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Four Season Porches

Plenty of Windows

Unlike a three season porch, four season porches (sun porch, solar porch, sun room, solarium, and conservatory) usually have

insulated walls and ceilings
insulated glass windows and doors
heating/cooling systems controlled by thermostats (i.e. climate control
few structural elements to achieve maximum exposure to sun

Do you have the luxury of having a sun room? Our good friends, Dan and Rose, have one and they tell us that they spend hours there every day - listening to music, reading and relaxing.

Four season porch

Properly oriented sun porches and their counterparts act as solar heaters. The heat can then be transferred to other parts of the home.

Four season porch pictures
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Four season porch plans

Click on these pictures to enlarge them.

Here are some home and porch plans that you can acquire from Family Home Plans to build your home or to use for adding a great porch!

For these and other home and porch plans visit Family Home Plans. They have an amazing library of plans to suit your needs.

Sunrooms

Sunroom ideas - ways to use this wonderful room...

workout rooms
greenhouse
spend fun time with grandchildren
party room
family meals
formal sitting area
enjoy your hobbies
playing games
respite for reading and listening to music
entertaining family and friends

This all season porch belongs to our friends, Lou and Helen.
Notice their fun seashell collection from New England where they used to live.

Sun porch addition

The easiest and simplest way to add a sun porch to your home is to purchase a manufactured or prefabricated structure. These are built to attach easily to your home and come in many different styles, sizes, configurations, and shapes.

Look at some of the options you will have with manufactured sun rooms:

wood or aluminum frames
glass roofs or conventional (shingles)
different roof heights and slopes
different wall heights
built in or installed shades/blinds
heating / cooling options

Most building codes require a foundation with a perimeter footing below the frost line. Check your local building codes.

A DIY Project

Building an existing porch into a 4 season porch is doable if you have the right skills and knowledge or willing to invest time into learning exactly what's needs to be done. Check out our How to Build a Porch section for more details before you tackle this project!