Menifee is really two stories told on the same valley floor. One is Sun City, the retirement community that took shape in the 1960s with modest single-story homes, low rooflines and small, easy-care yards. The other is the wave of building on either side of the city’s 2008 incorporation: Menifee Lakes around its golf course and lakes, Audie Murphy Ranch and Heritage Lake with their parks and trails, and the new tracts still going up along the 215. Both sides of town share the same long, hot summers, and both are full of back patios that could be doing a lot more. Sunroom California designs and installs sunrooms, insulated patio rooms, aluminum wood patio covers and enclosures for homes across Menifee.
Sun City and the Older Neighborhoods
Many Sun City homes were built small, with a covered porch or a narrow patio and a lot of sun on the rest of the yard. For owners who’ve lived there for years, or who just bought in, an added room is often the simplest way to gain living space without moving. A few things tend to come up:
- Low eaves. Single-story homes with shallow roof pitches are a natural fit for a straight patio room, which has a flat or mildly sloped roof that attaches below the existing eave.
- Old covers. Some homes still have original wood or metal patio covers that are warped, faded or sagging. Replacing them with an aluminum wood cover means no more painting and nothing for termites to eat.
- Year-round comfort. A fully insulated patio room with heating and A/C is comfortable in both August and January, so the space earns its keep all year.
- Community rules. Parts of Sun City and other age-restricted areas have their own architectural guidelines, and a community association may need to review plans. The estimate covers that.
Quail Valley and Romoland, on the northwest and north edges of the city, have their own mix of older homes, manufactured homes and larger rural lots, and each gets the same site-by-site look at the estimate.
Newer Master-Planned Neighborhoods
Menifee Lakes, Audie Murphy Ranch, Heritage Lake and the newer subdivisions nearby tend to have two-story homes, standard-sized rear patios and, in many cases, HOAs with design guidelines. These homes often arrive with a bare concrete slab and no shade at all, which in Menifee means the patio is out of commission for much of the summer.
Common projects for these homes include:
- A solid insulated cover that runs the full width of the back of the house to shade the patio and the sliding door.
- A patio room that becomes a home office, a playroom or a place for a treadmill and TV.
- A sunroom off the kitchen or family room, designed to sit below the second-story windows.
- A cover that’s enclosed a year or two later, once the family decides it wants a room rather than a patio.
Every room and cover is custom made to order, so it can match the stucco colors, roof tile and trim the HOA is looking for.
Built for Menifee Heat
Menifee sits inland in the Perris Valley and heats up quickly once summer arrives. Afternoons in the 100s aren’t unusual, the sun is strong most of the year, and Santa Ana winds blow dry air through in fall and winter. Here’s how each product handles those conditions:
Patio covers
Duralum and Cthru aluminum wood covers come in lattice, solid and glass roof styles. For Menifee, the solid insulated version does the most work, with roof panels in 3-inch, 4-inch or 6-inch thickness. The thicker the panel, the cooler it stays underneath. Aluminum wood also avoids the cracking, warping and peeling that wood covers suffer in dry heat. Covers install in about 1 to 2 days. Read more on our solid patio covers page.
Patio rooms
Straight and gabled patio rooms have fully insulated walls and roofs, which is the key feature in this climate. Paired with heating and A/C that either ties into the home or runs as a standalone unit, the room stays usable when the patio outside is too hot to stand on.
Sunrooms
Cthru and Four Seasons sunrooms in curved eave, straight eave, cathedral or studio, conservatory and gabled garden room styles bring in the most light. In Menifee, we usually recommend dual pane glass, which blocks harmful UV, along with retractable shades and climate control, especially on south- or west-facing walls.
Enclosures
Existing covers can be enclosed with glass or insulated wall systems. Enclosing a cover is a common next step once homeowners realize how much they use the shaded patio and want it clean, quiet and comfortable in every season.
The Process, Start to Finish
- Free in-home estimate, available 7 days a week, with no obligation. A designer measures, inspects the slab or deck, and talks through your goals.
- Design and options, including windows and doors, roof type, lighting, fans, outlets with hidden wiring, skylights, shades and climate control. The electrical options page shows what can be built in.
- Permits and approvals. The city’s building department may require a permit, and an HOA or community association may need to approve. Covered in your estimate.
- Factory build in California, made to order.
- Installation in about 3 to 5 days for a room once materials arrive, or 1 to 2 days for a patio cover. A conventional addition can take 6 to 9 months.
Products carry a lifetime transferable manufacturer warranty, and financing is available.
Which Project Is Right for Your Menifee Home?
For Sun City homes where the goal is a comfortable, low-maintenance extra room, an insulated straight patio room is usually the best fit. If you mostly want shade and to get rid of an old, worn cover, an aluminum wood replacement is quick and needs no upkeep.
For newer family homes with an unshaded slab, a full-width solid cover makes the patio usable right away, and it can be enclosed later. If you already know you need more indoor space, go straight to a patio room.
For anyone who wants light and a view of the hills around the valley or their own backyard, a sunroom with dual pane glass and shades is the way to go.
For larger lots in Quail Valley or Romoland, think bigger than the patio. A long cover can shade a workshop entrance, an outdoor kitchen or a spot for the grandkids to play, and a gabled patio room with a taller ceiling can serve as a true family room. Whatever the lot, the design is worked out in person, because the best choice depends on which way the house faces and how much afternoon sun hits it.
