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DIY Conservatories

My very first experince of very cheap DIY conservatories was around 1990.I remember it very clearly because it made my shudder,literally.At the time I was working at UPVC window fabricator.A few months before I got my shudder,I'd sold an old guy,everone looks old to a 21 year old,some UPVC woodgrain bay pole,woodgrain UPVC transom section and woodgrain bead.

At the time he bought the sections, he did tell me that he was very experinced at making DIY conservatories, having made several before.I went to my then boss to ask how much to charge.My boss knew every price in his head of every UPVC section we bought and he obliged with calculator like rapidity.

'What he want to do with these sections?' He asked

'DIY conservatories,his an expert' I replied

'Is it for the Conservatory roof?' he asked

'Yes,his making his own roof' I replied innocently

MY boss, who was an engineer stormed out of the office and confronted our now astounded customer.

'You do realise, that you'll have to sign a disclaimer saying we don't reccomend theses sections for use on DIY conservatories' my boss said

'Er yes' the man replied.

So the deal was done and he paid his money.My boss walked away superoisuly muttering 'he will be back, mark my words'.

Yes, bosse's are often right and sure enough the man returned about 3 months later on a hot July day.

'I've built a few DIY conservatories but yours is different....it's making a funny noise and moving...' he muttered sheepishly.

'Would you please come and have a look?'

As it was local I said no problem,I'll follow you in the van.No need i'll take you and drop you back.His car was a brown Rolls Royce convertible that bit I remember well.We turned up to a very large detached house.

We went round the side and there was  the mother of all DIY conservatories.The spirit of British ingenuity shone through.This 'expert had made the conservatory roof from our UPVC sections.When we went inside the very hot conservatory.You could immediatley see the problem and in fact hear the problem.

The Conservatory roof was making a kind of ticking noise,similar to the creaking noise sinking ships make in disaster films.What's more the roof was actually moving.The heat inside the conservatory had caused the woodgrain profiles to expand the co-efficent of expansion must have been massive.

'What should I do' he said

Very assertively I replied 'Did you make that lovely Rolls Royce that ticks like a fine watch'

The man looked at me and said 'It wasn't a good idea was it?'

'No' I replied I'd hate to see the effect a foot of snow would have on the roof,It would probably collapse'

By now The man's wife,who had been present all along spoke.

'I bloody well told you not to do it!'

'Now how much is it going to cost to have a proper Conservatory roof made?'

I went back with a large deposit for a brown aluminium conservatory roof .You couldn't get it in mahogany back then, only brown.

The motto of this story is that when you are planning your DIY conservatories project.Check the specification carefully.Conservatory roofs differ greatly even in the 21st century and if you choose wrong you could end up paying twice.

DIY Conservatory Prices – what a minefield!

‘Well I’ll sell this DIY Conservatory for £1899 and I’ll make £200 profit not bad for a business ran from a kitchen table’ he laughed. This is what I heard when I visited a company selling DIY conservatories in December 2011 .Yes the individual does have a website and it looks ultra modern. But the reality is that if you get a DIY conservatory price from this firm this is what happens;

Firstly the ‘firm’ doesn’t manufacture anything. So they buy in your DIY conservatory. They start by faxing your sizes around a few, maybe up to eight, different trade conservatory manufacturers. This is done to get the lowest possible price. That may sound like good news and it is – for the firm ran from the Kitchen table but maybe not for you.

When I visited the firm mentioned above he waved ten DIY conservatory orders in my face and said

‘I like dealing with your firm, the quality is better but your £90 more expensive roughly than XXX can you match it?’

Now I can’t mention the name of XXX for legal reasons but I happened to know they are trading very close to the edge, as their behind with there NI and PAYE payments. Maybe they have three months before they cease to trade.

‘No I can’t match it. You know full well that the product from XXX is not a match on ours .You know what everyone is saying about them, are You sure they can even deliver the goods. Let alone give you a lasting guarantee.

‘Yeah I know but the saving to me is £900’

I was tempted to drop our price as January is a quiet month for DIY conservatories but I thought no we have a price for our product and he knows our Conservatory is better than XXX’s. So I wished him Merry Christmas and drove home.

On returning to work in January I get a phone call the first week back.

‘John can you make those Conservatories for me, the ones you quoted on’

I replied ‘Sure but why have you decided to buy off us’

‘Don’t you know? XXX have gone bust’.

I estimate that 70% firms selling DIY conservatories on the internet don’t make anything and buy in and sell on. I guess there’s nothing wrong with this business model but it can go wrong and badly.

As I mentioned above the company we are supplying is making around £200 profit on supplying a DIY conservatory. Is that enough? He seems to thinks it is. If anyone makes a claim against his 10 year guarantee would that £200 be enough to cover the claim? Possibly, but probably not.
Worse, and as happened in the case of the DIY conservatory manufacturer mentioned above they simply ceased to trade. If this happens your order could be left half made in their factory or delivered incomplete. And no way to get the missing parts.

It’s not impossible to buy your DIY conservatory from a company run from a Kitchen table or spare bedroom. But is it really worth taking that risk? I certainly wouldn’t.
As we go into 2012 the financial future is uncertain for a lot of companies. If your buying a DIY conservatory these are the top things I’d consider when parting with your money.

1) A Deposit guarantee make sure any deposit monies you pay are protected either use a credit card as the card issuer is jointly liable should your DIY conservatory not arrive.
2) The company you’re dealing with, unless they’ve been established for at least 7 years avoid .70% of all business failures occur within this time frame.
3) Get the Conservatory companies latest accounts from company’s house if they have lots of negative working capital. Avoid they are too exposed to credit and cash flow issues.
4) Buy from a manufacturing company, they can respond quickly to any problems that might occur.
5) Price get the best value for money you can and check the specification to make sure your buying the best you can.

By taking these 5 simple steps means you are protecting your cash and getting the best deal for a new DIY conservatory.

Our DIY Conservatory site, www.conservatories.tv has been live since March 2004! over seven years ago years.Back then it used to host a load of conservatory films.Well more information films really which I made myself and frankly are not great.

We have manufactured upvc conservatories using the synseal system since 1996 and sold them supply only all over the UK, europe and even Japan.One thing totally different about a conservatory compared to a upvc window is the massive variation in sizes and styles.

In the early days we attempted to sell a modular range of conservatories or off the shelf sizes.That worked well but over the last few years we have seen a change in the conservatory market.It has polarised into the really cheap conservatory and bespoke or made to measure market.We also found that the amount of coloured conservatories being requested was really increasing along with cut outs and very technical requirements.

So our newly revamped website ( alot of links are broken or empty at the moment) allows the conservatory buyer to get a quick  conservatory quote or detailed conservatory quote.You enter as many details as you have and we will contact you by email or phone with a bespoke quote.

Normally will get back to you within a few days or call you if require any further clarification.As a conservatory company we pride ourselves on being able to perform what other conservatory companies can't do.