sunroom | Home on 129 Acres

On the very first day we owned the farm, we had no heat and no hot water. It was the beginning of March. In Canada. Not warm.

When it came time for lunch, we retreated to the one and only room that felt somewhat comfortable: the sunroom. Thanks to glass roof and walls, it was warm. Though that was about all it had going for it.

Inside the sunroom

The panes of glass in the roof looked shattered (it was just a film). The carpeted floor was filthy.

Shattered windows in the sunroom

Moss growing inside the sunroom

Over the past 8 years, the sunroom has deteriorated even further. The only times I used it were in cool weather when I needed a workshop. I didn’t care about making the room messy, and it kept the mess or fumes out of the house.

We never had plans to fix the sunroom. All along we’ve wanted to get rid of it. And last weekend, we finally did.

Demoing the sunroom

I had been prepping for a couple of weeks. A friend and her two kids had helped me empty the room, remove one of the patio doors, cut down the overgrown brush around the outside and take off the exterior siding. I had taken out the baseboard heaters and the interior paneling.

Demoing the sunroom

As each piece came out, I got to see just how disgusting the sunroom was. There were rot and ants and disintegrated insulation and mossy carpet. It. Was. Gross.

And now it is gone.

A bunch of cousins showed up last weekend, and we carefully took out all the glass. After a few cuts with the sawzall, the rafters and frames were gone too.

Demoing the sunroom

The glass is in the barn in case I want to build a greenhouse someday. The metal is in the trailer to go to the charity bin at a local special needs riding school. I burnt the wood over the weekend–one of our biggest fires ever. The wee bit of garbage all fit in the trunk of my car and went to the dump last week.

Demoing the sunroom

The roof needs some patching (I’ve bent some flashing to cover any openings for now) and I’d like to remove the concrete slab, but those are (hopefully) next year’s projects. For now, I’m thrilled to have the main eyesore gone.

Demoing the sunroom

In this year with so much change and uncertainty, it feels really, really good to complete one house project. Especially one that’s been on the list for so long. Matt and I have a vision for this house, and I’m working toward that, ever so slowly.

So I started to take apart the sunroom last weekend.

It was a bit unexpected. I mean, we’ve always been planning to demolish the sunroom. However, I wasn’t planning on doing it now.

I opened one of the patio doors and it just fell apart.

The door is just one of the problems with the sunroom. Allow me to share the other reasons the sunroom is not worth saving.

Weeds growing inside the room.

Rain dripping inside the room.

Moss growing in the carpet inside the room.

Glass shattered over top of the room.

The sunroom is pretty disgusting. We haven’t used it, except for the very first week we owned the house. The heat was out, and the sunroom was the warmest place to have lunch–yes, we were that desperate.

Knowing the sunroom is coming down, we’ve not worried about maintenance. (Nor about finding a better spot for the skids leftover from the fireplace stone yet). So this view makes our house look a bit more derelict than it actually is.

The eyesore isn’t going away any time soon though. Matt patched the door back together and stuck it back in place. And hello, driveshed reflection.

So my impromptu demo turned out to be a bit premature. We’ll have a sunroom for a little longer yet.

What’s the biggest eyesore at your house? Have you ever unexpectedly demolished anything? Do you have sunroom? Does anyone else have vegetation growing or rain falling inside your house?