A sunroom is a complete room addition, while a screen porch offers more of an outdoor experience.
But is a sunroom better than a screen porch? Is a screen porch the right choice for your needs? Let’s discuss the pros and cons of building a custom screened-in porch or sunroom.
Pros and Cons of a Sunroom
As mentioned above, when you decide to build a full sunroom for your home, you are essentially building an indoor-outdoor room. Sunrooms are typically full of windows, often floor-to-ceiling, which offer tons of sunlight, and cooling breezes during ideal weather conditions. One benefit of building a sunroom is that they are usually climate-controlled, and can be used any day of the year, no matter the season or weather. That said, if you have plenty of interior space in your home already, you might prefer a new outdoor living area, which really gives you the feeling of being outdoors. In addition to sunrooms being the near equivalent of an indoor room, they are also much costlier to build and take longer to plan and build.
Benefits and Disadvantages of Building a Screened in Porch
The process of adding a screened in porch to your home is somewhat more streamlined than a sunroom. Typically planning for a screened porch requires less details, can be more cost-effective, and doesn’t require the same structuring as a sunroom. Screened in porches allow you to enjoy outdoor views while experiencing the smells and feel of nature. It’s important to note that even though screened porches can have radiant heating installed like heaters or a fireplace, they are not a true year-round outdoor living space. Extreme weather conditions like cold, harsh rains, and high Carolina heat may limit the use of your screened porch. Despite this disadvantage, screened porches are a great way to add valuable living space to your outdoors.
Having a screened-in porch can keep a fair number of bugs away, which is very important in the Charlotte area. We have lots of mosquitoes and spiders in the warm seasons, and stink bugs ascend on our homes in the fall. However, while most crawling and flying pests can be kept out, a screened in porch will not eliminate all bugs from your outdoor space.
3-Season Rooms, Happy Medium between Sunrooms and Screen Porches
Enjoy the benefits of a sunroom and a screened in porch, with a 3-season room. 3-season rooms are a great choice for anyone looking to enjoy better weather protection, like a sunroom, with the option of a more versatile space, like a screen porch. If you’re torn between a sunroom and a screened in porch, a 3-seaon room gives you the best of both worlds. With the addition of outdoor heaters or a fireplace, 3-season rooms can typically be enjoyed year round in the Charlotte area. Another benefit is that they are typically less expensive than a full sunroom home addition.
Don’t trust your Charlotte screen porch project to just any local screened-in porch contractors. Archadeck has been building custom Charlotte porches since 1988, and we are ready to earn your business. Call (704) 850-6104 to schedule your complimentary Charlotte screen porch design consultation.
Download our design guide here.
