Deck-to-sunroom conversion in Redlands CA - a room your deck can actually carry
Your deck sits empty half the year. We enclose it with a roof and walls, on posts and beams checked to carry them.
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Can I turn my deck into a sunroom in Redlands?
A deck-to-sunroom conversion in Redlands builds a roof and enclosed walls over the deck you already have, with glass or plastic filling the openings, so the open deck becomes a room joined to your house.
Most people who call us have a deck that's done fine for years and want to use it in more than one season. The price mostly turns on whether you want a heated room or an unheated one, how much the posts, beams and footings need reinforcing, and how big the deck is. The schedule turns on that same reinforcing and on the paperwork with the building office, which we take care of. When I come out, I write all of it up so you can see your own figure and what's in it.
How do you know if your deck needs work before it becomes a sunroom?
A bounce underfoot
If the deck flexes or bounces when someone walks across it, the joists or beams were likely sized for people and chairs and not much more. Putting a roof and walls on that frame without reinforcing it is how a room starts to sag a few seasons in.
Posts on loose blocks
Posts sitting on precast blocks or shallow pads, or posts that lean, usually mean the footings were never set to carry a roof. That's far easier to fix before the walls go up than after, when parts of the room have to come off to reach them.
Rust or soft wood at the house
Rust stains, soft wood or peeling paint where the deck meets the house usually mean water has been getting in at that connection. A sunroom puts more weight on that spot, so it needs a close look before anyone plans a room around it.
What our deck-to-sunroom conversion work includes
A deck built for chairs and a grill isn't automatically ready for walls and a roof, so I start underneath it, with the posts, beams and footings. If it needs reinforcing, you hear that from us before you pick a design, because the frame decides how much room you can put on it. From there our crew reinforces what needs it, ties the new roof into the house, sets the floor track the walls sit on and seals its joints, stands the walls, fits the glass or panels and cleans up.
Sometimes the deck turns out not to be the right base, and starting fresh makes more sense. If you're after a room you'll live in through summer and winter, look at our all season rooms, and if there's a slab out back you'd rather enclose, we build enclosed patio rooms too.
Heated room open to the house
This suits you if you want a room you use every month with the door open to the kitchen. It asks more of the glass and usually more of the deck underneath, so expect more reinforcing and a higher price.
Unheated deck enclosure
This suits you if you mostly want shade and a bug-free place to sit without adding heating or cooling. It's lighter on the frame, so when the deck is modest, it's usually the one I'd point you to.
Tell us about your deck, we'll tell you what it can carry
We get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free, done at your house, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
(909) 488-7044Deck-to-sunroom conversion in Redlands: what to check at your address
State law has local governments enforce California's building code through a building department or fire district, and that covers additions and alterations like enclosing a deck. Depending on where you live, that office is the city or the county, and we take care of the permits it asks for on our jobs, with the contract saying in writing that we're handling them. Two other checks belong to your lot. On a Redlands corner lot in a residential district, the side yard facing the street has to be at least as deep as the district's required front yard and never less than fifteen feet, so if your deck runs toward the side street, I measure that before we draw anything. San Bernardino County's updated wildfire hazard map now rates areas as moderate, high or very high risk, where the older map marked only the very high zones, so it's worth looking up where your address falls before we plan the room.
A lot of the decks I look at around here were built off the back of the house for a grill and a table, on posts set for that load and no more. We see the same thing on jobs in Mentone and Yucaipa, and in the other cities we work around Redlands, so my first visit starts under the deck.
What happens when you call about converting your deck in Redlands?
Call or send the form
You call (909) 488-7044 or send the form, and we get back to you, and I'm usually the one who answers. We set a time for me to come out to the house.
I measure and check underneath
I measure, look at the deck's posts, beams and footings and the house wall, and ask how you plan to use the room. You get a written estimate that lists what's in it and what isn't, so any reinforcing is on paper before you decide.
Paperwork first, then the build
We sort out the paperwork with the building office before the build begins. Our crew lead runs the work day to day, and I check in along the way.
Walk the finished room together
When the room is done, we walk it together. I show you how the roof ties in and where the track was sealed, the parts you won't see once it's trimmed out.
Frequently asked questions
Can my existing deck hold a sunroom?
Sometimes, but a deck built to hold people and furniture isn't automatically strong enough to carry a sunroom's roof, walls, insulation and heating and cooling. One sunroom maker notes that a four season room needs more support, which often means reinforcing the deck's posts, beams and foundation. I check all three on the first visit and tell you what your deck can carry before you choose a room.
What's the difference between a heated sunroom and an unheated deck enclosure?
Under the industry sunroom standard, a heated or cooled room that's open to the house counts as living space, and one without heating or cooling doesn't. The heated room's windows also have to resist air leaks and water and meet heat-loss requirements, so living space asks more of the glass. If your deck is modest and you mostly want shade, I'd usually steer you to the unheated room, because it's easier on the frame and the budget.
How do I check that a contractor can legally reinforce my deck in California?
Ask which license they hold, because California's rules bar a residential remodeling contractor from contracting for structural changes to footings, foundations, load-bearing walls and roof structures. The state's awning license covers awnings and patio covers but not patio enclosures, so also ask which license class covers enclosing the deck. You can read the classes on the state licensing board's list.
Can you turn a raised or second-story deck into a sunroom?
Usually, yes, and the industry sunroom standard calls for a continuous load path, a connected route that carries the room's forces down to the foundation, on wood decks at any height above the ground. On a tall deck that route runs through longer posts and their footings, so those get the hardest look from me.
What is the best way to attach a sunroom roof to an existing house?
Usually not to the fascia board, the trim along your roof edge, because one maker's installer training says it's rarely able to carry the extra loads of an attached roof. The roof has to tie into framing that can take the weight, and that weight has to carry down through the deck to its footings. I look at the roof edge and the house wall on the first visit so the tie-in is settled before the design is.
How much does it cost to turn a deck into a sunroom in Redlands?
An installed sunroom addition across the US usually costs about $50 to $175 per square foot, and that's a national range, not our price. Where your room lands in it mostly comes down to whether you want it heated, how much reinforcing the deck needs and what glass you pick. Your written estimate gives you your own figure and lists what's in it.
Redlands, CA
Send us photos of your deck
Call (909) 488-7044 or use the form with your deck's size, a few photos of its posts and beams, and whether you want a heated room, so I come out already knowing what to look at.