Why Choose a Sunroom

Adding a traditional home extension can be expensive and overly complicated for a park model trailer set up. On the other hand, a sunroom can be built quickly and easily on top of your existing deck or patio, allowing you to get a sizeable increase in your home’s footprint on a budget. 

A sunroom is the ideal park model add-on because it has lots of glass windows that will naturally light and heat your home. The glass windows typically face out on three sides of the sunroom so you’ll get lots of natural sunlight no matter what time of day you sit out in your sunroom. Sunroom windows are usually double glazed which means that they insulate your sunroom throughout the day, keeping it naturally warm into the evening hours. During the heat of the day, you can also heat the rest of your park model simply by opening the door to your sunroom and allowing the sun to do the rest. 

Creating A Summer Sanctuary

With the big glass windows, summer will quickly become your favourite season to spend in your new trailer sunroom. To create a true summer sanctuary, try some of these tips.

Add Greenery

Potted plants make a great addition to any room, but you’ll find that your more exotic green babies thrive in the high levels of sunlight and heat that your sunroom generates. Aim for a mixture of floor based pots and ones that hang from hooks above your windows to merge the indoors and outdoors without having to get up from your seat.

Add Seating

Even if it’s just the two of you in the park model, your sunroom benefits from a variety of seating options, all of which should be facing the big windows to get the best of the view. A classic look would have a wicker couch and some armchairs creating an indoor/outdoor vibe, while those with a more eclectic taste might pick up second chairs and recliners to create a vintage feel as you’re relaxing in the sunshine.

Add Softness

While you’ll probably spend a lot of your summer days hanging out in your new park model sunroom, you’ll find that the windows trap a lot of heat. This keeps the room warm well into the evening, making it the perfect place to cuddle up under a soft blanket or two. You can increase the heat insulating properties with a thick rug underfoot, as well as heavy drapes that will frame the view out over your summer garden all season long. 

What is a Park Model Sunroom?

If you’ve never seen a sunroom for a trailer, you’re in for a treat. These are single room extensions that attach to one side of your park model home. While they are full rooms, they don’t require digging or foundations, and can easily sit on top of your deck or patio making them quick and easy to install. 

Features of a Sunroom

A park model sunroom helps you make the most of summer because of the large amount of windows that you get in the new space. The whole purpose of a sunroom is to let light and warmth into the room, so most of the wall space will actually be windows. When combined with the size of your park model, you can switch off the heating by opening the door to your home and allowing the natural insulating property of your sunroom to keep your whole house warm. A park model sunroom also gives you a whole new room to play with so you can let your inner interior designer come out to play.

Creating a Sunroom Summer Oasis

Your new park model sunroom gives you a whole blank canvas to play with as you consider how to turn your space into a summer oasis. It’s all about the vibes when it comes to sunroom decoration, so here are some simple themes to create that summer feeling all year long.

Life’s a Beach

Nothing conjures up the image of summer more than a day at the beach, so pick pastel colours for your soft furnishing, combined with sand yellow and sea blues as your accent palette. Throw in some driftwood knick knacks and pictures or paintings of the seaside and you’ll be having beach dreams each time you enter your new sunroom.

Floral Patterns

Your sunroom is the perfect place to enjoy all the hard work you’ve put into your garden, so it makes sense to pick your decor to match. Bright floral patterns work well for your soft furnishings and artwork as feature pieces, and you’ll therefore want neutral, cool tones for your walls and rugs to offset the flowers and plants. 

Indoor Warmth

Summer in Calgary is all about making the most of the few hot months available to us. Using strong, bold colours throughout your sunroom means that all the sunlight will reflect warmly throughout the day and make your new space cosy and inviting. Use solid blocks of colour to make the most of the warmth and play with different palettes to create a true summer oasis for your park model sunroom. 

The Benefits Of A Park Model Screen Room

As you can imagine, a screen room is a great addition to your trailer during the hot Calgary summer months as the mesh windows offer a very different experience to traditional glass. They are also inexpensive compared to a full room extension or even a sunroom add on as the lack of solid walls helps to keep the price low. You’ll find you’ll save energy as well as you’ll spend more time outside and less time trying to run your air conditioning  all summer long. 

In addition to the cost effectiveness and extra space, some of the most noticeable benefits of a park model screen room include:

• Summer breezes – while Calgary is known as the windy city, there’s something very peaceful about the way that mesh screens take the sting out of the strongest summer winds and leave you with a cooling breeze in your screen room. If you’re worried about rain coming in, you can install solid plexiglass screens that can be removed to give you extra protection during the usual Calgary summer storms. These can also be simple rolled sheets of plastic that you pull down like shades when the bad weather rolls in.
• Protection from the bugs – as every Calgary resident knows, the main drawback of summer in the city is the bugs that seem to multiply every day and evenings can be impossible due to the incessant biting. This is where a park model screen room gives you the ultimate summer sanctuary. You get all the benefits of being outside into the evenings with the warm winds and the sunset views while the mesh screens do their job of keeping the pesky bugs out of your trailer. 
• A quiet space – not only does a screen room give you a sizeable percentage increase on your property’s footprint, but you also gain a whole new room in your home to make into a quiet summer oasis. Your park model screen room will attach to either your front or back door, meaning that you always have a means to close the door on your noisy family and enjoy some peace and quiet. 

The Benefits of a Sunroom for a Park Model

Adding a sunroom to your trailer truly enhances your summer experience. A sunroom has big windows on all sides of the room, so when you place it on the south facing side of your mobile home, you are guaranteed to have sunshine and warmth in your sunroom all summer long. It can connect to your mobile home via one of your external doors, so you can be sure of some peace and quiet on those days when everyone is inside.

Traditional Sunroom Uses

The major benefit of expanding your trailer with a sunroom is that you are significantly adding to the square footage of your home. The big windows will give you beautiful views out over the rest of your property as well as keeping your new space bright and warm even on the cooler nights at the end of summer. You’ll find that there are many ways to use your new space, but these are the most common ways to make the most of your sunroom:

• Additional living room – the most popular way that Alberta park model trailer owners use their sunrooms is as an additional living room. This might be a replacement for your main living space which will free up room in your old living room for something else, or it might be a whole new living room experience. Many people make this their more formal living room with nicer furniture and a set up more geared towards conversation than watching TV. However, it can also be a great opportunity to create a room just for your kids to play in; the fact that you can shut the door on the noise of the chaos is a big bonus!
• Formal dining room – in keeping with the theme of using your mobile home sunroom for entertaining, another common usage for sunrooms is as a formal dining room. This approach gives you much more room for a longer dining table and fancier chairs, and in the same vein as the living room, you can either make your new dining room more adult friendly with nicer chairs and furnishings, or cater more for the kids so they have somewhere to eat while the grown ups hang out elsewhere. No matter what kind of dining experience you end up choosing, make sure you find a quiet morning for a cup of coffee with the morning light in your sunroom – there’s nothing quite like it!
• Zen yoga studio – finally, the rise of home yoga workout apps means that setting up a space in your mobile home for yoga is becoming increasingly popular. The natural sunlight and warmth that comes from the big windows in your sunroom makes it the perfect place to create your zen yoga studio. All you need to get started is a mat and some calming music, but you can easily go all out on decorations, diffusers and yoga straps and blocks to help take your practice to the next level. Being able to shut the door to the rest of the house will make your yoga time a truly meditative experience. 

Alternative Ways to Use Your Trailer Sunroom

You’ll only have so many options in terms of the location and size of your park model add-on. It will be important to talk about your options with your sunroom contractor, who will want to look at the position of your home in regards to the property lines and access doors, as well as working with you to get the most number of big glass windows possible. If you’re looking for alternative options to make your sunroom stand out as the key feature of your park model, there are a whole range of ways to use your sunroom beyond just a quiet place to enjoy the summer warmth:

• Plant room – with the current trend for exotic house plants showing no sign of slowing down, you’ll find your sunroom the perfect place for your green babies that need more warmth, sunlight and humidity. Consider shelves just below the windows so that your plants get the most of the Calgary summer sunshine. You can also have plants hanging down from above the windows to allow you keep more plants in your trailer sunroom. 
• Home gym – if working out is your jam, then you’ll be amazed at how well a sunroom works for a home gym. Not only do you get a whole bunch of extra space for all of your equipment, but the warmth from the sunshine will give you a “hot” workout every time. In exercise terms, this means that you’ll burn more calories as well as soaking up all the extra vitamin D. 
• Guest bedroom – finally, summer is always a good time to get friends and family together, but having people stay over can be tricky with the space confines of a mobile home. By turning your new sunroom into a guest bedroom, you can start to host more, and your guests will love waking up to glorious Calgary sunshine each morning. With a bit of clever design, you can double the guest bedroom as a living room with fold out couches and end tables that double as storage for your guests. You may also consider adding blinds or curtains to your windows and patio doors.

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. 

How Do Park Model And Trailer Sunrooms Work?

A traditional sunroom is built directly onto the back of your home to overlook your garden. For a park model home, there’s usually only one entrance, so the sunroom will be built directly outside the front of your house so that there’s a connection into the main living area. In these scenarios, this means that you’ll need a small entryway to get you and your family situated into the main parts of your home. 

Benefits of a Park Model Sunroom

The actual sunroom itself will be a sight to behold. It’s effectively an extra room, but with large glass windows on three sides instead of walls. These large panels mean that you get unparalleled views out over your outside space, while also getting full protection from the worst of the Calgary weather systems. If you’re someone who loves summer but who hates living in the windiest city in Canada, a park model sunroom is a great choice.

A sunroom is a versatile space. Many park model and trailer homeowners already have worked out efficient living systems for eating, sleeping and relaxing, and the sudden addition of all that extra space can feel overwhelming. It’s easy to choose the simple of option of putting some seating furniture in your new sunroom so that you and your family can embrace the outdoors in your sunroom, but you could also change it into a spacious dining room, a home office with a view to die for, and even an extra bedroom for guests to use. 

Park Model and Trailer Sunroom Construction

Adding a sunroom to your park model or trailer home feels like it should be a major project, but with the experts at Desert Sun Patios, you’ll be surprised at how quick and easy the construction process can be. If you have an existing deck or patio, our team of builders can use that as a foundation for your sunroom instead of having to dig foundations. 

Sunrooms are a relatively quick installation, with the entire processing from consultation to that first cup of coffee in your new space taking only a few months. They have a great return on investment ratio for when you’re ready to sell up, so get in touch to start your park model sunroom journey.

What Is A Trailer Sunroom?

If you’ve never seen a sunroom attached to a trailer, you’re in for a treat when you visit the Desert Sun Patio downtown Calgary showroom. A trailer sunroom is one that is specifically designed to match the long exterior of your trailer. It will usually have an external door and large windows that lead all the way across the outside wall to let as much light and heat in as possible. It can sit on top of an existing deck or patio, or you can dig foundations if you only have grass or asphalt outside your home. You can make them just about any size which makes them an incredible addition to your trailer as long as you have done your research ahead of time. 

Planning and Preparing For Your Sunroom

There are some things you need to think about and know before you can turn your trailer sunroom dream into reality:

• Local planning laws – the most restrictions that you’ll find when it comes to preparing your sunroom plans will be your local planning laws. Calgary building codes have strict rules about building profiles and proximity to other dwellings, so you’ll have to make sure your plans meet all the right rules before building. You’ll also need to consult your landlord if you have one, as they may have rule or charges about adding extensions to buildings on their property. 
• Budget – one of the biggest considerations that you’ll have when you’re planning out your trailer sunroom is how much you can realistically afford to spend on the project. Your overall footprint size will be the biggest driver of cost, as will the types of materials that you use for your windows and walls. 
• Usage – finally, you need to decide if you want a three season sunroom that you close and shut up for winter, or one that is four seasons that you need to connect to your home’s HVAC system. The former is cheaper but you get less use out of it, while the latter allows you to lounge around in your new sunroom all winter, but will push your hearing costs up a little more. 

It’s worth talking your plans over with our team of experts. We know all the planning rules and regulations, and we’ll work with you every step of the way to make your trailer sunroom dream a reality.

This is where considering a park model trailer comes in. A park model trailer is a fixed based home, typically 1000 square feet or less. This means you can buy a bigger lot if you want more garden, or keep a small of plot land to keep your property taxes down. 

One of the main attractions of a park model trailer is the small space, meaning that you save money on property taxes and it forces you to make sure that everything in your home is needed and wanted. There’s no room for junk or a closet full of things you don’t need. The act of clearing out your large home can be very cathartic, offering you a chance to really consider what things spark joy and what things hold memories that you’d rather be rid of. You can be sure that whatever you take with you to your park model trailer will be things that you have actively chosen to keep, rather than random things that you’ve just never had the chance to throw out. 

However, a park model trailer limits you on the amount of space that you have for entertaining guests, especially in Calgary’s warm summer months. This is why many people are turning to 3 season sunrooms as a way of expanding their park model trailer space without having to move or upgrade to a full-size home. A Desert Sun Patios’ three season park model trailer sunroom is one that doesn’t connect to your home’s HVAC system. Instead, it relies on well insulated walls, tempered glass windows; the quality material allows the heat from a small heater to keep the room warm during the cooler fall and spring evenings, and cool during the warm summer days. 

Even though some people worry about the long, cold Alberta winter, Calgary sun rooms are a great way to spend the spring and fall as well as the warm summer months. Of course, you can still use your park model trailer 3 season sunroom in winter; it might require an additional space heater (or an extra blanket!) If you’re not sure, here are some of the benefits of having a park model trailer sunroom:

Easy to construct

Trailer sunrooms are remarkably easy to add on, as most park model trailers are a standard size. This means it’s possible for contractors to buy materials in bulk. This means that they can pass the savings on to you and the work can start easily. A typical installation can take 14 days or less, and the time is even shorter if you already have a park model trailer deck or patio that the constructors can build directly on top of.

Extra storage

Park model sunrooms allow you to have some extra storage space for things likes books and memorabilia, as well as new wall space to hang photos and paintings on. Many people find that 3 season sunrooms allow them to create a more formal area for guests and for day to day living. 3 season sunrooms can also be used for home office spaces as they provide plenty of natural sunlight and lots of space for your desk and filing cabinets. 

Additional break out space

Even when there are no guests around, there comes a time when all families and couples need a space to escape to. Many park model trailer home owners turn their three season sunroom into a TV free room, meaning that you can create separate zones in the house so everybody gets to do what they want without disturbing each other. 

Trailer sunrooms give you a pleasant warm space to retreat to, including the ability to have closed doors for those times when you need a bit of peace and quiet but don’t want to leave the house to get it. The natural insulation provided by a three season park model trailer sunroom means that closing the doors to the rest of the house will only help to keep you warm and comfortable. 

Feel the heat

Calgary sunrooms typically benefit from warm spring and fall days, and the increased number of windows means that your sunroom won’t need much of a heating system. The power of the sun will assist in keeping the room warm, and by keeping open the doors to the rest of the house, you’ll barely need to touch the thermostat until winter comes. Of course, you can increase the effectiveness of your trailer sunroom by purchasing better insulation for the walls as well as glazed windows to trap more heat. You can further increase the effectiveness of your park model trailer glazed windows by buying windows that are filled with inert gases such as argon. The gas inside the window traps more heat than regular air, making them much more efficient at keeping a warm room warm and a cool room cool.

Adding A Patio Cover

Despite the low cost, there might be several reasons that make you think twice about getting a Desert Sun Patios park model trailer sunroom. The main reason that puts people off are the local planning rules, especially if you rent your trailer from a landlord. In these situations, your landlords are unlikely to let you build on their property unless you own the building outright. Another reason are the building codes that might prevent you from building the sunroom of your dreams, and no-one wants to settle for something less than perfection when it comes to big home improvement investments.

If this sounds true for you, then you might want to consider adding a patio cover instead. These simple structures attach to the outside of your trailer and stretch out as far as you want in your yard space, providing you with shade from the summer heat and the feeling of being inside while enjoying the breezes and smells of being outside. 

Benefits Of A Park Model Trailer Patio Cover

Just like a trailer sunroom, there are many benefits of a park model patio cover:

• Cheap cost – a patio cover is one of the cheapest outdoor home improvement projects out there. At it’s very basic concept, a patio cover is a piece of fabric or aluminium sheeting suspended between two poles that stretch out over your deck or patio. You can add strength with external beams and posts, and you can change the materials that your patio cover is made from. In all of these scenarios, you’ll find the cost considerably cheaper than adding a whole extra room to your home. 
• Instant install – even though the typical trailer sunroom install can be inside two weeks, a patio cover can be done by our team of professionals in less than a day. It is possible to complete the project by yourself, but knowing that the job has been done right and that your patio cover won’t collapse on your guests is worth paying the professionals for. 
• No planning permissions – unlike an extra room like a sunroom, you don’t have to have planning permits for your trailer patio cover. This is because while it creates an extra living area for you to sit under, it’s effectively counted as a permanent sun umbrella, so there are no limits on how big it can be or how it can affect the shape of your home. 

The only caveat when it comes to installing a park model patio cover is that you’ll need to think about what goes underneath it. Typically, you’ll want to utilize the shade for outdoor dining or entertainment, so you’ll want to have a deck or a patio already in place. Of course, you can leave it as just grass, but this makes it harder to have anything more exciting than cheap plastic garden furniture to enjoy your new patio cover. 

Working With Desert Sun Patios

Whether you choose to keep it simple with a park model trailer patio cover, or go whole hog and add a whole extra sunroom, you should talk your project through with our team of experts. We have extensive local knowledge meaning that we can advise you of all necessary permits and building codes that you’ll need to be aware of. We also work with local contractors to make sure that you’re getting the finest quality materials for your budget, as well as local workers to come and install whichever home improvement project you’ve chosen. Finally, we will come and inspect the work and help you work out a maintenance schedule to keep your new extension looking as good as the day you first used it.

Park Model And Trailer Patios

Trailer patios come in all shapes and sizes and you’ll have to work hard to find the one that matches your available space and budget. Here are three things to consider when picking your park model patio:

1. How much room do you have? If you’re in a crowded trailer park like many on the outskirts of Calgary, you’ll be thinking more of a short patio, while as you leave the city behind, you may be able to dream of a larger deck. The size of your patio will also be dictated by whether you’re choosing to build on the long or short side of your park model trailer. You also need to decide whether you want your patio on just one side or to have it spread round multiple sides of your property. 
2. What is your budget? Many people choose to invest the money that they saved on park model homes by buying trailer patios that are made of more durable materials such as cedar wood. These cost more than cheaper patio woods such as pine, but they will last longer and require less yearly maintenance.

• How do you want to use your patio? Your park model patio has many different uses, from being a simple entertainment space for your friends and families, to being a cosy dining space for the summer months. If it’s more of an entertaining space, you’ll need to consider the shape and orientation of the seating you have available (or that you’ve got your eye on buying!). If you want a dining space, you’ll need to think about how to fit a table and chairs (with space to push chairs back) which often requires a larger patio size. 

Park Model Patio Covers

Once you’ve decided on the size and orientation of your patio, you’re going to need to think about patio covers. Patio covers are the key to keep you cool this summer in a park model. The range is wide and your choices will be affected by the size of your patio, your budget and your personal choices. The most common options include:

• Awning – an awning is the cheapest and most basic patio cover for your park model patio. It’s a piece of fabric that screws on to the outside wall of your home and you pull it out when you need shade. It’s cheap, and you’ll have the choice of just about any fabric colour and pattern to match your outdoor aesthetic. However, the fact that it’s fabric means that it’s not weather resistant, and it’s susceptible to rips and damage due to the high Calgary winds. 
• Solid patio cover – a solid patio cover gives you much more protection than an awning, but the materials drive up the cost. Typically, solid park model patio covers are made from aluminium or vinyl, meaning that they’ll keep your patio furniture dry. They are permanent structures, meaning that you’ll have to keep them clean of snow, ice and debris outside of the winter months. Solid patio covers can be free standing (i.e. they’re supported by posts drilled into your patio) or attached to your home depending on how you want your patio cover to look. 
• Pergola style – if the idea of aluminium or vinyl on the outside of your home doesn’t fit your outdoor design plans, a pergola style patio cover may be your best option. Pergolas are typically made from treated wood, which means that they only require some annual touch up in terms of maintenance. They are normally free standing post and beam structures which provide a lattice cover over your patio. This is perfect for growing climbing plants like roses or clematis, but it also means that they’re not rain or snow proof.

One final patio cover option for your park model is to opt for a hybrid model. This is where you work with patio cover contractor  to combine different designs of patio cover to best meet the needs of your space. Often this takes the form of having part of your patio cover be a solid covering and other parts being a lattice design. The benefit of having a hybrid patio cover is that it gives you the opportunity to have multiple uses for your patio, all while keeping you and your guests cool all summer. For example, having a solid park model patio cover next to the house gives you the space to set up an outdoor cooking area that will be protected from the sun and wind (and the occasional Calgary rainstorm!), which can then be combined with a lattice style patio cover further out from your house where you can put your chairs and dining table for a dappled shade while you’re eating. 

Think About Shade 

Choosing the best option from all of the patio covers available is key to keeping cool outside this summer. Most important to consider will be the amount of shade in the heat of the day; typically this tends to be in the early afternoon. You will want to work out where the sun is over your park model patio at this time and plan to have the maximum amount of coverage there. If you’re fortunate enough to be working with a larger space, you may want to choose several smaller patio covers and have multiple seating options for you and your summer guests.

Keep Cool With A Patio Cover Ceiling Fan

Finally, patio covers offer one unique option to help keep you cool in the hot Calgary summers: ceiling fans. Even on the most stifling of days, a ceiling fan can keep trailer patios feeling cool and fresh, allowing you to stay outside for longer. A ceiling fan will require a more expensive patio cover, however, as it will need to be able to support the heavyweight and motion of the fan. You’ll need either a solid patio cover or a pergola type design if you want this option. Fortunately, as you’ll need to run electrical wires to the top of your patio cover, a ceiling fan is often combined with a light fixture of some sort, which will allow you to be out later on your patio all summer long. 

Invest in a park model patio complete with a cover and ceiling fan and you’ll be out enjoying the Calgary sunshine all summer long! Our team of expert contractors are waiting for your call  to help map out every part of your park model patio process, from design consultation to planning regulation paperwork and the finishing touches to help bring your patio dreams to life. 

Park Model Screen Rooms: A Bigger Project To Keep You Cool!

If a park model patio combined with a cover and even a ceiling fan doesn’t feel like it’s going to be enough to keep you cool, then you want to think about investing in a park model screen room. This is a permanent addition to your home, so be ready to increase the size of your budget significantly compared to some of the cool ideas above. However, because screen rooms are a lightweight construction, you can build one directly on top of your existing patio or deck, meaning that your overall budget won’t be as large as if you had to pay to dig deeper foundations. 

How A Screen Room Keeps You Cool

A park model screen room is a simple construction. They tend to be based on a post and beam model, with a solid roof and a combination of wood side panels and large mesh screens. The roof gives you the same sort of protection from the worst of the summer heat as a solid patio cover, and it’s stronger than an awning and gives better all-weather protection than a  pergola patio cover design. The real cooling magic of a screen room comes in the large mesh windows. Even though they’ll be big enough to let plenty of light and air through, the mesh acts like a block to UV rays, as well as the interminable dust and bugs that seem to accompany every Calgary summer. You’ll also find that the screens help provide more shade during the heat of the day which in turn will make your screen into a cool summer sanctuary. You can even hang a ceiling fan from the roof of your park model screen to keep things even cooler!