CHOOSING YOUR PERFECT ALUMINIUM VERANDA

With a wide range of models, shapes, styles and size options, there are many different features which are either standard options or bespoke options depending on the model you choose.

Transform your outdoor space with a durable, stylish aluminium veranda from Samson Outdoor Living. Our verandas provide year-round protection and come with a range of add-ons to enhance your comfort, including sides for extra shelter, retractable screens for flexible shading, and sun blinds to keep you cool on sunny days. Aluminium is low-maintenance, rust-resistant, and built to last, ensuring your investment stays beautiful for years. With customisable designs and these convenient features, you can create the perfect outdoor retreat that complements your home in any weather.

ALUMINIUM VERANDA STYLES AND DESIGNS

You will see quite a variation in the basic style and shape of roof bars, leg supports and front gutter profiles in UK aluminium verandas. The prices perhaps reflect the biggest differences and in simple terms the higher the veranda price, the more you get for your money in terms of actual material and specification.

ALUMINIUM VERANDA STYLES AND DESIGNS

You will see quite a variation in the basic style and shape of roof bars, leg supports and front gutter profiles in UK aluminium verandas. The prices perhaps reflect the biggest differences and in simple terms the higher the veranda price, the more you get for your money in terms of actual material and specification.

The guttering profiles on some of the higher end models will have reinforced steel sections inside to enable sizes up to around 7m wide with only 2 posts supporting, a very desirable specification for so many people wanting maximum vision, minimum framework.

COLOURS

Many standard verandas sold in the UK are only readily available in white, cream or anthracite grey. Black and other greys do also appear on some models. The luxury german manufactured models will have as standard over 60 high quality colours to choose from, including some textured and tougher surface finish options. The right colour is important for your veranda to integrate with your home.

THE GLASS ROOF

Most glass verandas will use totally clear glass for the roof and if you take notice you will also see the size of the glass sections does vary a lot from one model to another. Some of this will be down to whether the veranda is built for 8.8mm glazing or 10.8mm glazing. Simple rule of thumb is the more you pay, the larger and stronger the roof bars will be and the larger single panes of glazing can be used. More glass and less frame but the frame is stronger.
We do not recommend any glass veranda with less than 8mm roof glass.
8.8mm glass is popular, 10.8mm is used on most bespoke German systems and you can also have 12mm if you have any worries about heavy snow loading.

All the glass used is always laminated and safety certified for use on a roof. You can also look at tinted glass options if perhaps you face directly South and want some permanent shading from the glass incorporated.

THE SHAPE

You primarily have sloping, wall mounted glass verandas (mono pitch), flat roof wall mounted models and then also free standing, flat roof models.

You can also have gable roof design options as wall mounted or free standing and verandas fitting around the corner of your building if required.

Bespoke shapes are only possible with a handful of models and always cost more than the standard lean to, sloping, wall mounted models, which have become the standard UK veranda offering.

WALL MOUNTED OR FREE STANDING

Most glass or polycarbonate verandas are wall mounted providing a seamless covered outdoor space which you can access from your home directly.
These are either sloping roof styles or flat roof designs as already mentioned above.

Free standing verandas and pergolas are now becoming a more popular request and provide a perfect solution for anyone wanting a glass outdoor retreat away from the main building.
Free standing is also very useful for many homes we encounter with a lack of suitable wall fixing points or uneven heights, or maybe you are not allowed to fix to the building?

A free standing unit will be more limited in the sizes, but is also presented as a flat roof system as standard, so can have side elements easily added for extra weather protection.

SOME EXTRA WEATHER PROTECTION

Most gardens or patios will have an annoying prevailing wind which is more noticeable and relevant in the evenings or cooler months of the year. Some aluminium verandas are designed to be able to retrofit additional products to the front and sides to further offer wind, sun and rain protection when required. Products such as sliding glass walls, electric vertical fabric blinds, solid glass panels, louvred walling and other products.

Many verandas we install have at least one side with a fixed or retractable infill product to either shield from a neighbour or a prevailing wind direction. It is the wind which will always cool you down fastest in the evenings and lead you to retreat indoors. Tale control of the elements far more with some thought to the specification.

DOWNPIPE NIGHTMARE?

If you have a house wall where the veranda position is looking obvious, but then you also have a lot of existing downpipes on that wall, we have solution which is either taking the pipes through the glass or incorporating additional space to enable the pipe to pass behind or to the side of the glass veranda profiles. Additional bespoke bracketry can often solve the issue and also accommodate out of square wall returns.
With single storey bungalows where the back of the veranda height is the same as the gutter height we can exchange your guttering to use a steel box guttering system which becomes part of the veranda installation with a far more seamless integration.

INTO THE NIGHT

A glass veranda is a perfect outdoor solution for the evening time. With built in LED lighting you can simply light up your outdoor area and create a welcoming atmosphere to spend more time underneath. Add LED lighting and one or more infra red halogen heaters and you could find many extra weeks or months of the year outside with rain showers being a spectacle to enjoy rather than driving you inside your home.

THE GROUNDWORK?

In principle a glass veranda only requires solid support for the front support posts which carry a lot of the roof weight, balanced by the rear wall plate fitted to the building wall.
Individual concrete pads, positioned for the posts in the ground and suitable sizing for the size and weight are perfectly fine in most cases, but if you are looking to add other front or side sliding glass doors you might need to ensure a perfectly level ground to work from as well.

A veranda by definition is usually a raised outdoor area and many people prefer to create a raised area for the system to work with. Define a specific area properly.
Often a fully concreted area is created for the addition of a veranda and then a further floor surface is laid, such as external floor tiles.
Many customers prefer raised decking and the modern composite decking options are very good in 2024, offering minimal maintenance, beautiful finished colours and being a raised deck you will never have any flooding issues when there is a flash downpour.

RAISED VERANDAS AND DECKING

A lot of the verandas and other products we install are often placed on top of a raised area which is fitted with composite or timber decking.
A raised decking area will not only literally elevate the whole installation visually and properly define the outdoor area it will provide other benefits.

Make a more seamless transition from your house onto the decking area by having the floor levels more in line. So often you will have a step down onto your patio from your home and bringing the level up makes for much more pleasant and easier use as well as often covering up some tired patio slabs or ground generally.

Another great benefit is having any excessive rainwater unable to flow into your veranda area as it will be underneath you.