Sunrooms & Patio Covers · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to sunroom
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any sunroom builder in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
Tell us about the space you want to enclose
Straight to us, and a reply the same day.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Sunrooms · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- A deck or patio you stopped using because of heat, insects or rain
- An existing sunroom that is too hot in summer and unusable in winter
- Condensation, leaks or rot at the joint where an older sunroom meets the house
- Wanting more usable living space without the cost of a full addition
- A view or a garden the house does not connect to at all
- A screened porch with failing screen, rotten framing or a sagging roof
Your options
More than one right answer.
A screened room, a three-season room and a heated four-season room are three different budgets and three different uses. Here is how they compare, including when a patio cover is enough.
Screened porch
The best value in this climate and the fastest to build. Solves insects and rain and adds months of use.
Three-season room
Glazed but unconditioned. Comfortable for most of the Tennessee year and considerably cheaper than a conditioned room.
Conditioned sunroom
Insulated, heated and cooled, counted as living space. A genuine addition, permitted and inspected as one.
Rebuild an existing room
Frequently the right answer for an older aluminum sunroom, where the structure is tired and the glazing is single pane.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
A sunroom is priced by room type and square footage, plus the foundation under it and the wiring in it, and the foundation is the part nobody can judge from a phone call. These are the lines that move.
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Conditioned or not
A screened porch, a three-season room and a fully conditioned addition are three very different projects with three different code paths.
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Foundation and structure
Building on an existing deck or slab is only possible if it was built to carry it. Frequently it was not, and that is a foundation job first.
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Glazing area and type
Glass is a large share of the cost, and in this climate the low-E specification matters as much as the quantity.
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Roof type
Tying a new roof into the existing one properly costs more than a bolted-on aluminum pan roof and looks and performs much better.
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HVAC and electrical
Conditioning the space means either extending the system or adding a mini-split, and both are real scope.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Design and permit
Two to six weeks. A conditioned room needs drawings and a permit and sometimes an engineered footing detail.
Foundation
Footings or slab, inspected before anything is built on them.
Shell
Framing, roof tie-in and glazing. The roof connection is the detail that decides whether it ever leaks.
Finish
Interior finish, electrical and conditioning, then trim. Typically four to eight weeks overall for a conditioned room.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
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Building on a deck that was not designed for it
A deck rated for people and furniture will not carry walls, glazing and a roof.
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Bolt-on roof under the eave
It is the standard cheap detail and the standard source of rot at the connection.
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Conditioning a three-season room later
Insulation, glazing and structure differ. Retrofitting is more expensive than building it conditioned.
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Skipping the permit on a conditioned room
It is living space. Unpermitted square footage is a problem at appraisal and at closing.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any sunroom builder.
Including us. If a sunroom builder cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
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What is the room sitting on — a deck, or a foundation built for it?
A sunroom is an addition. One set on a deck that cannot carry the glass and the roof is the one that sags and leaks.
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What glass, and what will the room be like in July?
Glass rated for this climate, named in the quote. Single-pane glass turns a sunroom into an oven for three months a year.
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Will you pull the permit, and will an inspector see the footings?
Yes — it is a structure, and the footing inspection is the one that matters. A patio cover permitted as a pergola is a shortcut.
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Is the price the whole room — electrical, HVAC, finishes?
Itemized, with the licensed trades named. A shell price with “electrical extra” is a room that costs twice what was quoted.
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Are you licensed for this job’s value, and are your subs licensed?
A Tennessee contractor’s license where the value requires it, and licensed electricians and HVAC contractors for their parts. The numbers, not the assurance.
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What does the warranty cover — the structure, the glass, the seals?
Three different warranties from three parties, and a good answer explains which covers a fogged pane versus a leaking roof panel.
FAQ
Choosing a sunroom builder in Nashville
How do I choose a sunroom builder in Nashville?
Every sunroom crew we run holds the Tennessee contractor’s license the job value requires, carries liability insurance on file with us, and uses licensed electricians and HVAC contractors for the trades the room needs. Ask the six questions below of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for sunroom?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. A Nashville sunroom is priced by the square foot for the room type — screened, three-season or four-season with heat and air — plus the foundation or deck it sits on and the electrical it needs; the foundation is the line that surprises people.
Is the cheapest sunroom quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. A room called four-season without heat and cooling is a three-season room with a bigger invoice.
Do I need a permit for sunroom in Nashville?
Metro Nashville and the surrounding counties permits a sunroom as an addition and inspects the footings, the framing and the electrical; a room built without one has to come down or be opened up at resale.
How far in advance should I book sunroom?
A design visit in Nashville is usually within a week or two; the build runs several weeks once the permit and the glass are in hand, and spring starts book months ahead.
Free estimate
Ready for a room you can use in August?
Tell Nashville's Sunrooms about the porch, deck or patio you have in mind, and the room, foundation and electrical come back as one written number. It costs nothing, and you are not bound to anything.