Sunroom additions in Woodcrest CA - a room that ties cleanly into your house

A sunroom in the Riverside area usually costs about $17,000 to $120,000 for the whole project, and larger rooms that need a foundation and have heating and air conditioning sit at the higher end. Insulated windows and insulation in the walls, floor and roof make the room more energy efficient, and they're much easier to add while the room is built, since adding them later can often cost more. Your own number comes from the estimate, once I've seen what the room would sit on.

Riverside County Building and Safety does, because Woodcrest is unincorporated county land, so permits come from the county. The county's permit list names patio covers, enclosed patios, and additions and alterations rather than sunrooms, so ask the county about your project, and it recommends applying online at rivcoplus.org. When a job needs a permit, we handle the application with the county or city office for your address, here or in Riverside and the other cities around it, and get the work ready for each inspection. Before you settle on a design, enter your address on the State Fire Marshal's fire hazard map to see whether your lot sits in a Fire Hazard Severity Zone.

Open it up if you want the room to be part of your living space, and close it off if it's somewhere you'll mostly use when the weather's good. Under the industry sunroom standard, a heated or cooled room open to the house counts as habitable, while one sealed off with its own heating and cooling counts as non-habitable, so this choice decides which kind of room you're building. When it's a close call, I'll usually point you to the simpler room if it does the job.

Often, yes, as long as what's underneath can carry it. The industry sunroom standard calls for a continuous load path, framing that carries the room's loads down to the foundation, on concrete slabs and on wood decks at any height. So an old patio or deck gets checked first and sometimes needs added support before the room goes on, which is exactly the kind of awkward job we like.

Look up the contractor's license status on the state licensing board's site, which the board advises owners to do before hiring. California also requires a written contract for home improvement jobs over $500, and the down payment can't be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less. We're licensed and insured, and you're welcome to look us up and ask for the full contract before any work starts.

Mostly it's clean tracks and clear drains. One sunroom maker's guide says to keep door and window tracks clean and use a pure silicone spray on them, since oil-based lubricants tend to attract dirt. The same guide says to keep the weep holes, the small drain openings along the frame, clear so water can get out.