Why You Should Build a Sunroom – 9 Benefits for Homeowners
Are you considering adding an indoor/outdoor space to your home? We can build a sunroom, enclosed porch, deck, or combination space custom to your home. Our team has experience turning your indoor/outdoor living space dreams into reality. A custom built sunroom is an extremely popular option, and for good reason! Let’s go over all the benefits to adding a sunroom to your home.
Build a Sunroom for the Ultimate Versatile Space
A sunroom addition is the most versatile indoor/outdoor space because it has heat and air conditioning. Some people refer to sunrooms as four season rooms, since you can use them all year long. Adding a sunroom is a big undertaking, because it is essentially a home addition. However, you can use your new room addition in any number of ways!
- Create a playroom for the kids.
- Add a couch and chairs for an additional family room.
- Use a dining room table to create more seating for a large family.
- Decorate with plants to bring the outdoors indoors.
- Add a daybed to create an extra place for guests to sleep or to enjoy sleeping under the stars without going camping.
- Create a little breakfast nook to enjoy your coffee in the morning.
- Make a small library with some built-in bookshelves.
- Use it as a game room, with a special game table and cabinetry to hold board games. If it’s big enough, it could have a pool table!
- Working and studying at home may require additional home office space.
We can even build a sunroom that has a hot tub or connects to a hot tub deck. There are so many possibilities for your new sunroom!
Enjoy the Outdoors All Year Long, Even During Storms
One of the biggest benefits of having a sunroom is that you can enjoy this space all year long, even when it is raining or snowing.
With a sunroom, we typically add an HVAC system or ensure that your current HVAC system is large enough to handle the square foot increase. If you need additional heating and cooling power, we recommend a mini split! A mini split (ductless) unit uses a very small hole in an exterior wall, instead of requiring a full duct system. It’s a great way to make your sunroom into a special heating/cooling zone in your house.
Keep in mind that since your sunroom is fully inside, it gives you peace of mind when you want to host any kind of outdoor party. If it rains, you have a backup plan. It can also give you a temperature-controlled party space if the sun is too hot or if there is an unseasonably cool day. We can build a sunroom that leads out to a deck so the two spaces can work together seamlessly.
Add More Space to Entertain
Speaking of parties, a sunroom gives you more space for entertaining all year. Remember, you are adding a whole other room to your home. Unlike a guest room addition, a sunroom is more functional when you have people visiting. No more sitting on top of one another in a small, cramped living room.
Since you have more space to entertain, you have more options for placing food, music, and seating areas. A sunroom really allows you to expand the living space to make more sense for entertaining.
A Safe Play Area for Pets and Kids
Even if you have a fenced-in yard, it may not feel secure to allow pets and kids to play outside. At the same time, few of us have the time to spend every day supervising outside for hours. A sunroom is a great compromise.
With a sunroom, your pets and kids can enjoy the natural light while still being safely inside your home. This is an especially good option if you have a pool or water feature in your yard, which can be dangerous for young children. A custom-built sunroom is a fun place to play without the worry.
A sunroom can also be great for older kids. They can use this area to watch a movie, listen to music, or play games without disturbing the rest of the household. As your kids get older, you may not be comfortable with friends hanging out in their bedroom. A sunroom gives them a little privacy to have fun, but they are still within the view of other rooms.
The sunroom option is additionally great for a girls’ night with a few glasses of wine or a guys’ poker night. Your whole family can enjoy the sunroom. We can plan your sunroom away from your bedrooms, so if the kids go to bed early, your guests won’t disturb them.
Your Older Relatives Can Relax without Leaving the Party
If you plan to host outdoor parties for all age groups, it may make sense to have an indoor area where older relatives can get out of the sun. Here in North Carolina, summer parties can be really hot, even in the shade. A four season room gives grandpa a place to cool down without leaving the party completely.
Your custom sunroom can not only have air conditioning, but also a ceiling fan. This allows you to keep a breeze going on days when it is a little warm, but not hot enough to have the air conditioner blasting at full strength.
A Bug-Free Environment
If you have an existing deck, porch, or patio, you might know how difficult it is to host an outdoor party with food. Bugs will attack within minutes, any buffet spread you bring outside. Even the best bug control candles won’t protect that pile of barbecue or your aunt’s famous lemon pie.
Instead, keep the party going outside, but spread out the food inside. Your new sunroom is the perfect place for a party buffet. As an added bonus, you can keep a stocked mini fridge in your sunroom for ice cold beer and mixed drinks. No more lugging bags of ice for the cooler.
Of course, when you build a sunroom, you’ll also be creating a living space you can enjoy without bugs, even without food. We all know that feeling when we have to go back inside because of a swarm of hungry mosquitoes! A sunroom gives you a bite-free place to enjoy the sunset.
More Natural Light for Plants
With the right sunroom design, you can create a beautiful indoor garden. Plants love the natural light of a sunroom. With a glass wall facing the right direction, you can even grow more tropical plants that typically don’t survive here in North Carolina. Sunroom windows are the main feature of these rooms, so let the sun shine in!
When you work with an experienced professional sunroom contractor like the Structurally Speaking team, you have options for your sunroom roof. Yes, you can simply add a normal roof that blends well with your existing home. However, you can also have a glass sunroom roof for even more added light. The results of having a glass roof and walls can be stunning.
Increase Your Home’s Value
A new sunroom isn’t just a beautiful place to sit with your morning coffee or enjoy a gorgeous sunset. It’s also an amazing investment. When you add a sunroom, you are increasing the square footage of your home. That measurement includes all rooms that have heating, cooling and insulation. Studies show that homeowners recoup around 50% of the costs when selling. This means it is about as valuable as adding an upscale master suite.
Keep in mind that if you are not planning to sell your home anytime soon, this investment value will only increase as home prices rise, as long as you keep your sunroom in great condition. For the most bang for your buck, consider not only a sunroom, but a sunroom and deck combination.
Having a more valuable home can help in another way. In the future if you ever need a home equity loan or home equity line of credit, you will qualify for more money. These loans/lines of credit are determined based on the total equity you have, so the more your home is worth, the better.
Sell Your Home Faster
If you do intend to sell your home in the next few years, having an indoor/outdoor living space can help you sell your home faster. Right now, it is a seller’s market, which means that in most communities, homes are flying off the market. That isn’t always the case. By the time you sell your home, it could be a buyer’s market. When this happens, it is common for homes to take several months or even years (yes, YEARS!) to sell.
Many buyers are looking for bonus living spaces in the homes they buy. Sunrooms fit the bill, as do other outdoor living spaces like a screened porch or deck. As a homeowner, you may be thanking your past self for deciding to build a sunroom. You’ll be able to sell and move sooner.
Sunroom Costs – What to Expect
You may love the idea of building a sunroom, but can you afford it? Here at Structurally Speaking, building sunrooms, porches, and decks is our area of expertise. We would love to work with your budget to see what option is most affordable for you.
When you work with our team, you don’t get just a prefab sunroom that doesn’t really fit your home well. Instead, we’ll sit down with you to talk about how your family will use the sunroom and what options you like best. Then, we’ll design a custom sunroom perfect for you. This is why we are able to work with a wide range of budgets. Our sunrooms are built specifically for you, rather than using some kind of cheap prefab sunroom kit.
If the sunroom cost doesn’t fit your budget, we can also explore other options. At Structurally Speaking, our team builds decks in a variety of sizes, porches (enclosed and open), and three-season rooms. Additionally, we can even create a patio enclosure. We can also adjust the size of your sunroom based on your budget.
At Structurally Speaking, you also never have to worry about red tape. We do all the work for you. If you need a permit, inspection, or any other paperwork from the city/county where you live, we’ll handle it. We can even help you gain approval from a homeowner’s association. When you work with our team, you never have to deal with this kind of headache.
Why Structurally Speaking
We treat every client like a person, not a number. Not only is your sunroom designed especially for you, but we use your feedback to create the perfect sunroom design before we ever start the building process. If your sunroom design isn’t perfect, you won’t be happy in the long run. We want you to enjoy your sunroom for years to come. When you work with us, we’ll do our best to create a space you love.
Additionally, we oversee the entire building process from start to finish. You won’t wake up to find some unknown subcontractor knocking on your door. We complete the work under direct supervision of owner and designer, Jim Brennan. With decades of custom sunroom experience, Jim’s attention to detail cannot be beat. If you aren’t happy, we won’t stop until you are.
You don’t have to take our word for it. Here are some comments our clients are making about the Structurally Speaking experience:
“We could not be more pleased. Jim Brennan has a gift for design, and Structurally Speaking’s crew did an excellent job of turning our vision into a reality. Their attention to detail and their overall workmanship was wonderful.” – Mike Rosenthal
“I wanted to commend your team on the progress they have made. I got home late last night, and I was amazed at the progress they made on our new deck. I was equally amazed at how much it looks like the actual diagram that we discussed!!! Awesome job!!!” – Brister Gowdy
You can read more reviews here.
Are you ready to start your own sunroom project? Schedule your no-obligation design consultation by filling out the form above. Or, give us a call at 919-786-4825 and speak to an expert.