We’ve built a “u” shaped house, and had a deck planned for the south facing opening – but now we are kicking around the idea of enclosing it in glass – 16′ x 16′ area.
I’d like to keep the entire structure below the existing soffit for simplicity, so I am thinking dimensional lumber would lower the ceiling below what is acceptable. (soffit is at 7’6″ or so. Or maybe I need to raise/adjust the roof.
I have seen the kits etc – are they the only way to go? Any thoughts, advice, etc?
Replies
What ever you enclose in the 16'x16' area will be getting water run off the three sides of the house roof surrounding it. Any snow in your parts of the country? If yes, there's the snow load to be mindful of. You'd be surprised how much slope you need in your sun room roof structure. Unless you lower the finish floor level in the sunroom I don't think 7'-6" is much to work with in your situation.
BTW there is one or more companies that advertise in FHB that sell the parts to make one. Channels, seals, etc.
Be sure to consider sunshading devices for those times of year when you'll want to avoid the sun. too much glass can overheat the space making it a poor investment.
Brian
Yes, it will definitely heat up in the summer - we'll have all screens as walls. I hadn't thought about the snow issue - we don't get that much, but every few years a big one hits. Overall, we're still on the fence - I just think I'd rather build something than buy a kit - I'll look in FHB for the ads mentioned.
Thanks for your thoughts....
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I'll look in FHB for the ads mentioned
Resource Conservation Technology in Baltimore. Great products, great techs. But the last time I priced their extruded channel it was $15/lin ft. Not a product I got experience with. Their EPDM seals/weatherstripping are excellent.
My mother got an EPDM (from RCT) roof as it was very low slope. Sliding door panels (and a pair of doors), white oak trim and EPDM window seal. Worked very well.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
You will have ice and snow on that in winter and be excessively warm in sumer, sso I would not do this as a typical garden room, but make it more of a three season enclose, with real framing, EPDM roof tied into the shingles further up, some slope to it, insulation in the cieling, a ouple of vemnting skylights, and then the whole wall glass type.
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We have one about that size although it is not attached to a U section as yours would be. Ours is under a shingled roof.
It is a 3 season room for our midatlantic area. The optimum times are Spring and Fall. One way to reduce the thermal load is to use trees. They provide shade in the summer and the loss of leaves increase the light in the winter months. Ours has a combined AC/Heat unit, similar to those in motel rooms. It works fine but we try not to use it too much.
One of my favorite rooms in the house.
Thanks for the input - we have the trees already!
We'll leave it patio for now - a regular roof would block the sun from our only south facing glass in the main room, and we don't want the darkness...
I can see where it would be one of your favorite rooms.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
Brian:
Great topic, I have been thinking of doing something similar. Ours would have a ridge and a single gable and tie into the gable wall of the house below the rakes. Probably have a tile on slab floor to take advantage of the solar gain during the winter although I have been worried about it getting unbearably hot during the summer months (shading and ventillation, either natural or mechanical are critical). We would also put some sort of heat in there, seperate from the house T-stats (gas stove?) to make the room useable during the winter when it's cloudy or in the evening. We would also seperate it from the main living area by a big slider or something along those lines so we can close it off when we don't want to heat/cool it.
Are you going to design it yourself or have you come across plans somewhere?
Please keep me/us posted on what you find.
BILL
We'll design and build ourselves. The U shaped house is ICF, and the floor of the future sunroom is outside the 2nd floor, with an Anderson slider between the two spaces. I am thinking no heat, just whatever solar gain we pick up. Slate floors, and the sun space will stick past the walls of the house so we can pick up some cross ventilation when the summer wind blows.
I REALLY don't like skylights, but may have to compromise if we want any light in the house.
$$ is tight right now, so we're at least a year out...
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
So we stil have a year to work on you and get you to see the light!;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
One of the biggest mistakes we made in the current house is adding on a 12x20 ft. kit sunroom from The Sunroom Co., now defunct. All insulated glass is custom made, the walls and roof are all glass, and the roof has leaked at one place or another since the day it was installed. At least 75% of the insulated glass seals are shot, and replacing the windows alone would be an estimated 10-15K$.
My other gripe is with the foundation; it's installed on an insulated deck, and although it was cheaper and easier to install, there is no thermal mass to speak of, so temperature swings can be frequent and radical.
Don't get me wrong, we love the room, but between the leaks and the foggy glass, we don't spend a lot of time in there anymore.
FWIW
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.