Think twice before purchasing a plastic porch sunhouse in New England.

( I am posting to the Education and Media forum, because I believe the information below is educational in content in that it attempts to preventing people being scammed my unscrupulous pre-fab building internet sites. Mod can certainly move as appropriate.)

Think twice before purchasing a plastic porch sunhouse in New England.

A small, 10x6 sunhouse makes a nice little addition to your home.

Most come as a kit, purchased through the internet. They are cool looking, light, relatively easy to assemble. However, they cannot take New England weather (specifically, MA,NH,VT,ME)

I have had sprinklers that worked worse than what happens inside one of these in a Nor'Easter.When the snow comes, if you do not keep up with it with a roof trowel, then well, your nice little room becomes a walk-in freezer, complete with ice.

After having spent hours with a caulk gun and silicone, mine still leaks like a siv. The wind and rain get under the seal straps that hold the plexiglass panels to the frame, and the ice? , well it just pops them off.

I finally went out and purchased a roll-up awning that I cover it completely with in inclement weather.
The last Nor'Easter took that away in about a half an hour. (bad bungy work, I guess).

I do not want to mention the manufacturer, and I do not think they can be completely singled out, since there are a few of them.

So, the moral of the story is DONT, and if you want a nice 10x6 sunhouse off the side of your house,
or on the porch.... have a real, wood framed sunhouse built, or if so inclined, do it yourself.

Next year, I am tearing this thing down. It has been up for 3 years now, and I just cannot take it anymore.

A good $3k that would have been a great down payment on something done right.

I hope this saves someone the money and aggrivation.

A good $3k that would have been a great down payment on something done right.

If you have the tools and talent, 3K can get you a very nice little add on. That much in materials, without having to pay someone else can go pretty far. And of course a 6 pack of your favorite beer as a reward when you're done.

Reminds me of when I moved from LA to Newport, RI.

After spending my entire life in sunny SoCal I was shocked by the drastic changes in weather.

I recommend that one should always spend time researching before tackling a major project such as this as well...

Examples:

Recommendations for sunroom forum post - Google Search

vinyl sunroom site:www.diy-forums.com - Google Search

sunroom vinyl VS aluminum forum post - Google Search

vinyl sunroom Kit VS DIY forum post - Google Search

Caveat emptor..
Forewarned is forearmed (somehow that makes me think of Popeye the sailor).

Thanks for the advice but I decided a while ago that living someplace that can kill you because you get stuck outside is not something I want to do.

a reply to: Phage

I would guess that any state in this country has it's unique hazards, but some years, the North East can get darn nasty.
We have had 2 Nor'Easters back to back in a weeks time, and it is not even winter yet. Without snow, I will take it, but hope this is not a prelude for what is to come.

As for the sun room, I did do some research, just not enough of it. The manufacturer called it waterproof and able to take up to a few feet of snow on the roof panels. Yea, I should have known better.

Ah yes.

Nothing beats building something with good ol' mother nature (wood).



Sorry to chuckle at your hard lesson... but it's only because I've 'been there done that'.

Misery likes company, sort of speak.

I live in Texas. I've never even heard of sun room. Is that like the opposite of a shade porch?

Most plastic products are produced or manufactured in whole or in part in CHINA. China uses no UV protection in their plastic products. so it wont last long if exposed to weather and sunlight.

the only way you would get the life out of it would be to bury it so the roof would be at least 16 inches underground so the UV could not hit it.

Boycott CHINESE products no matter which multi-national company owns and sells the products. Any product produced by multinationals made in China are designed to kill and or maim, and to be disposable.