Summer in Calgary is something you have to experience to understand. The city is known for its high number of sunny days, and it can feel like summer is never ending at times. However, the city is also known for its strong winds and big summer storms. The combination of both of these trends makes it hard to plan to spend time outside at your trailer or park model home without having to worry about what to do with your furniture when the weather changes. This is where considering a permanent sunroom add on could be a game changer for your home. This year-round addition gives you extra space as well as harnessing the endless Calgary sunny days for heat and views out over your outdoor space.
Key Features of a Sunroom
A sunroom is different to any other home extension project out there. It can be built in a much shorter time frame compared to a typical park model addition, and you can work with your sunroom contractor to completely customize the position of the windows and external doors to get the best of your outdoor views and the position of the sun throughout the day. A sunroom roof will typically follow the flat line of your park model trailer, so you will have room for a small ceiling fan to help the air circulate throughout the warm summer months.
Extending Your Home
Building a park model sunroom gives an incredible increase in your square footage. A whole extra room can be a game changer when space is at a premium. It’s a single room addition that attaches directly to your home. This helps to keep the cost of the project down as you only need to build three walls, and you can often use the deck or patio outside your park model as a foundation for the structure. Even if you have to dig, this is a minimal process and shouldn’t expand the budget and timeline of your park model sunroom project too much. The only limit to the size of your park model add-on is the size of your outdoor space and your overall budget for the project.
Let There Be Light
Another key feature of a sunroom that makes you feel like you’re living outdoors is that it’s designed to let as much light in as possible. To help this, you’ll have large glass framed windows instead of solid walls. While this can make your sunroom feel a little like a fishbowl at times, it means that you’ll get natural sunlight all day long, and the room will act as a heat trap even in spring and fall. You can add to this by choosing double or even triple glazed windows to insulate the room further, and adding a subtle UV coating helps to protect your furniture and artwork from bleaching in the sun. Finally, you should consider interior wall insulation that can be added as you’re building the sunroom walls, as this will prevent heat loss during the winter and keep the heat locked in during the summer months.
Keep Things Cool
Finally, your trailer or park model sunroom connects to your existing HVAC system (unlike a screen room or screened in porch), meaning that you can use this indoor-outdoor space all year long. You’ll also find that the heat retention properties of the sunroom can actually heat up the rest of your park model home, helping to save on your energy and heating bills. There’s something quite satisfying about simply opening the door to your sunroom on one of the many hot Calgary summer days and letting the natural warmth from the sun keep your whole park model trailer warm well into the evening hours. There’s nothing like sitting at the window watching the sunset (or sunrise!) from your park model sunroom.
How To Use A Park Model Sunroom
The addition of a new room in your park model or trailer home can feel overwhelming, especially when you’ve finally got used to living in a smaller space. It’s important to have a purpose for your sunroom so it doesn’t just end up becoming a storage or junk room. Here are some top tips for making your sunroom feel like part of the outdoors include:
Face the windows
When faced with a completely blank canvas like your brand new park model add-on, it’s tempting to put your furniture in the usual formation so that everyone can see each other. However, this ignores the biggest feature of your sunroom, so change the paradigm by facing the furniture towards the windows so that you’re sat next to each other looking outside. A common way to achieve this new set up is to have pairs of armchairs next to each other
Bring plants inside
With all the sunshine that Calgary has to offer, a park model sunroom is the best place to keep your houseplants. Not only will you gain the health benefits of living plants inside, but you’ll also create a blurred boundary with the outside world. The natural insulating properties of your sunroom also helps to increase the heat inside the room, meaning you can grow more exotic plants. Add a humidifier and you’ll be able to pick just about any type of plant that you want and just sit back and watch them thrive.
Minimal lighting
Finally, you need to allow the natural sunlight coming in through the big sunroom windows to be your main light source. Small side table lights or uplights in the corners should be enough to make the outdoors the central focus of your park model or trailer sunroom. You can also make the best use of the big windows by installing a large mirror on the external wall of your home. Not only will it reflect the sunlight back into the space, keeping it bright and airy all day long, but the mirror will make your sunroom look bigger giving you a feeling of being outside.
