Enclosing the Lanai

[edmarycoleman]

Will become a new homeowner in just a few short weeks. With a new house comes so many thoughts and ideas. What are the plusses and minuses of enclosing the lanai with acrylic or maybe glass to make it a year-round living area? I am not sure that weather in the area, even during winter, will keep one away from using it at least periodically during those inclement days.

[SteveFromNY]

Personally, I would not enclose the lanai. I like the open feeling of just the screens. We are expanding ours with a small birdcage and adding a patio out back to have additional outdoor space.
We also don't need additional "living" space. We have more than enough without the lanai. Of course that's a personal decision, and you may feel differently. I've seen many lanais enclosed with televisions and additional dining sets, etc. and folks do use them as family rooms sometimes.
We did buy a heater at Sam's that sits on an end table like a big lamp. It throws off lots of heat and does let me sit out and enjoy a cigar on colder evenings.
If it's really inclement, I'd just stay in the house.

[784caroline]

Enclosing a lanai you can do it one of two ways....make it liveable space ie part of the family room or simply keep it a separte lanai and enclose it. Either way you will have a cleaner space ie no dirt, wind, or rain to worry about and it will make it a little quieter for you..plus you can use it year round. YOu can open up the sliders to give you the fresh air in spring and fall. Most lanai's are too hot in the summer especailly if they face west. If you make it part of your living area you will encounter a slightly higher AC bill every month but I dont think it would be considerable...DEPENDING upon how you enclosed the space. BY that I mean are you using windows or acrylic. If windows, are they insulated, low e, are you getting the roof of the lanai insulated. Also expect you taxes to go up somewhat if it is made into living space but if you add approx 260 SF to the liveable area that would add probably a $100 a year...dont forget you are already paying for the space occuped by screened in lanai but only 15% of its value.

[edmarycoleman]

We do plan to have seating and a TV on the lanai regardless of enclosure. The TV will just have to be set back from the elements. With a 30x12 sized lanai I hope that won't be too difficult.

[784caroline]

Thats a good size lanai BUT you have not experienced the wind and rain we can get here. It can blow pretty good and strong and the rain can come at you at times......sideways!!!!

[Opulence]

Personally, I would not enclose the lanai. I like the open feeling of just the screens. We are expanding ours with a small birdcage and adding a patio out back to have additional outdoor space.
We also don't need additional "living" space. We have more than enough without the lanai. Of course that's a personal decision, and you may feel differently. I've seen many lanais enclosed with televisions and additional dining sets, etc. and folks do use them as family rooms sometimes.
We did buy a heater at Sam's that sits on an end table like a big lamp. It throws off lots of heat and does let me sit out and enjoy a cigar on colder evenings.
If it's really inclement, I'd just stay in the house.

Steve, since you are expanding and adding a birdcage, what type of home did you buy, if I may ask? Is it a villa by any chance or a designer? I have seen a villa without the lanai enclosed at all, with just the birdcage added - I really liked the look. But with the designer homes, you don't have a lot of space to add much of anything - at least that was my impression and I could be wrong.

Thanks,
Betty

[Opulence]

"Also expect you taxes to go up somewhat if it is made into living space but if you add approx 260 SF to the liveable area that would add probably a $100 a year...dont forget you are already paying for the space occuped by screened in lanai but only 15% of its value. "

Gee, thanks - I did not realize that enclosing the lanai would up taxes. Good to know. I appreciate the information.

I was under the impression that some Villas were built with a birdcage already attached.
I suppose in those instances, the taxes were already figured in, right?

Betty

[edmarycoleman]

I'm going to learn about the weather pretty soon now.....

[784caroline]

Opulence

Not all enclosed lanais add to the living space...and therefore not an added tax burden. For example, acrlyic windows are treated diffferently that glass, do you have AC or not in the enclosed room.

Many people are misguided in making the decision on how to enclose by focusing on the question will the enclosure add (or not add) to my property taxes, rather than the comfort, use, safety and appearance they are trying to accomplish within budget by doing the enclosure in the first place.

Added taxes is one of many factors to consider but probably should not be the determining factor.

[Opulence]

Thank you.

I have seen acrylic enclosed lanai's but not glass, on my visit to TV in mid August. I would think acrylic would be "safer" than glass, especially in the case of high winds, flying debris etc. Am I wrong in my assumption? The acrylic enclosed lanai's were very well done and I thought they added to the living space. I did not see a/c added to the room, so I would suspect the sliding doors were just left opened when they wanted.

What exactly does add to the tax burden in your lanai? Could you be more specific? I did think that by enclosing a lanai you were adding to living space . . . thank you.

Betty

[784caroline]

Betty

Believe it or not when it comes to wind strength Glass has it over Acrylic. I think Acrylic is rated at 70 plus mph while normal glass is better thabn 100 mpr. I am fairly certain that you are recommended to remove your acrylic windows from your lanai if you are expecting sustained 70 plus MPH winds. That said this has not been a problem in TV in recent years so that is why alot of people go with Acrylic.......cost wise glass is not that much more expensive and it really depends upon the type of glass you get (ie insulated, low E, tinted etc.). The other thing that impacts wind is the framing that the enclosure will be installed with..with glass being much heavier you cannot simply place a glass window on the 2X2 aluminum framining currently now in your lanai whereas acrylic in some cases is simply placed on this frame thus reducing costs.

[SteveFromNY]

Steve, since you are expanding and adding a birdcage, what type of home did you buy, if I may ask? Is it a villa by any chance or a designer? I have seen a villa without the lanai enclosed at all, with just the birdcage added - I really liked the look. But with the designer homes, you don't have a lot of space to add much of anything - at least that was my impression and I could be wrong.

Thanks,
Betty

Betty, we have a Gardenia on an interior lot. I am adding a patio across the back, and extending the lanai down the side. We have very little room - we can add 7' 2" on the side, so we are adding a 7x15 extension and I am putting a small triangle shaped 2-person hot tub in there. Nothing extravagant, just enough for the 2 of us.

[katezbox]

Steve and Betty,

We are thinking about caging and adding a hot tub. We have a pie-shaped lot so have quite a bit of room to the side and a villa wall directly to the rear.

Our lanai is glassed in. For us it was significantly less expensive than acrylic due to the building code. Acrylic requires that you have a separate cooling/heating system. So while the glass cost about $1000 more and we will pay a bit more in taxes, the cost of the separate heating/cooling unit was $4500 - a no brainer. Glass is also much easier to clean. Our windows are sliders that let in a lot of air when we want and keep the heat out when we want. Our main reason for caging is we have a wonderful view to the side that we would like to take advantage of.



Kate

[SteveFromNY]

Steve and Betty,

We are thinking about caging and adding a hot tub. We have a pie-shaped lot so have quite a bit of room to the side and a villa wall directly to the rear.

Our lanai is glassed in. For us it was significantly less expensive than acrylic due to the building code. Acrylic requires that you have a separate cooling/heating system. So while the glass cost about $1000 more and we will pay a bit more in taxes, the cost of the separate heating/cooling unit was $4500 - a no brainer. Glass is also much easier to clean. Our windows are sliders that let in a lot of air when we want and keep the heat out when we want. Our main reason for caging is we have a wonderful view to the side that we would like to take advantage of.



Kate

Kate - If I were going to enclose it I'd use glass too, but for very different reasons. Acrylic scratches, and eventually, after washing it many times, it gets those tiny scratches in it. You may not see them until the sun hits it the right way, but it happens eventually. I just need to look at my golf cart windsheild to see the effect.
As for concern over wind, well, I wouldn't worry there at all. The rest of the house has glass.
And I didn't even know about the cooling system. :shrug:

[katezbox]

Kate - If I were going to enclose it I'd use glass too, but for very different reasons. Acrylic scratches, and eventually, after washing it many times, it gets those tiny scratches in it. You may not see them until the sun hits it the right way, but it happens eventually. I just need to look at my golf cart windsheild to see the effect.
As for concern over wind, well, I wouldn't worry there at all. The rest of the house has glass.
And I didn't even know about the cooling system. :shrug:

We felt that way about the acrylic too - like you say, just look at the golf cart...

[Opulence]

You have BOTH given me much food for thought! I love you guys! It is so important to have different opinions and the WHY's of them. Each of you have added a very important element to my thought process. Thanks a bunch! :beer3:

Betty

[otherbruddaDarrell]

We also had glass sliders put in a couple of months ago. We do not need to remove them in strong winds and they are tinted. It has helped to keep the lanai cooler and we use the room more now.
We also kept the slider in the living room and master bath to close things off if we wanted and also to avoid the room being taxed.;)

[golfmaniac]

Hi, I am also new to the Villages. I am also thinking of enclosing my lanai and wondering whether you went with glass or acrylic. Some say glass was marginally more expensive but the quotes I have received were substantial increases for glass. In fact some of them glass was double the cost of acrylic.

I am a snowbird and one of the main reasons for enclosing the lanai is so that I do not have to pack away the furniture, etc. during the summer. This brings me to my second question - if the lanai is enclosed without opening for the entire six months which include summer, what is the humidity going to do with the lanai?? Will it make the lanai full of mold and mildew?? Any comments from anyone on this aspect??

[jmerow]

First...CONGRATULATIONS!

As far as the lanai goes...we enclosed ours with glass. After a year of putting up with always having to cover the furniture or wash it down before you could use it (and I mean every week), we decided that it would offer us more enjoyment with it inclosed.

We didn't even consider using acrylic as we have seen homes while we are driving around and they just are not aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

If you are going to consider this living space and want to keep the patio doors open then glass is the way to go as the windows are thermal pane.

I have been told that the only time your taxes would affected is if you raise the floor to be level with the inside floor. (remember this would possibly make for a low ceiling)

Our room is does not have a/c (which cost apx $3200) We always use the room part of any given day. The season determines how long we are able to stay out there. Right now we can do breakfast and lunch. And evenings are always okay.

Hope this helps...be sure to get many bids and lots of references.

[gomoho]

An increase of taxes is determined if the space in contiguous to the home and has heat and air. The small amount of tax you will pay on this additional space pales in comparison to the increase of the value of your property.

Our lanai is enclosed and we had 2 vents run off the system in the house for $500 to have heat and air in this space. Our windows are not dual pane and heat up considerably, but the space is still useable even on the hottest days. We have installed insulation above the lanai and will have the windows tinted next summer. Our lanai is small, approximately 10x12, but we literally live out there.

Watching the Florida storms in the summer while sitting in your enclosed lanai is an experience to be truly enjoyed. We went away for a month this summer and I was concerned about the mold and mildew issue so I left the sliding door to the house open and the humidistat did its job. Everything was as we left it and we say a huge reduction in our electric bill.

[asianthree]

just noticed this was a 2009 thread...

[patfla06]

Personally, I would not enclose the lanai. I like the open feeling of just the screens. We are expanding ours with a small birdcage and adding a patio out back to have additional outdoor space.
We also don't need additional "living" space. We have more than enough without the lanai. Of course that's a personal decision, and you may feel differently. I've seen many lanais enclosed with televisions and additional dining sets, etc. and folks do use them as family rooms sometimes.
We did buy a heater at Sam's that sits on an end table like a big lamp. It throws off lots of heat and does let me sit out and enjoy a cigar on colder evenings.
If it's really inclement, I'd just stay in the house.

I feel the same way. After living in FLA 16 years I love being outside
with just screens.
But to each their own - I can see why people would enclose it - just not me.