Sun Rooms?

[JimVonBaden]

I'm looking for a kit for a wood or aluminum sun room, or even a good set of plans. I would like to build it myself, and want to make it about 16X12. I will likely start with screens, but it needs to be convertible to glass (sliders or windows) in the future. My limit is $10K initially. No floor needed.

A couple of examples:

Pros and cons of each?

This is VA, so we do get some snow, usually no more than 18", and lots of rain and hot sun on my house. I do not expect it to be air conditioned, or completely sealed.

My house and the space I am thinking about:

It will enclose the back door, possibly.

Suggestions?

 

[volleyball]

You could get one of those prefabs and be done with it. Get the screen panels now and now or later, buy the glass panels.
I am doing a sunroom myself and would like to finish it this year. Awaiting if I will be having surgery soon which will stop me from building.
Mine is going to be a shed roof. That way the patio doors won't get snow dumped in front of them. It can all drop off the back as it will be out of my way.
Being up north, I do have a bit of snow but with the metal roof panels, I know a 3/12 pitch will work fine.
I will have a lot of glass as they are requiring me to have insulated windows, walls and roof.
So I look at it like post and beam construction.
How big are you going? Mine is 18 X 16

 

[JimVonBaden]

16X12. I want to still have some patio.

 

[vertguy]

We have a 10x20 attached 3 season room that was built with the house. But the best thing we did after dealing with lots of screen issues (they would buckle in heavy winds), was upgrading to a vertical Weather Master window/screen system. The windows are 4 sections and all move vertically (up or down) and are made out of a thin/flexible material that gives with the wind (think they are hurricane proof). They also come in several different levels of tint (ours have a slight tint)... here's a link http://sewisunrooms.com/windows-enclosures/

 

[little d]

Jim,
when I was a kid I built one on the back of Mom and Dads house, 16' by 50 some odd feet. The one thing to keep in mind is ventilation, even with the tinted windows, it got hot in there in the summer.

I've seen the "kits" and for the cost, I'd scratch build it.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

I have done a few sunrooms over the years. My game plan is build per customer specs. Once I have all my dimensions or rough frame I have my glass guy over. He makes customs screens and window panels. It's a lot cheaper to have custom glass made than you might think....plus you make the room exactly how you want. Trying to build around existing windows or panels can limit your creativeness.

Just a quick edit...standard square or rectangle windows are inexpensive. Add curves or weird shapes then it gets expensive.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Good info so far. Any links to kits or plans?

Thanks,

 

[Showkey]

No floor needed............ but you still should use footings on any structure attached to the house. I removed an elevated brick patio, 30 yards of base then installed a wood deck with footings and the porch went on top of the new deck. Building permit demanded footings and is really the only way to go.

Just finished a 12' x 22'. "Sunspace" branded 3 season porch. Cathedral ceiling 14' to the peak, 10 foot side walls with transom windows ( to match the existing home walls).

http://www.sunspacesunrooms.com/model-200/.

When I was in the planning stage a stick built structure 12-22 was going to have more than $10k in windows/doors/screens. I did the interior ceiling and house wall in cedar........the price of cedar was really gone up.......

 

[volleyball]

I went to a window/door distributor and checked out their odd products. I got $11k off of list price for windows and door. I am building the framing to fit. Now I will have high grade units with screens built in.

 

[little d]

^^^^ Thats what I did also Volleyball except I got double pain solid glass instead of sliding, BIG MISTAKE! I don't remember now what it cost but, it was way cheap.

Jim,
as far as plans go, I'd sketch out a rough draft of what ya want and go to a few window/door suppliers and see what they have. If you can find a good enough deal on what ya need, take all of that info to a lumber yard and have them draw out the plans and building list, they'll do that for free for buying the lumber and supplies from them.

 

[Kaizen]

even up here I wouldn't put an all glass unit on my house. just gets too hot. I had a homemade one on mine from maybe the 70's that rotted and caused me tons of work.
I think you are a little hazy on what is required. a 3 season room with real windows and screens will need a full foundation. A screen house type thing would not but also woudnt attach to the house. If that door is your main entry door off the driveway then you need to consider that as well in your flow

 

[brycez28]

Our house came with a sunroom. We thought it was a really nice space, 11'x22'. All glass, etc. BUT, we could not heat it in the winter with the single pane windows. Same thing, couldn't cool it in the summer. It became a storage room because it was uncomfortable to be in.

I have since 75% finished remodeling it. Took out all the 2"x4" studs and went to 2"x6". Did 6" fiberglass insulation in the walls and 4" (two layers) of R-10 foam on the outside. Old windows went all the way down to the floor. Would have been extremely expensive to replace because they would need to be safety glass. Went to home depot and ordered 4'x8' windows with sliders on each side (1/4 slider, 1/2 glass, 1/2 slider). Was somewhere around $500 a window and did a sliding patio door, from home depot was again, around $600. Windows and door were "custom" ordered with argon gas.

This past winter and summer, I have so far been able to reasonably heat and cool the space. Their is a few degree temp difference between the room and the rest of the house, but hopefully after I finish the insulation and ventilation that difference will be minimized.

If you don't insulate it now, my advise would be to design the roof so that insulation and proper ventilation can be added later, that has been my biggest headache with the low pitch rubber roof, 2' eaves and no soffit vents.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Good advice. We are really looking at a screened in porch that we can close to the elements when we want. This way we wont have to store our cushions and other items when the weather is bad.

 

[volleyball]

The big thing is the roof. You can build flimsy screen walls but you really want an insulated roof IMO. And an overhang. Too many built that end at the wall. Overhang means shade. If you get it right, you have it shade more in summer with the sun higher and less in winter when a little extra light is always nice. Will it be the rear entrance? That will affect how sturdy it need to be built.
Screened wall can be replaced by framed and insulated wall in the future without replacing the roof.
I like 2x4 walls with foil faced foamboard outside sheathing to cut down on radiant summer heat.

 

[67CarGuy]

You can have mine!

We're replacing an existing 13x9, aluminum "pre-fab" built probably in the 1980s (well before us). 3 very large sliders make up 2 of the 3 walls. No insulation, can't lock the doors from the outside, the roof leaks under a heavy snow load (once a winter, guaranteed). Have I sold you on it yet?

We're going all the way down to the slab and having a new enclosure constructed. Stick built, new 3/4 casement windows instead of the sliders, insulated entry door, repitch the roof to try and dry out the backyard, radiant heat, etc. To be honest, we didn't consider a new pre-fab unit, although looking at our total bill it may have been a good idea...

Good luck in your search - let us know how it turns out!

 

[JimVonBaden]

You can have mine!

We're replacing an existing 13x9, aluminum "pre-fab" built probably in the 1980s (well before us). 3 very large sliders make up 2 of the 3 walls. No insulation, can't lock the doors from the outside, the roof leaks under a heavy snow load (once a winter, guaranteed). Have I sold you on it yet?

We're going all the way down to the slab and having a new enclosure constructed. Stick built, new 3/4 casement windows instead of the sliders, insulated entry door, repitch the roof to try and dry out the backyard, radiant heat, etc. To be honest, we didn't consider a new pre-fab unit, although looking at our total bill it may have been a good idea...

Good luck in your search - let us know how it turns out!

Sounds perfect. When can I pick it up? Seriously, worth a shot to make my wife happy! Don't care if it leaks.

 

[Showkey]

Finishing up the final checklist

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[JimVonBaden]

Very nice!