To Enclose or Not to Enclose the Lanai

[chicksinger]

I know people will say just call a local vendor, but I hate to waste people's time if I'm not ready to buy or use their services. I'm pretty sure we can't afford to do it this year but that being said, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea about how much it might cost to enclose the basic (comes with the house) lanai including the 6 inches added on because of the lot we chose? Btw, the house is now 6 years old and it's a Designer home style. Also, wouldn't mind getting some names of the most reliable, honest vendors for such a product since we don't know any and have never done the shopping around for enclosures. Thanks so much!

[Tom52]

Custom Windows is probably the biggest vendor in the TV for Lanai enclosures. We are using Fullview for our lanai windows. There are many options; single pane, double pane, vinyl frames, aluminum frames, Raising the floor or leaving the existing floor height, etc. Options and size of your lanai make it very difficult to give a ball park price.

A couple things to consider, will you want additional electrical outlets as part of the project? You also better consider adding A/C. You will probably need it. If you plan to heat/cool you will also need to add insulation in the attic above lanai.

Also consider if you raise the floor to eliminate the existing step down into the lanai your taxes will increase based upon the additional square feet of "living area".

I would not hesitate contacting either of the above companies to get a quote even if you are not ready to move yet on the project. I did the same thing so I could use it for planning. Just remember the prices seem to increase by leaps and bounds the longer you put off the project.

[villagetinker]

I know people will say just call a local vendor, but I hate to waste people's time if I'm not ready to buy or use their services. I'm pretty sure we can't afford to do it this year but that being said, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea about how much it might cost to enclose the basic (comes with the house) lanai including the 6 inches added on because of the lot we chose? Btw, the house is now 6 years old and it's a Designer home style. Also, wouldn't mind getting some names of the most reliable, honest vendors for such a product since we don't know any and have never done the shopping around for enclosures. Thanks so much!

I have no idea of how big your lanai is or what options you would be interested in, but we just bit the bullet and are having our lanai enclosed. We chose Fullview, and our 30 foot by 12 foot lanai with about 1/2 windows and 1/2 sliders was quoted around $31k. This does not include additional electrical work which I was handling, and the new flooring which I was also handling, plus moving of the hot tub, etc. IMHO, if all the additional costs were included, the total would be close to $40k, so I am saving a lot by doing some of the work myself.
This project is expected to be completed this month.

[vintageogauge]

I know people will say just call a local vendor, but I hate to waste people's time if I'm not ready to buy or use their services. I'm pretty sure we can't afford to do it this year but that being said, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea about how much it might cost to enclose the basic (comes with the house) lanai including the 6 inches added on because of the lot we chose? Btw, the house is now 6 years old and it's a Designer home style. Also, wouldn't mind getting some names of the most reliable, honest vendors for such a product since we don't know any and have never done the shopping around for enclosures. Thanks so much!

No one can even guess what it would cost without knowing the size of it as there are many different sizes on designer homes, what type of glass do you want, what style enclosure, there are many, so on, and so on. Also anyone that tells you what they paid 3 years or more ago just disregard as prices have skyrocketed since then. Finally, if you can't afford it this year wait until next year to get some prices as they won't be the same and none of them are cheap.

[Jimmydoodlebug]

I know people will say just call a local vendor, but I hate to waste people's time if I'm not ready to buy or use their services. I'm pretty sure we can't afford to do it this year but that being said, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea about how much it might cost to enclose the basic (comes with the house) lanai including the 6 inches added on because of the lot we chose? Btw, the house is now 6 years old and it's a Designer home style. Also, wouldn't mind getting some names of the most reliable, honest vendors for such a product since we don't know any and have never done the shopping around for enclosures. Thanks so much!
We did ours about four years ago, it cost around $40K. We added a mini-split as well because we were required by the building code to increase our AC capacity. The property tax increase was hardly noticeable.

[Brwne]

I know people will say just call a local vendor, but I hate to waste people's time if I'm not ready to buy or use their services. I'm pretty sure we can't afford to do it this year but that being said, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea about how much it might cost to enclose the basic (comes with the house) lanai including the 6 inches added on because of the lot we chose? Btw, the house is now 6 years old and it's a Designer home style. Also, wouldn't mind getting some names of the most reliable, honest vendors for such a product since we don't know any and have never done the shopping around for enclosures. Thanks so much!

We enclosed our lanai in Oct 2019. Custom Window, 6 dual pane sliders and one door. Sliders plus door side roughly 24 linear feet at $550 per linear foot. Added mini-split (Munns) in April, 2020 with a flush mount ceiling unit - $6,500. We use the lanai daily - as our offices and dining room.

We have since removed the sliding door and encased the opening - it's more a Florida room now. If I were doing this project again, I'd have the lanai floor raised to match the house level before installing the Custom Window sliders.

[Stu from NYC]

We used Custom Windows and happy we did so.

[pikeselectric]

Hi there! :) We highly recommend Brian Terry Vinyl for this work. They do fantastic. We work together with them for electrical needs/to meet code with changes. Brian Terry Vinyl & Aluminum - Home (http://www.brianterryvinyl.com/) Good luck! - Casandra Pike's Electric

[deej012160]

We just had our Ottawa lanai enclosed by All Season Rooms. We highly recommend them. They did an excellent job. The scope included adding some concrete to raise the lanai by about 3" (yes you have to be careful here that you're not adding taxable space...), installing the glass, installing two electrical floor receptacles, and installing a mini-split unit (Kalos installed this and they were awesome). From start to finish was about 3 months. Please PM me if you are interested in more info or if you want to come see it.

[ncic50]

NO! They did ours. Cannot recommend All Seasons.