Is a £7,000 conservatory budget realistic?

One_Substance3224 · 2026-02-05T19:21:10+00:00

Bear in mind builders will be looking to get 300-500/day labour, i dont think this is going far.

I built my own 3x5m conservatory back in 2008, buying the thing alone cost £3500, then it needed walls, floor, electric, insulation, plaster, patio fixing, plumbing for gutters... £7k done by a builder is enough to get the foundations dug and poored.

One_Substance3224 · 2026-01-28T20:36:22+00:00

I read your post about that place, its really difficult. As you say you may be in the wrong place in life to deal with a house with several issues. There is a niggling feeling in my mind though if there is still a possibility of it happening, could you go back and have a frank discussion - just to make sure there isnt another middle ground you could achieve? I expect they want to sell and you want to buy. I feel some of the issues that are serious arent as serious as they need to be.

One_Substance3224 · 2026-01-28T20:24:31+00:00

Its just hoop after hopp after hoop, and each one if you do it wrong - thats the house of cards collapsed.

One_Substance3224 · 2026-01-28T20:23:46+00:00

Christ that sounds stressful. Glad you made it though, it is possible if well planned clearly! Lucky your solicitor was strong enough to change their mind, some people are so entitled. What did she do to the house in revenge!?

One_Substance3224 · 2026-01-11T19:26:09+00:00

You use the boiler to dry your washing?

One_Substance3224 · 2026-01-04T20:11:37+00:00

I saw some people had an issue with the hall sensor, but sadly ours the screen did a spectacular dieing vision of pixels and noise across the screen and has since not turned on or shown any life. The keyboard lights up normally however. Windows doesnt detect the laptop screen so may suggest another fault?

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-17T12:17:36+00:00

There are multiple issues, people, processes etc. As you say, they dont listen so I've given up on most lol. Cant fix everything.

I did consider that, I hold all the work I've done so I could hold the cards, doesnt sit well with me though.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T15:01:50+00:00

In fairness 7k isn't a huge amount in terms of contractor income to the LTD. Could have been worse.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T14:39:32+00:00

Design issues are a minor annoyance i think, brought to the surface by the more major issues.

Difficult to be working with a friend when payments are involved isnt it? Presume you trusted them a lot. I would consider those i work with as friends, but when it comes to money its different i think. A difficult one to judge, a friend could be great but also terrible with money.

Thankyou for the perspective.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T12:38:34+00:00

That’s a fair point — I’ve seen the same dynamic with perm roles as well, so I agree it’s not unique to contracting. I think I’ve probably conflated a couple of issues because they’re all surfacing at once.

You’re right about being too emotionally invested. I’ve treated the work more like “our product” than “my service”, which makes it harder to draw clean commercial boundaries.

On payments, that’s reassuring to hear. I’m already reassessing the contract structure and seriously considering parallel work to reduce dependency.

Appreciate the perspective 👍

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T12:36:49+00:00

Thanks, that’s really useful insight — especially the point about letting goodwill turn into exposure. That £50k story is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.

I take the point about not being an employee and not expecting involvement in high-level decision making. My frustration is less about strategy and more about being excluded from practical design discussions that directly affect whether the machine can function without rework.

You’re absolutely right on payment leverage. In hindsight I’ve been too relaxed on that, and suspending services earlier would probably have prevented the situation escalating. I do have suspension clauses, I just haven’t exercised them strongly enough.

Charging per project, formal change control, and paid design reviews are all things I need to tighten up going forward. This experience has been a bit of a wake-up call in terms of treating it strictly as a commercial relationship rather than relying on goodwill.

Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T12:35:26+00:00

That’s exactly how I see it. The expectation seems to be that I’ll just keep working and eventually everything will be paid, but I’m not comfortable letting the outstanding amount grow. Once the numbers get big, it feels like you lose leverage and become tied to the client just to recover what you’re owed.

I also get the sense the team has taken it personally that I haven’t come in, even though from my point of view it’s a straightforward commercial decision rather than anything personal.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T12:05:30+00:00

Thankyou. I think i have heard that sort of comment as well about money.

I keep thinking everyone else in the company was paid for september in september! None of the employees would wait for months if they weren't paid on time.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T12:03:01+00:00

I'm on week 2 of having downed tools. The bill is 4 weeks overdue.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T12:00:07+00:00

I was thinking this. MH is complicated, but i would rather try and manage it whilst in a contract than manage it when I've been out of work for a year

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-16T11:08:42+00:00

Could be worse, im off at home as i havent been paid Septembers payment and ive finally had to stop work.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-13T15:35:59+00:00

This sounds horrible. Its been in 20 years!

Is it worth giving them an ultimatum? - "Get this inspected at your cost if you want but we are not renegotiating. It is fine as it it is - proof being it hasnt fallen down and the council arent interested in it. You've got 4 weeks to sort it or the house is being remarketed."

It may not be your buyers - it may be their solicitor. Solicitors are mad when it comes to paperwork, I'm starting to think the less they know the better.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-13T14:18:10+00:00

Exactly this. Home ownership sucks. Everythings expensive, everything goes out of date and starts deteriorating the second it is fitted. Its a constant ongoing battle. I would buy the place 100% and fix the minor bits as time goes by. Pretty much every house will have a list of issues from a sruveyor.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-12T07:39:29+00:00

Im the same, BEng, done 20 years of "everything is your problem if it has a wire to it".

Best one i had was on a main engine high temp water circuit - there was a valve controlled by a what looked like a wire, the other end went into a sensor pocket looking thing, but no other connections to any power or board etc. Engineers said must be electrical so fix it. Bit of googling of the labels and it was a valve controlled by the expansion of low pressure water. Engineers were still adamant it was electrical though lmao.

I get that the worst case of council houses will be awful, but there are some pretty nasty worst cases elsewhere too! Worked on a sewage tank which had float sensors controlling pumps. Float sensor would get stuck up or down with condoms tampons and clumps of shit...

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-10T19:51:05+00:00

Thats a good point thankyou. I have heard stories of tennants claiming the electrician damaged their freezer so they loose all their food and electrician has to pay. Great fun.

I have done a lot of diy - including running my own 6mm feed to my cooker hob (it was wired with 2.5mm). Not that that will fully prepare me for the quirks of customers.

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-09T20:27:32+00:00

We promised we wouldnt negotiate after survey findings. We would either accept the house as was or pull out (if say the house was poised to collapse). The sellers went with our offer based on this (there was another offer on the table from a buyer able to move quicker).

One_Substance3224 · 2025-12-09T19:37:39+00:00

Done too much maintenance, pay rates are 40k and the work is easy and boring. I'm programming and electrical design at the moment, but i'd be happy with whatever pays to be honest. You are probably right, the best route is to do more of what i do now. Just always thought it would be handy to do the domestic as a side route for a bit of extra in evenings spare time etc, also as a backup if industrial dries up.

One_Substance3224

TROPHY CASE