The first to getting support via the forum is to provide ample pictures and layout diagrams. There are often multiple ways to accomplish your desires but without seeing things we are just guessing. You have several questions rambled together so i’d start with providing more info such as priority, budget, DIY capability and planning.

You asked about flooring in title. The “best” is affected by lots of factors and “cost efficient” isn't the same for everyone. A top quality hardwood floor is a big budget item but it’s long-lasting beauty and ability to be refinished and updated makes it a wise long investment.

Why not give us more info and start breaking down your most critical questions? Don't forget to provide us with some inspiration pictures so we can address your design and style needs.

I'm not looking for a full-blown quote on a floor for a sunroom. I'm looking for general advice and ideas, particularly as it pertains to a treated concrete floor vs. a raised wooden floor.

I'm three years away from this even coming to fruition, so asking me for an actual architectural rendering is WAY premature. I'm looking for the thoughts of professionals and people who have done this before.

OP- without some idea, even a rough sketch, of the current layout and type proposed layout, along with an idea of orientation and elevation, it's very hard to give you any meaningful suggestions. No one is asking for final drawings, but some idea of the style and layout of what you're considering would generate more useful replies.

In the absence of more info, I would go for wood over concrete every time. The latter is just too tough on aging feet and backs.

What I'm considering is a four-season sunroom added onto the back of my house, which will become an extension of the kitchen.

This is the extent of where I'm at. I'm on what is my step 1, which is the floor. Do I have a contractor pour a concrete floor and gloss it up, adding two steps for stepdown from the kitchen to the sunroom? Or do I have them bring it two steps up, thus no steps at all, and do a wooden floor?

Anything else will require my coming back in about three years, once I have the plans drawn and a couple of quotes from contractors.

A real estate agent recommended I come here for some good ideas, and that it would be easy to separate the wheat from the chaff, as far as commenters go.

All of this being said, this is my first question and it's already exhausting and tedious. I didn't realize it would be so hard to get a conversation going and spitball some ideas around with people who have "been there, done that."

I'm done with this site and especially these boards. I guess it's my bad to expect people to simply have a conversation w/o using flash cards, a precise drawing from an architect, and color chips already in place.

Sorry to have bothered you with my mundane desire to just discuss.

Nancy, if you are still around…..I haven’t been there done that however I have an opinion for you to consider! With the size of the house and the remodeling you are looking at doing have the 4 season room be on the same level of the rest of the house. A step or 2 down now may be a less expensive route but in the long run I think you will regret not having all 1 level. If not for your mobility one day your pup’s. The step down will also call out “addition”. The other thing with a concrete floor is your location. I tried to go with a concrete floor once in a northern region knowing I was using rugs anyway, it didn’t last and we put in an engineered wood floor. Keeping it all one level and the same floor as the kitchen offers you more flexibility for changing the rooms purpose. You may find in the process you want the addition to be more opened up versus and entry with steps. Try searching the site for sunroom additions and read through what people did with theirs and pay attention to how they handled the floors. Hopefully you haven’t given up on the site yet, yes there are many who want lots of details before they can weigh in, but with some patience you will find others will engage with less details.

Keeping it all one level is the ideal.

But there can be good reasons why that won't work without being very expensive--the roof, for example. Tying in the new addition roof to the existing. Whereas a step down addition may be a lot easier & less expensive.

OTOH, climate and how the house is sited (grade, etc.) can tip the scale back to putting the new sunroom onto a raised foundation.

So, really, pictures of the exterior are needed a lot more than a floorplan at this stage. And, it sounds like your idea to use the sunroom as an extension of the kitchen (dining) is solid. (Which heavily weights the plan back to going with all one level.)

"this is my first question and it's already exhausting and tedious."

Since you said this after just two comments to your OP, I don't think renovation of anything is for you. Renovations are tiring, frustrating, take a long time, and contractors frequently are not responsive and have other jobs ahead of yours. If just two comments are bothering you--and they did give you advice not to proceed with concrete--I cannot fathom how you will manage any home improvements. You will either have to have a paradigm change in your mindset about renovations, or not proceed.