As the nights begin to draw in and the days grow shorter, it won’t be long before the leaves begin to change color before falling to the floor to signify the start of Fall. As stunning as this season is, the main downside is the fact that there is less sunshine, and it gets much colder as winter creeps closer.
For people who enjoy sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the views, this can be a problem. The solution? A gorgeous new sunroom.
Sunrooms, also known as solarium rooms, are large rooms predominantly made from glass, and often featuring glass ceilings, which are attached to your home and essentially become an additional room.
Sunrooms get their names from the fact that they are designed to let in a lot of natural sunlight because of the glass. The glass also helps to add extra heat to the room as it helps magnify the sun’s rays. With a sunroom you get to sit, enjoy the views outside, and be comfortable in the process.
But can you build a sunroom yourself? Here are several useful tips.
All-Season or Three-Season
First and foremost, when it comes to a sunroom, if you are thinking of building a sunroom yourself, or having one constructed yourself, you need to decide whether you want a three-season design or an all-season design.
A three-season design is designed to be enjoyed from Spring – Fall. They are not as well insulated and are generally too chilly to enjoy comfortably in the winter, unless you live somewhere with mild winters of course.
An all-season sunroom, however, offers better insulation and is designed to be enjoyed all year long, even during the cold winter months. As the room offers better insulation and heating options, it will likely require more construction and be more expensive.
Before you set plans in motion, make sure you decide on which sunroom is going to be best for you and your needs.
Set a Budget
Once you’ve decided upon which kind of sunroom you’d like to construct, the next thing you need to do is set a budget.
Get a rough idea of how much your chosen sunroom is going to cost, and see whether that realistically is something you can afford. If you find that an all-season sunroom is out of your price range, you could maybe see about going with a three-season sunroom and adding additional heating in yourself.
The important thing to remember is to set a realistic budget that you can afford, and never put yourself into debt.
Go for a Smaller Square Footage on a Budget
If you are on a budget or are just looking to keep your spending in line, it could be worth looking for a smaller square footage.
Obviously, the larger your sunroom is going to be, the more materials you are going to need and the longer it is going to take. This means that the larger your sunroom, the more it is going to cost you.
If you are looking to keep your spending in line, look for a smaller square footage. Typically, the average sunroom costs around $150 – $300 per square foot.
Create a Proper Floorplan
For anybody wondering if you can build a sunroom yourself, having a proper floorplan is essential before you begin construction.
By having a floorplan created, you can design your sunroom in a way that utilizes space in the most efficient way. You can design it to enhance the aesthetics of your home, while also utilizing space in the most efficient way.
Use Correct Materials
If you do decide to construct a sunroom yourself, it’s important for you to use the right materials for the job.
A sunroom construction is a big project, so you can’t afford to cut corners or use the wrong materials. Failing to use the right materials could result in your sunroom not being weatherproof, or it could even jeopardize its stability.
Of course, the main material used is going to be the glass for the windows and possibly the ceiling too, so again, make sure you choose the right kind of glass. Do you want privacy glass or are you looking for glass in a UPVC frame? All these things need considering before you commit to actually buying the materials for your new sunroom.
Don’t Forget Accessories
A sunroom is all well and good, but at the end of the day you’re building an extra room on/in your home. Because of this, it needs to be homely, comfortable, and inviting. This is where accessories can make all the difference.
Accessories such as ceiling lights, ceiling fans, electric sockets, wall fixtures, and furniture all need to be accounted for when constructing a shiny new sunroom.
Again, unless you are qualified to do so, make sure you let a professional handle the electrics.
Leave It to Professionals
So, can you build a sunroom yourself? Well, yes you can, but the project is not an easy one. Building a sunroom is expensive and labor intensive. If you are not confident, or feel you’re not qualified, it’s worth bringing in the professionals instead.
By hiring professionals to construct your sunroom for you, you know that the work is going to be carried out to a professional standard. Not only that, but you should also be offered a warranty of some sort, so if there were issues such as a leak, the company should be able to come out and put that right for you free of charge.
If you discovered a leak after building the sunroom yourself, you’d then need to buy more materials and spend more time repairing it yourself, and as the saying goes ‘time is money’.