Sunroom additions in Oak Hills CA - a sealed, well-drained room on a sound base

Choose by how you'll use the room, because a three season room has no heating or cooling and uses screens or uninsulated windows, while a four season room is heated and cooled and has all weather windows. If you want to sit out there on cold mornings and hot afternoons, go four season. If spring and fall are what you're after, three season usually does the job.

A sunroom in San Bernardino usually costs about $16,000 to $115,000 per room, going by a local cost guide, so treat that as the area's market range and not our price. The guide prices by floor area, and larger rooms that need a foundation plus heating and air conditioning sit at the high end. Your own number comes from my written estimate after I've measured, and the work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.

It needs to be in like new condition, going by one sunroom maker's installation guide, and that guide would rather you start with a new slab. A slab with a lot of cracks or buckles isn't suitable under that guide and could lead to leaks later, which is why the old patio's condition shapes the whole plan.

Building and Safety is the office to ask, since it issues the permits required to build or alter any building, and its list names additions, alterations and enclosed patios but not sunrooms by name. We check whether your address falls under the county or a city office, and when the job needs a permit, we pull it and set up the inspections for you. The county's residential building guide tells owners to have every permit before work starts, and the plan set covers the plot, foundation, floor, framing and roof, plus energy information like heating and cooling calculations.

Setbacks come first, because the county requires open space between every structure and your property lines, and your zoning district sets the front, side and rear distances whether or not a permit is required. The county also sets one minimum wind exposure level for structural design countywide, which applies to the room's frame and roof, and it has named Fire Hazard Severity Zones in the areas its fire protection district covers. We're based in Oak Hills and work across the High Desert and the cities around it, so if your city isn't listed, just ask.

Decide before building starts, because insulated windows, walls, floor and roof are much easier to put in while the room is going up, and adding them later can often cost more. California's Energy Code also sets efficiency requirements for additions to existing homes, which is one more reason to settle the plan early.