Building costs in Ireland have increased significantly in 2022. While there has been some wage inflation the main reason for the inflation is material and services costs. Material costs have increased due to increased demand and reduced availability. Here we take a look at some of the issues that have occurred during the year.

Energy costs

Glass prices have suffered multiple price increases this year. At Brightspace we only use toughened glass in all our sunrooms. To toughen glass it must be heated in furnaces which use huge amounts of electricity and these furnaces must be kept going 24 hours a day as they run more efficiently when kept at the required temperature rather than stopping them and then restarting them. The other issue affecting glass is the transport cost, glass is heavy and therefore the load size that a truck can carry is based on weight rather than volume. Ireland does not have a glass manufacturing capacity so all raw glass is imported leading to significant transport cost increases.

Insulation

Insulation has seen some of the most significant price increases due to a number of reasons. The main issue is everyone wants to insulate their homes so there is significant demand which seems to have outpaced supply. Unless manufacturing capacity is increased this is going to be an ongoing problem as energy costs are going to drive further demand for better insulation products.

Sealants

Sunrooms and glazing require silicone sealants. These have risen 60% this year. The main components in silicone are also used in chip manufacture so there is a world wide shortage in raw material for the manufacturer of silicones. At the beginning of this year our suppliers started to ration sealants to customers such as Brightspace Sunrooms based on their previous usage to limit stockpiling and to also maintain some level of supply to their existing customers.

Deliveries

Due to the rise in fuel costs all deliveries to and from sites have increased significantly. This has affected skip deliveries, portaloo deliveries, concrete deliveries, glass deliveries and of course our own staff driving to and from sites have to be paid for their travel and of course all tolls have also increased.

The outlook for sunroom prices going forward is that prices seem to be settling, the summer of 2022 has seen the relentless emails advising of price increases slow. Demand is still very strong but supplies seem to be increasing. Energy shortages however during the winter months may affect production capacity and if this occurs supply will weaken which will put further pressure on input costs.

For further information on the cost of building a sunroom in Ireland please contact our design team. Or give us a quick call on 045 844002. We are happy to give guideline prices over the phone for most sunroom projects once we have a photo of your home.