Traditional Homes Mix With Modern Building Materials

Post by: Ken Mariotti

Source: dailyhomedecorideas.com

Some of the most beautiful neighborhoods around Chicago and its suburbs are the old tree lined streets of traditional homes. Famous for it’s historic architecture Chicago reflects the best of classic homes through the years. Prairie, craftsman, Victorian, farmhouse, brick row houses, limestone mansions – we’ve got it all. If you love the traditional styles that have defined our beautiful area, but want modern functionality – learn how you can mix traditional styles with modern products.

The benefits of remodeling or building a new home using modern windows, skylights, doors, siding, sunrooms and other building products are quite simple; ease of use, better performance, lower utility costs and less maintenance.

Ease of use and better performance

Today’s products are produced using new technologies that make life easier. For example, built in and auto controlled window treatments can be preset to open and close at optimal times. They are simple to use, while maximizing daylight and minimizing unwanted heat gain or loss. There are multi-point door locking systems that engage automatically when the door is closed.

Lower utility costs

Without argument, low E dual and triple pane insulated glass lowers costs over the length of owning your home. Other improvements like insulated oversized glass, gives you more natural daylight to keep your home warm and reduces your need for electric lighting. Modern skylights with special coatings and ventilation are now built in new forms that can direct light and control ventilation in a room.

Source: Velux

Less maintenance

Whether you purchase natural wood windows or synthetic vinyl windows, more than ever before, today’s finishes have a higher resiliency to weathering, mold or mildew. Modern windows tilt inward for easy cleaning and offer water spot resistant surfaces for skylights and hard to reach picture or awning windows.

Traditional exterior and transitional interior

One way to combine the desire for a traditional home with an equal desire to use modern materials is by blending classic style with a few contemporary elements. Keep the traditional exterior façade, while using more contemporary materials for the interior. For example you can choose that classic red brick Georgian exterior and add more windows and glass patio doors, rather than the traditional small and sparse windows. Select traditional brick moldings made of low maintenance composites or vinyl around the windows, rather than the higher maintenance wood choice.

Source: Marvin

The interior can be less traditional with an open floor plan that invites in more natural light. Create entire window walls without completely violating the traditional style of your home by using multiple French doors with glass transoms for a floor to ceiling light wall. Modern folding doors are an alternative if selected in dark hardwoods for a more traditional look. And replacing stationary transoms with remote controlled awnings will help ventilate your home creating cross breezes that will cut down on energy consumption.

You can enjoy the easy living that comes with an energy efficient and low maintenance home and have the everlasting beauty of a traditional home. Woodland offers a broad selection of styles for windows, doors, siding and sunrooms with state-of-the-art products from major manufacturers like Marvin, Andersen, Pella and Velux. Let us help you create a traditional look using modern materials.

Sunrooms For Modern Living

Posted by: Ken Mariotti

Sunrooms For Modern Living

Sunrooms have served many purposes over the years; as conservatories for raising tropical plants, hospital solariums for patient recovery, or building atriums that provide daylight and ventilation for occupants. Today the sunroom continues evolving for modern living.

Source: aspsunroom

The evolution over the past several decades is largely due to the new affordable systems for enclosing patios or decks. These systems apply tightly engineered methods to create pre-manufactured components. The result is customizable sunrooms to suit any home with airtight on-site assembly.  Additionally, advances in technology for insulated glass, vinyl and vinyl-wood composite roof panels, specialized remote control blinds, and radiant heat options have thoroughly evolved the sunroom into a suitable room for modern living.

Advanced features for modern living

Woodland’s sunrooms and patio enclosures are technologically advanced systems. Today’s lifestyles require rooms to be multi-purpose and every square foot in a house must be functional. Our sunrooms aren’t mere attachments at the back of the house; rather they’re designed to be the center of activity in a modern home.

Employ a three-point strategy for building modern sunrooms

•  Be clear about your desire and purpose

•  Look for craftsmanship, durability and quality

•  Select based on comfort, efficiency and simplicity

Be clear about the purpose of your sunroom, as there are endless choices to select from. Woodland’s sunrooms are customizable to meet multiple styles or design multi-purpose rooms. 

Look for durable high quality products tested to hold up under the toughest conditions beautifully year after year. Select products from a manufacturer who’s been producing flawlessly crafted sunrooms, windows and doors since 1959.

Lastly, consider passive solar building design techniques for heating, cooling and lighting, which are efficient ways to ensure comfort. Create a space where you can simplify your modern life.

Start with the three basic sunroom structures

Generally speaking, there are three types of outdoor rooms, all-season, three season or enclosed patio rooms.

Source: Seaway

Grandview Sunroom is an all season room. Features include a thermally enhanced aluminum structural frame, 3 ½ -inch thick insulated wall system and an insulated composite roof with batten system construction make up the primary structure. Choose from a variety of window styles with fusion-welded frames and sashes adding extra strength, and dual glazed glass with warm-edge technology for insulating values that meet your geographical needs. Windows have easy to clean sashes, clear screens, and triple interlock and vent latches for safety.  Finish and accessory choices will turn this sunroom the room you desire.

Source: Seaway

BetterView Sunroom is a three-season room.  This can be the perfect choice if you don’t need or want winter access. Similar to the Grandview, but designed for warmer months of the year these patio rooms need less insulation and come with 1/8” tempered glass with full interlocks. The custom choices make this room look like part of the original house.

Patio Enclosures are inviting spaces rain or shine, day or night. Creating a screened porch is a wonderful way to enjoy the outdoors everyday.

Remember what matters when selecting a sunroom are - Purpose • Quality • Efficiency.

Woodland Exteriors designs and builds sunrooms for modern living.

To Build a Great Sunroom - Focus on Form and Function

Posted by: Ken Mariotti

We all remember the first time we heard the idea, ‘form and function’ in an art class or maybe an introduction to landscaping. We learned that form and function together create something appealing and useful. One without the other and eventually the product lands in the trash heap. 

Great sunroom design derives from the principle of form and function.

Source:  sunboss.com 

The previous blog, Sunrooms that Connect the Indoors to the Outdoors explained that the type of sunroom you choose derives from having clear goals about how you want to use it. This blog explains how the design, products and installation decisions come from an understanding of the elements that make a great sunroom.

If you create the right form by focusing on energy efficiency you will achieve the optimal sunroom function of comfort and savings.

Contrary to the ads and flyers, sunrooms are not just glass walls surrounding happy people. Use the methods below to create a well-designed sunroom that provides daylight and comfort all year. Homeowners and building professionals need to pay attention to five elements of the sunroom construction to avoid mistakes that you’ll realize when it’s too late.

Source: solarenergyfactsblog.com

 Five elements of a great sunroom

 1. Orientation

 2. Glazing

 3. Thermal Mass

 4. Insulation

 5. Ventilation

Orientation. The ideal location for your sunroom is to face due south (30º E or W) which gives you the maximum potential for solar collection. The goal is at least four hours of sunlight at midday in midwinter. Sit in the spot at different times of the day to be sure the sun shines on the location with minimum obstruction from trees or structures. If you were building a new home with a sunroom, be build close to the north property line leaving more open space and sunlight behind the sunroom.

Source: Elliottwood.co.uk

Glazing.  Always use glass, rather than plastic alternatives because it’s more durable and traps more heat. We recommend vertical dual clear glass panes, rather than sloped glazing because it’s more practical and efficient. Slopped glazing collects more heat during the day and looses more heat at night making the temperature too hard to control. Low E or reflective glazing can prevent solar heat from entering the sunroom through the glass. Solid insulated walls are recommended on the east and west sides, however if an access glass door is needed, install it on the east side if there is an option. Solid walls reduce unwanted solar gain and nighttime heat loss.

Thermal Mass. Attention to the types of building materials further adds to your ability to control the sunroom temperature. For example, using concrete, stone or tile floors, which absorb and hold heat, rather than carpet or wood will improve the natural heating and cooling efficiency. Basically, these materials are natures time release capsules that allow buildings to store and release heat in step with daily heating and cooling needs. That’s why we wear dark clothes in the winter and light clothes in the summer for instance.

Source: Pinterest

Insulation. Structural insulated panels (SIPs) provide the best moisture barrier than any other choice in the market today. Add a fully fiberglass insulted roof with an R value of 20-50 and you’ve covered the primary sources of heat loss and temperature control. The wall between the sunroom and the house can be insulated with conductive materials to encourage heat transfer between the rooms if desirable.

Ventilation. Here’s the final element, which along with thermal mass can control the temperature swings in your sunroom. It’s said that depending on your climate, and we know that ours always swings to the extremes in both directions, sunroom temperatures can swing between 40º-100º. Installing operable vents at the top and bottom of the sunroom will facilitate airflow and eliminate extreme temperature swings. Other measures include cross breezes from windows and doors, skylights or sidewall vents.

Source: Andersenwindows.com

Understanding how a sunroom works before you add one to your home will allow you to avoid the mistakes most people make that cause the room to be either too hot or too cold, too bright for reading or too much humidity producing moisture stained windows.

Hear from customer’s who’ve bought sunrooms from Woodland Exteriors at www.woodlandwindows.com or visit our showroom to see the products yourself. A Woodland sunroom meets the National Sunroom Association codes. Woodland sunrooms are designed and installed to maximize daylight and comfort – form and function matter.

Sunrooms that Connect the Indoors to the Outdoors

Posted by: Ken Mariotti

We dream of how we’d like things to be. The challenge is to bring our dreams to life. If you’re like most people, you’ve dreamed of adding a sunroom to your home. Today there are so many sunroom choices that your dream can become reality. The first step is to decide on the function of your sunroom.

The three most common functions of a sunroom are, connecting the indoors to the outdoors, more space, or natural sunlight and passive heat. Woodland suggests that you select only one function to focus on because it will determine the foundational design and then budget permitting, you can add other options. In the end, you’ll have the room you dream of.

Connecting the indoors to the outdoors

Source: memorabledecor.com

Illinois’ four-season climate puts on a show for the senses. Wintery white snow covered trees, spring sunshine yellow daffodils, summer sounds and smells, and fall picturesque orange foliage. This also means cold, wind, rain, bugs, heat and humidity.

Sunrooms can maximize the pleasures and minimize the harsh realities of Midwest living.

Categorized as three or four season rooms based on whether the sunroom can be used in cold or very hot weather, sunrooms connect the indoors to the outdoors in three different ways. Ask yourself:

• Do you want a central room completely open to the sunroom? 
• Do you want the sunroom viewable using oversized glass doors?
• Do you want the sunroom to be a separate room altogether?

Use your imagination to design the space that will connect the indoors to the outdoors. Depending on the space you’re designing, here are some suggestions to consider in your plan.

Source: Pinterest.com

Extending an existing room

If you currently look at a solid wall and visualize nature on the other side, you’ll need a sunroom with enclosed walls. Open to the main structure of the house, heating and cooling considerations will be part of the design. This means that all openings, such as windows, doors, or skylights will need to comply with additional requirements for air infiltration and water penetration resistance, thermal performance and structural requirements.

Opening an entire exterior wall to connect an existing room to the sunroom is one of those projects that win awards in home magazines.  Strive to select a style and products that make the room feel as if it was always a part of the original home. Lastly, insulation choices are key so as not to cause unnecessary transfer of heat or cold throughout the rest of the house.

Oversized glass doors connect the existing space to the sunroom

Source: foldingdoorszare.blogspot.com

Connecting the indoors to the outdoors using glass doors is one of the hottest trends today. This style means that the sunroom is more self-contained than the previous choice because the room is thermally isolated from the rest of the house. This design is heated or cooled by a separate temperature control. Energy performance and water filtration resistance and structural requirements need to be considered for your project.

Today’s selection of patio style doors come in expansive widths and heights, which can give you a seamless transition and expansive views between your home and the sunroom.

A door connects the sunroom to the home

Source: onekinddesign.com

Adding a sunroom with easy access from main living areas, which gets adequate sunlight can be difficult for some homes. In these instances the sunroom maybe a retreat off the master bedroom or a den at the end of the hall. This design can be finished as either a three-season room or a four-season room like the aforementioned spaces. Three-season rooms may use screens in place of glass, may use less insulation, and may not have heating or cooling units. Four-season rooms will give you the added choice of using the room all year. This design is isolated from the rest of the home with far less potential to affect the integrity of the other structure.

Let your imagination run wild with these three potential designs to connect the indoors with the outdoors. Which option best suits your dreams, needs, your home, and your budget?

Next week, we’ll discuss sunroom designs to add space to your home.

Sunrooms have become a much sought after item by homeowners, so we’ll devote several blogs to this topic. We’ll discuss important things you need to know.

• Location strategies

• Energy efficiency

• Structural requirements

• Optimizing sunrooms for less desirable locations

• Woodland sunrooms

Woodland Exteriors specializes in sunrooms. For information about our sunrooms and to hear from our sunroom customers, please visit www.woodlandwindows.com