Sunroom remodeling in Riverside CA - turn the room you have into one you use

Most of the rooms people ask us to rework were added years ago as a patio room or screen room and never got much use, because it's too hot by noon, the screens are torn or water shows up along the floor. The price and the schedule mostly depend on how much you want to change. Swapping screens or panels is a smaller job than new glass with heating or cooling, and a new layout or extra trades means more planning, plus a permit if the job needs one. The written estimate I send after my visit lays out the work and the price for your room.

I start by looking at what the room is now, meaning the walls, the glass and how it's heated or cooled, if at all, because that tells us what can stay and what has to change. Then we talk through how you want to use it, since a shady spot for morning coffee and a room you'd sit in through August are two different jobs. While we work out the new window and door layout, I plan how you'd get out in an emergency, because the building code has exit rules for a room like this. It's much easier to plan for them early than to move an opening after the walls are framed. Once the plan holds up, our installers and I rebuild the room. Most of my attention goes to the base and the joints where it meets the floor and the house, since that's where water gets in.

Some rooms don't need glass at all. If you want air and shade without the bugs, screen room installation may suit you better than a full remodel. If what you have is still an open slab under a cover, we'd treat it as a patio-to-sunroom conversion and plan the room from the ground up.

The city decides whether your remodel needs a permit. When it does, the City of Riverside Building & Safety Division offers standard plans to permit applicants to speed up plan check and permit issuance. The catch is that work built from a standard plan has to follow it exactly. Any change from it needs a site-specific design from an appropriate design professional, so if you want a custom layout, expect a design step before plan check. 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. We'll tell you what we know and what's still up to the city or county.

Around Riverside, most of the rooms we rework are patio rooms and screen rooms added to the back of a house years ago, and the trouble is usually the summer sun and the seal at the slab. We're based in Riverside and work in many of the cities around it in Riverside County and San Bernardino County, and we see the same kinds of rooms on jobs in Moreno Valley and Corona. If you don't see your city listed, ask us.