Replacing Your Old Conservatory: Every Option, From a Refresh to a Rebuild
Updated: Oct 9
Old conservatories almost always end up the same way: too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and full of bikes and boxes. You stop using the room and start wondering whether to replace it altogether. You have more options than knocking it down, but some of the popular fixes do not solve the real problem. Here is what each option involves, what it fixes and roughly what it costs, based on the conservatories we upgrade and remove across Berkshire.
What are your options when replacing an old conservatory?
For most homeowners, it comes down to three choices. You can upgrade the existing conservatory, usually by replacing the roof, so the room works all year. You can replace it with an extension built to the same standard as the house. Or you can remove it and get the garden back. Cosmetic fixes alone rarely solve the heat, cold and noise.
Which route makes sense depends on the state of the frame and base, and what you want the room to do. Most of the conservatories we see are structurally fine and only let down by the roof, which is why upgrading is the route most of our customers take.
Ways to upgrade an old conservatory
In rough order from cheapest to most expensive, these are the options:
Refresh the inside. New flooring, paint, blinds and furnishings. It looks better but will not change the temperature or the noise.
Add solar control film. Cuts glare and heat through the glass in summer, but does nothing for heat loss in winter.
Replace the windows and doors. Modern glazing in the side panels improves insulation a little, and makes sense if the existing units have failed.
Replace the roof. Swapping a polycarbonate or glass roof for an insulated warm roof is the single biggest upgrade for year-round comfort.
Convert it to an orangery style. Adding solid pillars and a part-solid roof makes it look more like an extension. Planning permission may apply.
Replace it with an extension. Take the conservatory down and build a fully insulated room with proper foundations and walls.
Remove it completely. Take it down and return the footprint to patio or garden.
The first three are cosmetic or partial fixes. The middle options keep a room in some form. The last one gets rid of it altogether.
Replacing the conservatory roof
Most of the summer heat comes in through the roof, and most of the winter heat goes out through it. Fix the roof and you change how the room performs in every season.
Our conservatory roof replacement uses a warm roof system from Warmer Room, a UK manufacturer: insulated panels, a lightweight tiled finish outside and a plastered ceiling inside. The existing frame, base, doors and windows stay where they are. Once it is done:
The room holds its temperature in winter without the heating on full blast
It stays bearable in midsummer rather than turning into a greenhouse
Heavy rain no longer sounds like a drum kit
The structure is covered by a 25-year guarantee
Swapping a translucent roof for a solid one needs Building Regulations approval. LABC confirms a solid roof replacement needs an application, so factor that in from the start.
Replacing the windows and doors
If the side units are misted, draughty or failing to lock, replacing the windows is worth doing. On its own, though, it will not fix an old polycarbonate or single-glazed roof. If the roof is the problem, sort that first, or do both together.
Can you renovate a conservatory without replacing it?
Yes, if the frame and base are sound. A conservatory renovation can be anything from a cosmetic refresh to a new roof and glazing. The honest limit is that cosmetic work changes how the room looks, not how it feels. If the room is unusable for half the year, a refresh will not change that, and a new roof usually will.
Before you spend anything, check the structure. Surface wear is fine. A leaning frame, cracked dwarf walls or a sagging roof line is a different conversation, and money spent on the inside will not fix it.
Replacing your old conservatory with an extension
If you want a room that is fully part of the house, open to the kitchen or living room and comfortable every day of the year, an extension is the better answer. We replace conservatories with timber frame extensions built to the same insulation and structural standards as the rest of the home.
It is a bigger job than a roof replacement, with new foundations, Building Regulations approval and sometimes planning permission. We cover the process and the rules in our guide to replacing a conservatory with an extension.
When removing the conservatory is the better option
Sometimes a conservatory has had its day and upgrading it does not make sense. The most common reasons people ask us to take one down:
The frame or base is in poor structural shape and not worth saving
It blocks light into the rest of the house
You want the garden space back
It is making way for an extension or garden room
The room has never worked with the layout of the house
Our conservatory removal service covers dismantling, disposal of the materials and tidying the footprint back to patio or garden.
How much does each option cost?
Rough ballpark figures to set expectations. Actual prices depend on size, access and specification:
Cosmetic refresh: a few hundred to a couple of thousand pounds
Solar control film: £300 to £800
Replacement windows and doors: £2,000 to £6,000
Warm roof replacement: £8,000 to £15,000
Orangery-style conversion: £10,000 to £30,000 or more
Conservatory removal: £1,000 to £5,000
Replacing the conservatory with an extension sits well above all of these, because you are building a new room from the foundations up. A warm roof replacement costs a fraction of that, which is a big part of why it is the most popular choice.
How to decide what to do with your old conservatory
Three questions usually settle it:
Is the frame and base sound? If yes, upgrading is on the table. If not, it is replacement or removal.
What do you want from the room? A bright spot to sit in summer might only need blinds and a tidy-up. A usable room all year needs a new roof or an extension.
Is it adding to your home or dragging it down? A tired 1990s conservatory can put buyers off. A well-finished, warm-roofed one that looks like a proper room adds appeal.
Talk to us about your old conservatory
We're a family-run firm based in Reading covering Berkshire and the bordering areas. Whether you'd like a conservatory roof replacement in Henley-on-Thames, Slough, Maidenhead or anywhere nearby, or you've decided the whole thing needs to go, we'll come out and give you an honest opinion on what's worth doing.
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