The clients were debating construction of a screened room, 3-season porch or 4-season sunroom for their home, as they enjoy outdoor living, entertaining guests, and grilling. We helped them choose this screened porch for several reasons:

• They already have both a living room and a large family room with a wet bar in the lower level, each with a fireplace. Additional indoor living space would have been redundant and one space would likely be underutilized. The extra conditioned space was unnecessary.
• Their outdoor entertainment was well-suited to a screened room allowing connection between the guests and the person grilling dinner.
• HVAC would require drywall demolition and patching in the finished lower level office if a 4-season room was to be installed.
• Maintaining daylight to the existing dining area and kitchen was a priority.
• Finally, the clients’ preferred budget was most effectively spent on a detailed screened room

The existing decking was beaten badly due to dark stain and southern exposure. The joist system itself was adequate; however the posts holding the deck were twisted and inadequately anchored, and the depth of footings was unknown. To resolve this problem, the client first removed the existing decking. We then installed a new beam to cantilever the joists, reducing the span to provide greater comfort and less perceived deflection. New footings were dug to frost line, and new posts were installed overlapping the beam with a moment connection to resist racking of the deck structure. Finally, for both structural rigidity and appearance, the new Timbertech decking was installed at an angle, wrapping around the corner of the house. This creates an inviting flow when approaching via the set of steps adjacent to the garage, as the angle draws your eye around the corner of the house toward the screened room.

To read a complete project description, choose one of the following links:

Not Another Sunroom (PDF @ 967k)
Not Another Sunroom - small (PDF@ 737k)