Glass-Paneled Garage Doors Open Up a New Sunroom
This stylish 3-season sunroom in the Detroit suburbs connects to the lawn and the sparkling lake beyond
Before. The rear exterior of the house originally featured vinyl siding, a large bay window and and a door leading out to a concrete patio.
After. The bottom of the new sunroom’s roof lines up with the bottom of the original home’s roof. The vinyl siding from the rear exterior was removed and then reused to cover the exterior of the new sunroom.
The Wongs initially wanted to add a folding glass wall to the sunroom, but the cost was prohibitive. Instead, they decided to install two glass-paneled garage doors. “I think I searched every photo of rooms that feature garage doors on Houzz,” Rachel says. “We were all a bit skeptical at first, but the look really won us over.” The doors feature insulated mount shifts that dampen the noise when the doors are opened and closed.
The Wongs initially wanted to add a folding glass wall to the sunroom, but the cost was prohibitive. Instead, they decided to install two glass-paneled garage doors. “I think I searched every photo of rooms that feature garage doors on Houzz,” Rachel says. “We were all a bit skeptical at first, but the look really won us over.” The doors feature insulated mount shifts that dampen the noise when the doors are opened and closed.
The interior of the sunroom includes wood-look vinyl floors that are rated for temperatures from minus 40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. “The sun really beats down on the floor during the summer and it gets below freezing in the winter, so these floors are ideal,” Brian says.
The Wongs covered the back wall and ceiling of the sunroom with tongue-and-groove wood painted white. A ventless gas heater attached to the back wall lets the couple use the space in all but the coldest months of winter. The outdoor furniture provides a spot where they and guests can lounge in wet swimsuits after coming in from the lake.
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The Wongs covered the back wall and ceiling of the sunroom with tongue-and-groove wood painted white. A ventless gas heater attached to the back wall lets the couple use the space in all but the coldest months of winter. The outdoor furniture provides a spot where they and guests can lounge in wet swimsuits after coming in from the lake.
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A hard-wired switch enables the Wongs to open and close the sunroom’s garage doors from inside the house. A remote control they keep on their boat lets them close the room when they’re heading out on the lake and open it back up while coming ashore. “It’s a pretty cool way to come back home,” Brian says.
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Sunroom at a Glance
Who lives here: Rachel and Brian Wong and their dog, Lola
Location: Waterford, Michigan
Size: 288 square feet (27 square meters)
When Rachel and Brian Wong moved from a small Seattle apartment to their 1,200-square-foot home in the Detroit suburbs, they never thought they’d want more space. “It seemed so big to us,” Rachel says. “But as we became a part of the community, our friend group expanded and we found ourselves feeling cramped when hosting parties.”
Brian’s father, who has some training in architecture, suggested that the couple add a sunroom to the back of their house to create more space. “We sketched out the plan for the sunroom on a napkin at first,” Brian says. The plan was to create a three-season space that attached to the back of the home without making any structural changes to the house.