Sunrooms

Also known as a solarium, or a Florida room, or a garden conservatory, or a garden room, or a sun parlor, or a sun porch, or a winter garden, or a blah, blah, blah … You get the picture, the sunroom as a concept is so popular folks rush to name it something else, but at its core, the sunroom is a room that permits an abundant amount of light, more than any other enclosed room in the house. The word solarium is Latin for “place of light” and sunrooms are quite popular in places bereft of light or heat year-round.

Your loyal scribe fondly remembers the sunroom of his aunt and uncle in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis has wonderful summers, but also some pretty miserable winters. The sunroom is a great popular hangout in the early mornings and when the sun is shining, but when it’s still chilly outdoors. On the design end, sunrooms are normally built of transparent, tempered glazing which is atop a wood or brick wall framed of PVC, aluminum or wood. A solarium is a bit different than a sunroom in that its sole purpose is to collect light (for warmth) whereas the sunroom features scenic views and has a more “pleasure-related” purpose to it.

In the 1960s, professional design companies really ramped up their sunroom offerings, and the technology and design features they established then have really evolved. Prior to considering a sunroom addition for your home, there are some items to ponder. First, there are four common types of sunrooms: screen rooms, three season rooms, four season rooms and solariums. The costs of installing all four in terms of price run in that exact order - the cheapest being screen rooms and the most expensive, solariums. Financing from a bank or other lending institutions is common for all, and in terms of weather, the screen room and three season room are not designed to withstand heavy snow fall, while the latter two are. The four-season room and solarium are designed for all four seasons, and the four-season room especially occupies vinyl in its construction while all four will typically be constructed of aluminum.

Once you settle on the type of sunroom you want, the design of the structure is next. A very common design that has been around for a while is the “gable.” This design features two roof surfaces sloped away from each other, exactly like most homes have. The benefits to the gable are the sunroom looks like a natural extension of the house, assuming of course your home as a similar shaped roof. Next up is the studio design. Most studios (sunrooms or not) have flat roofs and resemble a shed if the walls were all aluminum and no glass. But in this instance, the studio design is a sunroom, glass walls with a flat roof that also looks best if your home’s roof is flat.

The enclosed porch look is a great option for those that want their sunroom to look like an add-on. We’ve seen some amazing enclosed porch designs – rustic, almost as if the porch itself is a mini getaway within the same home. Kids also love this design as it feels like it’s out of a storybook. The three-season sunroom, as mentioned earlier, is one single pane of glass per side. Because of this it is mainly used in warmer months and the design has a very summer/spring feel to it.

Finally, the actual build. A prefabricated kit is designed by the manufacturer at a factory and then shipped to you. Assembly is required on site of course and there are plenty of general contractors out there to assist with this. If you would like to do this yourself, the options are plentiful, much more involved, but perhaps satisfactory if that’s your thing. The thought of a sunroom after all shouldn’t make you squirm, bask in its light, that’s what it’s there for.