Conservatory Base
Aesthetics
In most cases, it is important to ensure the conservatory or orangery seamlessly blends in with the existing building. Matching the masonry is an obvious, but often overlooked, way of doing this.
Boring it may sound, but brick libraries do exist! We have a number of connections with brick merchants and brick matchers to ensure we get the best available bricks for the job. In addition to matching the main brick, we would normally match any feature or detail bricks.
Insulation
Insulation is fitted in both the floor and walls. The exact specification will vary between jobs; but typically there is 75 to 100mm of Kingspan/Celotex type insulation under the screed in the cavity walls.
Foundations
The foundations are arguably the most important part of any building. Although conservatories are relatively lightweight structures, proper attention needs to be given to the type of foundations used.
For jobs where building regulations are required, the type and depth of foundations are determined using the NHBC’s foundations depth calculator and have to be inspected and approved by the building control.
In cases where building control approval is not necessary, we dig footings to a minimum of one metre depth, but deeper if required. Neither us nor the client want the expense of digging unnecessarily deep, however it is in both parties interests to ensure there are no future problems.
The ground conditions and presence of trees usually dictate the type of foundations required. The ground the local area varies between chalk and clay, with “Brownfield” sites requiring special consideration. The subject is far more complicated than can be dealt with here, but a brief summary is given below:
Conservatory Foundations in Chalk
Chalk is relatively firm and drains water away well. Nearby trees have no significant effect. Standard strip footings are most suitable as long as they are deep enough to be in solid chalk
Conservatory Foundations in Clay
Clay holds water and is susceptible to shrinkage as it dries and heaves as it gains moisture. Nearby trees can draw up moisture causing shrinkage leading to structural problems.
Conservatory Foundations in Brownfield sites
Many new houses are built on sites that were once used for another purpose, hospitals, airfields, factories or even schools. Generally these get levelled by the developers, houses built then the garden back-filled with rubble and covered in top soil.
Some areas of the site may be on virgin ground suitable for a strip footing, other gardens may contain a substantial depth of rubble.
Conservatory Piled Foundations
If the foundations need to be more than around two metres deep and the site is not suitable for a reasonable size digger, it becomes more economical to use piled foundations. Piles are very quick to install and save a lot of the mess and other potential problems associated with deep strip footings., such as trench collapse and water ingress.
We can use a highly portable rig in restricted access situations that will drive steel-cased piles deep into the ground, until they stop up at the required resistance. This is typically eight metres, though occasionally further. Depending on the difference between outside ground and inside floor levels, either e reinforced concrete slab or a reinforced concrete ground beam will sit on top of the piles.
It normally takes a day to drive the piles and a second day to concrete the piles and slab/ground beam. Where a ground beam is required, we would fit a beam and block suspended concrete floor.
