What did the glassman choose?

‘I have been around the glass industry since I was born' says Gary, ‘My dad started as a glass-cutter in the 1960s.With the chance to put a conservatory on my house I really decided that I wanted to specify and organise the project personally. And when you think about it, it really should be a good one!' he added.

Early challenge

There were some problems to address: firstly the back of Gary's house is elevated over the rear garden, creating the need to build a substantial base structure nearly 3m high at the highest point and extending over 4m out into the garden area.

In addition the aspect is south facing and an open stream culvert runs alongside the house, which has been planted to create a wooded area within the next few years.

‘The base work was a big project and took 3 weeks of solid graft, but this was unavoidable if we were going to get the best use of space,' continued Gary. ‘The area I live in is close to the foot of the Pennines and quite high and cold in winter, with highish snowfall - so the roof and frames specification had to be right.'

Gary chose Shepley Windows to fabricate the structure, influenced not only by Shepley's excellent reputation, but also as they use the Wendland Roof System with which Gary was particularly impressed.

Installation was carried out by Cheshire Garden Conservatories, who were recommended to Gary. ‘In the end', he explained, ‘the best systems in the world will not perform if the installation is poorly carried out; I researched thoroughly and visited several finished jobs before I settled on Cheshire Garden Conservatories to carry out the work. They are excellent and experienced fabricators too, which certainly seems to help'.

Glass roof

Ultimately, for a glassman the choice of glazing was a key decision: ‘Of course I wanted a low-maintenance solution as I was determined to have a glass roof,' urged Gary. ‘I wanted an established solution, one that was already proven over time. Bohle has a working partnership with Ritec and Clearshield seemed a good choice to provide me with the glass roof I wanted without the constant cleaning worry. In addition, I wanted to combine safety, security and solar control. To give me this, with added sound insulation, toughened glass with low-e neutral coatings had to be specified, which led me to Celsius Plus from K2 Glass. Iain Whittaker there knows his stuff, and he should. They have been making glass roofs for over a decade - which was very refreshing - and the turnaround was fast and delivered to site perfectly to schedule.'

Air conditioning

Finally, the south facing aspect needed additional attention to deal with a problem all to often ignored by homeowners and installers. ‘Having searched around I settled on a high performance, through-the-wall air-conditioning and heating unit from Comfy Air - it provided the ideal combination of ease of fitting, quiet running and attractive price', says Gary.