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4 season sunroom under a deck

PLIERS | Posted in General Questions on

Hey hope everyone is doing well. I would like to use the space under my second floor deck as a sunroom. I have a few problems/design issues. My back entrance to the basement is underneath the deck. There is about 2 steps to a 15”drop to my basement level. So basically my flagstone patio and is level with yard but I only have 74” of space underneath deck. A drop beam supporting the deck is about 12 feet out that is even lower. Picture attached to give a better idea. The flagstone patio is cemented on top of old concrete pad so I can’t remove it and reuse it without destroying it. Trying to come up with best solution.

1. Rip out entire patio and lower everything at least 6” along with yard. If I enclose and insulate the space underneath my deck I would have 80” of headroom which is enough and not as extreme of a drop. The flagstone is cemented on top of old concrete pad so I can’t remove it and reuse it. 

2. somehow dig out only area underneath the deck and enclose that area. Not sure how I would transition from sunroom to higher patio or how I would insulate and build it if sunroom wall is lower than patio.

My biggest issues here is the amount of labor to lower everything, and destroying beautiful flagstone. To re-purchase flagstone would be very expensive, I would have to use a different material. 

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Replies

  1. andy_ | | #1

    I really don't see any "good" solution here. Not sure what your climate and sun exposure is for this space, but even if you could easily lower the floor what would the end result be? You're still building under a deck which is sub optimal for a lot of reasons and you have the potential to introduce water issues with the grade change.
    Maybe you should take a step back and consider what you really want and see if there's a way to achieve that somewhere else, like "I want more sun in the morning" could be solved with new windows and a skylight in the kitchen or "I want a gardening space for flowers" could be a small greenhouse kit in the yard. Sometimes awkward spaces are best left alone.

  2. Malcolm_Taylor | | #2

    Pliers,

    This is one of a number of questions you have posed over the past year or so around much the same issues on how to renovate or expand your house - and from the outside it doesn't seem like you are getting any closer to a solution. I think you really need to consult an experienced designer.

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