Sunroom - Solarium room addition
A Sunroom is often called a Solarium, and both is a room that provides an abundant daylight while sheltering from adverse weather conditions. Solarium is Latin for a place of sunlight.
What is the difference between a Sunroom and a Solarium? A Solarium has a translucid roof much like a greenhouse that allows more sunlight to come through its roof but with that you got a lot more heat that is allowed to enter the area as well. A Sunroom has a conventional solid top roof structure that prevents most of the heat from entering the area. In the Southern region of the U.S that is most important, so we do not see very many Solariums but within a commercial growing operation or a Greenhouse. A Sunroom can be built out of several different building materials but most of the time the roof is built using a roofing and wall material called a Structural Insulated Panels or SIPs. These strong building panels have been used by the sunroom and cold storage industry for many years, but they are becoming a more mainstream building panel in recent years all in the name of energy saving. The SIPs don't allow the heat of the sun to transfer though the building panels like conventional stick framing does. SIPs are 7 times stronger and 20 times more airtight then stick framing methods that we are used to. We build a lot of different projects today using the SIP panels today. We even build most of our open-air patio covers and some carports using the SIP panels for the roofs. We can also build using the traditional stick framing methods and then spray foam the voids between the exterior and interior walls or a little of both framing methods to meet your build goals.
The whole goal of a sunroom is to keep the area cool so that you can use the area and be confrontable while having an open view of the landscape.
Most sunroom are custom built, and some are designed and to engineered by a manufacturer of these specialty building products (Kit) A kit or custom built is the question? We are farmers by trade that builds all shape, sizes and styles. We deal directly with the customers and cut out the middlemen with his real high markups, overhead and sales commissions and provided you with most of the very same products that they use.
Learn more about the SIPs by hitting the learn more button below.
Unique Qualified
We are Stick Framer and specialty metal contractors by trade and also specialty metal contractors.
Structural Insulated Wall/ Roof Panels - SIPs are used within most cold room and sunroom application
Structural Insulated Wall/ Roof Panels - SIPs are used within most cold room and sunroom application
We are professional tradesman and craftsman that are uniquely qualified and experienced in framing with numerous different building materials including wood stick framing and the advanced structural insulated panels that most sunrooms and cold storage building are built from. Today we also do have recent past within the fenestration business which is the window and door business. After all any construction of any type of any building starts with a square, Stright and plum frame. We are known as A Better Construction Company that dba Carport and Patio Covers of Oklahoma.
When you get ready let's start by talking to see what your wants and needs might be. Give us a call at 405-832-0444 so we can set up an appointment and get together to discuss your wants and needs.
Structural Insulated Wall/ Roof Panels - SIPs are used within most cold room and sunroom application
Structural Insulated Wall/ Roof Panels - SIPs are used within most cold room and sunroom application
Structural Insulated Wall/ Roof Panels - SIPs are used within most cold room and sunroom application
Structural insulated panels have been used within the Sunroom industry for numerous years. Within the Sunroom industry the SIPs have been normally cladded with a aluminum metal on both sides because aluminum is a strong metal that will not rust. The SIPs are a very strong highly energy efficient wall or roof framing panel and are becoming more mainstream and used more within the framing industry of today. These 4-ft wide construction panels also used in the cold storage business and are now available with several different surface cladding such as OSB plywood and steel with different finishes and profiles are manufactured now. Today the housing market is recognizing the benefit of using the SIPs.
Framing
There are numerous different building products that are used in any one build of a sunroom. Most are wanting to take an existing concrete slab and add on to their home for more room and add functionality. It does start with the concrete slab that must be in good condition or you are asking for headaches down the road.
Once the slab is poured then you're ready to forward with the plan. Always make a plan or you plan to fail. You have to decide its size and what type of roof design you're going to want to use. Most roof design around here are either a cable roof or single slopped (shed) roof design and what are those buildings look like. Is it going to be sticked framed or are going to use SIPs (structural insulated panels) that comes from the sunroom industry and now is becoming more and more mainstream we within the wall or roof framing industry.
There are truly endless possibilities with numerous different construction and building materials when building any sunroom. Glass solarium kits are normally for certain purposes and are susceptible to the hail that we get within the region. Also, the more glass the more heat will enter the area even using the best high-performance windows of today. Roof and wall insulation and windows are really important when building any room, but it can make the difference between using the added room or not.
Things to consider when building a sunroom is just like a standard room edition.
Budget -
Size -
Architectural & Engineering - Plains and Permits
Surface - Type of surface to be built on.
Type of roof - Cable or Single sloped design -
Framing & Walls - Doors and Knee walls.
Glass - Windows & Doors - Transom
See high performance glass section within to learn more.
Exterior Cladding - Brick, Smart board, OSB plywood, Vinyl siding, Aluminum etc.
Insulation - Spray foam or baton insulation.
Electrical - Wall, Roof, lighting, heat and air
Lighting - license electrical contractor
Heat and Air - Done by a heat and air contractor.
Interior cladding - Sheetrock or other cladding surfaces.
Painting - Done by a painting contractor.
Flooring - Tile, carport, wood etc.
Windows
The windows used in a sunroom build are most important. It can a difference between using the sunroom and not. The heat and the sun rays can pernitrate though standard glass glazing's. With the more advanced glass glazing they are specially design with several different coating that can block some of the heat and the UV rays from entering the structure making it more livable. There are many different coatings applied to different glazing depending on what regional territory of the country that you're at. Here in Oklahoma, we are in a warmer clement, so we want to keep the heat out of the structure, so we use a glass with a lower in the solar heat gain for cooling purposes. Double or Triple silver coatings on the flat glass that we can't see helps with the flat glass in reflecting the sun's rays. There is also an argon gas that is filled between the window glass glazing that will help the glass performance in any sunroom applications.
There are just a limited few number of glass manufactures that build all the glass for every window manufacturer offering in the industry.
A window manufacturer will offer different glazing options when purchasing a window and that is supplied to them from a glass manufacturer. Then the window company will cut the flat glass as needed and build a window to your order size and specifications. Any window below 30 inches must be made of tempered glass. The glazing on the window surface is most important when building any Sunroom. It can make the difference between using the Sunroom or not using it because it gets too hot.
See window glass performance below.
About window glass performance
Window performance is everything in a sunroom build. The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) operates a voluntary program that tests, certifies, and labels windows, doors, and skylights based on their energy performance ratings. The NFRC label provides a reliable way to determine a window's energy properties and to compare products.
The NFRC label can be found on all ENERGY STAR® qualified window, door, and skylight products, but ENERGY STAR bases its qualification only on U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient ratings, which are described below.
Heat Gain and Loss
Windows, doors, skylights can gain and lose heat through:
- Direct conduction through the glass or glazing, frame, and/or door
- The radiation of heat into a house (typically from the sun) and out of a house from room-temperature objects, such as people, furniture, and interior walls
- Air leakage through and around them.
These properties can be measured and rated according to the following energy performance characteristics:
- U-factor is the rate at which a window, door, or skylight conducts non-solar heat flow. It's usually expressed in units of Btu/hr-ft2-oF. For windows, skylights, and glass doors, a U-factor may refer to just the glass or glazing alone. NFRC U-factor ratings, however, represent the entire window performance, including frame and spacer material. The lower the U-factor, the more energy-efficient the window, door, or skylight.
- Solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) is the fraction of solar radiation admitted through a window, door, or skylight -- either transmitted directly and/or absorbed, and subsequently released as heat inside a home. The lower the SHGC, the less solar heat it transmits and the greater its shading ability. A product with a high SHGC rating is more effective at collecting solar heat during the winter. A product with a low SHGC rating is more effective at reducing cooling loads during the summer by blocking heat gain from the sun. Your home’s climate, orientation, and external shading will determine the optimal SHGC for a particular window, door, or skylight. For more information about SHGC and windows, see passive solar window design.
- Air leakage is the rate of air movement around a window, door, or skylight in the presence of a specific pressure difference across it. It's expressed in units of cubic feet per minute per square foot of frame area (cfm/ft2). A product with a low air leakage rating is tighter than one with a high air leakage rating. Note that air leakage also depends on proper installation of a window, which is assumed in all ratings.
Structural Insulated Panel - Patio Cover www.patiocoverok.
Sunroom Starter Kit
This is a 20 ft wide X 14 ft projection 3-inch-thick solar 3 structural insulated panel (Sip) Patio cover with a single slopped design and our Santa-Fe type of trim package. The structural insulated panels come from the sunroom industry and are used for several different building applications. This patio cover could easily be converted with walls, windows and door to turn it into a four-season sunroom. You could call it a sunroom starter kit. Because you can always come back and build the wall framing for a Sunroom or a Screen room area.
Benefits of a Four-Season room are for the winter months
We are builders of all all types of Sunrooms
These spaces are designed to be used all year long. These spaces can be in a form of a kit that manufactured by a supplier. Or they can custom built more like a traditional stick framed wall and roofs much like a room add-on that incorporates a lot of different styles of windows.
These spaces are designed to use all year long.
A sunroom can utilize your existing heat and air conditioning unit to provide comfort in your new structure or you might want to a separate AC unit for use within the area.
A sunroom is convenient space that allows people to get more outdoors without being outside.
Sunrooms are used for a verity of different uses.
Here are some more common uses:
Home Office
Reading Space
Kids Playroom
Workout Space
Entertaining Room
Pool Table Room
Mud Room
Bar Room
Man cave / She shed / Granny pod.
A Sunroom has unlimited possibilities what can we do with your home?