I went on a training course on Monday, to brush up on my conservatory and extension knowledge. We took our new surveyor along as well. It was a useful few hours, kindly put on by Ultraframe and Prefix. It was an informative session, and most definitely came away with new knowledge and information. However, [...]
One of the biggest new sectors to emerge in the last decade in the UK glazing market has been the conservatory refurbishment market. This is a new sector which is focused on refurbishing or replacing the country's existing stock of first generation conservatories, predominantly in PVCu. It is estimated that there is around 3 [...]
Who thought the conservatory market was dead? Perhaps at the height of the recession and the conservatory market's dramatic fall from 2004 highs, a few of us did. But in a recent comment left by Ultraframe's Adam Wilde, there appears to be plenty of potential life left in the sector. Market research This was the [...]
When it comes to conservatories, or rather, glazed extensions as we should say these days, the polycarbonate roof has grown to become a symbol of the typical UK glass box. So that would be green, mossy, baking hot, freezing cold and generally tacky. You can't really argue that a polycarbonate conservatory roof looks good on [...]
My post about the power of composite doors online the other day proved a popular one. So it was suggested to me that I could look at the performance of solid roof searches online within the wider conservatory roof market. That's exactly what I did. This first trends graph shows four terms: Green [...]
P-shapes, Lean-to's, Edwardian, Victorian and Gable. The five main types of roofs our glazed extensions have been sporting for the past few decades. Originally done in PVCu, then evolving into glass roofs, and now into solid roofs, the same styles of roofs have continued to top our glazed extensions. After many, many product innovations, it's amazing [...]
First of all, the term is definitely "glazed extension". The term "conservatory" died when the recession kicked in and killed the conservatory market completely. During the recent difficult years however, in an effort to revitalize the market, new products have arrived which have transformed the way we extend people's homes. No more glass boxes The [...]
You may or may not have seen the following story depending on whether you follow the ITV News account on social media, but they reported earlier on Tuesday about an amazing story in which a family had escaped disaster in which a 50-foot ash tree came crashing down on to their conservatory. According to ITV: [...]
The industry's Twitter community is usually quiet on a Sunday afternoon, with just a few tweets going out either about football or what @NewBuildsNo1 has been cooking for dinner that day ;-) However, debate erupted after Ultraframe tweeted some research done by a company called Zopa which claimed that the average cost of a new [...]
The solid roof market has seen a rate of growth unlike any other product in our industry in recent years. It's comparable to the growth seen in the composite door sector. But whilst the idea of a solid roof on an existing conservatory that keeps more heat in and cold out might seem a great [...]
Don't know about you, but glazed extensions seems to be having a very strong year indeed this year. Last year was very slow on the glazed extension front it seems. Not that many were reporting booming sales and at my own place of work sales of new glazed extensions were rather mediocre. This year however [...]
As I thought, my last post about the potential problems arising from solid roof conversions on existing conservatories drew plenty of comments. And quite rightly, as it is a potentially massive bump in the road should this new industry continue to be unregulated. However, there was a particular part of one comment I want to [...]
The favourite royal couple in the country have had their planning permission granted for what would probably be one of the grandest, most expensive glazed extension in the country. But one of the questions on my mind is how do they go about getting quotes for the work? Does the Royal Family have an approved [...]
I visited the lovely people at Ultraframe today. Was a bit of a grim drive over the M62 though. Poured down with rain most of the way there and the Monday morning traffic was just gross. Still, we sat patiently in the queues and got there in time. It was great to see so many [...]
The Loggia really is starting to take off. Since it's introduction to the market hundreds of showrooms up and down the country have bought into the product and had them put on their showsites, and the feedback from the customer is overwhelmingly positive. Ultraframe tell me that orders for the Loggia are starting to flow [...]
Just like the transition of panel doors to composite doors, the days of the polycarbonate roof might be numbered. Why do I say this? I say this because over the last few years the cost of glass roofs has come down quite significantly, with the difference between a reasonably sized polycarbonate roof now standing at [...]
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