So, I have a back porch, 11' x 22', concrete slab floor, 2 walls are the outside of the house (vinyl siding) and two walls are screened in. I have a number of 6" x 6" architectural columns spaced on like 6' centers holding up the roof. Currently has a nice vinyl railing, and I had big-ass 6' x 8' screen panels custom made. Screwed aluminum angle to the columns, screwed the screen frames to the angle. It's been great for the last ten years or so.
Truth is, we don't use it all that much. Have some wicker furniture out there, and we'll sit out there sometimes. Then it gets hot and humid, or it's raining, or it's winter.
What's the best way to close it in, add a mini-split and turn it into a family room? Is there a DIY solution? Some sort of pre-fab panels made for this purpose? I understand contractors are buried with work right now. Gotta spend Sleepy Joe's money somewhere. What says the hive?
A screened in porch is a 4 season room up here in NH.
My MiL used to drive from Maine to Canukia and buy pre-fabbed sunporches/greenhouses and install them for 3-season decks up here. Might be perfect for your application. I think they pretty much snapped or screwed together.
I grew up in a house like this. The front porch basically was three walls of half height windows, the outside had the same siding as the rest of the house, and the inside was furnished with paneling and carpeting like the living room, and drapes and furniture. Used to have an upright piano in there too. And the door from the living room to the porch had been removed and a screen door/storm door put on the porch. My grandfather even ran the heater ducting to it. The window to the downstairs bedroom was still there but the window to the living room was taken out, shelves installed, and my grandfather's collection of model ships and artistic bottles placed on them.
It was a long time before I figured out that "porch" was not commonly just another room in the house. I still think it was pretty cool.
preach (fs) said:
A screened in porch is a 4 season room up here in NH.
I've worked at Seabrook in the winter...actually early spring. It only snowed once while I was there, but the patches of snow on the ground when I got there were still there when I left.
Either you like sitting around in the cold more than me, ot that was sarcasm. I'm not sure.
In reply to 03Panther :
Yeah, I was gonna say something. It gets cold enough here in central Virginia. New Hampshire? Brrrr.
So, I guess it's just a matter of settling on some kind of windows and framing it in. I'm not sure what is commonly or most successfully used as siding on the parts that aren't windows. I don't want it to look "ghetto."
I've closed in two screen rooms for customers recently.
One, the simple solution was to buy ready-made sliding glss doors that fit between the columns.
Two, I ordered custom made horizontal slider windows to fit between the columns, and sat them on a knee-wall about 24" high.
Both look like the home was originally built that way, not tacked on later.
My ex's house has a converted porch/sun-room on the back off the kitchen. Sliding door entry with similar sliding windows knee walls. Apparently it's some sort of vendor kit, but we never quite figured out who made it (the sliding entry door doesn't have a key lock, so whatever is in the space is difficult to secure.
She added a wood stove in one corner which made it great for the winter months.
Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:
I've closed in two screen rooms for customers recently.
One, the simple solution was to buy ready-made sliding glss doors that fit between the columns.
Two, I ordered custom made horizontal slider windows to fit between the columns, and sat them on a knee-wall about 24" high.
Both look like the home was originally built that way, not tacked on later.
Cool!
I'd be good with the sliding glass door idea, but I think my wife prefers the knee-wall idea, and well all you married guys know how that goes. 
So two questions:
What did you use on the exterior side of the knee-wall?
My columns are somewhat moveable and sit on cast aluminum feet to keep the bottoms from staying wet. Would I just put down a pressure-treated sill plate, remove the feet, and set the columns on the plate?
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Thank you! Very impressive.
From where did you obtain the sunroom--glass, framing, stuff?
My house has a 4-seasons porch, and it sucks. It's a wood-floor deck with an aluminum roof that has glass windows all-around. In winter, there is a gas-fired heater. In winter, the heater makes the windows so fogged up that you can't see out and it quickly turns into a sauna. In summer, the screens mean that every bug you can imagine gets stuck in there and the walls are littered with creepy-crawlies.
I tore all the screens out. In summer, we just lower all the windows so the bugs can all fly through. (I'd raise them, but the sill is only 18" high) In winter, I raise the windows and we store lawn furniture out there. I like having a deck with a roof, but will probably just remove all the windows and add a proper railing and enjoy a 3-season deck. In winter, we have another covered porch with a hot tub, so we cover all 4 seasons anyway.
In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :
Interesting. Is the heater an unvented one where the products of combustion enter the living space? I know that adds a lot of moisture.
1988RedT2 said:
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Thank you! Very impressive.
From where did you obtain the sunroom--glass, framing, stuff?
I bought everything from 4 seasons. I designed, ordered, changed windows and doors, I have 4 doors on mine. Lots of moving windows
order took 10 weeks
took me 5 weeks to finish myself
Double walled glass. I didn't want knee wall to be non glass. I want it see through modern and usable - and we love it
I have a heat and cooling split - don't use it that much here - I am way high in the mountains
here are some additional pics
I wonder how I would address the ceiling? Being a porch, it's currently "ceilinged" with lay-in vinyl beadboard panels. I'd need to insulate and install something like sheetrock. Or is there a lightweight insulated panel for that?
1988RedT2 said:
I wonder how I would address the ceiling? Being a porch, it's currently "ceilinged" with lay-in vinyl beadboard panels. I'd need to insulate and install something like sheetrock. Or is there a lightweight insulated panel for that?
If you look through my thread, my ceiling was also problematic, and was vertical boards. I did the insulation, then I did the drywall, then I did the lights. It was the hardest part of the job for me, doing it myself.
I had a 3 season room in Michigan at my last house and put in a ventless gas fireplace. Bit more moisture than I would have like but it heated a 20x20 room with vaulted ceilings in 20 min.
