Planning a Sunroom Addition for your Home

July 25, 2016

There are a variety of methods available to you for increasing the usable space of your home, and a sunroom addition or new deck are two ways that you can increase the size of your home with relative ease.

Adding a wing onto your house or converting an attic space can add needed square footage to your house, but a sunroom may represent the best way to get a lot of extra space in your home for an affordable price.

Planning Your Sunroom Addition

There are a few different ways to create a highly functional sunroom, and you will need to ask yourself a few simple questions before embarking on this home improvement adventure. Sunrooms have traditionally been known as solariums and conservatories, and they’ve evolved from areas usually surrounded in glass to spaces with other options like screened-in walls.

Here are a few questions (and potential answers) you’ll need to ask if you decide on a sunroom addition for your home.

Do you need your space to be heated in the winter and cooled in the summer?

You might need to build a “four-season” room that offers environmental controls. If you don’t need to heat or cool the space, a traditional sunroom with large windows that open and close might be your answer.

Will you use your sunroom as a greenhouse or as a place to relax?

There are some building techniques that may change depending on whether you wish to use your sunroom as a greenhouse or whether you’ll use it as a place to gather with friends. A greenhouse usually requires some attention paid to regulating temperature and light.

Do you want a simple screened-in area or a room with hard-sided walls?

There are highly affordable sunroom options that provide a screened-in area for relaxing without the invasion of bugs in the summer, and these spaces are ideal if you only see yourself using the area when the weather outside accommodates outdoor relaxation.

What Materials are Common for Sunroom Additions?

Your sunroom may offer extra space that’s usable all year long, or you might build the sunroom as a place to relax in the summer when you want a little protection from the outdoors. Depending on how you plan to use your sunroom, there are a few different materials your contractor can use to construct the space.

Here are some of your options for building the support structure:

Vinyl – A popular option, vinyl is strong and insulating. A material often used to create a strong roof on a sunroom.
Wood – More expensive than vinyl, but most appropriate if you use screens.
Glass – It’s possible to have entire walls made of glass in tempered or double-glazed.

Your sunroom may feature a few different types of materials, and your plans for its use may influence which type of design will suit your home best.

Consider these Sunroom Addition Design Suggestions

Much of your enjoyment of your sunroom will depend on your ability to properly heat or cool the space. Many features that can help you regulate the temperature don’t cost anything in electricity (like windows and skylights, or are very green-friendly options (like fans).

Air flow is important in any sunroom, and you may want to have windows that can swing open installed on the structure. Additionally, skylights that open are a great way to cool the space by allowing heat at the top of the sunroom to escape outside.

Other ways to control the temperature in your new sunroom include adding ceiling fans to help with circulation in the summer and winter. You can change the direction of the fan to accommodate winter or summer temperatures.

Better Homes & Gardens also recommends adding a little functionality and luxury to the space with a gas wall heater:

“Install a small gas wall heater in the space you will use most often during the colder months. For a more luxuriant touch, install radiant floor heating.”