With a south or west-facing lanai that is within the footprint of the house, you can install a retractable awning. A ten foot awning like that will keep the sun off the lanai, and often you will need only a few feet of it. With a south-facing lanai, you will get lots of sun on it in the winter, which can be nice. A north-facing lanai gets no sun at all in the winter. An East-facing lanai gets morning sun, which can be very pleasant, and then with an awning can be in the shade from 9 am on. But you might prefer more sun in January.
As for pools, afternoon sun can certainly be punishing. With a north-facing pool, in winter you may or may not get sun on it to warm it up. A pool expert can tell you. With a south-facing pool, you will probably have sun on it from morning to night. That’s nice in the winter if you think you will be using it then. An East-facing pool warms up from the sun all morning and mid-afternoon, but eventually, when the sun sinks below the roof peak, the concrete will cool a bit. A West-facing pool is the worst, in many ways. If you have a bird cage built, you can use a screening that cuts out a lot of the sun. If it’s white, it will reflect a lot of the heat. You will have less light and heat, but you still can see out.
I have a West-facing house with pool and birdcage, but there are trees about forty feet high behind the birdcage, and at this time of year, a quarter of the patio is in shade by 2 pm and nearly all of it by 4 pm.
For a similar house with shade trees behind and a west-facing pool, check out 222 Carrera Dr on the Tierra del Sol golf course. It’s in great condition and beautiful. It went up for sale this week.
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