Buying a Sunroom

Building a Sunroom for Year-Round Use

Quick tips for all-seasons sunroom constructionA sunroom helps you expand your home’s interior further into the Great Outdoors. But what happens when scorching summer heat or frigid winters make the outdoors seem a lot less great? When building a sunroom, it’s important to think about what happens to your room when conditions outside become downright hostile - and what measures you can take to make your room comfortable during all the time you want to use it.But first, let’s start with some good news. A true four-season sunroom is designed to be used during every season, pure and simple. Unless you call the Arctic Circle home or live happily in the borders of Death Valley, it should stay every bit as comfortable as the rest of your home, even during seasonal extremes.Because of advances in technologies used for energy efficient glass coatings, multi-pane insulated windows, and insulated vinyl structures, a sunroom can look and function just like the rest of your home. It should act like an expansion of your home and not a seasonal add-on that’s only comfortable half the time. That being said, there are some important considerations to make when building a sunroom, as seasonal climates vary wildly across North America, as do sunroom designs and building ordinances.With all that said, the greatest factors that determine a sunroom’s year-round usability are:Solar Heat GainGlass and Structural InsulationHeating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)So let’s dive right in.Solar Heat Gain: Managing How the Sun Heats Your New AdditionA common misconception is that in order to stop sunlight from heating your interior space, the windows need to reflect it outright, dimming your sunroom. Actually sunlight is a combination of ultraviolet light, visible light, and infrared light - each of which can be reflected independently of one another. For example, invisible silver-based…

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August 14, 2018
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The LivingSpace Product

Why OSB is the Best Wood Product for Your Sunroom

We use a lot of 3-letter acronyms in the sunroom industry, but one you might hear bandied about the most is OSB, which stands for Oriented Strand Board. Since we use this material so often, we figured we’d give you the 101 on OSB and break it down to the basics: what it is, how we use it, and why it’s useful. So strap in for your OSB orientation.At LivingSpace, OSB is one of the main components we use to make our Eco Green panels. These panels are incredibly versatile - we use them to build roofing, decking, knee wall panels, and more. Eco Green panels are a compound building element, with a thick layer of dense foam sandwiched between two pieces of OSB, for a rigid structural piece with excellent thermal properties that helps insulate the LivingSpace sunroom. OSB is one of the most popular wood products in construction, and it’s used by a range of craftsmen working on anything from do-it-yourself jobs to professional projects. Similarities: OSB and plywood The best way to explain OSB is by comparing it to another commonly used wood product: plywood. OSB and plywood are fairly similar in terms of functionality and structure, and they’re both installed onto roofs, walls, and floors. Both products have similar structural performance measurements and standards. Additionally, OSB and plywood are both durable under a variety of different exposure settings, including Exposure 1, Exposure 2, and Exterior. The Exposure 1 classification is the most important, as it accounts for 95% of all structural panels. An Exposure 1 classification says that the wood used to build sub-floors and sheathing panels can be open to the elements during construction without compromising the structural properties of the panel. Differences: OSB and plywood The two woods are both strong choices, but there…

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August 10, 2018
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The LivingSpace Product

Using Vinyl-Fiberglass Composite VS. Aluminum for Sunroom Installation

LivingSpace is the only manufacturer on the market building composite sunrooms made with vinyl and fiberglass reinforcement. Vinyl is an excellent insulator, making it highly energy efficient. Fiberglass gives the sunroom strength and durability. Most other sunroom manufacturers use exposed aluminum as the main building component of their sunroom. Aluminum easily conducts thermal energy, making it an exceptionally poor insulator. Nonetheless, it does provide some benefits like adding structural support. When planning for your sunroom addition, it’s important to understand each material to best judge the sunroom options available. This post goes through the cases for and against a composite sunroom and an aluminum sunroom. The case for the vinyl-fiberglass composite sunroom https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=u64YJ0W4zG8 Durability: Fiberglass is an extremely strong, stable, and thermally non-transmitting building material, and vinyl is made of an exceptionally strong PVC plastic resin. Both withstand inclement elements, including heavy winds and rain. The composite sunroom resists excessive moisture, and it is resistant to corrosion over time. It also resists pests and does not rot, allowing it to keep its original qualities for many years. Because of its resistance to wear and tear, vinyl maintains its color and finish - even vibrant custom colors - and the structure only requires once a year cleaning. Energy Efficient: A vinyl-fiberglass composite sunroom is an economical choice, as it is is a phenomenal insulator against both electrical and thermal energy. This gives the material a greater R-value, and makes it a great choice for sunrooms in regions that experience extreme heat or cold. Consequently, lower energy costs reduce the carbon footprint your sunroom creates. Furthermore, it can lower your HVAC repairs and maintenance because the HVAC system is under reduced stress. Environmentally Friendly: This graph shows the environmental impacts of different building materials. As shown, vinyl siding is shown as the…

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August 8, 2018
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The LivingSpace Product

LED Recess Lights

How They Work Nothing beats the rich natural light that sunrooms allow in. Once the sun sets, however, you’ll need adequate indoor lighting to protect you from stubbed toes and perilously misplaced legos. The challenge with lighting a sunroom is that recessed lights need to be placed inside the insulated panels of the roof, where they can build up a dangerous amount of heat, especially with incandescent bulbs. Even average LED lights, which are far more energy efficient, generate too much heat to be considered safe. The issue is that the converter in a typical LED bulb creates heat when lowering the 110 volt electrical current in your home down to a usable level. Fortunately, LivingSpace Sunrooms offers a simple solution: integrated LED lights with separated transformers. Energy Efficient LivingSpace is committed to bringing you an efficient, long-lasting sunroom product. Our LED Recess Lights are one of the most energy-efficient lighting technologies on the market today. They have a lifespan of 50,000 hours, meaning they can shine for more than five-and-a-half years before burning out. That’s 25 times longer than a comparable incandescent bulb. LEDs are able to do this while using 75% less energy, on average. Furthering this comparison, incandescent light bulbs release 90% of their energy as heat. Competing light bulbs, such as Compact Fluorescent Light, lose 80% of their energy as heat. Meanwhile, LED Recess Lights only lose 20% of their energy to heat. This video helps visually demonstrate the heat loss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAcc1WBbE1MThe Department of Energy suggests that the use of LED lights offers the best opportunity for energy savings in the United States. Widespread use of LEDs could save approximately 348 TWh of electricity by 2027. This is equivalent to 44 large electric power plants or $30 billion of electricity costs. Individually, those utilizing LEDs can save…

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August 3, 2018
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Buying a Sunroom

How Long Does It Take To Build A Sunroom?

One of the most common questions we hear from homeowners considering a sunroom addition is how long will it take to build? And with good reason! Large remodeling projects can be daunting, with the prospect of saws buzzing throughout the day as dust and scraps accumulate in your yard, while the project drags on for months. Thankfully, adding an engineered sunroom is a far simpler and faster process than a traditional room addition. Start-to-finish, a prefabricated sunroom addition is often completed in 2-3 weeks. That includes the time necessary for setting the foundation, framing the deck, assembling the structure, securing the roof, and finally, installing the doors, windows, and accessories.It’s important to note that this time does not include the time necessary to design and plan your sunroom installation. Before work begins, your design consultant will finalize the layout of your sunroom, obtain the necessary permits and engineering approvals, and send your sunroom to production. This typically takes around 2 months, depending on local building requirements and special design considerations. Sunroom Installation Let’s break down the different steps during the sunroom installation process: Ensuring a Solid Foundation Average Time: 1-2 DaysCreating a sturdy foundation for your sunroom is critical, and builders should always take the time needed to guarantee the foundation is both safe and secure. Thankfully, innovative new technologies allow our partners to construct a foundation in a fraction of the time it takes to pour traditional concrete footings. Products such as Diamond Piers and Techno Posts use steel piles, driven deep into the ground, to create a stable platform on which to build a deck. If conditions are favorable, this process can be completed in a single day. That being said, some homeowners prefer the look of concrete slab for their sunroom. Pouring a level concrete slab is…

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August 2, 2018
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Buying a Sunroom

Are Sunrooms Insulated? A Quick Explanation of R-Value and U-Value

R-value and U-value are terms frequently used in construction and sunroom manufacturing. Both measure specific, important variables in a sunroom to help you better understand the quality of the product you are considering. However, they can be confusing to somebody who hasn’t been exposed to construction guidelines before. This post explains some of the terms surrounding the insulation value of materials and building products, to help you better equip yourself as an informed buyer. What is R-value? An R-value measures a material’s ability to resist heat traveling through it. Every material used in a building component contributes to its overall R-value. A higher R-value indicates better insulation and greater thermal performance. It also translates to a more energy-efficient home. Meanwhile, a low R-value makes properly regulating your home’s temperature difficult. High R-value building materials may also be required by local and state governments for those living in heavy snow areas. Insulation requirements across the United States The U.S. Department of Energy presents a comprehensive map outlining those unique needs of each area of the United States. For example, those living in southern Florida or Hawaii only need sunrooms with R-values between R-30 to R-49. Meanwhile, those living in the Great Lakes region should consider sunrooms with R-values between R-49 and R-60. Insulation is also necessary for your flooring. Those in southern Florida or Hawaii only need to insulate the floors of their sunrooms with a minimum R-value of R-13. In contrast, those in the Great Lakes region need to insulate the floors of their sunrooms with R-values between R-25 and R-30. Traditional construction builds homes based off these values, and LivingSpace believes that the best quality sunroom exists within these confines. LivingSpace Sunrooms offers walls, floors, and roofs with R-values ranging between R-24 and R-52. Consequently, a LivingSpace sunroom is…

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July 30, 2018
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The LivingSpace Product

Sunroom Skylights: Why You Should Fill Your Sunroom With Additional Light

What are sunroom skylights? Sunroom skylights are light transmitting elements that help form the roof of a home. They bring natural light into the sunroom through the use of glass or polycabronate materials. Open skylights were first used in the Pantheon during Ancient Roman times. The “oculus” is an 8.3 meter wide circular opening at the top of the building. Apollodorus built the oculus to bring light and air into the building. Furthermore, the oculus serves as the only source of natural light in the building beyond the entrance. The open skylight brought the elements into the Pantheon, but in some instances, this was welcomed. Rain cooled the building during Rome’s summer months. Skylights manufactured in the Industrial Revolution began to approach the sunroom skylights used in LivingSpace’s sunrooms. By this time, technology produced larger, more stable panes of glass that were glazed to better seal out the weather. Therefore, they were useful to people trying to naturally light their homes, and skylights became common in wealthy landowners’ homes. Today, skylights are more common, and technological advances have made them more efficient for homeowners. LivingSpace makes and installs state-of-the-art sunroom skylights for those who want to bring more natural light and enjoyment into a sunroom. Will a skylight reduce my sunroom’s insulation? Concerns suggest sunroom skylights can create a room that is unusable during the summer or winter because of poor insulation. For example, sunroom skylights made with low-quality glass provide poor insulation power and make a sunroom uncomfortably warm during summer months. However, LivingSpace exists to bring a true four-season sunroom to the market. Consequently, LivingSpace uses materials that let you enjoy your sunroom year-round. LivingSpace ensures their sunroom skylights are manufactured to function purposefully without corrupting the sunroom. The type of glass used to construct a sunroom skylight is critical to the insulation performance. LivingSpace’s sunroom…

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July 20, 2018
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Inspiration

Minimalist Living Room Makes Interior Design Elegant

A sunroom is likely to become the most trafficked room in your home once it is constructed. Consequently, it will be important to plan the right way to utilize the added square footage. The functionality of the sunroom will dictate the way it should be designed and decorated. LivingSpace Sunrooms wants to give you the resources available to create a timeless area. Therefore, this first installment of our comprehensive project will outline the prospective options available through a minimalist living room. Further installments will work to outline further options. Building a Minimalist Living Room A LivingSpace sunroom is a perfect place to create a living room or relaxation area within your home. A living room or relaxation area will give the sunroom versatility as you use it for numerous different occasions. It can be a social place for family conversation, a quiet place for reading, or a stress-free place to unwind after a long day. It is important to maximize the opportunities a sunroom can provide. This can be done through your deliberate attention to interior design. Warren Lloyd has worked for many years as an interior designer and architect in the Salt Lake and Seattle areas. His work has been described as “quiet” but not silent. It is void of clutter. In general, interior design champions this method of styling a room because it visually and emotionally calms those utilizing it. Lloyd says this idea of simplifying allows the room to move closer to the core of its function, which allows those using it to better focus. This thought is furthered by Studio McGee as they suggest breathing space will allow your hard work to stand out. This gives a purpose to the “white space” created by a decluttered living area. A decluttered layout is crucial when trying to…

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June 26, 2018
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Conservatories / Sunrooms

3 Differences Between a Conservatory Room and a Sunroom

When you are considering adding living space to your home, you might come across sunrooms and conservatories. But what is a conservatory and how does it differ from a sunroom? Although some people use the terms interchangeably, they are actually quite different. Regardless of their differences, they both offer several advantages to homeowners. What is a Conservatory Room? Conservatories are defined by their glass roofs that bring in maximum sunlight, making them the perfect place to sit back, relax, and watch the clouds roll by. Similar to a greenhouse, the room is defined by large windows and a glass roof. While conservatories are different from sunrooms, they come with a unique set of benefits. The following are just a few that you can take advantage of when you build a conservatory room addition: • Increased curb appeal • Perfect for gardening • Great natural lighting If you think you might prefer a sunroom addition, you can expect to enjoy after you have a sunroom added to your home: • More living space • Increased sunlight • Insulation options Conservatory or Sunroom? Despite having fairly similar benefits, there are at least three major differences between sunrooms and conservatories. Purpose The largest difference between the two rooms is their purpose. While conservatories are designed for horticulture, sunrooms are more for recreation. For example, conservatories are great for providing plants with plenty of sunlight to grow while also protecting them from wind and cold weather. Sunrooms are designed to be an extension of your living space, whether you want it to be an office, family room, or dining area. Materials Unlike sunrooms, conservatories feature more transparent materials, such as glass, plastic, etc. In fact, conservatories typically have 50% glass on the walls and 75% on the roof. On the other hand, sunrooms usually…

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June 5, 2018
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Premier Partners

Enhance Your Local Sales by Building Trust Within the Community

ENHANCE YOUR LOCAL SALES BY BUILDING TRUST WITHIN THE COMMUNITY Whether you are doing business in a busy metropolis or a suburban region, chances are that there are several remodeling companies that are all vying for the business of local residents. So, how can you stand out from the crowd without pushy sales tactics and breaking your marketing budget? The key to a quality contractor-consumer relationship is trust, and building that trust starts with grassroots efforts within your community. Homeowners looking for a remodeling contractor want to feel confident knowing that the company they choose isn’t all about the profit. Instead, they want to work with a team that is connected to the needs of local residents and takes part in establishing themselves as a positive force within the community. Taking your marketing tactics back to basics and building up trust with potential clients is easier than you may think, and the following tips can get you started in boosting local sales while also making an impact on the community as a whole: 1. Jump In and Give Back If you really want to do some good within the local area and make a good impression on customers, charity work is a great place to start. Sponsor a local little league team, attend community outreach events as a company, or take part in volunteer work that makes your community a better place. Not only will this add to the overall morale of your employees, it will also get you noticed when you’re regularly showing up to help out while wearing your company shirts and uniforms. 2. Take Initiative to Think Outside the Box If you are doing business in a quiet area that doesn’t have a lot of big-name charity events happening, why not start one of your own? Brainstorm…

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May 29, 2018