Hi, I see a lot of of posts on how to repair sunrooms, replace glass etc...I want to know how you get rid of one...I personally hate the thing. I live in a hot weather climate, it is old, the seals are all broken and all the glass needs replacing. It came with my house and I can not afford to repair it, nor would I. I would rather use the concrete pad as a start to a patio or a roof covered "outdoor room". Do you disassemble it, is there a proper way to dismantle it, or do you just whack away with sledge hammers? It is a 3 sided all glass and alum frame, curved front edge 15 x 15 on a slab. It is set into the roof line so the roof has to be rebuilt out as well as the house wall has to be exteriorized. DO I have to hire a contractor to take it down, and is the alum worth anything to recycle? Sorry to be so wordy!!
thanks in advance, patricia

 

Extruded aluminum is about 80 cents/lb, depending on where you take it. You'd probably have at least a couple hundred bucks worth. I'm just guessing that you could probably tear it down yourself, if you have the ability to set up scaffolding on each side and rent/borrow some long aluminum planks to set over the top of the thing so that you can work over it from above.

The place to start would be on the outside, on the main beams that divide up the sections of glass. I'm guessing that there is a cap that runs down the middle of each rib. This cap snaps into place and covers up some screws that you need to get to. To get the cap off you might be able to get under it at the bottom with a screwdriver and pry it up, or else you could drill a hole in it big enough to insert the screwdriver and pry. Once you get the cap off, you should see a bunch of screws that you will need to remove. These will remove the vertical glazing muntins. Once they are removed you should be able to see how to also remove the horizontal glazing muntins. Once they have been removed, the glass should just lift out. 90% of the dismantling needs to be done from the outside of the room.

Your brand of sunroom may differ slightly from this, but you get the general idea. It's basically just like a big erector set... except you're taking it down in the reverse order that it was put up. Working alone, it would probably take you five 8-hour days to completely dismantle, just to give you an idea of the time that might be involved.

If it changes your mind any, a room that size would probably cost about $30-50,000 installed. I realize it would cost something to repair, but with new glass, a nice solar shade and some air conditioning you would still save a considerable amount over tearing it off and building something new. If you have to change the glass anyway, you could always consider getting some sort of tinted glass that would be different that what you have now- solar cool bronze or some of the other new reflective coatings they have for hot sunny climates. Believe it or not, those rooms can be a big selling point for houses- provided they are in good condition.