How to Build Sunrooms for Trailer Homes

Expand your trailer home with a sunroom.

There are several ways to build a glassed-in sunroom, but it's easier to manage the temperature changes if you build the room on a concrete slab that's roughly two-feet thick, say experts at the National Association of Home Builders. A sunroom can easily overheat in hot weather, but a nice foundation of concrete over crushed stone helps absorb extreme heat.

1. Design a nice sunroom on paper. Sketch various ways to build the room onto your trailer home, but use graph paper to draw the final plan. Allow one square of graph paper for every six inches of real space. Buy sufficient 2 x 12 lumber boards to build the framework for the sunroom. Leave the concrete foundation slab bare and place metal flashing between the concrete and the wood framing lumber laid around the perimeter of the space. Ask a termite company to treat the concrete area before you begin construction.

2. Join the sunroom to your trailer without removing roofing on your trailer. Attach the sun porch roof by butting the sun room against the side of your mobile home and install flashing and sealants to keep water out. Build the sun porch roof to slant at least 12 inches from the top side to the bottom to skirt away water. Build in the bottom half of the sunroom with masonry siding on the exterior and finish with drywall on the interior. Insulate the bottom with 12 inches of roll-type fiberglass insulation. Install windows or panes of safety glass on the top half of the room.

3. Finish the exterior roof with asphalt shingles or metal roofing. Caulk well around all windows or panes of glass. Try to find pre-made double-pane windows at close-out sales to help insulate the window area further. Install a high-quality storm door in the room. Run electricity in the ceiling for overhead fans, one or two electrical outlets and a light fixture. Insulate the ceiling 12 inches deep and add drywall or plywood to the ceiling interior. Finish the drywall with joint compound and sand for final painting.

4. Paint or stain all wood areas of the sunroom inside and out. Install indoor-outdoor carpet once you are satisfied you've caulked all possible areas for water leakage. Build small cabinets in the lower half of the room for storage and install sliding doors. Build a media cabinet for placing a TV in the area, if you desire.

5. Add wood trim around outside windows and around interior areas to give the room a finished look. Place furnishings so that the trailer's front or back door doesn't hit furniture upon opening. Buy an electric heater to keep the space warm on cool days, so your family can use the room on more days of the year.

Tip

Add a small sink and water supply to the room. You can put lots of plants in the area to give it a nice ambiance. A sink will allow you to water the plants more easily.