How to Upgrade a Patio Cover to a Screen Room

For many homeowners, home improvement is a series of sequential steps rather than one-off big projects. This is often due to budget and time constraints about how long a certain area of the house can be out of bounds for, but it can also be a way of testing the water to see if you like a particular design or feature. This is especially true when it comes to upgrading your patio or deck to something more serious. Going straight from a paved patio or a wooden deck to a four-season sunroom can feel like a massive step and there’s always the risk that you may not like it or use it. 

Why Choose A Patio Cover?

The first step many people take is to install a patio cover: a structure either free standing or attached to the house that provides shade from the summer sun and makes the patio feel more like a porch. You have a couple of choices to make the patio cover work for you, which will depend on the size of your deck and your budget. A solid patio cover will usually attach to your house and is made from vinyl or aluminium. This will give you full protection from spring through to fall and will give your deck a more modern look. For a classical feel with more sunshine, you’ll  want to look at a latticed roof design. Think of an Italian pergola and you’re in the right ballpark. A lattice patio cover is better if you need a free standing structure, and it will give you posts and beams to grow plants up and string lights around for a more intimate and romantic feel to your deck. 

Upgrading Your Patio Cover

Once you’ve spent enough time under your patio cover, you’ll have an idea about how you to change it further. One of the most common uses is to create a screen room and planning how to upgrade a patio cover to a screen room is something you will likely want professional help to do. There may be building and planning regulations that your contractor will help you work out, and the skill of making everything straight, plumb and tight fitting is a job best left to those with industry experience. However, you will want to plan out the following pieces to start thinking about your screen room upgrade:

• External doors – not every screen room has an external door (i.e. a door that leads out from the screen room into your yard) so you’ll need to think about what your screen room will be used for before you decide. An external means that you’ll see an increase in foot traffic from both your guests and family, and you’ll need to plan the furniture placement accordingly. 
• Railings – a typical sunroom set up has a railing about a third of the way up the wall. The primary purpose of this is to split the mesh screens into smaller pieces making them harder to break. However, you can also use it as a way to frame the view out of the screen room, especially if you opt for solid boards below the railing. This has the added benefit of reducing the wind speeds into your screen room and makes it feel more like an extra internal room than an addition to your outdoor space.
• Lighting – it’s likely that you’ll have been using candles or a fire pit for lighting under your existing patio cover, but a screen room allows you to add light fixtures. A traditional look is to install a ceiling fan with light fixtures, but you can also opt for uplighting on the external wall of your home or a series of lamps for a more romantic feel.

Another more simple upgrade is to add a screen wall to your patio cover. A screen wall is a large mesh screen on one side of your patio cover and works well for houses where the wind blows in one specific direction or where the house gets strong sunlight during the day. The screen wall provides shade and a windbreak without the cost and planning permissions of a screen room. 

Using Your Screen Room

The biggest benefit of upgrading your patio cover to a screen room is that it opens up the space to more uses than just a covered deck. Most Calgary screen room owners will still use the screen room as an outside living room, but here are some other ways that you can use your new room to best effect:

• An outside dining room – your new screen room makes for an excellent outside dining room experience. Imagine being able to eat each meal with the warm breezes and scents from your garden without being bothered by high winds or the endless summer bugs. It also gives you a place to host parties and get togethers while being able to keep an eye on any younger family members running around on your lawn. 
• A calming home gym – the overall vibe of a screen room is one of peace and serenity, especially as you can shut the door to the rest of your house and enjoy some quiet. This makes your screen room the ideal place to house your home gym. You’ll get cool breezes and the feeling of working out outdoors while having a dry and safe space for all your equipment. 
• A space for growing – finally, if like many Calgary homeowners you have taken up keeping exotic houseplants as a hobby during the pandemic, then a screen room is the solution you’ve been looking for to keep your green babies alive in the summer. They’ll get the sun and air they need to thrive without direct light and the need for an inside humidifier. If you’re someone who’s gotten into gardening from seeds, your screen room also makes for the ideal place for germination to happen, and you can also store all your gardening tools for easy access.