If you’re feeling down in the dumps about the prospect of several months of cold weather, long, dark nights, and a lack of sunshine, why not bring the sun into your home in the form of a sunroom?
Sunrooms are popular all over the country, and are becoming increasingly popular across the globe too. These simple additions to a home can not only help improve the aesthetics and comfort, they can also add value to a property as well.
But what the heck are sunrooms? Basically, sunrooms are structures built onto a property that are designed to allow more sunlight into the home. They’re essentially new rooms built primarily from glass. They’re usually floor-to-ceiling glass, with some also having glass roofs as well. These rooms serve as extra living spaces and are all about providing unobstructed views outside, while flooding the room with sunlight and warmth when the sun’s rays are magnified via the glass.
As you can see, sunrooms are fairly complex, so they aren’t exactly cheap. With that said, there are things you can do to bring costs down.
So, what is the cheapest way to build a sunroom? Check out these budget sunroom ideas and you’ll soon find out.
Understand Sunroom Pricing
If you want to build a sunroom on a budget, the first thing you need to do is figure out exactly what your budget is going to be.
Sunrooms can be expensive and complex, but at the same time they can also be simplistic and affordable. Prices can therefore vary hugely depending on a number of factors. To give you a rough idea of what we mean, sunrooms could cost as little as $8,000, or stretch upwards of $80,000.
The overall price you pay will depend on a variety of different factors including the size, your home layout, the materials you use, installation costs, any existing structures, décor and accessories, and so on.
Once you have a rough idea of how much a sunroom is going to cost in general, you can then set a budget.
Don’t Go Too Elaborate
Of course, in an ideal world you’d have a brand new sunroom made from expensive materials, featuring elaborate designs with no expense spared. Unfortunately, that would be expensive and if you are looking to keep costs down you can’t afford to get too fancy.
With that said, that doesn’t mean that you need to settle for a shoddy, basic sunroom, it just means that you shouldn’t get too elaborate. Try to keep things fairly simple and avoid expensive materials and complex designs. The more work that’s required for the contractors, the more it is going to cost you.
Go for a simple frame and layout, and make it that little bit more special when adding accessories and other finishing touches.
Don’t Go Too Big
As well as keeping the design and layout fairly simple, another useful tip for keeping the costs of a new sunroom down is to opt for a smaller room.
The bigger the sunroom the more the cost is going to be. This is because you’ll need more materials, there will be more work involved, and there will be greater labor costs.
As far as keeping sunroom construction costs down, make sure you don’t decide on a sunroom that’s too big. Decide who will realistically use the sunroom, decide how much seating you need, and what the primary purpose of the sunroom is, then figure out what size you need.
Use Cheaper Materials
So, what is the cheapest way to build a sunroom? Well, one of the cheapest ways is most certainly to use cheaper materials.
Rather than fancy woods and metals, instead go for cheaper materials which are just as durable, yet cost a fraction of the price of more lavish materials used in sunroom construction.
Cheaper woods, aluminum, or vinyl frames will work just as effectively as more expensive materials, yet they’ll cost considerably less. They’ll look the part and will boost aesthetics, while also providing longevity and standing up to the elements.
Go Energy Efficient
People often think that thinner glass and windows in a sunroom is the way to go when sticking to a budget. This is not the case.
Sure, thin glass and poorly insulated frames and windows will cost less initially, but come the winter you’ll find that you’re losing heat, letting the cold in, and spending much more on heating the sunroom just to get it up to a semi-reasonable temperature that’s just comfortable enough to sit in instead of freezing.
Energy-efficient frames and windows for your sunroom may cost more at first, but down the line you’ll be so glad you purchased them, especially when you realize just how much money they’ve actually saved you. As they’re energy efficient they’ll trap the heat, they’ll stop cold air getting in, and they’ll magnify the sun’s rays, even on the coldest and crispest of sunny winter days.
Hire Professionals
When building a sunroom, a great way to help save you money in the future is to hire professionals to take care of the installation for you.
If you try to tackle the build yourself, you’re setting yourself up for a great deal of work, and there’s always the risk of something going wrong. With professional contractors, though, they take care of everything for you.
Hiring professionals means that the work is carried out professionally, to a high spec. Not only that, but they can also offer advice on which materials to use to keep costs down, and help with the necessary permits and planning permission etc.
Some companies will also be able to offer discounts so it’s always worth haggling and seeing what they can do for you.
Build Off-Season
Finally, a great way to help keep sunroom construction costs down is to plan for an off-season build.
During the off-season, I.E in the fall and winter months, contractors will likely be less busy and will therefore be more likely to offer more competitive rates.
Another advantage of off-season builds is the fact that turnaround times will likely be quicker, (weather depending) as the contractors will have fewer jobs on so can dedicate more time to you and your new sunroom.
