How long have sunrooms been available to homeowners?
The very first sunrooms were constructed with wood posts and then stapling screens to them. They required a lot of maintenance like painting and scraping, replacing torn screens and rotted wood posts. In the 1960s, sunrooms evolved with the use of aluminum exteriors and the addition of windows with screens. Aluminum scratched and dented easily, its color faded and it was a poor insulator. Then in the 1970s, along came the honeycomb design. Bugs began chewing through the honeycomb cardboard and when it got wet, it began to rot and smell. In the 1980s, the insulation problem was finally solved with non-biodegradable polystyrene foam-backed aluminum. Polystyrene is a 100% thermal barrier, meaning it keeps all outside temperature outdoors and inside temperatures indoors.
