Q. Can Conservatories be used year round?

A. Conservatories are additional living spaces for your home. Also known as European sun rooms, conservatories originated in Europe as Orangeries in the 13th century and have evolved to the beautiful, habitable rooms we know today as conservatories. Modifications have been made to the already efficient and beautiful European room to ensure all season usage even in minnesota winters.

Q. Europe’s weather isn’t as harsh as North America’s. How does the room handle our climate condition in North America?

A. European style rooms aren’t designed for the harsh conditions such as the strong UV and intense heat. K-2 USA Conservatories use’s the finest quality American products and resources to create a conservatory that has been modified and enhanced to accommodate the harsh UV, intense heat, extreme snow loads, winds, hail, and rain.

Q. Can you put a hot tub in a conservatory?

A. Yes, as it is totally maintenance free and makes a great environment for a hot tub or spa.

Q. Can you build a conservatory on a deck?

A. Yes, either on a pier footed deck or a foundation. DuBois Conservatories typically uses a 12” insulated deck system which is manufactured using green treated plywood and OSB board sandwiched around 10” of poly- styrene foam, giving the floor an insulation value of R-39 (approximately) . This eliminates cold and drafty floors.

Q. Can you Get an all glass roof?

A. Yes, glass roofs can be used in the conservatories, however in the Climate we have in North America we strongly recommend the Opal-Heatguard polycarbonate.

Q. Can you custom design a conservatory or are they just kits you put together?

A. As there are some European companies that sell the conservatories as kits with specific sizes, usually made out of a wood product such as mahogany, DuBois Conservatories custom designs and builds a conservatory to fit your needs or lifestyle. Basically if you can imagine it we can build, its just a matter of how we engineer the details.

Q. Can you get full glass in the walls?

A. Yes, you can choose between a 2’ x 6’ stick built knee wall or full floor to ceiling tempered safty glass.

Q. Can Patio Enclosures be used year round or are they typically just a seasonal enclosure in the state of Minnesota?

A. Typically patio enclosures are designed as 3 season rooms, and heating them in the winter is not practical due to the harsh conditions of the Minnesota winters. Dreamspace™ patio enclosures are designed to handle the extreme conditions of Minnesota winters and provide year round comfort and enjoyment even in the dead of winter.

Q. Can patio rooms or conservatories be made to be free standing or do you have to attach them to a house or structure?

A. Yes, they can be free standing or attached to a structure. The design may change slightly in a free standing unit, but it can be done for example, a pool house, a free standing gazebo style, etc.

Q. With a metal roof, I’ve been told that when it rains, it can be really noisy in the room. Is there any truth to this?

A. No, with the 3” to 6” of foam insulation in the roof system combined with the fact that we shingle the roof on every Dreamspace roof it deadens the sound, it isn’t any more noisy than the regular roof on your house, in some cases it can even be quieter.

Q. Can you put an enclosure on a free floating slab or patio I have out the back of my dining room?

A. The only time you can put any kind of enclosure on a free floating slab or patio, is if it is going to be completely free standing or soft attatched to a structure already on a floating slab. If you connect the enclosure to your home or other building on a foundation or footing you will have to also foot the enclosure.