Adding a sunroom or a screened porch to a home can add extra space and extra enjoyment. In this article, Paul Langley from Transforming Conservatories, a West Wickham Conservatory company, describes the type of extensions best suit the home’s occupants.
Whether the goal is to add extra space for the family or to have a conservatory to enjoy more of the view outdoors, a patio, conservatory, or an orangery are great home extensions. Learning about the various designs and their uses will help to make the right choice easy.
Add a Bright Space with a Conservatory
A conservatory is typically a completely enclosed room with multiple windows and skylights to maximise natural light, warmth and ventilation. Often the materials are insulated, meaning that this space will get year-round use and will be heated and cooled along with the rest of the house.
Not being open to the elements, the room can be furnished much like any other room in the house. The floor covering can be an extension of the flooring from other rooms, or you can use speciality floorings, like limestone or slate, for a natural look.
Bring the Outdoors in with a Sunporch
Sunporches, or screened porches, are often referred to as three-season rooms. There may be walls, windows that open, or just screens wrapping the exterior to keep insects out. In either case, no heat or air conditioning is often added to the space.
These rooms are meant to be used for three seasons, or spring, summer and fall and are generally not used in the winter.
If the sunporch has walls of window panes, which can be closed, and is therefore protected from the elements, less care needs to be taken when selecting furnishings and flooring. Screened porches, however, will need fixtures that can withstand moisture and frost.
Consider using outdoor furniture to avoid mould and rust over time. Remember that the area may not get much direct sun, making it difficult to dry cushions or seats out, so waterproof materials are preferable.
When setting the flooring in a sunporch, choose materials that are non-porous and can withstand frost. When water gets into tiny pores or cracks in a floor, notably natural stone tiles, and freezes, it expands and can damage the tiles. Porcelain tiles and some ceramic tiles are better choices for a screened porch floor, as they can withstand the freeze-and-thaw effect. Be sure to use a tile installer who used to work outdoors so that proper setting materials and standards are used to avoid tiles rising off the floor with the first freeze.
Combine Areas with a Patio Sunroom
Doors and multi-paned glass walls can be used to fold back and open an outdoor area, reattaching to protect the site from the elements for indoor use. A patio sunroom is one such option allowing one space to have multiple uses.
Open the walls or covering to open the patio for barbecues or entertaining. Close them up again to continue to use the space in inclement weather.
Motorised sunshades can also be used to cover an area in poor weather and draw back again to open the area up to the sun.
Be sure to consider how much use the space will get and what kind of use before adding an outdoor extension to the house. Keeping these things in mind will help ensure the new area is used for years to come.
