Sunday, May 15, 2016

And Now.... About That Porch

 It has been three years since purchasing our home, and we have finished all of the major projects we had planned for it after first walking through the house deciding whether or not it was the house for us.
 Well, except for one major project, enclosing the screened in porch off the kitchen into either a three or four season room.
 It's a good sized porch, measuring 16 x 16, and we use it for sipping morning coffee, and evening dinners when weather permits and it is neither too hot or too cold.
It has views of the Shenandoah Mountain range when the leaves are off the trees in late autumn as well as in the winter and the early weeks of springtime before the leaves re-appear.  THAT of course means pollen in large quantities arrives on the porch and it's not my favorite pasttime.... to sit and sneeze on a pollen covered porch.
During the winter months the porch sits empty and light amounts of snow blow through the screens, as well as very cold air, so it's unusable that time of the year.
There are French doors from the kitchen dining area out onto the porch leading to the deck stairs below, so it's an easy exit for us as well as the pups down to the backyard. 
We had a sunporch company come and give us a quote on making this a completely enclosed sunroom with lots of windows, a few of which could be opened when there is no snow or pollen in the air and were stunned at the price they quoted us, so we are getting a second quote from the man who built our deck and back stairs, but we are stumped as to how many and what size windows we want on the western side where the late afternoon sun would stream inside and heat up the room.
I guess we just have not come to a firm decision as to how much use the room would get, whether or not we want to heat or cool it year round, whether it would get too hot in the summertime, AND definitely debating if we want to spend the money.
I would love to hear from a few people who have a sunroom on their house, about cost, too hot or cold, and how much they use the room. Was it worth the money spent?
deedah@ntelos.net

7 comments :

  1. Well im no help because weve never had a sunroom !!---but i do think they are pretty! It sure looks like a great spot for one!

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  2. I can offer little help personally because I don't have a three/four season room.
    We do have a screened porch, love it during those 4-5 months we can use it.
    I do have friends who have a three season room, southern exposure and they LOVE it!
    On a cool sunny day the room is pleasant and warm.
    They find they can open up the French doors and turn off the heat and the sun warms the entire house.
    Another friend and her husband contemplated a 3-4 season room and felt the cost to do so was over the top.
    I wish I could be more help . . .

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  3. Back in March I featured Suzanne's blog, Daffodil Hill. She has a porch like that. You might write to her:

    http://daffodil-hill.blogspot.com/

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  4. An enclosed porch would be great on the days when it's too cold to sit outside but you crave the sun and the outdoors. We had one at a former home and had some problems with it because of the way it was constructed. Ask lots of questions! xoxo

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  5. No experience or suggestions. It's sad that there are full seasons when it would be unusable, though (or already is.) Good luck!

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  6. I lived in my sunroom when I had one..Too expensive to add on now especially since I don't own the house..$16,000..My sister and her husband live in theirs..If you do it...Insulate it and make it an all year around room..My old one wasn't and I was going to do that when I decided to move here..You won't be sorry..Easy to run duct work through the ceiling to air condition and heat it..

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  7. I do not have a sunroom in our home but I would love to see what yours looks like when it is finally built. It just allows you to enjoy sun all year round even when the ambient temperatures are low as you are completely enclosed. Might actually save up and build one, my husband would enjoy it too.

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