Converting a sunroom to a kids bedroom

6 years ago

We're thinking about buying a house we really like, but we need an extra bedroom and have been thinking about converting the sunroom/3 seasons room to a bedroom. Is this feasible? Any advice or tips? Most likely we would need to raise up the floor and insulate everything. As well as adding AC and heat. We'd also need to build a closet. Any ideas on cost to be professionally done and not look too "funky"?

Featured Answer

weedyacres

6 years ago

If the room's location works within the flow of the house's floor plan, then you could do a low-cost non-conversion, and just use the room as a bedroom without a full remodel.

Buy a PTAC unit to provide HVAC, use armoires and dressers instead of building a closet, put some insulation in the walls and ceiling if feasible, etc.

All of the above is reversible, and when you go to sell, you just move out the furniture, pull the PTAC out of the window (or leave it there to be a 4-season room), and you've got a sunroom again.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

millworkman
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Impossible to tell withour more info, pictures, location. Even then it will still only be a wild a** guess. Best way is to get several contractors out to the site as half the cost is location dependant. Best bet is a hell of a lot more than you would EVER guess. I would take your best guess and double or 2.5 times it. If that is out of your budget then don't even waste a contractors time.
User
6 years ago
Depends on the existing foundation and framing. If that needs to be brought up to code, or can't be verified, that means a teardown and start over. You'll spend every bit of what it costs for a new addition, or more to convert existing space to a new use. Especially a bedroom, which has a whole lot of electrical, window, and insulation improvement needed over a ''sunroom''. Realistically would be 75-90K as a starting point. In a location with seismic or high wind construction requirements, probably more.
Related Discussions
Trying to heat a second floor sun room addition
Q
Comments (6)
No insulation in the roof makes changing out the windows a moot point in my opinion. All your heat is going out the top. If you plan on doing anything with the room, you better insulate the top. Closed cell spray foam is your only real solution here given the amount of space for insulation. Baseboard electric is horrid, very inefficient. I had bought one of those free standing baseboard type electric heaters once, I had the idea it would be good because its quiet. I used it for a month and saw a big difference in my electric bill, and stopped using it. What about the room underneath the sunroom? Isnt that cold also or is there insulation between the sunroom and the room below? How much sq ft is the sunroom and what is the current heating in the house?
...See More
Kids bedrooms upstairs or downstairs?
Q
Comments (8)
I currently have a downstairs master and upstairs kid rooms. The baby (2) is in a downstairs bedroom, the big three are upstairs. The baby is moving upstairs in a couple of weeks. I have no issues having the kids on a separate level and no reservations about moving the baby (except that she is moving to a big girl bed...no crib to keep her contained!) We moved here when the oldest were 2 & 4 and they have always slept upstairs with us downstairs. It has never been an issue. This house is a little different, though, in that it's a split foyer so the kid rooms are on the living level with the kitchen and the master is in the downstairs. We're in the very early stages of designing a new home and are leaning towards a first floor master with four kid rooms upstairs so I'll be following this thread closely. Whatever we end up with I cannot wait until the kids' bath is not a public bathroom! Guests get to enjoy a plethora of toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and all my teen's beauty products.
...See More
Should We Decommission An Odd Rather Unfunctional Sunroom We Dont Need
Q
Comments (18)
Thank you for all of your comments. These wonderful ideas are giving me so much to think about. I would love to simply repair the door--I didn't even know that was possible. Who does that sort of thing? The floor in our sunroom is "Kentile" which is a hard, rubbery, impossible-to-clean fake tile. It needs to go as well. We have so many projects to do, all seem financially daunting, but we know that a non-functioning door is something that needs attention. We've lived with it for 17 years, it needs to be dealt with. The pictures of the pool tables reminded me that I have always wanted a game table/chairs set somewhere in the house. We play a lot of board games and sometimes you want to leave them up when a break is needed. This would be a wonderful addition to our house. Would love wicker too, and plants. Can you grow herbs indoors? I have a lot to think about. Thanks so much!
...See More
Converted garage / Bedroom help!
Q
Comments (15)
The mirrored sliding doors make the room busier by reflecting the wall art twice. I'd repaint the room a much lighter color and paint the mirror glass too. For bedding, choose something in a medium color with an overall pattern, similar in color to your rug. The high contrast dark/pink doesn't work in the small space. If you can't replace your dresser with a taller one right now, consider adding bun feet to it to give it a lighter feel, and painting it a cream color. If you can remove the night stand and use the dresser for your night table needs, you could center the dresser on the wall which would give it a much lighter look. I'd replace the mirrors above the dresser with a piece of wall art with some perspective, to draw the eye back, like this. Remove most of the other wall art.
...See More
User
Original Author
6 years ago
Hmmm, ok. This is helpful. We probably couldn't take it on if it's potentially that expensive :(
Judy Mishkin
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
aside from the costs, unless the layout was such that the location was better for a bedroom than a sunroom, you risk 'breaking' the house. if the next buyers will think, 'wow, this looks off, somehow...' you've cost yourself a lot of money. keep shopping!
User
Original Author
6 years ago
Here are a few photos of it.
amanda99999
6 years ago
Unless this is your 'forever' house, I'd second weedyacres's suggestion. (I basically live in our sunroom, and wouldn't buy a house without one.) If you live in a cold climate, will supplemental heat/AC will keep that room warm/cold enough? Getting into insulation etc. means big bucks and permits (at least where I live - it can mean thicker walls than existing (they are making me do 7" walls for an insulation reason in our new basement bathroom - despite it being there since 1928 with no insulation, and it never gets hot/cold), etc., etc. YMMV if you aren't in a HCOL area.

Can you create a basement tv room instead? Or make that sunroom more daytime-usable (built ins, bookshelves, awesome tv/media set up)? I.e., if the kids are sharing a bedroom, if they had another place to have all the toys/tv/hang out/reading space - make the actual bedrooms basically just for sleeping and clothing - it might help the 'feel' of more spaciousness.

Converting a sunroom to a kids bedroom

weedyacres

Comments (7)

millworkman

User

Related Discussions

User
Original Author

Judy Mishkin

User
Original Author

amanda99999

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Converting a sunroom to a kids bedroom

weedyacres

Comments (7)

millworkman

User

Related Discussions

UserOriginal Author

Judy Mishkin

UserOriginal Author

amanda99999

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

User
Original Author

User
Original Author