Eloise Ogden/MDN Dave Lebrun, president of Souris River Designs in Minot, shown in a sunroom model, said the location of a sunroom depends on the house and where it is situated, access to the sunroom and how it will be used.

Have you been thinking about adding a sunroom to your home?

A sunroom is a light-filled room that will maximize your living space and upgrade your home. It can be used for anything from a place to relax, an entertainment area to a children’s playroom.

Dave Lebrun, president of Souris River Designs in Minot, provided information about planning for a sunroom.

The location of a sunroom depends on how the room will be used, said Lebrun. “If you are looking for the most sun, then obviously the south or west exposure is the best. If you want more shade, the north side of the house would be the best place to put one.”

“It depends on the house and where it is situated, the access they have and what they want to use it for. We’ve done them on all sides,” he added.

He said this year his company has seen a big increase in people adding sunrooms to their homes. He said the company did four different shows this spring – two in Minot, one in Williston and another in Stanley where they showed and explained their sunroom products.

All of the sunrooms are custom with customers creating the design and the sunroom company building it to suit the customer.

“Probably a good size would be 14 by 18 and as small as a 10 by 12,” said Lebrun. He said the largest sunroom they have done, to date, is one they just completed in Williston that was 15 by 23.

The local company covers an area in the radius of around 100-125 miles of Minot.

The Sunspace predesigned models vary including one called a thermal room that can be heated. There are different options for heating sunrooms.

Lebrun said sunrooms could be used as yearround rooms but those would cost more money.

Sunrooms are designed to give people the enjoyment of the outdoors without certain annoyances. “The nice feature about them is you can get out of the wind and bugs,” Lebrun said.

“You can keep your barbecue grill in the sunroom if you have an exhaust vent,” he said. This way, he said, the grill can be used all yearlong. The sunrooms are built in Canada and are designed for the snow.

“Some people want to put them on an existing deck they have but building code requires that the sunroom have frost footings (footings below the frost line) which aren’t required for an open deck,” he said.

He said they have done sunrooms on upper decks but then they have to redo the footings. “Even on the ground level we still have to have a footing,” he said.

A city permit is required for the addition of a sunroom.

These particular sunrooms come panelized so their installation usually takes only about two days, he said.

Prices of the sunrooms vary depending on the situation but a small basic sunroom can cost around $7,500, Lebrun said. He said prices can go up to around $40,000 for sunrooms.

After installation, sunrooms are a permanent part of the house.