If you're looking into the cost of a sunroom, you'll soon realize that the materials cost a certain amount of money, and the contractors who put it together cost another amount of money. With a do-it-yourself kit, you could save yourself a substantial sum.If you'd like to add a sunroom to your home, you might think that you'll have to hire someone to come out and build it for you. But that isn't necessarily the case. These days, manufacturers are pushing the envelope by offering sunroom do-it-yourself kits, made out of modular materials, so that the average householder with the time and the inclination can do the installation himself (or herself, as the case may be!)

By putting your sunroom together yourself, you will of course save a lot of money over having to pay people to build it for you. If you have no knowledge of construction work, you don't want to get too ambitious, however. If you're going to put your sunroom together on top of an already existing structure such as a porch or deck, that's one thing, but if you're going to build it as a freestanding attachment to the house, necessitating a new foundation and complete with heating and air-conditioning...then you might want to consider letting a professional contractor do the job instead.

So what we'll discuss here is putting together a sunroom on the top of a deck, or patio. The first question you need to ask yourself is, are there any neighborhood bylaws that will prevent you from adding such a sunroom to your home?

Second, you must have a professional come out and ensure that your existing deck or patio has the strength necessary to withstand the additional weight of a sunroom. And it's not only the weight of the materials that you have to concern yourself with. Does it snow a great deal in your area? A foot of snow on a roof can weight a lot, and must be considered. What about the people who are going to use the sunroom? If you build it such that the weight of three or four people can be handled nicely, but someone decides on a dare to try to squeeze a dozen people into the room, the result might not be pleasant.

Before you decide on the design of your sunroom, you'll want to do a lot of research into it. The type of glass you decide to use is the most important part of the room. You don't want the glass to let in too much light - you'll be blinded by the glare and have to wear sunglasses! Also, harmful UV rays have to be blocked out. You want the sunroom to maintain a nice, even temperature, so you'll want glass that will, in essence, keep warm air in, and hot and cold air out. There is glass that can do that! If you're willing to pay for it.

SunPorch (http://www.sunporch.com) is a company that offers do-it-yourself sunrooms materials, and detailed plans drawn to the specifications you send them, so that you can construct your dream room yourself.

Four Seasons Sunrooms also offers do-it-yourself kits from their SunroomKits arm. (http://www.sunadditions.com). They also have contractors who will help you, if you so desire.

Hi-Tech Solariums (http://www.solarium.com/) is a company based out of Seattle, Washington, but they will ship their solarium kits all over the country.

These are just a few companies offering do-it-yourself kits. If you have the time and the ability to do-it-yourself, you'll be able to find something you like on the web.