Conservatory and Sunroom Planning Tools

If your Planning for the addition of a Conservatory or Sunroom, you might consider this helpful guide.


click for full image

Bringing Your Sunroom Vision to Life

We've made turning your Sunroom vision into reality easy and fun, in fact you might even say it's a breeze. The items in our planning guide list the major factors that must be considered when building an addition. Once you give us your Sunroom vision, we will coordinate with our Independent dealers or your builder to give you a comprehensive bid that includes everything in the planning guide as well as all steps required by local building codes to make your Sunroom vision a reality.

Room Addition Planning Guide:

• Permits/Taxes
• Engineering Fees (if applicable)
• Moving of any utilities
• Foundation/Footings
• Flatwork
• Platform (if room is elevated)
• Work done to existing house to receive an addition (ex. moving windows, doors, etc.)
• Lot Dimensions/Setbacks (a set of original blueprints is very helpful)

Drawings:

If you would like visual assistance with how the room will look attached to your home, Lancaster Conservatories will provide shop drawings to give you the effect. The shop drawings include elevation drawings and top view layout drawings with every important dimension relevant to building the sunroom attched to your home.

If you are an architect designing a project for a client we can forward a CAD file of specific component details for your specifications. We can also assist in preliminary drawings to be incorporated into your overall design.

Engineering:

Here at Lancaster Conservatories we are committed to offering only the best sunrooms, conservatories, and greenhouses we can. In order to do so we must be sure that we have a solid foundation to work with because of the many diverse conditions we encounter. The Lancaster product line has been laboratory tested to withstand wind loads in excess of 225 mph and snow loads in excess of 70# per square foot. More importantly both tests were performed without failure of any components. Upon completion of the testing the lab director inquired about purchasing the test room to attach to his own home.

Budgeting:

When planning for a room addition it is helpful to determine a budget, or rough estimate of what you are planning to invest. We are unable to list completed project totals although some product pricing is available under the Base pricing section.

A starting point is to determine the value of the property you are planning to add on to. A good estimate of a room addition would be anywhere from 10-25% of the property value. This is a very wide price range but keep in mind that there are hundreds of price driving options that are available.

The difference between Sunrooms, Conservatories, and Greenhouses:

Sunrooms - Sunrooms are usually built with all season functionality in mind. Most often the walls incorporate a majority of glass with minimal framework, the roof is usually insulated, ultimately allowing for heating and cooling as needed. Most sunrooms are designed to be attached to the house and accessible through a large opening from the main section of the house. The uses of a sunroom are limitless anything from a family room, a breakfast nook, a library, to a hot tub room and everything in between.

Conservatories - Conservatories are typically the upper eschelon of room additions incorporating features such as ornate trim work, translucent roofs, and intricate architectural designs. Conservatories can be attached to a structure or left free standing. Because of the translucency of the roof, heating and cooling can be more difficult and are primarily 3 season additions.

Greenhouses - Greenhouses have historically been used for growing plants and utilize natural ventilation for air flow. Temperature sensitive fans may also be used to generate additional air flow if necessary. Greenhouse structures are most commonly detached or separated from the house using an exterior door. The architectural detail is often much less than that of a conservatory or elegant sunroom.

Call Us:

We are here to help. Our job is to make sure the process goes as flawless as possible from start to finish. If you need help obtaining permits, laying out for footings, building the sunroom, flashing the roof, or anything in between we are here to help.