How can I turn my deck into a sunroom?

Whezie
by Whezie
  2 answers
  • Landsharkinnc Landsharkinnc on Sep 01, 2018

    first thing would be to assure there is sufficient strength to support walls/windows (which are HEAVY!) and a solid roof; Frankly, I doubt that any deck would be -- Have a general contractor take a look --- you'd probably have to have a building permit to add an enclosed room to your home... electrical, etc.,insulation, etc.

  • Thelma Thelma on Sep 01, 2018

    Hi Whe9956157, We turned our redwood porch into a sunroom in 2000 and have never had any problems with any portion of it. This is not a simple or an easy job; if you don't have experience in building and in pouring concrete, you need to have professionals do the job. 1. To start the process, get all necessary building permits. 2. Brace the corners and halfway between the corners so the deck will remain up in the air when you remove all the existing braces. 3. Hand dig a trench 3ft deep all the way around {& under the deck} so it's wide enough to put in concrete forms that have 12" between the forms so you can pour a concrete footing. This must be on all four sides of the deck. Again, this must be dug by hand, a piece of equipment cannot get under the edge of the deck without tearing things up. 4. Pour the footing 12" wide x 10" deep; this will be the area on which the 8" foundation will be centered. 5. Let concrete dry/cure completely - must be done correctly or it will just crumble away later. 6. After footing has cured and dried, put concrete forms on top of it making sure they are 8" apart and are centered on the footing - these forms will hold the concrete for the foundation and it must have rebar in it and be attached to the footing - again, all the way around the deck, but be sure to leave a 'crawl space opening' so you can get under the deck for adding insulation and for having a way to remove the concrete forms later. 7. Attach 'stud' holders to the bottom of the floor joists so they will go down inside the concrete forms - run the foam paper along the joists before attaching the holders to them to keep the wood from touching the concrete. The holders will attach the deck to the foundation when the concrete is poured into the forms. 8. Pour the foundation, it must be deep enough to go all the way down to the footing and all the way up to the level elevation of the deck. 9. Let the foundation dry completely then remove the concrete forms. Now comes the hard part - the building of the walls and roof of the sunroom, make sure you build the walls to hold the windows and doors that will let in all the sun. Our sunroom is 12ft wide x 36ft long, has 2 large 6ft wide French glass doors {one on each corner of the 36ft length} for entries, and has 3 large windows on each of the 12ft ends and 6 x-large windows on the long side that is not attached to the house. We computed the width of the windows needed by allowing 4" between the windows and the house, themselves, and the corners where the doors are. You will have to have windows special made after you decide just how wide and tall they are to be. When you get this done, let me know and I'll help you with the rest of the info if you need it. Good Luck!!