
• Very high impact resistance
• Available in a variety of clarity options
• High UV protection
• Excellent structural performance
• Maintains strength and colour over a long period of time
• Resistance to all weather conditions
• Self-extinguishing qualities

Disadvantages:

• Unlike a glass roof, you are not able to have a clear view of the sky unless a solid polycarbonate is used
• Poor acoustic properties – quite noisy during heavy rainfall

The main points

The roof of your garden room or veranda is its most important feature. It keeps the structure together as well as protecting it from rain, wind and snow. But with different material options available, it can become quite difficult to choose the right one. Above we have listed some of the main advantages and disadvantages when it comes to polycarbonate vs glass roofs, but a few of these stand out more than others, so let’s take a deeper look!

Sounds Insulation

If you’ve ever been under a polycarbonate roof during heavy rainfall, you’ll definitely be familiar with the loud thudding and sometimes unbearable noises that occur. Unfortunately, this is enough to put the majority of homeowners off as a veranda and garden room is a place where people want to sit back and relax, not listen to loud and annoying noises. Being interrupted with the loud thudding of rain and the howling wind is the last thing you want, therefore, if a peaceful space is something you’re interested, a glass roof is definitely the choice for you.

Aesthetics

Glass roofs enable light to fill your garden room as well as providing beautiful views that you can use to gaze at the sky and surroundings during both day and night. Its classier appearance enables structures to look more prestige, perfect for homeowners looking to create a property that stands out. Polycarbonate roofs, on the other hand, are often translucent so not completely clear and do not offer the same look like glass.

Maintenance

Glass roofs often use an easy clean coating which repels dirt fantastically. The provides a clean-looking roof that doesn’t require much effort to keep looking good. Polycarbonate roofs sometimes do not offer this level of low-maintenance and require some level of upkeep to remove dirt and moss.   

And there you have it – our polycarbonate vs glass roof comparison! Here at SunSpaces, we offer both glass and polycarbonate roof options for our range of verandas and garden rooms. However, our selection of polycarbonate and glass roofs are made of the very best materials, meaning the differences between the two are very slight and ultimately come down personal preference.

For more information on our polycarbonate and glass roofs, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of the SunSpaces team today by calling 01727 845 788 or emailing info@sunspaces.co.uk

For many people in the UK, a sunroom and conservatory are the same things, often mistaken for one another. The names are used interchangeably, without ever realising that they are in fact two totally different structures that contain distinct differences.

One thing that the two do have in common, however, is the fact that they are both structures added onto a property, designed to soak up the sun whenever possible. Homeowners that have either of these attached to their property can look forward to a beautiful summer's day in peace and quiet.

So, what exactly makes a sunroom and conservatory different? Let's take a look!

Length of Use

Conservatories are well known for their seasonality, meaning the times of the year they are typically used. Conservatories tend to become incredibly cold during the winter months, which can make it difficult to relax! In the summer, on the other hand, a conservatory can become extremely hot due to high exposure levels to the sun.

Sunrooms, however, are suitable for use from March until early October.

Materials

Another difference between a sunroom and conservatory is the materials that are used when building them. A conservatory tends to be made of UVPC and glass windows, or a brick base and glass windows with a polycarbonate/glass roof, meaning you typically only benefit from the top half of the structure being made of glass.

A sunroom, on the other hand, is typically made entirely of glass – from the glass door panels all the way up to the glass roof. The roof of a sunroom is typically manufactured from glass and is solid, offering increased protection from the sun.

Consent & Speed of Assembly

The final difference between a sunroom and conservatory is the process that you need to follow in order for it to be built and attached to your home. If your sunroom or conservatory exceeds a certain size, it will require planning permission from your local council*.

Neither option is cheap either when built from the ground up. A great way that you can avoid the problems and drama of planning permission and building from scratch is purchasing a ready-built structure that you can attach straight onto your home.

These ready-made structures mostly* eliminate the need to gain planning ​permission (*in most circumstances – speak to a representative to ensure no planning permission is required) ) and your home turning into a building site for a couple of months – and you can get one right here!

But by far the biggest benefit of adding a sunroom over a conservatory is the speed of assembly. A typical veranda can be installed in 1-2 days, with a garden room typically being installed in 3-4 working days!

There you have it, the main differences between a sunroom and conservatory. If you're thinking about adding one of these structures onto your property, we hope this blog helps to inform your decision. But if you're asking us, a sunroom is definitely the way to go. The ability to use it year-round and add amazing customisable options makes it a no-brainer.

Don't just take our word for it...

One of our previous clients has moved from a home with a SunSpaces sunroom to a home with a conservatory, she got in touch and said:

"We had one of your sunrooms built onto our old house and it was fantastic. The best thing we ever purchased. We have a conservatory on our new house and we hate it. It's so old fashioned and dated. Would love to remove it but not an option at the moment. We can’t understand anyone purchasing a conservatory anymore when they could have an amazing sunroom design. Stunning!"

For more information on our range of sunrooms, be sure to get in touch with a member of the SunSpaces team today or request an instant, free quote!

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