For years, Dan and Cindy Kuhn daydreamed about replacing their deck with a sunroom.

Dan is a carpenter by trade, so he expected to do most of the work himself, but figuring out how to tie in the new addition with their home's two existing rooflines took, as Cindy says, "much pondering."

Meanwhile, knowing that windows would be the single most expensive element of the project, Cindy watched for several years for casement windows to come to Habitat ReStore, the nonprofit Davenport business that sells new or gently used building materials at deep discounts. She co-founded the organization seven years ago and works there as its director.

"I watched and watched and, as it turned out, a volunteer who lives less than a mile from our home donated the perfect windows," Cindy, of Bettendorf, says. Once the Kuhns bought what they needed, "the room began to be designed around the windows."

Son Nathan, now 16, helped by drawing mock-up designs with a free, downloadable program called "Sketch Up," and work began in earnest during May 2008 by renting a backhoe and digging out a crawl space.

Work continued for nearly a year - living with the mess was not fun - but today the Kuhns are enjoying an 18-by-21-foot three-season room with a vaulted ceiling and abundant windows that make Cindy feel as though she's still sitting "in the trees," which was a key goal.

That's because even while they were planning the addition, she had mixed emotions about closing in the space. "I really loved sitting on my deck, looking up at the tree canopy," she explains. "I loved hearing the birds and feeling the sun's warm rays. I wondered if I'd miss being really outdoors."

The short answer: Not very much.

"This cool, rainy summer has given us countless hours to relish in the decision to build our new favorite room," Cindy says. "I think we've eaten every meal in our new space since the beginning of June. It's great to come out here and not have to deal with leaves and bird droppings.

"On rainy days and into the nights, we've enjoyed working, dining and visiting in the bright, warm, clean, dry, bug-free space," she adds.

Overall, the Kuhns figure they spent $7,000 to $8,000 on the project that likely would have cost $28,000 to $30,000 had they hired the work done and purchased all new materials, according to a member of the Quad-City Homebuilders and Remodelers Association.

The Kuhns' work included everything from excavating and pouring the concrete footings to framing and shingling. The only thing they hired done was hanging the gutters.

And in addition to the deeply discounted windows, they also purchased wood planks for the ceiling, vinyl tile flooring, a skylight, several light fixtures and wood trim from Habitat ReStore.

At 378 square feet, the Kuhns' addition is bigger than the 250 square feet that is typical of sunroom projects in the Quad-Cities. That size generally costs about $23,000-$25,000, the homebuilder said.

Although the Kuhns chose not to heat or air-condition their space, they figure that wearing sweatshirts and afghans will make the room useable anytime the outside temperature is about 50 degrees and above.