I am going to close in this porch. I have a bunch of single pane glass, which will go up to the top. The bottom say, 28" or so will be solid. I dont think it will be insulated. I will paint the concrete black to absorb winter heat from the sun. I don't think I can match the siding, and as water falls off the roof there, im not sure I want wood sitting on the concrete. So framing it out and then adding "what" to close it in is the question. Am considering cinder blocks (can learn to mortar I'm sure), or perhaps more glass. Cinder blocks would be less susceptible to water issues, and will add a thermal mass ( filled with sand & painted black or darker color). Anyone take on a project like, or have thoughts on a better material to use? Sca
Pressure treated sill and studs. Azek-type paneling with stainless screws. Vinyl trim. Won't be permanent if you change your mind.
How about black walk-off mats instead of painting concrete? It may have to off gas the rubber stink, but comfortable to walk on.
Plenty of options for sure, Sirchopsalot. fishingpol has some good suggestions. I will say about filling cinder blocks with sand... ever been to the beach in July? The sand on top can get insanely hot, but just a little bit below that hot layer the sand is cool, so it’s really not ideal for transferring heat. Solid filled with Quickcrete would do you better.
My first question is what direction does porch face? for sun / heat purposes and what do you want it to function as that will help determine material as well as budget
Will look into azec, never used. It will not be a heavily.traveled.room, maybe there will be coat pegs, a bench for taking off boots, and passive.solar gain in cooler months. Keeping it sweepable is on the agenda I think. Mud porch or mud room like. 'Course, slippery painted surface could be troublesome too... Sca
Hallo! It faces south. It will be closed off from the rest of the house, but would consider putting vents top and bottom on the interior wall....so a little convection current might get started. Purpose is to suck up passive.solar gain (dark floor, dark lower wall, and maybe repaint the siding in that room). Beyond that, a place to remove boots, start plants and seedlings for the garden. Both open sides will be glassed in. Sca
I'd LOVE something like that! We have an "enclosed porch" on the north side of our home, but it's far from air tight, it protects from the wind here when coming home but it's freezing and never sees sun. Good luck, I'm excited to see how it evolves.
I had few thoughts... great idea but also think about it getting too hot, particularly in the summer. I made a greenhouse with those plastic wavy panels- it gets warm in the winter, up to maybe 75 or so if it is sunny. In the summer though, it will stay a cool 110+ with the door wide open. I would pause on painting the floor black until you see how the temperatures react. I think the previous comment of using a exterior black mat is a really good idea. The winter is one thing, but I would be pizzed if I put an oven next to my house in the summer. You might consider blinds/shades and certainly vents for the summer. As far as material, i would probably frame it in with exterior treated lumber and then maybe put a 2-3ft skirt of board on the bottom. I think they call it MDF or something like that. This would keep the chips from the lawn mower from breaking your panels or glass. It sounds like you have an idea about using block, that would probably work, it just sounds like a lot of work.
Gratitudes for.the ideas here. I am thinking about building a trellis 8' tall in front of the room, and perhaps a foot or so from it. Grapes come to mind. There will be water coming off the roof right there, a little work to keep them from growing on the house, and grapes for jam handy. The leaves come off in winter. No worries about the lawn mower, it was grass, now its flower beds. The water off the roof (even if I reinstall a gutter) falls right at the edge.of the concrete. I feel like any wood there would be anever ending battle of repainting or replacing . Gotta look up the azek stuff though. The draw to the concrete block is purely for the thermal mass. Painted dark green, might even blend in. I bet I could find someone paint tulips on the wall...we'd have flowers all year round...(would not do that). I lome the idea of holding off on painting the floor...see how well the plants shade the room. I have to peel tile off one section, so the concrete will need something to make it look better. Sca
Dark wall, facing south is probably not a good idea. My house stays cool during the summer until about 1 pm where it heats up quickly - and only the top half of the 1 floor is a dark color. The windows you will have will let plenty of solar heat in during the winter, but you will need to have a good shade in there during summer. My under house garage had a dark brown roll up door. Even the wooden garage got hot (okay, not as bad since the cinderblock transferred the cool of the ground) - but would still get in the high 70's and low 80's even with newspaper and cardboard taped on the windows to keep the sun out. The interior of the roll up door would get really warm to the touch and I could feel the heat radiate off of it when I walked by. The interior basement area would stay in the 60's and only get to the low 70's every once in a while. When I replaced the door last summer, I went with a very light color to keep it cooler in garage.
Hello I built a room under my open deck on the side of the house off the kitchen to make a little workshop. It was a lot of work but came out nice. I also put a cement walk around it and a fence and gate to get into the back yard. See this thread for some ideas. Building a room under an open deck so it is water tight? Shop has a Harman Advance pellet stove for some heat and a 230 volt LG thru the wall AC for some cooling. It has a 48” deep concrete foundation so it does not fall down.
I don't recall seeing the finished product, that turned out really nice Don! Would that be the same room you insulated up to the knee wall?
Hi I insulated the entire room with R23 Roxul 100% fire proof insulation in the walls and R43 in the ceiling and R10 rigid foam over the short concrete Kneewall, then wrap it in the Reflectix foil to keep it cool in the summer. See vid
Thanks Did you notice the Dual Exhaust fans in the back upper right corner? If I do any painting, I can open the door in the front a crack or on the summer turn on the AC and that fan vents the shop out really nice! It was a great investment!! Got the Phillips Hues can lights and Marantz with flat screen for a little entertainment too.
Research a Trombe wall (glazing outside a solid masonry wall). edit: seeing the window into the house, it might be too dark walling it off.
You can mock it up with some 6 mil plastic to get an idea of the gain. Greenhouse style. I put a black outdoor carpet temporarily on an enclosed glass porch floor in a previous house to absorb heat. Was a nice foot warmer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You could remove the old siding from the new “inside” area and put it on the new wall. You may want to insulate the ceiling if you are trying to keep that area warm. The floor is going to be quite cold so the mats may help. Have fun and keep posting pics!
Jack Straw cool idea moving the siding out. Im not sure I can pull it all off w/out wrecking it, never worked w/aluminum siding before. Will also then need something to put up where the aluminum came off. I think there is cedar siding underneath, which I bet will need to be removed. Inside a narrow space like that, i will hate that aluminum....we'll be rubbing against it regularly ... Sca
