When people think of a sunroom, they think ‘expensive’. When
they see a house with a sunroof, they think ‘rich folk’. When they think of
themselves having a sunroof in their house they think ‘all my money gone’ in
other words ‘not possible’. Take a
moment, remove this de-motivating thought from your head and think again, is it
really so expensive that you would not consider it at all? I am here to tell
you it is extremely possible even if you have a quarter of the money needed to
build a sunroof.
There are many types of sunrooms out there, you just need to
find the best deal in material and make the most of what your house has to
offer you. A very convenient and cheap
way of building a sunroof is converting an already existing room into a
sunroom. There is no need to lay and set a foundation before building anything,
saving you a lot of time and effort. All you have to do is knock out the wall
and fit floor to ceiling windows on the wall or walls, depending on the
location of the room. If there is only one wall which is exposed to direct
sunlight then your only choice is filling that wall with windows. If the room
is sort of peninsular like where two – three walls are exposed then you are one
of the lucky few to have the opportunity to have a perfect sunroom with three
sources of sunlight to come through.
Another ideal situation would be if you had a rather large
porch. Converting half of or your entire porch (depending on what you want) into
a sunroom would look beautiful and will not break the bank. The exact phrase is
called ‘screening’ your porch. Once again, there is no need to build a
foundation since it’s already done. This saves you a lot of money too. All you
need is the material to screen your porch.
This is where it gets tricky. If you’re not careful, you could lose a
few extra dollars.
One of the best ways to get the right material at a good
price is to get one of those DIY sunroom kits which basically will provide
everything you need to build your sunroom on your own. Going for this will save you from not only buying
un needed extra material but it will also save you from spending on labor to
get it built. The instructions are simple, straight forward and very easy to
follow. Anyone who knows how to hold a hammer and aim at the head of a nail can
follow these instructions and successfully build a sunroom.
Lastly, one of the most important parts of building your
sunroom is choosing the right glazing for your sunroom. Many have started to
use plastic since it a slightly cheaper alternative but it does have its
drawbacks. The entire point of a sunroom is to let the sunlight and the heat
in. Glass is able to trap more heat energy than plastic. Another great point to
take into consideration is that glass is much more durable than plastic.
Plastic tends to get scratched easily and can yellow over time.
There are
companies such as Champion Window that
have started to manufacture eco-friendly glass that benefit you and your house
in more than one way. Eco- friendly glass is definitely the way to go. It’ll
keep the cold in during the summer, heat in during winter so the cost of
heating and cooling the house reduces. There is a significant amount of
protection from the UV rays and is more energy efficient. You can try to save
as much as you want on all the material except for the glass. Make it a point
to spend a little bit more on the glass cause it is the main part of the
sunroom and it is definitely worth it.
That is just about everything you need to know to build your
very own sunroom. Now it’s your turn to make a little effort to make your house
look like a million bucks but for one – tenth the cost. An added bonus to
building your own sunroom is the sense of proud accomplishment that you will
feel after building it. That feeling is something to cherish, just like the way
you will cherish and enjoy your new sunroom.
