Sunroom Archives - Tena Stetler

Jul 23rd Sunroom Project for Parrots and People

You know this all started very harmlessly, we were looking out the sliding glass doors on to the patio enjoying the warm spring sun, daydreaming. Wouldn’t it be nice to build a sunroom over the patio concrete slab my husband and I mused? Think how much fun Taco, our Solomon Island Eclectus and Tiki, our cockatiel would have in the sunroom. How much we would enjoy just relaxing out there, sipping our tea watching Taco and Tiki’s antics, along with the day to day activities of the wild birds at our feeders .and squirrels swiping nuts from the top of the fence only to chatter angrily at the wild birds, who they feel are encroaching on their territory. When really it’s the squirrels who are the backyard invaders.

Next thing you know, we have dug 30 inch deep footers all the way around the patio’s concrete slab, added two foot to the width of the slab, formed it all up and ordered concrete. Now why did we do all this you ask, well….because parked in one side of our two car garage is now a 22′ x 12′ Sun Room Kit waiting to be brought around back of the house and erected on that concrete slab.

So now let’s back up a bit and discuss what thought we actually put into this project and how we found ourselves with a garage full of sunroom parts! First we cruised the information high way, the internet, checking out the sunroom sites. We got a lot of ideas from that, but didn’t see exactly what we wanted. What we wanted was a sunroom with windows that opened, and curved glass at the top, but a solid insulated roof, so the room could be used all year around. We didn’t want an oven with a view, nor a room that would create bird sicles in the winter. So we continued our search, contacted several local contractors who built sunrooms to see what was available locally. Several home shows and contractor appointments later, we got lucky, when we met with John, from New Life Construction. His company specialized in sunroom construction in 1999. We explained what we were looking for, he whipped out a brochure from Texas Aluminum, which was EXACTLY what we looking for, curved glass, windows that opened and all. John also was willing to help us put a kit together for us to build ourselves. He kindly threw in 2 hours of his time to assist us with questions and how to tips during our construction. The cost ranges from approximately $8,000.00 to ????? depending on the size of sunroom you desire. Our 22’ x 12’ sunroom. We made a few changes, which added to the cost a bit, during our construction, such as having glass panels made, which we installed next to the house instead of using the insulated panels.

Now before I go any further, let me say that my husband and myself are not new to do-it-yourself projects. We had remodeled our former home, and build a huge garage, just to name a few.

Contrary to popular myth, we read the directions first. Then looked at all the supplies and seriously wondered what we had gotten ourselves into! With the help of friends, construction began Memorial Day Weekend and we were enjoying the fruits of our labors appropriately on Labor Day Weekend! We worked on the sunroom mostly weekends and a few weeknights, under the strict supervision of Taco and Tiki, who had to inspect every phase of the construction and each piece of construction equipment. We had the help of a few friends, but did a lot of it ourselves, much to the amusement of our neighbors. It became their weekend activity to sit in their back yards and watch our efforts, laughing when the awkward 12’ by 3 and 4’ panels got the best of us. Which in our defense didn’t happen to often, but those suckers were heavy to hoist to an 8 foot height, and sliding them into the tracks of the metal roof supports.. However, we have the last laugh daily, enjoying the comforts of our sunroom rain, snow, wind (which we have a lot of) or shine!

Ok, back to the construction, as you can see from the pictures, a metal track was secured to the cement slab, in which the 3 and 4 foot sections were placed. The curved overhead support beams were placed in the(picture 4 &5) framework. The insulated panels were cut to the proper height and length to form kick panels about 18” high for each 3 or 4 foot section ( I had no desire to attempt to keep glass panels clean that went all the way to the ground). The windows and window frames were then sat on the insulated panels. Then the curved glass was placed on top of the window frames. Boy, let me tell you those pieces of curved glass are HEAVY!!!! (photo 6) The glass is all double paned and insulated. The sections and windows are either 3 or 4 foot wide, depending upon the size and shape of the room. Our sunroom consisted of four 4 ‘ sections across the front, two 3’sections on the corners, a 6 foot sliding glass door on the northern end, plus a four foot section at the corner . The southern end consisted of one 4’ section and two 3’ sections. Next to the house, we have double insulated glass panels that run from the bottom kick panel to the top dormer. (approximately 6- foot high). The windows measure either 3 or 4 foot wide, and are 4’5” high, and slide either to the right or left, which ever you prefer. Both sides of the windows have security locks on them, as does the sliding glass door so the room is secure. The neat thing about this sunroom is that you can remove all the window panels in a matter of minutes and have a screen room. Lots of fresh air, sunshine and NO bugs! It just doesn’t get any better than that!

We’ve enjoyed our sunroom for twenty-one plus years. Tiki has passed over the rainbow bridge and is missed terribly, but Taco is still with us along with our chow dog and box turtle to enjoy the sunroom.