Sunroom additions in Riverside CA - a room planned for how you'll use it
Patio too hot, too buggy or just sitting empty? We add a sunroom built on a solid base and sealed where it meets your house.
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- Free on-site estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into adding a sunroom to a Riverside house?
A sunroom addition in Riverside adds an enclosed room to your house. It can be anything from a screened porch to a fully enclosed room that's heated and cooled, so you get usable space off the back of the house that fits the way you actually live.
Most of our calls come from people who want to close in a patio or deck they already have, which is really a patio-to-sunroom conversion, or who want a new room off the back of the house. The price turns mostly on the room type, the size, whether it needs a new foundation and whether it gets heating and cooling. The schedule turns on those same choices plus any permit review, so I put it all into a written estimate after I've seen your yard.
How do you know it's time to add a sunroom?
A patio nobody sits on
If afternoon sun, wind and dust keep everyone inside most of the year, the space itself is usually fine and just needs walls and a roof suited to how you want to use it. Waiting means you keep paying for outdoor space you don't use, and the furniture out there wears out faster.
Water at an old enclosure
Stains on the floor or drips where an older patio room meets the house usually mean the seal at the wall or the base has given out. Left alone, the water keeps working into the wall and the slab edge, and a repair turns into a rebuild.
Everyone crowded into one room
When the family keeps bumping elbows in the living room, the house usually just needs one more room, and a sunroom off the back can add it without reworking the inside. The longer you put it off, the more of the year you spend working around the problem.
How we build a sunroom addition
The first thing I settle with you is how you'll use the room, because a screened porch, a three season room and a heated and cooled room are really three different builds, right down to the windows and what goes in the walls. Then I look at where the room will sit on your lot, what's growing close to it and what it will stand on, whether that's an existing slab or a new foundation. We decide on the windows and insulation before anything is built, since they're much easier to put in during construction than after, and if the room will be heated or cooled and open to the house, it needs windows made to keep out air and water and hold temperature like the rest of your living space. Our installers and I build the room, and we bring in licensed trades for electrical or heating and cooling work. We spend the most time where the room meets the floor and the house, because that's where water gets in a year later if it's done in a hurry.
Most additions end up as one of two rooms, and each has its own page. A four season sunroom is heated, cooled and part of the house, and a three season sunroom gives you spring and fall evenings without the mechanical work.
Screened room
This suits you if you mostly want to sit outside without bugs and still feel the breeze. It's the lightest of the three builds, so it's often where people start.
Three season room
This suits you if you'll use the room much of the year but don't need it comfortable on the hottest days. You get walls and glass without paying for heating and cooling.
Four season room
This suits you if the room will be part of the house, like an office or a place for the family to spread out. It's the biggest build, and it's where the window and insulation choices matter most.
Get a written estimate for your sunroom addition
We reply within one business day to set up a time for me to come out. I measure, look over the spot and talk through how you'll use the room, then send you a written estimate. The visit and the estimate are free, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
(951) 394-2905Sunroom additions in Riverside: permits and fire space
Which office reviews your addition depends on your address. Under the County of Riverside's guidelines, plan review starts with a building permit application, and the permit fee is collected when the plans are submitted. Inside the city, the Planning Division reviews projects against the city's code, which covers building, grading and zoning. The research I go by doesn't settle every city rule for your particular job, so when your job needs a permit, we find out which office covers your address, prepare and file the paperwork and meet the inspector on site. I'll tell you what we know and what's still up to the city or county.
The Riverside Fire Department applies its defensible space rules to every structure, however old, and its guidance keeps the first 5 feet out from buildings and decks clear of woody plants, mulch, woodpiles, combustible trellises and stored items. A new room pushes that line out into your yard, so I look at what's planted along the back of the house before we draw anything, and if you're unsure whether your lot sits in a fire hazard zone, the city or county can tell you for your address. We're based in Riverside and look at the same things on jobs in Moreno Valley, Corona and many other cities in Riverside County and San Bernardino County.
What happens after you call about a sunroom addition?
Call or send a request
Call (951) 394-2905 or fill out the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. It helps to know roughly what kind of room you have in mind, though we can sort that out together.
I measure and talk it through
I measure, look over the patio, deck or yard and what's growing near it, and ask how you'll use the room. Afterward you get a written estimate for that room, so you can see what's behind the number before you decide anything.
We handle permits and build
When the job needs a permit, we take care of the paperwork first. Then our installers and I build the room, with licensed trades for any electrical or heating and cooling work.
Walk through the finished room
At the end we walk through the room with you, opening the doors and windows and looking at the joint where it meets the house. If something isn't right, that's the time to tell me.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a sunroom addition cost in Riverside?
A sunroom in Riverside usually costs about $17,000 to $120,000 per project, and that's the range for the area, not our price. Larger rooms that need a foundation and have heating and air conditioning land at the high end. Your written estimate gives you the figure for your room.
How is a four-season room different from a three-season room?
A four-season room generally has all-weather windows and heating and cooling, while a three-season room generally has uninsulated windows or screens and no heating or cooling. A screened porch has screens only. That's general guidance, but it means the type you pick decides whether the room has windows and temperature control at all.
How large a down payment can a contractor ask for in California?
Under state rules, a home improvement down payment can't be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less. Special order materials don't get an exception to that limit. If a contractor asks for more up front, ask why before you sign.
Who gets the permits for a sunroom addition?
State rules say a home improvement contract has to say in writing who will get the necessary permits, and it must give a date of completion. Look for both before you sign. On our jobs, when a permit is needed, that's us.
What causes water to get into a sunroom?
Most of the time it's the seal where the room meets the floor and the house, or a base that sits too low. One maker's guide says the foundation must sit higher than the ground around it, since standing water can get into the tracks and the room. The same guide says small hairline cracks in the slab are fine, but large buckling of the concrete needs repair first.
How do I take care of a sunroom once it's built?
Keep the door and window tracks clean, look the roof over once a year and keep the drainage clear. One sunroom company's guide suggests an annual inspection of the roof and gutters, pure silicone spray instead of oil-based lubricants that tend to attract dirt, and clear weep holes, the small drain openings in the frame. It doesn't take long, and it keeps doors sliding and water moving out.
Riverside, CA
Tell us how you'll use the room
Call (951) 394-2905 or send a request with the room type, rough size and whether you want heating and cooling, and I'll come out with the right questions already in mind.