For Eastern Iowans who enjoy outdoor living, some winters are worse than others. Overall, thought, if you love outdoor living, winter seems to last forever. As a result, homeowners in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor often want more than just screen porches to protect them from the elements in early spring and late fall.
How can you enjoy the sun and beauty of your outdoor spaces longer each year? One option you may want to look at is enclosing your existing screen room to create a 3 or 4 season room.
These spaces can be used in the chilly, early days of spring through the last vestiges of autumn, even all year long in some cases. Whether you just want a peaceful place to read the paper and drink your coffee, or you need a second family room for TV viewing and entertaining, an enclosed deck or screen room is an economical, relatively quick alternative to a complete room addition or moving.
Homeowners who have added indoor-outdoor living space or enclosed their screened-in porches and sunrooms love the versatility the extra living space it provides.
Five benefits of adding an enclosed 3 season or 4 season room include:
1. Protection from bugs and insects – Enclosing your screened in porch or covered deck with glass or vinyl wall units protects you from annoying gnats and mosquitoes and other critters who manage to squeeze through simple screens.
2. More durability – After a few years of exposure to the elements and some rigorous scrubbing, screens can get dinged and stretched out. There might even be a tear or two. Enclosing your screen room with a glass or vinyl wall system add years to your sunroom and make cleaning and maintenance easier.
3. An oasis for seasonal allergy sufferers – Dust and pollen can make screened rooms virtually un-livable for much of the warm weather seasons for allergy sufferers. Adding a sunroom or enclosing an existing screen room can provide allergy sufferers with the closest thing to being outside without the sneezing, wheezing and dry, puffy eyes that go with it.
4. Create a private, protected spot for your hot tub or spa – When you add a 3 season porch or 4 season room, you can use your hot tub or whirlpool year-round without having to traipse through the snow to enjoy it.
5. Increase resale value of your home by adding more finished or partially finished square footage. Bonus: An enclosed sunroom is generally not considered finished square footage so your property taxes would not be impacted.
Sunroom options are available for every budget to help you add or convert a screened room into a 3 season or 4 season room. Look for a product with a lifetime guaranty and a written workmanship warranty.
If you are serious about adding more living space, you have many decisions to make. Stay organized and cover all your bases by downloading our FREE Sunroom Planning Checklist or check out our Sunroom Gallery.