Adding a PVCu conservatory to your home is probably the most cost effective way of increasing your living space and also provides a room from which you can enjoy your garden all year round.

The number of people choosing a self build conservatory is growing substantially driven by consumer demands to get the best value for their hard earned cash. There are considerable savings available to those electing to go the DIY conservatory route rather than buying from a local or national conservatory installer which include:

? COMMISSIONSA retail salesperson will typically earn a minimum of 10% of the value of your conservatory, the surveyor will earn in the region of 5% and the fitters will probably be paid another 10%. That's a 25% saving to start with!

? OVERHEADSShowrooms, Offices, Advertising, Vehicles and Staff all need to be paid for and will be reflected in the price you pay. Many online suppliers do not have these expensive overheads allowing them to sell at trade prices direct to the public.

? SUB-CONTRACTORSMany installation companies sub-contract the conservatory base works to a local builder and will be adding their profit margin to whatever the builder charges them to construct your base.

? FINANCEMost installation companies will want to convince you to take their 'exceptional' finance deal. Just remember that both the installation company and probably the salesman will be earning extra commission on your finance as well. If you need to finance your new conservatory it will be cheaper to apply for a bank or personal loan.

So, it is quite clear there are substantial savings available to you by opting for a new DIY conservatory. However, you don't have to resort to doing the hard work yourself as there is another option.

BIY (Buy It Yourself)
Buy It Yourself allows you to select and buy a supply only conservatory yourself direct and then engage the services of a local builder to build the base and perhaps also install the conservatory for you. This offers you the best of both worlds as you are buying the conservatory yourself, ensuring you get the best deal available and project managing the installation without being involved in any of the manual work. The result is a substantial saving in cost together with the satisfaction of organising the conservatory installation yourself. The BIY route is becoming very popular as many of us are too busy or do not feel experienced enough to tackle home improvement tasks ourselves but do not want to ignore the savings available.

DIY or BIY?
Whichever route you decide to take you will be able to enjoy your new DIY conservatory safe in the knowledge that a little hard work and some delegation has saved you thousands compared to the installed price that your neighbours probably paid for their conservatory. What's more, because you have saved so much the additional living space added to your property will be reflected much faster in the value of your home.