cecilt; Sorry I didn't see your message til now. We faced southeast, the only time we had direct sun was from around 11:30 - 1:30 in the heat of the summer. We are in southern BC, weather similar to westcoast of Washington & Oregon, temperate most of the year. The room was 14 x 12, it was built on post & pier as opposed to a full foundation. We never had a problem with extreme heat, in the full heat of the day it was only ever 1 or 2 degrees warmer than outside, believe me we tried to get it hotter just as a test. We didn't have air conditioning in the house, but it was never a problem. Just open the windows on the shady side & you would get nice ventilation. The roof was all glass, my only complaint would be make sure you have access to clean it easily if you have trees nearby. We had a small gas fireplace put in which had a timer on it, we would get up in the morning to find the room nice & warm & the cat rolling around in front of the fire. We had one small leak where the builders forgot to put in a piece of flashing, not on the sunroom part, but on the solid wall area, it was taken care of the same day that I called. Four Seasons is a franchise, so it is most important to check out the builders. We checked them out thoroughly, they were professional, wrote up a contract, we knew what they were doing & we knew what we were responsible for, they stuck to the timeline & the workers were clean & respectful. I don't know what else I can add, other than, if we were to do it over, we would have bought a bigger one, because we lived in that room. It's so wonderful to be out in the garden especially in the gloom of west coast winters.

The vapor barrier is supposed to keep warm, moist air from hitting a cool surface and condensing. In cool climates, the warm air is usually on the inside and the cold is on the outside. Therefore, you would want the vapor barrier on the inside. Conversely, in hot climates, the warm air is typically on the outside and the cooler air conditioned air is on the inside. Which category does your house fall in?

A DIY can do this him/her self. Course, if your not a very qualified DIY - then possibly get a few more experienced friends to help you out, while you learn, and have a few pizza parties... But, I'm of the mind that a DIY can do most anything.... Don't have the slightest idea of what your house looks like, or the structure above the sunroom... the roof situation etc... If you want this job done QUICK - then you should probably hire it out... when not experienced, DIY can take a little more time. Actually, even when experienced, DIY almost always takes more time... Go to Home Depot, and purchase "Home Improvement 1-2-3"; and also locate (published by: Creative Homeowner - "House Framing") The Library or a few good "How To" books are your friends. Wealth of info... The two layers of plywood are probably for strength, and are installed with long edge seams perpendicular. Replacing the plywood is very simple. Requires a regular skill saw set at proper depth, and a toe kick saw. (A toe kick saw) allows you to cut extremely tight (flush) to a wall. A cheap one is available from Harbor Freight for $60 (#94626) Anyway - you cut out a larger area of the plywood then damaged, and then replace it. Simple to replace plywood. More of the question would be the condition of the joists which the plywood is mounted on... Do those joists have rot?? If they do - they should be replaced. That is more work... Plus, the wall studs. How are they?? Since you state the leak has been going on for some time... it has been coming from somewhere... Probably flowing down thru the wall... So possibly a window is leaking into a wall, and the cripple studs beneath the window are damaged as well?? Like you stated - you must find the source of the leak... Black & Decker also publishes an excellent roofing book: "Roofing, Siding & Trim" (isbn: 13:978-1-58923-418-5) Great resource for putting down a proper roof, or for fixing your roof... Or for the techniques in weatherproofing the side of your house, window trim, etc... As you can see - this can get to be an involved job... You might also unfortunately have termites or other pests (carpenter ants) - since they need moisture to eat wood, and like wood with moisture around... Not trying to scare you. I do most everything myself... after reading... Your job can be simple, or can be difficult. Just depends on where the actual leak was, the water path it took, and the amount of time that it has been going on... But - like I stated at the beginning - I believe most people can DIY if they want... just depends on the amount of time they have available, and how much they wish to persevere, and read about what they need to do... Good Luck. Fixing leaks, and putting in some new wall studs, and weather proofing - are not a hard job.

We have a Champion 3 season sunroom. We live in Indiana it is blistering hot or freezing cold here. And sometimes all within the same week. It was pretty expensive. We thought we would be able to use for at least 3 seasons . No if it is too cool( in the 50s ) and you use heat, it sweats. If it's hot outside. You can't afford to cool it. As it leaks air so bad. We fight wasp out there all the time. And you can't have nice furiture out there because of all the dust. ( we live rural )Ours has turned into a dream turned night mare. I would put my money into a conventional room addition. I wish we had. Now we are trying to decide if we should try to salvage the floor and rebuild the walls and roof ourselves. Or call it a wash and tear the entire thing down. Good Luck with what ever you choose.