What is the average completion time?
A standard sunroom / kitchen extension takes 5 – 8 weeks depending on how much additional work there is to be done in the house.
There would be very little disruption to the house for the first 3 ½ to 4 weeks except where we need to put some temporary supports in for 2 -3 days while the steel / RSJ is fitted to let us take the back wall of the house down later opening the kitchen / dining room into the sunroom.
What about insulation?
Insulation has improved massively in the last 5 or 6 years in Ireland and building your sunroom / home extension is a chance to improve the insulation of the downstairs of your home considerably.
Walls – We fit a 102 mm insulated slab to all the external walls and normally strip and re-insulate the kitchen external wall to the side passage at the same time.
Roof – We fit 125 mm Kingspan TP rigid insulation between the rafters and 52 mm insulated slab to the underside of the rafter i.e. the ceiling.
Floor – 100 mm Kingspan TF is fitted under the concrete floor slab.
Argon Gold Double or Triple glazing is used in all windows & door units.
All the above measures combined have a huge impact not just on the new room but on the temperature of the downstairs of the house as a whole.
What about radiators?
We fit radiators sized to adequately meet the heating requirements of the room + an extra 10%. We would quite commonly fit at least one vertical radiator (towel rail type rad) which can look really well but it is the high output double panel vertical rads that will throw out the majority of the heat to keep the room snug in the winter months.
What about electrical?
We generally use downlighters in the sloped sunroom ceiling. We recommend the slightly more expensive energy efficient model that uses 6kw of electricity as opposed to the standard one that uses 50kw. We would normally include a general electrical & plumbing allowance if the client requires a new kitchen & incorporate the electrical and plumbing for this.
Is Planning Permission required?
Most sunrooms don’t require planning permission as long as extension meets certain criteria as follows;
- The extension is in line with the rear of the house and is not visible from the main road.
- Total extended area of the house (including any present work) is not over 40 square meters.
- We can recommend an Architect to do a visual inspection of the job on completion who for a small fee can do a Certificate of Compliance which is adequate if the client ever wishes to sell the property.