It’s common knowledge that Calgary is one of the best cities in which to own a sunroom. The openness of the city as a whole means that you’re likely to get a fantastic view from at least one side of the sunroom, and the average 333 days of sunshine puts the city at the top of the sunlight rankings anywhere in Canada. All that natural light will heat your sunroom during the day and make it possible to live your best indoor outdoor lifestyle year round.
Key Decisions to Make
However, not all sunrooms are created equal but fortunately you get to make choices that will help you create your dream space. As a potential sunroom owner, you need to make sure that your new space is designed to meet the demands of the changeable Calgary weather, as well as making the most of all that sunlight. Some of the key decisions that you’ll need to make when you’re thinking about how to design a sunroom for Calgary include:
- Three or four season room – a three season sunroom is a cheaper structure that is designed for use during spring, summer and fall. It doesn’t have the insulation or heating and cooling capabilities of a four season room, and many Calgary homeowners with three season sunrooms close them off entirely during the winter months to protect the rest of the house from the cold. A four season sunroom connects to your home’s heating system and is designed to withstand colder temperatures, but will cost more to construct and install.
- Roof shape – the two main roof types used for Calgary sunrooms are an A frame, also known as a gable roof, or a studio roof. Both allow for snow and rain runoff, which is why you don’t see many flat sunroom roofs in the city. An A frame roof gives you a more luxurious feel and typically allows for skylights and a ceiling fan to circulate air year round. However, a studio roof attaches to the roof line of your house and slopes in one direction. This will help your sunroom blend in with your home better and will give the inside of your sunroom a more cosy and compact feeling.
- Window size – finally, the size of window is a big consideration that you’ll need to make as you design your Calgary sunroom. Having more smaller windows will be more expensive but they tend to be more energy efficient and easier to replace if they get damaged in one of Calgary’s wind storms. Larger windows give you a better view but tend to take longer to warm up and are more fragile due to their size. You will also need to think about whether you’ll have a door that opens to the garden or to keep the sunroom as a self contained space.
All of these decisions will be affected by the amount of space you have available, the shape and profile of your existing home, and of course the amount of money you have in your budget. It is possible to get your dream sunroom on a budget, but on the whole, the more you can spend on it, the better quality your sunroom will be. However, a sunroom is widely recognized as one of the best improvements you can make in your home in terms of the financial return you’ll get when you sell your house, so it’s worth considering spending a little more as a long term investment.
Why Choose Desert Sun Patios
It’s clear to see that a lot of thought and attention has to go into the design of your perfect sunroom to make sure you get your dream space. While it’s possible to build it yourself, the sheer amount of permits and regulations that you’ll need to meet, not to mention the construction skills required, means it makes more sense to hire a professional sunroom company. In Calgary, it only make sense to talk to Desert Sun Patios for the following reasons:
- Personalized designs – a trip to the downtown Desert Sun Patios showroom will give you a flavour of the wide range of sunrooms that are available to you. However, these are just base examples that can be adapted and personalized to match your space and budget. A design specialist will come out to your home to discuss your dreams for the projects, examine and measure the space and work closely with you through each of the key decisions above (and more) to ensure your sunroom is truly personalized.
- Quality materials – once the personalized design has been completed and the paperwork signed off, the building can begin. Here at Desert Sun Patios, we only use the highest quality materials to make sure that your sunroom withstands the test of time. You’ll have some decisions to make about the materials used for the window frames and the thickness of the glazing, but on the whole you can rest assured that the building team will be using the best quality materials for your budget.
- Local knowledge – the biggest reason to choose Desert Sun Patios instead of a big box store for your sunroom project is our copious local knowledge gained from years of serving the citizens of Calgary. This applies both to an in depth knowledge of Calgary’s planning and building laws, of which there are many, to an understanding of how Calgary’s unique weather systems can affect home extensions. When you hire Desert Sun Patios, you are not just getting a team of sunroom experts, you’re also getting years worth of Calgary expertise to help make your sunroom dream a reality.
One of the best reasons to choose a sunroom as your next home improvement project is the speed that it can be completed. From the first phone call or visit to the Desert Sun Patios showroom to the first morning coffee looking out over your garden can be completed in as a little as two months, so get your Calgary sunroom adventure started today.
