Sunroom contractor in Fontana, CA - rooms that start with a sound base
Lightline Redlands Sunrooms & Patios builds sunrooms, patio enclosures and screen rooms for homes in Fontana. We look at the slab, the house wall and the roof first, then build a room that ties in cleanly and sheds water.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
Services in Fontana, CA
Patio enclosures
Many Fontana backyards already have a slab and a patio cover, and closing that in is a common call for us here. We check whether the cover's beam and posts can carry walls and glass before we reuse anything, and we replace what can't.
Patio-to-sunroom conversion
If you want a room you can use all year on the slab you already have, the slab decides how we build it. I check its thickness, edges and cracks, and we add footings where the walls need more support than the patio was poured for.
Screen room installation
For a covered patio you mostly use in the evenings, screen room installation keeps the bugs out without the cost of glass walls. We set the frame on the slab and seal the tracks so the screens stay tight and water runs off.
Patio cover installation
Some Fontana homeowners want shade now and walls later, so we can build the patio cover to carry an enclosure if you decide to close it in. That means sizing the posts and beam and tying the roof into the house the way a room would need.
Sunroom remodeling
If you have a screen room or older enclosure you'd like to use more of the year, remodeling can swap in glass or insulated panels on a frame that's still sound. I check that frame and the base first, so we rebuild only what needs it.
Sunroom additions
On lots with room off the back, a full sunroom addition gives you an insulated room that reads as part of the house. We plan the foundation, the roof tie-in and the door opening in your house wall before anything gets ordered.
Fontana, CA properties and local conditions
A lot of the houses we see in Fontana have a concrete patio slab off the back and a patio cover someone added years ago, and that's usually where a sunroom starts. The catch is that a slab poured for patio furniture wasn't necessarily poured to carry walls, glass and a roof, so I look at its thickness, check the edges for cracks and settling, and see how water drains away from the house. When it can't carry the room as it is, we add footings under the walls rather than set them on an edge that's going to move.
Plenty of Fontana houses also have an older add-on room or enclosure out back that's showing its age. Those get a closer look before we touch anything, because whether we keep the frame or start over depends on what the base and the house wall are doing underneath it.
Working in Fontana: permits, licenses and what sets the price
The first thing I check is whether your house sits inside Fontana's city limits, because there the city's Building & Safety office takes the building permit applications, while the unincorporated parts of Fontana go through the County instead. Which office it is decides where the plans go and whose review we wait on. Contractors pulling permits here call the city's Planning desk to check the job site before they apply for a city business license, and the City of Fontana wants every business working in the city licensed, even a sunroom contractor based in Redlands like us. So it's fair to ask any contractor for that city license, and we're licensed and fully insured. We take care of the permits the building office asks for on our jobs, and the contract says in writing that we're handling them.
What moves the price on a Fontana sunroom is mostly the size, glass or screen, the roof you pick, and how much work the slab or deck needs before it can carry walls, and the schedule turns on the permit review and that same base work. Your written estimate spells out each of those for your house. Fontana is a short drive west of us, and the work here is the same work we do in Rialto next door and back east in Mentone.
Get a written sunroom estimate for your Fontana home
Send the form or call, and we'll get back to you within one business day, usually with me on the phone. I'll come out to your Fontana house to measure, look at the slab and the house wall, and write up a free estimate that shows what's in it and what isn't. There's no obligation to go ahead.
(909) 488-7044How a sunroom job goes when you call us from Fontana
Call or send the form
I usually answer the phone myself, and we set a time for me to come out that works for you. It helps if you're home for the visit so you can tell me how you plan to use the room.
I measure and check the base
I measure the patio, check the slab or deck and the house wall, and look at where the new roof will tie in. You get a written estimate listing what's included and what isn't, so you can compare it line by line.
We handle the permit paperwork
Before the build, we take care of the permits Building & Safety or the County asks for on your job. The city's permit counter keeps Monday to Thursday hours and is closed every Friday, so we plan our submittals around that.
We build and walk it together
Our crew lead runs the job day to day, and I stop by as it goes to check the parts you won't see later, like the tracks and the roof tie-in. When it's done, we walk the finished room together.
Frequently asked questions
Who can sign for the building permit on my sunroom in Fontana?
Once the fees are paid, only the contractor on record or the property owner can sign for a Fontana building permit, and anyone else needs written permission notarized by one of them. The city's building permits page also says an owner who obtains a permit for a contractor's work takes on the liability for the project, including taxes and personal injury. That's why we handle the permit on our jobs, as the contract spells out.
Does a sunroom contractor from Redlands need a Fontana business license?
Yes, any business working inside Fontana needs a city business license, wherever it's based. The city charges a $35 application fee, a $15 renewal fee each year after that and a yearly business tax based on estimated gross receipts, with some exceptions, and each license expires one year from the day it's issued. You can see how the city's business license process works and ask any contractor whether theirs is current.
Can I apply for a building permit online in Fontana?
The city encourages applicants to set up an account on its Build Fontana Public Portal, and Building & Safety now takes permit payments online. Each payment carries a service fee, either a percentage plus $0.20 or a flat $3.00 if you pay by ACH bank transfer, and the Building & Safety counter also takes applications in person. On our jobs we do the filing, so you usually won't need to.
How much does a sunroom cost in Fontana?
The cost of a Fontana sunroom comes down to its size, whether it's a glass room or a screen room, the roof panels, and how much work your slab or deck needs before it can carry walls and a roof. Taking down an old patio cover, adding footings, running power for lights or a fan and tying the roof into a two-story wall all add to it, while a sound slab and a simple roof line keep it lower. I write each of those into your estimate so you can see where the money goes.
How long does it take to get a sunroom built in Fontana?
How long a sunroom takes in Fontana depends mostly on the permit review and on how much work the base needs before the walls go up. A sound slab lets us move straight to building, while new footings or an old cover that has to come down add steps at the front. I'll tell you what I expect for your house once I've seen it and we know which office is reviewing it.
What causes an older patio enclosure to leak or sag?
Most leaks and sags in an older enclosure come from the parts you can't see: a roof caulked to the house instead of flashed into it, tracks that were never sealed, or posts set on a slab edge that couldn't carry them. When we remodel or replace one, I find the cause first, because new panels on the same bad tie-in will leak the same way.
About Fontana, CA
Fontana is a big city with a lot of neighborhoods, and on our jobs here we see everything from older single-story houses on established blocks to newer two-story tracts with tighter backyards. What most of them share is that the outdoor living happens on a slab right off the kitchen or family room, which is where people want the extra space. It's the same kind of call we get in Colton and San Bernardino.
On a newer two-story house, the room has to fit between the house and the back wall and the roof has to sit under the upstairs windows, so layout and roof pitch take most of the planning. On an older house, the slab and whatever was added before us usually take more of my attention than the room itself.
Explore the services
Redlands, CA
Talk through your Fontana sunroom plan
Call (909) 488-7044 or send the form before you buy a kit or pull out the old cover, and I'll tell you whether your slab and house wall can carry the room you have in mind.