Archadeck of Kansas City has many years’ experience in designing and building outdoor living spaces. Over the years, we have met with many clients, who seek to build a 3-season room, but what does the term “3-season room” mean in the Kansas City area? You might be surprised at the answer!
It stands to reason that the word “room” is automatically perceived to be an enclosed structure, with walls, a floor, and a ceiling. With regard to outdoor living construction, the word isn’t black-or-white, especially as it pertains to a 3-season room.
Would you call this Lee’s Summit screened porch a 3-season room?
Let’s address this misnomer, first and foremost. A sunroom is not a 3-season room. A sunroom is an actual room addition, with lots of large windows, walls that are insulated, and includes interior finishes and heating and cooling just like any other room in your home. The purpose of a sunroom is to offer homeowners a space, where they can gain maximum sunlight all year long, all while enjoying the comforts of a climate-controlled room. Sunrooms are 4-season rooms, meaning you can utilize them 12 months out of the year.
This Lee’s Summit sunroom is a complete room addition.
You read that correctly! In the Kansas City climate, a screened porch is actually what we consider a 3-season room. In our area, a screened porch can be utilized part or all of three seasons. With the addition of a heat sources, such as outdoor fireplaces, electric porch heaters, or even free-standing propane heaters, we can get more use of a screen porch across those three seasons. However, a screened porch doesn’t require a heat source to be considered a 3-season room. Screened porches can be utilized during part of spring, all summer, and part of fall. As a rule, we say that screened porches are usable nine months out of the year – approximately March through November.
This Lenexa KS screened porch is a 3-season room.
An outdoor room or “sun porch” with windows instead of screens, which is not insulated or climate-controlled is often thought to be a 3-season room. In some climates that might ring true. In the Kansas City area, however, this is not the case. An outdoor room with windows and no HVAC cannot be utilized in the summer, as it creates a greenhouse effect – trapping sunlight, without ventilation, rendering it unusable in the hottest months in Kansas City. We would call these outdoor rooms “2-season rooms,” as they are really only usable in mild springtime and fall weather, where outdoor air temperatures are cool enough to temper the trapped sunlight in the space.
This outdoor room in Leawood KS is a 2-season room.
Archadeck of Kansas City designs and builds custom, high-quality, optimally usable screened porches. We can offer product recommendations that will facilitate all your outdoor living aspirations. From low-maintenance screened porch flooring, custom ceiling finishes, and electrical hook-ups, to adding a custom outdoor fireplace, your screened porch can have many comfortable amenities that will keep you outdoors for more hours each year.
Archadeck of Kansas City has been building screened porches exclusively with PetScreen for nearly 20 years. We know that most families wish to enjoy time on their porch with their beloved pets. PetScreen is the strongest porch screening on the market, resistant to such uses our pets might put it through! It will not be burst through by a dog in full-gallop, chewed through by a naughty puppy, or clawed through by the resident cat. We build with only the best screening with your whole family in mind.
Are you ready to talk about a new 3-season screened porch or sunroom for your Kansas City area home? Get in touch with our award-winning designers for a design consultation at (913) 704-6240
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