Solarium installation in San Clemente, CA - a glass room you can use all year
Patio too hot by afternoon, or an enclosed room you can't use in winter? We plan a heated, cooled glass room around your sun.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What does solarium installation in San Clemente involve?
The short answer: A solarium is a fully enclosed glass room with all-weather windows that you heat and cool like the rest of the house, and our solarium installation in San Clemente, CA gives you a bright room you can use in any season, not just the warm months. The real choice is whether you want a room you can heat and cool, because a three-season room usually isn't.
You've probably got a patio or deck that's too bright, too windy or too cold at the hour you'd most like to sit out there, and you want it to be a room. What moves the price is the size of the room, how much of it is glass, whether it's heated and cooled and how awkward the spot is, and the schedule turns mostly on how long it takes to get the plan right and on the city's review when a permit is needed. When it needs one, we pull the permit as your licensed contractor. Your own figure comes from the estimate, where I look at your spot and write up a plan for the room.
How do you know a solarium is right for your house?
Patio too bright by afternoon
You use the patio in the morning, but by midafternoon the glare and heat drive everyone back inside. That usually means the space wants a roof and walls with shade built into the plan, and every summer you wait is another season of a patio nobody sits on.
Enclosed room empty in winter
You've got a screened porch or enclosed patio that's great in summer and sits closed up on cool evenings. If you want that room year-round, it needs heating and cooling, and until you take that step it's a room you only get half of.
The house feels dark inside
The rooms next to the patio stay dim even at noon because the overhang or the yard layout blocks the light. A glass room there can bring daylight back in, and leaving it means living with the lamps on in the middle of the day.
Our solarium installation starts with the sun
I start where the sun is. With this much glass the sun does a lot of the heating, so before anything gets drawn I look at which way the room will face and how long the wall takes direct sun, then plan the glass and the shade together instead of adding blinds after the fact. Clear glass goes where you want the view and the light, a solid section of roof or an overhang goes where the afternoon sun would cook the room, and the heating and cooling are planned for what's left. Once that plan is set our crew builds to it, and we keep the site clean as we go, the same way you'd keep a station clean on a busy night.
A solarium rarely stands alone. If you want help settling the layout, the roof line and where the doors go before you commit, that's our sunroom design work, and it's where I'd start on an odd lot. On a wall that takes the full afternoon sun, patio cover installation next to the glass can throw shade where the room needs it most and give you a shaded spot outside too.
Glass roof and glass walls
This suits a north-facing or naturally shaded spot where you want the sky overhead as well as the view. On a wall that takes the full afternoon sun it's the hardest version to keep comfortable, so I'll tell you straight if your wall isn't the place for it.
Glass walls under a solid roof
This suits south- and west-facing walls, because the roof blocks the high sun while the walls keep the light and the view. On a hot wall it's the one I usually recommend, since you lose a little sky and gain a room you'll actually sit in.
What happens when you call about a solarium in San Clemente?
A solarium job with us runs in three steps, and you'll know who's handling each one. I'm there for the planning at the start and checking the work right through to the end.
- Step 01
Call or send a message
Call or send us a message, and we get back to you to set a time for me to come out to your house. Tell us your address and roughly what you have in mind so I come prepared.
- Step 02
I visit and write the plan
I come out myself, look at what the room will sit on and which way it faces, and ask how you want to use it. Then I write up a plan for your room, and that plan is where your own figure comes from.
- Step 03
We permit, prep and build
Once you say go, we handle the permit side and prep the site, and our crew builds the room. I check the work as it goes, through to a final walkthrough with you.
Solarium installation rules and conditions in San Clemente
The City of San Clemente does plan checking, permits and inspections for additions, alterations and remodels, but its list doesn't name solariums, so whether yours needs a permit is the city's call and not something I'll guess at. We check with the city's building services early, and when the room needs a permit we prepare what the city asks for and meet the inspector when they come out. Before we draw anything I also check two things about where your house sits. One is whether it's inside the city's Coastal Zone, which generally runs inland to Interstate 5 and is the only area the city's coastal plan covers. The other is whether it falls in one of the fire hazard severity zones the state fire marshal has mapped in the city.
Most of our calls here come from homeowners who want more use out of a patio or deck they already have, and on a solarium that usually means working with the wall and the sun the house already gives you. We're based in San Clemente and work in the cities around it in south Orange County, and we see the same setups on jobs in Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano.
Get a solarium plan for your house
Send your address, the room size you have in mind and which way the wall faces, and we'll reply within 1 business day to set up a free estimate at your property. There's no obligation and no pressure to book.
Why San Clemente homeowners call San Clemente Sunrooms and Patios
The owner plans every room
I come out for the estimate myself and plan the job, and our crew does the build while I check the work along the way. You deal with the person who drew the plan from start to finish, so nothing gets lost between the visit and the build.
In business since 2017, prep first
I learned this trade on sunroom and patio crews around south Orange County before starting this business in 2017, and I'd still rather spend extra time on the plan than rush the build. That's why people call us for the awkward ones, like an old deck, an uneven slab or a wall that takes the full afternoon sun.
Licensed in California, fully insured
We're licensed and fully insured. Ask for both from anyone you're considering, because a room this size ties into the side of your house and you want that covered before work starts.
On a solarium, getting the plan right before the build is most of the job. Get in touch and I'll come take a look at your wall and your sun.
Solarium questions from San Clemente homeowners
How is a solarium different from a three-season room?
A solarium is heated and cooled and has all-weather windows, while a three-season room generally isn't heated or cooled and has uninsulated windows or screens. So it comes down to whether you want a room you can heat and cool, which only the solarium gives you. I'll tell you honestly which one fits the way you'll use the room.
How much does a solarium cost in Orange County?
A sunroom in Orange County usually costs about $120 to $200 per square foot, and that's what the market charges in the area, not a quote from us. Bigger rooms with heating and air conditioning sit toward the top of that range. Your own figure comes from the estimate, once I've seen the spot.
Can I pull my own permit for a solarium in San Clemente?
Yes, the city lets an owner who's doing the work get an owner-builder permit, or a licensed contractor can pull it instead. The city strongly discourages owners from becoming their own contractor, because you take on the liability for bad work by anyone you hire. Ask any installer which way your project will go, and with us, when it needs a permit, we pull it.
Does a solarium installer need a California license?
Yes, in California anyone who contracts for work worth $1,000 or more in combined labor and materials must hold a current, valid license from the Contractors State License Board. That includes a company that makes the room and installs it, since the board treats a manufacturer doing on-site construction as a contractor too.
What causes a glass solarium to get too hot?
Clear glass lets through nearly 90% of the sun's heat, so a room with a lot of it warms up like a greenhouse. The more clear glass you want, the more of that heat comes in. That's the trade-off to weigh before you decide how much of the room is clear.
What is the best direction for a solarium to face in San Clemente?
For warmer climates, the Department of Energy's guidance is north-facing windows, with south-facing windows generously shaded. If your room has to face south, the shade belongs in the design from the start, not added later. Most houses only give you one wall to build on, so we work with the direction you have.
Services that go with a solarium
Sunroom design
Use our design work when you know you want more glass but haven't settled the layout, the doors or how much of the roof stays solid.
Patio cover installation
A patio cover makes sense when you want shade outside the solarium too, or when you'd rather shade the patio than enclose it at all.
Call us about your solarium plan
Call (949) 312-6032 or use the contact form if you're still weighing a solarium against a three-season room, and we'll talk it through before anyone comes out.