Solarium installation in Highland, CA - a glass room you can use all year
Patio too hot in summer and too chilly in winter? A solarium gives you a heated and cooled glass room off the house.
Is a solarium the right room for your Highland home?
Solarium installation in Highland, CA means adding a fully enclosed glass room to your house. It's heated and cooled and has all-weather windows, so you can use it in every season. That sets it apart from a three-season room or enclosed patio, which usually isn't heated or cooled and has uninsulated windows or screens.
Most people who call me want more usable space off the back of the house, so the first thing I ask is how you'll use it. A heated and cooled solarium costs more to build than a three-season room, and it earns that only if you'll actually sit in it in August and January. The price mostly moves with the room's size, whether it needs its own foundation, how it's heated and cooled, which glass you pick and whether we're opening a wall into the house. The schedule mostly depends on the city's plan review and permits before our crew starts. My estimate lays out what the room includes and what it doesn't, so you know exactly what you're comparing.
What happens after you call about a solarium in Highland?
Call or send a message
Call (909) 737-1119 or use the form, and we'll get back to you to set a time for me to come out. We take calls seven days a week, into the evening.
I look over your house
I look at the house, what the room would sit on and how you want to use it, and I ask a lot of questions before I suggest anything. Then I write up an estimate that lists what's in the room and what isn't, so you can hold it up against other quotes.
We handle plans and permits
Once you say go, we draw up the plans and file the paperwork with the office that covers your address, in Highland or one of the cities and county areas around it. In Highland a new structure goes through the city's planning review first, and the construction plans go to Building & Safety only after that review is done.
We build and walk it together
Our crew builds the room, and Highland Building & Safety inspects the work in the field for structural, electrical, mechanical, energy efficiency, fire and life-safety requirements. When it's done, I walk the room with you so you can see how everything works.
How we handle solarium installation
A solarium is the most finished room we build, so I start underneath it and work outward. First I look at what the room will sit on and how it joins the house, because you can't see those parts once the room is done and they decide how well it holds up. Then we work out how the room will be heated and cooled and compare glass options with you, because the glass and the heating and cooling have to be chosen together. If the job means opening a wall into the house, we plan around your wiring and other systems first. Then we move furniture back and cover the nearby walls and floors before anyone cuts. Our own crew builds the room, and we bring in licensed trade partners for the wiring and the heating and cooling.
Not every backyard needs a full solarium. If shade is what you're really after, patio cover installation may get you there. If the room has to clear a low roofline or meet the house at an awkward angle, our sunroom design work is where I sort out the shape and how it ties into the house before anything gets built.
Get a solarium estimate for your Highland home
We reply to every message within one business day and set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free and done on site, with no obligation. After I measure and check the house and the base, I write up what your room would include.
Solarium questions from Highland homeowners
How much does a solarium cost near Highland, CA?
A sunroom in the San Bernardino area usually costs about $16,000 to $115,000 per project. Larger rooms that need a foundation and have heating and air conditioning sit toward the higher end, which is why a solarium usually lands above a simple enclosure. Some quotes leave out insulation, heating and cooling, plumbing or permits, so ask each builder what's included. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Does a solarium need its own heating and cooling?
Not always. A smaller room can sometimes run off your home's existing heating and cooling. A larger room, or one closed off from the house, needs its own vents or system. Some rooms get a ductless heat pump, so you can set the room's temperature separately from the rest of the house.
What is the best way to keep a solarium from overheating?
Compare the glass, because it decides how much of the sun's energy gets into the room. In one measured test in central-southern Anhui, China, a sunroom with Low-E glass, which has a coating that holds back more of the sun's energy, reached a lower peak indoor temperature than one with ordinary tempered glass. That's one study, not a forecast for a Highland house, but it's a good reason to ask what glass each quote includes.
Do I need a permit to add a solarium in Highland?
Highland requires permits for new buildings and additions, and a solarium is a room added onto your house. Plan on checking with the city's Building & Safety office. The city's permit list names rooms like bedrooms and family rooms but not solariums, so we confirm with that office for your address before any plans are drawn.
How do I check a sunroom contractor's license in California?
Look the builder up with the Contractors State Licensing Board and ask which license class they hold. The awning class covers awnings and patio covers but not patio enclosures. Highland also asks the licensed contractor, or someone listed on that license, to sign the permit declarations. We're licensed and fully insured.
What upkeep does a solarium need?
Plan on checking the roof and gutters once a year and keeping the door and window tracks clean inside and out, which is what one sunroom maker's owner guide suggests. Dirt built up in the tracks is usually what makes a sliding door start to drag.
Other work that often goes with a solarium
Patio cover installation
A covered patio keeps the sun off your outdoor furniture and is a simpler build than an enclosed, heated room.
Sunroom design
Design is where we settle the room's size, glass layout and roof pitch on paper, so the estimate matches what you actually want.
Tell us about the room you want
Call (909) 737-1119 or use the form and tell us the room's rough size, where it would join the house and whether it needs heating and cooling, so I come out ready to look at the right things.