Sunroom Addition Cost & Consumer Guide

You can use your home’s deck for building the sunroom. Unfortunately, not all decks can withstand a sunroom.

The weight of the sunroom must be considered, along with any weight that might be added due to snow that falls upon the roof, or wind pressure that is is put on the structure. In some cases, load bearing reinforcement may need to be added to the deck. In other cases, utilizing the existing deck may not even be viable.

If not building on wooden deck, you would need to build on a concrete foundation. As a general rule of thumb, your concrete slab would need to have footers at least 8 x 8 in the areas where walls are mounting to the foundation.

Costs: You’re looking at $10 to $20 per square foot. if you need a concrete slab poured for your sunroom.

Aluminum is excellent for sunrooms because of its unique combination of structural strength and low weight. Sunroom aluminum window frames cost between $240 and $1,500 on average.

Well, aluminum is a poor insulator in comparison to other materials and requires more painting touch–ups than vinyl. But it lasts a long time and is incredibly sturdy.

Vinyl is widely known as the material of choice for a wide range of architectural items due to its lightweight, high efficiency, and long durability. Moreover, vinyl framing won’t require frequent maintenance making it one of the top choices for sunrooms. This framing material can cost you as much as $5,400 to as low as $120. 

Another framing option is fiberglass, which has an attractive appearance and requires little upkeep. These frames are more robust than vinyl or metal, as well as insulate better. However, they are pretty expensive, costing about $250 to $3,000.

Nothing compares to the stunning features and charm of real wood in your sunroom. A sunroom’s wood window frames typically range from $240 to $3,200.

Well, they require the most upkeep yet provide the most insulation. Moreover, you can stain and paint woods in a variety of colors and personalize the interior of your windows without causing damage to the material. However, you can also use the combination of some of the materials to make your frame more attractive, durable, and energy–efficient.

Insulated aluminum roofing is a cost effective roofing option that works for sunrooms. It is made with aluminum on the top and bottom sides and a high density foam core. The aluminum panels interlock allowing for fast and easy installation. Due to their composition, they are relatively weak, so they’re common in the south east where snow weight is not a major.

The down side to aluminum roofing is that they only come in the color ‘white’ and will look noticeably different than the rest of the home.

Just like the roof on 99.9% of homes, wooden trusses could be used for your sunroom. In areas where aluminum roofing is not a viable option, truss roofing is the next lowest cost option. With truss roofing, shingles or tiles can be added to match the roof of your home.

This is the option for homeowners that want to truly embrace the concept of the outdoors and be able to see the stars at night from the comfort of their climate control.

Glass atriums are one of the most cost–effective sunroom solutions because they often only require roof installation over the walls. The average cost of installing a glass atrium sunroom is about $12,000 to $42,000. So, it is a popular option for homeowners searching for reasonable home improvement solutions.

Atriums have a glass ceiling rather than traditional roofing to let the daylight in for a comfortable atmosphere inside. Moreover, they give a pleasant sunny location to bring the outside in without being exposed to the weather for individuals who enjoy gardening inside.

A conservatory, which was created as a greenhouse for gardening, has grown in popularity as a way to add sparkle to the exterior part of your house. There are many conservatory designs to choose from, with prices ranging from $21,500 to $115,000.

The sunroom will expand your home’s living area. Furthermore, you can use it for a range of activities, from playing table tennis on a summer weekend to enjoying hot tea before heading to work.

A solarium is a sunroom with a glass ceiling. So, with a solarium sunroom, you can unwind underneath the sky and enjoy the magnificent beauty of nature. Generally, the cost of a solarium sunroom ranges from $48,000 to $108,000, based on the size or if it is a three– or four–season addition.

Well, there are mainly two types of roofs. One is the straight-eave sunroom, which is a traditional single-slope style with no top, costing about $48,000 to $90,000. It is a cost–effective choice and you can use it in a variety of different designs and styles.

Another one is a curved eave sunroom, in which the rooftop touches the wall in a lovely arc, costing around $54,000 to $108,000. Because of its gorgeous style, this type is more popular among homeowners looking for something unique and stylish.

The cost of a three-season sunroom ranges from $15,000 to $60,000. Depending on whether it is a prefabricated porch extension or a customized three–season room, it will cost you around $95 to $275 per square foot.

Generally, a three–season sunroom is suitable for use in the summer, fall, and spring. The room is typically built with aluminum frames, single or double pane glasses, and an entry door. Though a 3–season sunroom resembles a 4–season sunroom, it is a less insulated variant.

Most homeowners choose a three-season sunroom over a four–season one because of its cheap price. However, if you live in a cold region, don’t install a three–season sunroom.

Whether it’s freezing outside or blistering hot, you can relax with your family in the four–season room all year round. A 4–season sunroom is more costly than a 3–season sunroom because of the HVAC systems. Installing a 4–season sunroom costs between $30,000 and $150,000, depending on the materials.

As the sunroom is ready for use throughout the year, you won’t have to worry about the weather outside. If you live in a climate that has all four seasons, consider adding a four–season sunroom to your house.

This project from Sunrooms by Brady used to be a traditional wooden deck. In an attempt to utilize this particular area of the home all–year–round, the owners decided to have their deck be transformed into this beautiful wooden 4–season sunroom (as described on their website). We estimate that transforming a deck into a sunroom would cost in the range of $52,000 to $92,000.

Building a four–seasons sunroom from a deck space will require new flooring, insulation, HVAC systems, doors and windows. With these, the cost can easily increase from the given estimated cost (their website described it as a 4–season sun.

What's unique about this project is that the, the main material used to build the structure is wood from the floor to the walls and the window frames. Installing hardwood floors can give your sunroom that elegant, classic look but it can get pricey. Hardwood floor usually costs about $17 to $38 per square foot. So if you are on a budget, you may opt for a more cost–effective but just as elegant–looking option, which is laminate flooring – which costs about $8 to $17 per square foot.

Say, you want to recreate this beautiful wooden sunroom and built your own 200 square feet sunroom addition like this, prepare to spend upwards of $70,000. That cost will include:

Foundation ($1,800 to $7,000)
Insulation ($780 to $1,200)
HVAC ($1,000 to $6,000)
Wooden floor ($17 to $39 per square foot)
Windows ($3,000 to $25,000)
Door ($2,400)
Roof ($40 to $72 per square foot)

We also have to take into consideration the labor cost and the permit required to build this addition to your home. And last but not the least, you have to furnish the room according to your liking. So, prepare to have an additional budget for this.

This project from Lifestyle Remodeling is a 4-season sunroom addition. The project is using an aluminum structural frame along with an insulated composite panel roof. The amount of light transmitting surface area (glass) is very high, estimated at over 90%. The homeowner clearly specified that they wanted to maximize their view and eliminate walls wherever possible.

It also appears that the homeowner used a custom wide door. Standard door size is 36 x 80, but from the picture it looks to be a little wider, possibly at 42″. This makes it easier to move in furniture and appliances an important consideration if a large sliding door entrance to the home is covered by the sunroom.

From the pictures we can't tell what type of type of glass they used, but considering the maximum glass area, I would guess no expense was spared and Low-e glass was used.

Let's talk about the cost. I'm going to estimate the size at 14 x 24 and 9″ tall. In terms of cost we would estimate $15 to $17 per sq. ft. for the composite panel roofing. Considering a 1″ overhang on each side, 375 sq. ft. would be needed for a cost of $5,625 to $6,375. Double pane glass walls would total $7,000 to $9,000. Electrical and HVAC systems for a sunroom of this size would tack on roughly another $6,000. Permit and engineering would be around $1,500. That covers the structural costs.

For a concrete foundation, we would estimate 288 sq. ft. at $10, and then another $8 per sq. ft. for tile flooring. As described this would be a $28,000 to $32,000 project.

Here is another project from Sunrooms by Brady. This also used to be a deck area that was transformed into this cozy conservatory room addition with a fireplace. This conservatory is built to be used year–round. To compensate for the warmth that is being let in by the surround – glass structure of this conservatory, adding a fireplace to give you warmth during the winter is a necessity.

This particular project is built with hardwood flooring and handcrafted curved wood beams that provide the stylistic touches that will impress. This project is hard to estimate in terms of cost because the size is difficult to just. Let's assume that the over all dimensions are 18 x 18. The non rectangular shape will push the cost to the high side.

Triple pane glass was likely used for it's insulative properties as this appears to be in a northern climate, and would cost $45,000 to $50,000. The wood framing to complete this project would be in the range of $35,000 to $45,000. Throw in hardwood flooring, electrical, and HVAC and you have a project around $120,000.