Solarium installation in Riverside, CA - a glass room you can use all year

Most people who call me already have a covered patio or an open spot off the back of the house, and they're deciding between a solarium and a simpler three-season room. The price moves with the size of the room, whether it needs a new foundation, how much of the roof is glass, the frames and glass you pick and whether it gets heating and air. The schedule turns on most of the same things, because foundation work and outside trades each take their own time. After my visit you get a written estimate that puts your choices in one place.

I start by measuring, looking over what's there now and checking what the room will sit on, because a base that moves will stress the glass and open up leaks. With that much glass overhead, we plan shade for the roof from the start, since a glass roof takes in far more sun than a wall does, and we talk through frames that let less heat and cold pass through. We settle the windows and the insulation in the walls, floor and roof up front too, because highly insulated windows and insulation make a sunroom more energy efficient, and they're much easier to put in while the room is built than later, when adding them can cost more. Then our crew builds the base, sets the frame, puts in flashing, the strips that turn water away, where the room meets your house and the floor, and installs the glass.

Not everyone who calls ends up with a full glass room. If you mostly want shade over the patio, patio cover installation is the simpler job, and if you're still working out size, roof and layout, our sunroom design work is where we settle that before any building starts.

Attaching a glass room starts with what your lot allows, and the city says its zoning map is for reference only and can change, so I check current zoning and land use with the city's Planning Division instead of going by the map. How the room ties into the house matters too. State law says a residential remodeling contractor can't contract to change load-bearing parts of a house, such as footings, foundations, load-bearing walls and roof structures, and installing the glass and frames falls under the state's separate glazing contractor license. On a solarium that ties into your roof, it's fair to ask any contractor which license covers each part of the work.

We're based in Riverside and work in many of the cities around it in Riverside County and San Bernardino County, so if your city isn't listed, ask us. A lot of our solarium calls, here and on jobs in Corona and Redlands, start with a covered concrete patio off the back of the house, and an older slab often needs work before it can carry a glass room.