Project update:
Shower curtains are up, and it's pretty much finished. It's not physically attached to the house - but the sides which touch the house have sill gasket foam strip tacked to the wood to make a rudimentary seal.
The plastic isn't perfect - some wrinkles in some panels. But it's just an experiment after all (is what we told ourselves when a panel didn't turn out as nice as some of the others).
Comments & thoughts...
- It gets ridiculously hot inside this thing in full sun. The wise crack about using this to heat the house is actually a reality. On several sunny days, we've left the sliding doors open and you could feel the heat coming in. I guess those passive house people are on to something after all.
- I need to build in some ventilation options - like a screened, opening window panel.
- You can see some cardboard in one of the roof sections. I was experimenting with a retractable 3-part sliding shade. The roof will need some kind of shading option.
- For a structure like this to be usable in all kinds of weather, it will need to be extremely versatile/convertible in terms of ventilation and shading. Think Swiss army knife versatile.
- It's a very enjoyable room to use. We're already coming up with ideas/refinements for sun room 2.0 -- the slightly bigger (since its size won't be dictated by shower curtain dimensions),permanent , proper version.
- The plan is to leave it up at least to the spring/summer transition to see what modifications it needs to continue enjoying the space as the sun strengthens and temperatures rise.