3 Season Room Contractors in Shippensburg, PA: How Much Should You Enclose?

Screens, glass or nothing at all is the decision most homeowners are actually making when they call 3 season room contractors in Shippensburg, PA, and it changes the cost, the build and the number of months the space gets used. 

Weaver's Landscape Company has provided nearly three decades of landscape design, build and maintenance services in the Cumberland County, PA area.

We build the full range, which puts us in a useful position to be honest about the tradeoffs. An open porch, a screened porch, a three-season sunroom and a fully enclosed sunroom are four different rooms, not four price points for the same one.

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What Does Screening Add That A Roof Alone Does Not?

Insects, and in central Pennsylvania that is not a small consideration. A roofed but open porch is comfortable in the middle of the day and steadily less so at dusk in July, which is exactly the hour most families want to be sitting outside. The roof solves sun and rain; it does nothing about mosquitoes.

Screening also cuts wind-driven rain and keeps leaves and pollen off the furniture. It changes the maintenance of the space as much as the comfort of it.

How Does A Three-Season Sunroom Differ From A Screened Porch?

Glazing. Our three-season sunrooms are built with Eze-Breeze windows, which slide and stack so the openings can be closed against cool air or opened right up in summer. 

That single change extends the useful season at both ends of the year.

A screened porch is a summer room with shoulder-season evenings. A three-season room reaches into April and holds through October, and on mild days in between it behaves like a screened porch anyway.

When Does A Fully Enclosed Sunroom Make More Sense?

When the room needs to work in January. A fully enclosed space with insulated glazing is closer to an addition than to a porch, and it carries the specification to match: a different foundation, a different roof detail and a decision about heating. The approvals side generally takes longer as well.

It is the right answer for households who want a year-round room and are willing to build accordingly. It is an expensive answer for households who mainly want to eat outside in August.

What Does The Enclosure Level Change About The Build?

Almost everything below the roofline. An open pavilion sits on piers and a paved floor; a screened room needs a continuous frame to attach screening to; a glazed room needs a level, weather-tight floor system and a wall structure that carries window units. Each step up adds structure rather than trim.

Those requirements run in one direction. Building an open structure now with a view to screening it later is possible if the frame is specified for it, and considerably harder if it is not.

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How Does The Cumberland County Climate Steer The Choice?

We get four real seasons and a humid summer, which pushes most families toward some degree of enclosure. Sustained cold in January and February is what separates the three-season decision from the year-round one.

Autumn is the season that decides it for most people. A screened porch is closing up in October while a glazed room is still comfortable in November, and that difference of a few weeks is what households tend to weigh hardest once they have lived with one.

Decide The Enclosure Before The Frame

The enclosure level is the first question worth settling, because it determines the foundation, the frame and the roof detail rather than being a finish choice at the end. 

Our porches and sunrooms range across open-air, screened, three-season and fully enclosed builds. Weaver's Landscape Company designs and builds outdoor structures across Franklin and Cumberland counties and the Harrisburg area. 

Schedule a porch or sunroom consultation with Weaver's Landscape Company.

In Summary

Can an existing covered porch be screened in later?

Retrofitting a screen frame onto an existing covered porch is often possible, provided the posts and beams are positioned to take it. Weaver's Landscape Company looks at the existing structure first, since some builds retrofit cleanly and others need a rebuild.

Do three-season rooms in Pennsylvania need heating?

Heating is not required by definition. Eze-Breeze glazing holds warmth well enough for spring and autumn use, and households who want January use are generally better served by a fully enclosed room built for it.

How far ahead should a structure be planned for a spring build?

Design, material selection and any township or association review take time before a crew is scheduled. Projects that break ground in spring are usually designed over the preceding autumn and winter.

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