The COVID-19 pandemic had everyone cooped up in their homes for months, leading to collective cabin fever among Aussies. With nowhere to go, many Australians decided to renovate their homes during the height of the pandemic. Doing so gave them something to do as they waited for the situation to improve while making their space more suitable for their new normal routine.
The most common renovations Aussies have undertaken involve their outdoor space. Many want to improve their gardens and patios to make the space more usable since their yards are the safest places they can ‘travel’ to at the moment.
If you’re still working from home or are still wary about going outside, turning your patio into a multi-function room can give you the change of scenery you need. Keep these tips in mind to convert your open porch into a comfortable, functional room.
Roofing
The first step to converting your patio is to insulate the roof. This is necessary since you’ll likely heat the room, and an insulted patio roof helps trap the conditioned air inside the space. It also makes it easier for your HVAC system to keep the temperature inside the room at a comfortable level.
One convenient patio insulation solution is insulated roofing panels. Metal roofing panels offer high R-values despite their thinness, unlike fiberglass ceiling insulation that you need to get in thicker variants if you want to increase its R-value.
Because insulated roofing panels come in thin assemblies, they lend themselves well to DIY installation. You can buy DIY insulated panel kits if you’re looking to minimise your renovation expenses. Just make sure to get the right panel sizes and R-value.
Flooring
You’ll likely need to tear out the entire floor of your porch area if you’re planning to turn it into a heated room, especially if there’s no crawlspace underneath. You need to rip out the floorboards so you can measure the spaces between the joists and install slabs of fiberglass batt insulation.
If you’re using faced insulation, stuff the pieces into the spaces with the kraft paper backing facing you. You need to staple a vapor barrier on the joists after installing the batts if you’re using unfaced insulation. You can lay your flooring of choice afterwards.
Wall Enclosure
You may need to demolish the exterior wall adjacent to your porch, since you’ll be turning it into an interior wall. Exterior walls, however, are always load-bearing, so you can’t just tear it down any which way. It’s better to have a professional do it for you to make sure that the demolition doesn’t affect your house’s structural integrity.
For the enclosure, you can use glass to close off your patio while giving your room a view of your garden. Make sure to go for double-glazed glass, though. Glass becomes a conductor in high temperatures, but the air trapped between two panes acts as an insulator that prevents heat transfer.
Other than these three things, you also need some electrical and plumbing work done before you can use the room full-time. As such, we suggest hiring a patio enclosure builder to make sure that the renovation goes smoothly.
Patio Enclosure Building Services in Brisbane
Just Patios is a trusted Brisbane-based builder, helping clients achieve their dream patios, glass room enclosures and other structures that make the most of their outdoor space. We’ll help you turn your open porch into a multifunctional room that you can use throughout the year, letting you maximise the use of your property.
Request an obligation-free quote today for your patio conversion.