Solarium installation in Los Angeles CA - a glass room that stays comfortable
Your patio gets plenty of sun but sits empty. We'll build a glass room, placed and shaded so it's a room you actually use.
What goes into a solarium installation in Los Angeles?
Solarium installation in Los Angeles means building a room whose walls are mostly glass or clear panels. It gathers the sun's light and heat and gives you a bright room you can close off from the house or open right into it.
Most solarium calls I get start with a patio or deck that gets plenty of sun and hardly any use, or with an older glass room that's too hot to sit in by afternoon. The price mostly moves with the size of the room, how much of it is glass, whether it stays closed off or opens into the house, and what shape the slab or deck under it is in, because a tired slab or a weak deck gets dealt with first, not covered up. The schedule turns on how quickly we settle those choices and on getting any permits your address needs. The written quote I send after my visit gives you your own number. We're based in Los Angeles and build across the city and the cities around it.
What happens after you call about a solarium?
Call or send us a message
Call (213) 340-1547 or fill out the form, and we'll get back to you within one business day to set up a visit. We answer from 8 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.
I come out and measure
I look at the patio, slab or deck the room would sit on, measure, and ask a lot of questions about how your family will use the room. Then I send a written quote, so you're weighing a real figure for your house instead of guessing.
We handle permits and build
Once you sign, we find out which office covers your address and handle any permit applications and inspections the project needs, and your contract says in writing who's getting them. Our own crew builds the room, with a lead installer running the site.
Walk through the finished room
When the room's done, I come back and go through it with you, running every window and door so you can see how they slide and seal. Satisfaction guaranteed.
How we plan and build your solarium
Before we get to frame colors or hardware, I spend time with you on which side of the house gets the glass and how much shade it'll have, because that decides how warm the room gets. I learned that over years of hanging sliding doors, where the same door feels fine on one wall and bakes the room on another. We also settle early whether the room stays closed off from the house or opens into it, since the open kind needs better glass and that changes what we order. From there our crew gets the base ready, sets and squares the frame, glazes and seals every panel, and finishes the roof and gutters. I watch the glass and track work closest, because that's where leaks and sticky windows start.
A solarium often ties into other work. If you want part of the yard left open-air but shaded, we can pair the room with patio cover installation. If you're still deciding between a solarium and another kind of room, start with sunroom design, where we work out the layout, the room type and the glass before anything gets built.
Book a free on-site solarium estimate
I'll get back to you to set up a visit, come out to look at where the room would go, and then send you a written quote. You're under no obligation to go ahead.
Solarium questions from Los Angeles homeowners
What's the difference between a closed-off and an open solarium?
A closed-off solarium is separated from your house's heating and cooling, so it stays unheated and isn't living space, while an open one is heated or cooled and connects to the house. One national code guide describes those two kinds and counts the open one as living space, so its glass has to meet extra requirements for keeping out water and air leaks and for holding temperature. That's why I ask how you'll use the room first, because a room built for the wrong use is the one people regret.
How do I keep a solarium from getting too hot in Los Angeles?
Start with where the glass faces, since federal energy guidance for cooling climates says north-facing windows and well-shaded south-facing glass work especially well. That's general advice, not Los Angeles climate data, but it's why we settle the direction before the design is fixed. On glass that gets full sun, landscaping, overhangs, shutters and solar window screens all help cut the heat coming through.
How much does a solarium cost in Los Angeles?
A sunroom addition in Los Angeles usually costs about $23,000 to $66,000 per job, which is the going range in the area, not our price. Where a solarium lands in that range depends on its size, how much glass it has, whether it's open to the house and what it sits on. I'll give you your own figure in a written quote after I come out.
Can a solarium roof in the Los Angeles fire zone use wood shingles?
No. In the city's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the city code requires every building to have a fire retardant roof that meets Class A roof covering rules, and wood shakes and shingles aren't allowed. One permit firm lists Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Topanga, Malibu and the Hollywood Hills among the areas in the zone, so if your house is in it, we plan the solarium roof around that rule from the start. The city's zoning rules on height and setback, which is how far a building sits from the property line, also shape how big the room can be and where it goes.
Who is allowed to build a solarium in California?
In California, anyone who builds or alters a structure has to be licensed by the Contractors State License Board when the project needs a building permit, uses employee labor, or costs $1,000 or more in labor and materials. A solarium clears that $1,000 mark easily. We're licensed and insured.
How do I make sure a solarium meets California's energy code?
Plan it as an addition from the start, because California's Energy Code sets efficiency requirements for additions to existing houses, not just new buildings. The code can be met through a prescriptive path, using methods already known to be efficient, or a performance path, which gives more design freedom as long as the overall result matches the prescriptive version's efficiency. It's a fair question to ask about any design, ours included.
Other work that goes with a solarium
Patio cover installation
A good fit when you want shade over part of the yard that stays open to the air, right beside your new glass room.
Sunroom design
Worth starting here if you're not sure yet whether a solarium, a screen room or a four season room fits the way you live.
Tell us where your solarium would go
Call (213) 340-1547 or use the form with your address, the side of the house you're picturing and whether you want it heated or cooled, so I show up already thinking about your glass.