Addition wasn't your typical DIY project

The four-season room and deck on the back of the Schlichting home do not constitute a typical do-it-yourself project. Considerable knowledge, skill and tools were required.

Here were the major steps involved:

Pour concrete footings for the foundation pole.

Build the floor. Atkins used 12-inch joists, 10-inch pink blanket insulation and a three-fourths-of-an-inch subfloor topped with the Hardi-Back brand of composite board that has a recessed fastener pattern to make installation easier. He finished the floor with 18-inch ceramic tile.

Build the walls. This includes framing, insulation and finishing siding on the outside and drywall on the inside.

Outside, the exact color of aluminum siding wasn't available, but Atkins found some with the same texture and painted it.

Inside, the top portion of the walls is painted while the bottom portion is finished with car siding (tongue-and-groove paneling) that Atkins picked up at bargain prices from the "culled" pile of a local big box store.

Install the windows and frame them inside and out. For the outside trim, Atkins has a special tool called a brake, a 10-foot table that allows him to cut and bend metal. For the inside trim, he has a shaper that cuts a pattern on flat lengths of wood. The room required a lot of trim.

Build a roof. This was accomplished with scissor trusses, rafters, insulation, sheathing, shingles and new soffits for under the eaves. Atkins also framed the ceiling inside so there is a flat area at the peak for attaching a ceiling fan. The ceiling has a "knock down" finish, a job that he hired out.

Matching the home's shingles was easy because the Schlichtings had the home re-shingled a few years ago, so the type and color were still available.

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Addition wasn't your typical DIY project