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What do you think of when you think...sunroom? You think of a room in which you're surrounded by wrap around glass windows, with the sun pouring in and birds and squirrels in full view...and with no bugs to spoil the enjoyment. And you don't have to be a lover of the sun to enjoy a sunroom...many people who like the rain feel quite at home sitting in the room with the soothing patter of rain on the ceiling and walls.
Adding a sunroom, then, is conducive to your peace of mind and enjoyment of life, and should remain so even once its built and you're faced with the prospect of paying for it and of using it for many years to come.
There are two main types of sunroom to choose from. The first type is the room built onto an already existing deck or porch. This will constrain the shape of the room, but it is the least inexpensive because the base of the room will already be completed. It is imperative that you ensure that this pre-existing structure can bear the weight of an additional structure on top of it, of course.
The other type is a completely stand-alone room that can be made to your precise specifications. The floor will have to be built especially, and any type of sunroom can be put on top of it.
Next you'll have to decide the style of sunroom that will best suit your lifestyle. If you're a cosy couple you'll want one type of room, if you're an outgoing couple you'll want another, if you plan on a growing family you'll want still another.
The studio style is the most popular style of sunroom, a simple but elegant box with a flat roof. A sunroom with a cathedral roof adds height and increased spacing, and allows for cool design features like front trapezoid transoms.
The California or split-level roof looks quite unique, and allows for additional light reception. The Solarium is similar to the Conservatory in that it has a glass roof as well as glass walls, but the Solarium has a distinctive curved-eave roof, just right for looking up at the stars. The Conservatory is the smallest of the sunrooms, designed with classic Edwardian or Victorian feel, including ornate moldings and bay windows.
Enjoying Sunroom Conservatories
Conservatories were once limited to nothing more than wicker furniture and plants, adventurous homeowners are now building them to house practically any type of room in the house from kitchen to bedroom.
A conservatory patio room is one that is built onto an already existing structure of your house, such as a deck or patio slab. It is imperative that you make sure that this structure will be strong enough to withstand the additional weight of the new structure. Not only that, but it must be strong enough to withstand any additional snow that might pile onto its top during the dead of winter.
This type of conservatory will most likely be a 3 season sunroom, because it's not normally built to be used year round - no heating and cooling would be installed.
The conservatory sunroom built on its own specially prepared slab is therefore more expensive, because it will be fully insulated, and have the heating and cooling system of any other room in your house, and will allow you to use the room year round.