The tiled roof sits above a band of white windows, with the garden still visible through the glass. In this Manchester installation, Tiled Roof says it replaced polycarbonate with a Supalite system, adding a vaulted plastered ceiling and recessed lights. The change involved the room’s interior as well as its weather covering.
Completed roof replacement in Manchester, England. Source: Tiled Roof, part of Absolute Window Co; photographer unidentified. The installer does not publish the case’s bill or completion date.
This Manchester project included a new ceiling as well as the roof. Your leaking conservatory may call for a different scope: a local repair, a new roof on a sound structure, or work extensive enough to make rebuilding worth a separate quotation.
Start below the roof
Have the source of water ingress diagnosed before specifying the cure. Ask the surveyor or installer to distinguish failed roof components and junctions from condensation, drainage problems or movement in the structure. A replacement covering cannot be assumed to cure moisture coming from elsewhere.
For a solid replacement, the supporting frames, door openings, walls and foundations need assessment for the proposed loads. LABC’s homeowner guidance warns that inadequate foundations or supports can lead to movement, cracks and leaks. Get the roofing company’s surveyor or a qualified structural engineer to establish suitability before committing; ask which investigations and remedial work their price allows for.
Also decide what you want the room to become. Somewhere to sit occasionally with the garden doors open is a different brief from a dining room used every evening and opened permanently into the house. The second ambition may require attention to the whole enclosure, its heating and its connection to adjoining rooms.
Four routes, four scopes
Route | What the tender must establish | Price basis |
|---|---|---|
Targeted repair | Diagnosed defect, repair method, remaining roof condition and making good | Site-specific quote; no verified case price |
Like-for-like renewal | Roof specification, glazing or panels, flashings, drainage and retained supports | 4m x 4m polycarbonate: £9,600 guide estimate |
Lightweight solid roof | Surveyed load capacity, any reinforcement, insulation, ceiling, ventilation and rooflights | 4m x 4m tiled: £12,000 guide estimate |
Full room rebuild / conversion | Foundations, walls, windows, floor, roof, house connection and complete finishes | Separate design and full-build quote; no verified case price |
Checkatrade’s March 2026 overview gives these ballpark averages for the same stated 4m by 4m size. They are not quotations for the Manchester house or proof of matching specifications. VAT is unspecified, and the detailed material tables retain older update dates. Neither figure establishes an all-in conversion budget; replace both with written prices for your own surveyed brief.
A like-for-like renewal may suit a room whose light, use and structure already work. A solid roof changes the daylight arriving both in the conservatory and through the windows behind it. Discuss rooflights and the effect on the adjoining room before settling the specification. Better roof insulation alone does not establish whole-room comfort or a particular energy saving.
When the job becomes a different building
The separate Thames Ditton project pictured below shows the larger intervention. Precision Group records completion in May 2025: an old timber conservatory was replaced on new, enlarged footings, with a full-height boundary wall and lower garden-facing dwarf walls. It was a full build, not simply a tiled roof fitted to the old frames. No project cost is published.
A different home in Thames Ditton, Surrey, England: Precision Group’s completed 2025 full-build extension. Source: Precision Group; photographer unidentified. This is not the Manchester roof job.
For an English home, treat building control and planning as separate checks. LABC says replacing a translucent conservatory roof with a solid one needs a building regulations application. Planning Portal also states that a new structural opening into the house requires approval even where the conservatory itself is exempt. Check the proposed works and any planning or listed-building restrictions with the relevant authorities before starting. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own regimes.
Ask for the price of walking back into the finished room
Give each contractor the same surveyed brief. Require a VAT-inclusive total covering design and approvals, structural alterations, roof and insulation, flashings and gutters, ventilation, glazing changes, electrics, plastering and decoration. Include access equipment, protection, removal of the old roof and waste disposal. Mark anything retained, excluded or provisional, including repairs discovered after opening up. Do not add a separate labour allowance if installation is already included.
Ask who takes responsibility for the complete system, which work the warranty covers, its exclusions and whether insurance backing applies. Agree inspections, completion documents, programme and staged payments. Keep a reserve for identified uncertainty rather than spending every available pound on the advertised roof.
Choose repair when a diagnosed, limited defect can be put right and the room already serves its purpose. Choose replacement when the retained structure is suitable and the complete specification delivers the use you need. If strengthening and remedial work bring the full price close to an independently quoted rebuild, compare what each finished room would give you before committing to the roof.