Sunrooms are an excellent addition to any home. While a deck can allow you to enjoy the outdoors when the weather is pleasant, you can enjoy an all-season sunroom all year, even in unfavorable conditions. Instead of building a home addition, you might wonder if you can enclose your existing deck to make a room, and the answer is yes. It is possible and cost-effective to convert a deck into a sunroom.

Consider these benefits of having a sunroom.

  • Enjoyable space: Sunrooms provide additional space to fit your purpose. For instance, you could use yours as a workout room or a home office.
  • Increases home value: A sunroom will increase your home’s square footage and add to its beauty, thus increasing its value.
  • Reduces electricity bills: Generally, sunrooms are open and allow plenty of natural light into your home, reducing electricity bills. If designed wisely, yours can also reduce heating and cooling power consumption.
  • Adds luxury to a home: Sunrooms allow you to enjoy a beautiful garden in any season.
  • Green room: You can turn your sunroom into a green room, giving you the space to grow flowers, vegetables and herbs in your home.
  • Protection from insects, pollen and the weather: Sunrooms are fully enclosed spaces, but usually have numerous windows and screens that allow you to enjoy the outdoors without encountering bugs, allergens or inclement weather.

What You Need to Know About Converting a Deck Into a Sunroom

During the planning phase of converting your deck into a sunroom, you should consider several essential factors. Your sunroom contractor will help you develop the conversion plan, but here are some things you can start thinking about.

  • Function: How do you plan to use your sunroom? The bonus space can have many potential functions, including an office, exercise, green or entertaining room. Its intended purpose is critical for deciding on a design.
  • Design: There are many ways to customize your sunroom. Browsing pictures of sunroom ideas can give you inspiration for the style, size and design you want.
  • Expert Contractors: To convert your deck into a sunroom, you need to hire expert contractors to design a sunroom that fits your needs and wants, while keeping climate changes and the view in mind.
  •  Type: Can you build a three- or four-season room on a deck? Absolutely. Three-season sunrooms are not insulated, so you can only enjoy them in warmer weather. You can use four-season sunrooms year-round, as they offer warmth during cold winters.
  • Budget: You need to know what your budget looks like for the project, so your contractor can give you design suggestions and styles that fall within your price range.

How to Turn a Deck Into a Sunroom

Your contractor will handle the process of converting your deck into a sunroom and help you develop a design plan. Some of the things your contractor will check include the foundation, attachment style and deck materials. Other design aspects for you to consider include flooring, furniture, roofing and windows.

Evaluate Your Foundation

The foundation is the first thing your contractor will check. If your deck doesn’t have a solid foundation or any foundation, you will either need to replace it or add one to support your sunroom. Your contractor can build upon a newer deck or one with a good foundation.

Analyze the Attachment Style

The attachment style is how the deck connects to your house. It influences how your contractor will build your sunroom. Aside from determining your deck’s attachment style, your contractor will also check the fasteners. Here are the different attachment styles.

  • Attached: A raised deck attached to the back or side of your house is an excellent option for converting into a sunroom.
  • Wraparound: Most wraparound decks are the same height as the main entrance, so it’s easy to turn them into a sunroom. You only have to convert a portion of the deck into the sunroom, so you can leave the rest uncovered.
  • Elevated: Elevated decks attach to the second story of your home, so it might be best to have a sunroom built under the deck. With this method, you would have a deck and a sunroom, providing additional outdoor space.
  • Covered: Since covered decks already have a roof, they will need glass on all sides for insulation. Covered decks tend to be the easiest type to convert into a sunroom.

Inspect the Materials

Your contractor needs to evaluate the structural materials used to build your original deck to see if anything needs replacing. Then, they need to assess your deck from a design standpoint, so they know how to incorporate the materials into your sunroom design.

Flooring

There are a lot of flooring options available for your sunroom. If you want a four-season sunroom, you can get underfloor heating. Hardwood floors, carpet concrete or patterned flooring work well for sunrooms.

Furniture

Since a large amount of sunlight will enter your room, you need to choose finishes and fabrics that won’t fade or deteriorate with sunlight exposure. Once you know how you plan to use your sunroom, design and furniture ideas will come easier.

Roof

Do you want an insulated roof, a retractable one or a simple awning? What about windows or skylights? Skylights on the rooftop will provide a stunning view of the night sky while letting plenty of natural light in during the day.

Windows

Most sunrooms have many windows since people have them to enjoy the outdoors without being subject to various weather elements. You can choose how many windows you want in the design, if you would like them to be tinted or use retractable blinds and what style you like best.

Contact Evolution Sunrooms

At Evolution Sunrooms, we’ve built the most advanced sunroom additions in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey for over 27 years. Our sunrooms have an Amilock system that hides fasteners and provides a visible seal. The Pultrex framing system has similar structural integrity to a well-built modern home and is thermally efficient.

We precision-cut our sunroom materials in a factory-controlled environment, meaning the components will arrive on site ready to assemble, preventing contractors from turning your home into a construction site. When you’re ready to begin converting your deck into a sunroom, contact us online to receive a free quote or call us at (215) 398-6936.

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