Home repair: Best flooring for a sunroom

The 16½-by-14-foot sunroom at the west end of my house is floored with stick-on tiles over plywood, probably lauan, placed over thick planks that were the original flooring. The stick-on tiles are peeling up and breaking. I’ve wondered if the new flooring was put down because the previous owner thought the gaps between the boards were too big. Sun pours in through the windows much of the day on two sides (a maple shades the third windowed side), so I think heat is the problem.

The sunroom isn’t heated in winter. Last year, we put fiberglass insulation under the floor and nailed black building board under that. The porch siding is now Hardie fiber-cement board from the ground up to the windows. There is insulation between the studs, and the inside walls are covered with bead-board-effect wood sheets. All gaps were sealed (no cluster flies or other bugs this year). The ceiling is aluminum strips that look like boards, with no insulation above. The windows slide open to expose screens, and there’s a ceiling fan.

I’d like to remove the ceiling and just paint the support structure and underside of the roof to decrease the summer heat in the room and for the spacious effect. I don’t use the room much in the winter, and I doubt this would affect the rest of the house enough to raise heating bills noticeably.

The problem is, what about flooring? My contractor wants to take up the tile and paint the plywood, which he thinks is nailed down, but I doubt it will wear well, and I don’t think it would look particularly nice.

I’d prefer to take up the plywood, grout between the boards if necessary, and use porch paint on them. Laminate flooring that mimics wood might not survive the heat and sun of summer. I don’t want carpet, because after seeing the dirty throw rugs, I’d think of it as a grime deposit. A flooring rep told me I’d have to use expensive ceramic or porcelain tile because the room’s unheated in winter and sun-beaten in the summer.

Aside from the expense, the depth of tile, or another layer of real wood planks, would interfere with opening the door to the outside. But is sheet vinyl an option? What about linoleum tile, or bamboo flooring? Or are there other options that won’t break the bank? This room is also the main entry to the house, so it does get foot traffic, including a large dog.

I like seeing the view from the sunroom through the window wall of the room to which it’s attached, so putting blinds on the large expanse of windows in the sunroom isn’t an option, plus opening and closing them daily would be a chore.

A: I am not clear about something. Is the roof of the sunroom all glass? If it is, why the aluminum strips? And if it is glass, I am not sure that just painting it is going to reduce the heat in the summer. An effective shield is one of the 3M films. A shade shop may also suggest a gray shade that would lessen the heat gain but that you could see through.

I agree with you that the lauan plywood would not be a great surface for heavy traffic. Once the lauan plywood is removed, you may be surprised to find that the original boards are OK, but if there are spaces between them, the way to tackle those will vary with the size of the cracks.

If you remove the lauan plywood, which is probably ¼- inch thick, will that give you enough room for an engineered or bamboo floor? I would think that either of those would stand up to the stresses of high heat and sun exposure. Ceramic or quarry tiles would be a great option, and they are ¼-inch thick, whereas wood flooring is 5/8 inch or more.

Julian Wilson And Jordy Smith In South Africa | Surfing

Following the Australian's win at the Quicksilver Pro Portugal, Wilson cut some fine lines in the pristine tubes rolling in and placed an impressive joint third. He lost out to only John John Florence in the semi-finals, who eventually finished second to California's Patrick Gudauskas in the final.

'I’m definitely happy with my result,' said Wilson after his semi-final. 'That little bit of wind came up and it was hard to come out of the barrel. John John was by far the standout of this whole contest and that was pretty much like surfing a final. He’s the one to beat at this event for sure and I hope he goes all the way.'

Wilson moves up to 16 in the ASP world rankings with his finish.

Defending Mr Pro Price champion Jordy Smith (above), riding home surf, also finished  joint third. He climbs from world number five to world number two in the ASP world rankings.

'It was a bunch of fun but it’s just a pity there weren’t any waves in that heat,' said Smith afterwards. 'You win some and you lose some and it’s still a great result that I will be looking to take into the next event in Jeffreys Bay.'

Lake County 150: The Lower Lake Stone Jail

The Lower Lake Stone Jail was built in 1876 and is known as the smallest jail in the United States.


It is located on the corner of Highway 29 and Main Street in Lower Lake.


One of Lower Lake’s first stone masons, Stephen Nicolai, built the jail from local materials with the help of John and Theodore Copsey.


The Copsey brothers, thrilled with the completion of the jail’s construction, celebrated in one of the local saloons and became rather rowdy. Hence, the brothers became the jail’s first occupants but didn’t remain so for long.


The Copseys realized that they had not yet fastened the wooden roof down and, being tall men, they were able to lift up the roof and escape.


There is some speculation as to whether John and Theodore got themselves arrested for the sole purpose of being the jail’s first occupants. It would make sense since only they knew that if they were put in jail, they would not have to remain there.


One may wonder why a jail was needed for such a small town. The population in Lower Lake was at 1,000 people and quicksilver mining was at its peak. The Sulphur Bank Mine began mining quicksilver in 1874, and as there were jobs available, more people were drawn to Lake County.


The combination of steady income, liquor and disagreements made this one of the wildest times for Lake County.


As the population continued to grow, crime rose with it. There became an urgent need for civil order, so plans to build the jail began to unfold.


The Lower Lake Stone Jail, although small, has seen quite a bit of action in its time.


Chinese workers at the mines usually smoked opium in moderation. One incident is recorded where moderation went out the window and five Chinese men, extremely high on opium, were thrown into the Lower Lake Stone Jail all at one time.


There was never a guard or watchman for the jail, even when there were occupants. The jail also was without a sanitary facility of any kind and food and water were only provided when absolutely necessary.


After some time, the little jail was closed. For years after it served the county as a gasoline storehouse.


In later years, some townspeople wanted to get rid of it entirely. The Civic Club, Luncheon Club and Native Sons of the Golden West came to the rescue and saved the little building.


It became a California Historic landmark on Oct. 2, 1962.