Conservatories · Leeds
Conservatories in Leeds.
A proper room off the back of the house, built to be used all year – not a glass box you shut the door on in November.
- 10-year guarantee
- James - 20+ years on the tools
What you get
A base and a dwarf wall built square and level, because everything above them depends on it. Frames that stay true. Sealed double glazing, with safety glass where the regulations ask for it. A roof chosen for how you actually want to use the room. Doors onto the garden, and the making good afterwards. Fitted by our own team, and covered by our 10-year guarantee.
A conservatory, or an extension?
They are different jobs and it is worth knowing which one you want before you price it. A conservatory is mostly glass, sits on its own base, keeps the existing back doors as the divide between it and the house, and is normally exempt from Building Regulations. An extension is part of the house, needs those regulations, and costs accordingly.
The moment you knock the wall through, or heat it off the house system, or push past 30 square metres, it stops being the first thing and becomes the second. Neither is better. But being sold one and getting the paperwork of the other is how people end up stuck, so we will say plainly which you are looking at.
The part most quotes skip
The base. It is under the floor, nobody sees it, and it is the single easiest place for a cheap quote to be cheap. Old Leeds gardens have drains, soft ground, made-up levels and the odd buried surprise, and a base that is not right takes the frames out of square, which shows up later as doors that will not shut and glass that will not seal.
When you compare written quotes, look for what each one says about the base and the dwarf wall, not just the glazing. If a quote is quiet about it, ring James and read it out to him. He will tell you straight what it does and does not include.
| Feature | Polycarbonate | Glass | Solid or part-solid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warmth in winter | Poor | Good with a modern coated unit | Best |
| Heat in summer | Gets very hot | Controlled by the coating | Coolest |
| Noise in heavy rain | Loud | Quiet | Quietest |
| Daylight into the room | High | High | Reduced, or kept with roof glazing |
| Usually the deciding factor | Budget | Year-round use | Wanting a room, not a sunroom |
The questions we hear most
Do I need planning permission for a conservatory in Leeds?
Usually not. Most conservatories go up under permitted development, which is the allowance that lets you extend without a full application. It has limits – how far it comes off the back, how tall it is, how much of the garden it covers, and it cannot come forward of the front of the house.
The limits change if you live in a conservation area, if the house is listed, or if permitted development has already been used up by a previous extension. Leeds City Council is the authority either way. We will tell you at the survey which side of the line your job looks like it falls, and when it is worth a call to the council before anything is ordered.
Do conservatories need Building Regulations approval?
As a rule a conservatory is exempt, and the exemption is what makes it cheaper than an extension. It applies when the room is at ground level, under 30 square metres of floor, separated from the house by the external-quality doors or windows that were already there, heated on its own controls rather than off the house system, and glazed to the safety requirements in the low and vulnerable spots.
Break one of those and it stops being exempt and becomes an extension in the eyes of the regulations, which is a different job at a different price. Any electrical work still has to comply whichever way it goes. This is the single thing most worth settling before you order, and it is settled at the survey.
Can you actually use a conservatory in winter?
That depends almost entirely on the roof, and it is where the cheap ones fall down. A thin polycarbonate roof loses heat all winter and drums in the rain. Modern sealed glass with a coating on it holds far more warmth in and keeps the summer sun out, and a solid or part-solid roof turns the room into something much closer to the rest of the house.
The frames and the base matter too, but the roof is the decision that settles whether you use the room in February or shut the door on it. Tell James what you want the room for and he will tell you straight which roof gets you there.
How long does a conservatory take to build?
Longer than a window job and shorter than an extension. The base and the dwarf wall come first and have to be right before anything glazed arrives, then the frames, then the roof, then the doors and the making good.
We will give you the run of it in writing with the quote, in the order it happens, so you know which week the garden is a building site and which week you get it back. If the ground throws up a surprise – and old Leeds gardens do – you hear about it from us the day we find it, not at the end.
"The team worked hard and efficiently with minimal disruption."
Straight answers
Built on a proper base. Roofed for the room you want. Fitted by our own team.
- Our own fitters, not subcontractors The people who measure up stand behind the work
- The base costed, not glossed over It is in the written quote either way
- 10-year guarantee Carried by every installation
What does it cost?
Every garden and every back wall is different, so we do not do list prices. We come out, measure, look at the ground, and give you an honest written figure with the base and the roof spelled out. No pressure, no chasing phone calls afterwards. Want to spread the cost? Finance is available.
Where we work
Based in Lower Wortley (LS12) and fitting across Leeds – Pudsey, Bramley, Armley, Kirkstall, Horsforth, Farsley, Stanningley, Calverley and Morley included. Thinking about the glazing on the rest of the house while the team is on site? Have a look at our uPVC windows and French doors too.
Fancy the back of the house opened up?
- 10-year guarantee
- James - 20+ years on the tools