I am a massive believer that the rapid rise of the solid roof market was down to the fact that there simply was not a good enough conservatory roof product from the outset. Polycarbonate roofs are way too loud, allow the conservatory to get about as hot as the surface as the sun, and about as cold as a polar vortex in a US winter. They set the emerging conservatory market bar very low.
Glass isn’t too bad. It’s a lot quieter when it rains when you’re under a glass roof. It’s self cleaning, although some question how good that claim really is. They regulate heat a little better. But for most glass roofs, they still don’t eliminate glare, and the conservatory can still get pretty hot during our weekend of summer and pretty chilly at all other times.
This is why the solid roof has become so popular so quickly. It has given home owners a remedy from all the issues I’ve mentioned above, whilst giving them that genuine extension look. But it’s had an easy route to success. Polycarbonate and glass aren’t really a match for them.
Quality concerns
Our industry is fantastic at taking a great concept and idea, then cheapening it as much as possible via quality cuts and then giving it to the home owner.
There really are some poorly made solid roofs out there. Roofs with cold spots, roofs that are poorly conceived and poorly constructed. Then there are installers that don’t take the due care and attention for the existing conservatory structure and thrown the roof on there, with little regard for weight and pressure. It is this “value” part of that niche that worries me. There are many problems that could occur due to a crappy product and a crappy installation.
Thankfully, there are areas of our industry with a bit more foresight and wits and have decided to go down the quality route. I am a fan of Ultraframe’s LivinRoof and RealRoof and of Prefix’s Garden Room. All excellent examples of a premium, safe, long lasting solid roof. Installers should feel good about selling those sorts of things.
But back to the question at hand, is the solid roof product a temporary niche?
Back to glass
Solid roofs became popular because there was no better alternative. Well, I think the glass industry has righted that wrong.
Glass technology has come a long way from just self cleaning. Perhaps the most advanced glass product on the market right now is the electrochromic, true solar control glass by US-based SageGlass. Here’s a video to demonstrate how that particular product works:
A glass product that can give a home owner true control over heat and light, at their own convenience. SageGlass are going to have a big presence at this year’s FIT Show, you can click here to find out more about that.
There will be more like this. Sage Glass have set the bar high, but there will be other manufacturers who will develop their own smart glass technologies. And when they do, the glass market will be highly more advanced. It will also give home owners a very good reasons to go back to glass and ditch the bigger project that is a solid roof.
We have to remember that as Brits, we do like the outdoors. We love the light, we love the connection our glazed extensions have with our gardens. That’s why a glass roof works so well in principle. It’s in practice where it hasn’t quite met expectations. Well now, as glass tech is moving on leaps and bounds at a very rapid pace, I suspect that attention will fall away from the solid roof market and back towards an evolved glass market.
What do you think? All comments on this post are welcome via the comments section below. And remember to subscribe to get daily DGB updates sent to your inbox.
HI DGB. I’m not sure I agree with your speculating that the rise in installation of solid conservatory roofs could be temporary. We have retro fitted quite a few recently, and can say that the customers were amazed at the results. Not only a room that can be decorated like the rest of their house, but can now be used in comfort 365 days a year. Peer to peer recommendations can only ensure more enquiries.Equally important for me the installer, they are a dream product, because in the way they mimic traditional roofing techniques I can now give the customer… Read more »
My own perspective that the niche is not all about the poor products being replaced, but about our different habits. With the cost of moving home rising, stamp duty increasing and salaries not going up as fast as inflation, people are staying in their houses a lot longer. So they have to make room for a growing family in their existing house. The original growth of the conservatory was not about extra living space. Solid roofs are being used to create usable ‘proper’ rooms for 365 day use. Heating and temperature controls are not nice things to have but an… Read more »
Good point Hugh. In our experience customers who have become disillusioned with their old tired poly/glass roof have grasped the option to turn it into a room with far better uses, particularly those with growing families and teenagers, who can’t necessarily afford to move up the housing chain.
The cost of installing a solid roof is comparatively cheap when set against building an extension, or in cases where more building may not be an option.
As a major systems manufacturer of both glazed and solid roofs, you would expect that we have something to say. I have worked at Ultraframe for just over 20 years and in that time have seen many changes – as you would expect. Firstly, I would like to say a word on behalf of polycarbonate. If it wasn’t for polycarbonate we probably wouldn’t have the modern day industry we have today. Poly was lightweight, easy to handle and good value for money……it helped make conservatories very affordable at a time when double glazed roofs were very basic, no solar control,… Read more »
The advantage to the glazing industry is in the delivery channel. As Ian says, Installers are in the firing line, but the clever ones will see an opportunity in moving into the ‘extensions’ territory of the small builder, and the advantage a glazing/conservatory installer has in that market is in sales and marketing. Small builders will catch up I am sure but they have never sold their services in the same way, have not invested in showrooms or sales and marketing expertise. Manufacturers should be encouraging bigger/better/more showrooms of their products because modular, modern house extensions will be the next… Read more »