Sunrooms: 'It's Back To The Future'
“It used to be with homes built in the 20’s 30’s, and 40’s, a sunroom would automatically be part of the floor plan,” related Dan Brooks, Designer at Sunrooms By Design with his brother John. “But in recent years, builders have gotten away from including sunrooms in the floor plans.”
“There are a lot of factors…family life is different, there is not as much home time and therefore less need for the added room or it just didn’t fit into the budget. There are different reasons for sunrooms not being there, but the bottom line is that an all important room for the family isn’t there. It’s absent.”
According to Brooks, filling the void over the past thirty years has been the aluminum patio rooms that have changed the definition of a sunroom. He maintains it’s a testament to marketing skill, not performance or practicality. “What used to be a permanent part of the home, part of the structure and built to be used year-round has changed to the prefabricated format. We’ve had countless people tell us they can only use their aluminum rooms when the weather is perfect. When the temperature is high,they heat up;when the temperature is low they are cold. Either way, they are an energy drain.”
“Knowing the patio style rooms exist,” Brooks continues,“we focused our efforts on a cozier and more permanent alternative. We call it the ‘Wisconsin Room.’We designed a truly four season sunroom.We wanted the room to be energy efficient in the summer and cozy in the winter. It has towering cathedral ceilings, a knotty tongue-and-groove interior and, of course, lots of windows. The Wisconsin Room has family written all over it.”
The “Wisconsin Room”
The Wisconsin Room has two general characteristics, according to Brooks. They are:
1. The room is built using traditional construction methods allowing the room to blend with the existing home. This way the addition looks as if it has always been part of the home rather than an afterthought.
2. It is designed as a year round room with closed cell foam insulation to ensure the best possible insulating performance.
Coupled with high efficiency windows, this creates a room that is affordable to heat and cool, so weather does not determine whether on not you use the room.
“Our clientele is unique. It tends to be more mature.They have life experience and carefully choose Wisconsin Rooms as important additions to enrich their lives further. We enjoy being part of that process,” added Brooks.
