My Evolving Plan For The Sunroom
Yesterday, I got all of the mortar done between the stones on the front porch. Now I just have to give it 16 hours to completely cure. So by 1:00pm today, I’ll be ready to prime and paint the skirting, and it’ll be done! I can’t wait to show you the finished skirting tomorrow.
But in the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about our sunroom. As you know, I can’t stand this sunroom. It’s a complete eyesore on the back of our house. The plan has always been to tear the sunroom down and add a new addition to the back of our house. But over the last few years, that plan has seemed to become more like a dream than a firm plan. First, there was COVID and interrupted supply lines that caused prices to spike (some of them doubling, tripling, and quadrupling during that time). And now with an uncertain economy, the idea of doing such a huge project and putting that much money into an addition really scares me.
So if you’ve been following along, you know that my latest plan has been to live with the sunroom, even though I really do hate it, and do a low budget makeover as a temporary fix in hopes that we can still do the addition at some point in the future. I had hoped to get away with tearing out the old finishes (disgusting carpet, asphalt siding, old paneling, drop ceiling tiles, etc.) and giving everything a coat or two of paint, and then using half of the room as our home gym and the other half as a sitting room with a TV for Matt so that I can have my breakfast room back as a proper dining area with a table and chairs.
But two things have me rethinking my super cheap makeover plan. The first issue is this back door. This is the original sliding door that was here when we bought the house.
Not only is it ugly, but it doesn’t even close all the way. When it’s “closed”, there’s still a sliver of space between the door and the frame. I’ve done everything I can to make it close properly, but no matter what I do, nothing seems to help. Plus, opening the door is nearly impossible. I have to put my full weight and strength against the edge of the door to even get it to open all the way. So just for practical and safety purposes, this door needs to be replaced if this is going to be a room that we’re actually going to be spending time in. And since I want to get the back patio all cleaned up and looking cute and usable, obviously, this door needs to be usable also. And if I’m going to go to the trouble of making the patio cute, I don’t want the view mucked up with an ugly back door.
I’d like to replace that sliding glass door with the same doors that I have on the back entry of my studio since they’re both in full view from the back of our house.
So replacing the door isn’t just a “want”. I think it’s an absolute “must do” for practical and safety purposes. But then that leaves me with the ugly windows in the sunroom. Since I’ve been spending a lot of time working in the carport over the last few weeks while preparing the stones for the front porch skirting, I’ve had a lot of time to look at these ugly windows and the whole backside of the sunroom. I really can’t stand the fact that we have nice, new windows and door on part of the back of our house, and then this huge eyesore of the sunroom with these old aluminum windows.
At first, I thought that there was no way I wanted to even consider replacing these windows in a sunroom that I really want to tear down. Replacing the windows just makes it feel even more permanent and like I should just give up on my dream of a new addition altogether.
Please excuse the neglected jungle look of our back patio. 😀 I’ve had zero motivation (and zero time) to get this area cleaned up because…why would I prioritize this? Even if it’s cleaned up, it’s going to look ugly. But as you can see, this room has so many large windows, so that’s another reason I hadn’t even considered replacing them.
But yesterday, as I was working in the carport again and staring at this mess, dreaming about the possibilities, I had an epiphany. Buying new windows to replace these old, single-pane, drafty windows doesn’t mean that I have to give up on my dream of an addition. I just simply need to make sure that I order windows that can be reused if and when we ever get to build our addition. As long as the new windows are properly sized for that addition, they can simply be removed when we’re ready to tear this sunroom down and then be re-installed in the addition.
I think this might be the best solution. It’s definitely more work than what I had planned to put into the sunroom makeover later this year, but I think it’s the smartest solution. If we keep these old aluminum windows for now, we’re really not going to want to spend any time in the sunroom. The windows are old and drafty, so the room gets really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. New windows will help with that. And then we’ll already have them on hand for when we’re ready to build the addition. And in the event that the addition never gets built, and if that’s a dream I truly need to let go of, we’ll at least have a usable room with proper windows.
So that’s what I’m planning for now. My super cheap and simple sunroom makeover keeps getting way more involved than I had originally planned. But I think this is the way forward. While I really don’t want this room to be a permanent fixture on our house, it does need to be livable and comfortable while we have it and while we’re using it. But I can achieve that while not completely giving up on that dream of eventually tearing it down and rebuilding. And as long as I’m replacing doors and windows with ones that can be used in a future addition, that money won’t be wasted.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I’m in aww of the work you’ve done to your home. Just amazing! Realistically nothing gets less expensive . I would say finish your projects, and do a complete pen & paper for the sunroom conversion and patio. I’ve tried to overlook ultimate jobs (within reason) in my life and always wished I had done what needed to be done in the first place. The sunroom seems to have structural problems and you know what happens if those issues are not taken care of first . Whatever you decide to do , you have a faithful cheering squad. Happy July 4 !
Working with what is there is a great plan. You can save the addition money for your retirement, and the rest of the improvements there, like the landscaping plan dream. I bet working with what is there, you can make it nice.
Kristi, you’ve it time and time again what you can do to modify and update a room (especially your workroom!). Make that sunroom the envy of your other rooms. You can do it!
I wonder if you painted the siding to match the rest of the house, you might save some money over replacing the siding. It looks like it’s in good shape, but I know pictures can be deceiving.
You don’t just put lipstick on a pig and call it quits, you take a pumpkin and mice and make a carriage fit for a princess. Then, if you decide to, you turn that carriage into a Maserati! Let the planning begin.
We’ve been in our condo ( half double) for 20 years and my back slider works exactly like yours. lol. But I’m a much bigger lady than you, but it still takes all my weight to open or shut it.
Think of it as investing in your new sunroom. You’re just buying some of the supplies now, rather than later. And, as you say, if it never happens then you’ve begun to make what’s there very livable. I think it’s a great plan.
Is your sunroom heated and air
conditioned? If not I wouldn’t waste any money on windows and doors because it most likely will not be comfortable for Matt to watch TV or you to exercise.
Why can’t Matt watch TV in the living room or bedroom? If you have heat and a/c then its probably a good idea to replace doors and windows
I have the same question about the room having heat/a.c. Is there a plan to check for mold?
I love where your head is at with this project. We had a screen porch off the family room of our home when we bought it and when we redid all the windows in the house, we also went ahead and put windows into the screen porch. We didn’t want to tear it down, it still had great bones just no insulation. We retrofitted the insulation and then I stained and finished the wood for a paneled look that would complement our family room. Now we are getting ready to remove the French doors and have it one big room and I must say that although on certain times when we get below 10 degrees and the wind is howling, and like today with it being already 98 degrees and feels like 108, it is just slightly warmer and colder than the rest of the house and by no means unlivable. I haven’t even put up window treatments yet. Remember you don’t have to live with the window placements either. Take this time to look at whether you want walls or windows, or doors to go out to your patio. As always, you’ve got this. Pay to have the spray foam done professionally, as you know from your studio, it makes a world of difference on a home, our entire house had ZERO insulation. The one thing I wished we could have done was a retractable awning. With white siding and our concrete patio, in the morning and until later in the afternoon, sometimes it is like a solar oven, but alas, that is what they make patio umbrellas for. Can’t wait to see what your amazing brain comes up with.
Cheers to you, Matt, and the Fur Construction Crew!
P.S. You can always add a Split Unit to this area and give the cool/heat boost that you need. They are not that expensive and makes a wonderful addition to what was an unlivable space.
Cheers!
I might be mis-remembering, but doesn’t the sunroom have structural, insulation, AND mold/moisture problems? If so, even if you never do a huge addition, you’ve at least got to rebuild that room for safety purposes. I wouldn’t personally spend money trying to make it usable if it really needs to be torn down. If I have remembered the issues incorrectly, and the room is mostly fine, feel free to disregard my prior paragraph! Well, technically, you can disregard it either way….😉
It would be so wonderful to have that space usable!!
Question: That boarded up bathroom has always intrigued me. Now that you are planning to use the sunroom, is there anyway that bathroom could be opened up to the sunroom to be used as a small powder room??
Again, love, love your content and creativity!! Thank you for everything you give us.
Way back when, you described the horrible condition of the carpet and floor in that room, with water intrusion and disgusting amounts of visible mold, so I was very relieved when you said you were planning to tear everything down as soon as you were able. Your current plan would be a good one, IF this wasn’t an issue. But all I can think is MOLD, MOLD, MOLD. While you might not be super mold-sensitive, the spores and mycotoxins that are merrily reproducing there and spreading throughout your beautiful home are not (to put it mildly) good for one’s health–especially someone like Matt who has auto-immune issues. Tell me how I know this. . . .