4 seasons room cost

[Neesy228]

We are considering adding a 4 Seasons room (not just a sunroom/covered porch, but something with heat/insulation so we can use it year-round) to the back of our house. We have a 12x12 deck in the spot right now that would need to be torn down and replaced with the room. Hoping that it would be about 14x14 when it's finished. Has anyone done this? How long did construction take? How much did it cost? And are you happy you had it done? We are in the Northeast, not in a large metro area, as a point of reference.

We've gotten one estimate, but it seems very high to me. Others are coming later in the week, but now I'm wondering if maybe I just underestimated the cost of the project.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[marius97]

Mind if I ask what your estimate was? That is something that we want to do too, but have never looked at the cost. We need just a bit more room in the house.

 

[MapleGirl]

We are in the building process right now. We have a 300 sq. ft. deck that we are turning into a 3-4 season room. It is taking much longer than I had expected. When our builder went to get a permit we discovered the footings on the deck are not up to code so he had to pour new footings. Our builder is a friend and giving us a friend rate. The room will probably end up costing $15k when all is said and done. My planning advice.... double your $ estimate and triple for your time estimate. Things always seem to 'come up.' Good luck!

 

[disneybound31]

We are trying to have this done as well and were quoted $100 a square foot--that would be about a $30k project with grading work and a large tree cut down to make it happen...I immediately changed the price to $40k in my mind when builder quoted since most people do say that extra charges seem to come during the process...

We really need the space as our house has less than 1500 sq. feet currently with 2 almost teenagers, but the cost and time involved has put it on hold for now. I had been hoping for a $25 total cost...

 

[dislal]

We are adding a room on our house right now (gonna be a bedroom & bathroom) 16x20 and we just got an estimate for $5800 just for the shell my husband is going to finish the inside. HTH

 

[yoopermom]

My DH is a contractor, and many people are shocked at the price quote for a four season room, because they think it will be as cheap as say a deck, when actually it's considered an addition to the house, will require permits, footings will have to be poured, proper connection to the house made, etc, etc. It's not cheap, but I would LOVE to have one, so I'm happy for you!

Terri

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Our quotes were from 30-45k a few years ago.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

My parents paid $75k for their room. My mom jokes that the one room on her house cost more than the house 30 years ago.

 

[mistysue]

It's been a couple years, but I remember that in the end it would have cost much, much less to add a normal room onto the house than to do a four seasons room. That seems crazy, but if you just need more space, a living room might save you some cash.

 

[ssawka]

It's been a couple years, but I remember that in the end it would have cost much, much less to add a normal room onto the house than to do a four seasons room. That seems crazy, but if you just need more space, a living room might save you some cash.

Actually, that makes perfect sense to me. It is not about cost to build but demand. I'm sure given the choice, most people would rather have an all-season room added (aka a Florida room) then to have just another room added.

 

[Neesy228]

OP here. Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I'm the one that's off-base and not the contractor...Ugh.

Mind if I ask what your estimate was? That is something that we want to do too, but have never looked at the cost. We need just a bit more room in the house.

They estimated $46,000. I just about fell over when I saw the estimate.

We are trying to have this done as well and were quoted $100 a square foot--that would be about a $30k project with grading work and a large tree cut down to make it happen...I immediately changed the price to $40k in my mind when builder quoted since most people do say that extra charges seem to come during the process...

We really need the space as our house has less than 1500 sq. feet currently with 2 almost teenagers, but the cost and time involved has put it on hold for now. I had been hoping for a $25 total cost...

I, too, was hoping for something in the $25,000 range, but apparently that's not realistic. I'm really surprised at the cost.

My parents paid $75k for their room. My mom jokes that the one room on her house cost more than the house 30 years ago.

My BFF's parents added on a room and extended their kitchen and did it for $65,000. Maybe that's why I assumed a four seasons room would be more affordable. I don't know what the answer is now! What's the cheapest way to expand your square footage if you don't plan on moving?!

Thanks again for all of the feedback. If anyone has anything to add, I welcome more input!

 

[disneybound31]

When you say 4 seasons are you referring to the type of room or the actual company brand "Four Seasons" who builds sunrooms and 4 season rooms?

Our would be a 16x20 room also...$100 per sq. foot= roughly $30-40k...worth it I guess if built well and one doesn't want to move.

We will never move so I am sure we will bite the bullet next spring...maybe even the NEXT spring after that due to cost. We hate debt and want to pay as much OOP as possible- have saved almost $16k towards it and thought we were close til our estimate came in so much higher!

 

[mikehn]

$100 a square foot sounds about right for a 'stick built' all inclusive, fully finished addition. Construction should not take long, maybe three months.

Having recently added a great room to the back of our house, a few pieces of advice to share:

1) whatever your quote comes to - be prepared to add another 20% to it. So that means if you are getting a loan, make sure you've secured enough financing.

2) The reason your costs will escalate 20% is due to last minute unexpected change orders. During construction, you will likely change your mind on many things and this will cost you dearly. For example if your contract says Carrier furnace and you change your mind and want a Lennox furnace, it will cost you to make that change. You changed your mind and want the light switch moved from this wall to that wall, it will cost you more. You get the idea.

3) It would behoove you to hire an architect/designer to plan out and draw out every single detail of your addition to your satisfaction prior to going to contract with your builder. This step will minimize cost overruns in step 2.

When we had our addition built, we did a very informal step 3. Had we done a better job in step 3, we probably could have saved several thousand.