Our Solid Roof Conversion

Earlier on in the year we began a little outdoor showsite transformation that we hope will provide a further boost to leads of solid roof glazed extensions, and the sales of such thing.

We’re now finished with the work and I’m happy to show you the end result. I also want to give a big shout out to Prefix Systems. Their support was crucial in this transformation and their faith in our showsite and future sales potential is greatly appreciated.

Before

At our place we are lucky to have an indoor window and door showroom and an outdoor showsite with five conservatories and glazed extensions. Over the past few years we have been steadily upgrading and replacing the old stock of conservatories so that they represent the evolved products that we now use. We have already replaced two, one in black and one in White, both with Cornice gutters and LivinRooms. One has Loggia columns and the other has detailed corner posts from window widgets.

The next one on our list was our old white PVCu Gable conservatory with a very dated conservatory roof. This is what it looked like before:

Dated, no? You can see our Black Loggia on the left hand side. It served us well. But it was definitely time for a change.

We decided it was time for a solid roof. We had already installed solid roofs before this process begun, so it made perfect sense to put a solid roof on here.

We also decided that it was time to show off some aluminium. Prefix are fabricators of Smarts aluminium windows and doors, so as part of the project, they would supply the solid roof, with two Velux windows, and a four-section Anthracite Grey aluminium bi-folding doors, single fully glazed residential door and a double opening aluminium window, again in Anthracite Grey.

If you want to see how the project progressed, skip to the bottom of this post to see an image carousel of the work from start to finish.

During

When it comes to showroom or showsite renovations, they tend to take a little longer than planned. And this one did.

We started this at a time when we were extremely busy. In fact this year has been perhaps the busiest since I began working at our family business. That meant crow-barring in some time for our fitters to be at HQ to get the work done. With a fitting schedule that at one point was approaching three months in advance, it’s easier said than done.

But, we found the time in between slots and planned accordingly. And it all went pretty smoothly. There was a bit of building work required to get the new openings ready. Once they were finished we could crack on with installing the aluminium frames and roof. Most of that went smoothly too. Apart from a small hiccup with the gable frame above the bi-fold doors. Luckily Prefix are sharp when it comes to solving problems and a solution was sorted in next to no time.

Frames and roof done. It was time to timber up ready for plastering and electrics. The great thing with the WARMroof from Prefix is that once it’s fitted, works like plastering and electrics are a breeze. Simple for our trades to crack on with the job at hand, making the whole process become more efficient. A key factor for an installer who is looking to be as efficient as possible with a crammed fitting schedule.

Plaster dried, skirting boards on and some nice shiny grey tiles down, all that was left was to paint and furnish. The end result was stunning.

After

Once all the work was completed, this was the end result:

It looks great with the bi-folding doors wide open. And a massive transformation from what was there before.

We all love it at work, and it has become the new favourite thing to show off to home owners. And the response has been brilliant. We have already quoted for more glazed extension contracts, all now with solid roofs. Before this was up, solid roof quotes were patchy at best. There has been a quite obvious change in interest in the product, and I suspect that during 2017 we’ll be installing a bucket load of these!

This is also a perfect example of why I believe suppliers should support their installers when it comes to showroom samples and installations. It is very difficult for an installer to sell a product when they don’t have a physical example to show off to a home owner. As I mentioned before, interest in solid roofs from home owners was patchy at best for us. Now, interested has spiked hugely. And once some of these contracts come in as sales, not only will that be a direct boost to our revenues, but also a boost for Prefix, and a repayment of their faith in our ability to demonstrate their products and sell them.

Browse the gallery below to see the project from start to finish. There are now just two more of our outdoor conservatories to renovate. Time to crack on!