8 foot Lanai wide enough??

[dotti105]

Our lot will allow for no front to back stretches. Therefore we are stuck with an 8 foot Lanai. We plan to build a Sunflower.

We plan to have 2 sets of sliders, one 12' from the LR and one 9' from the DR. (the idea we stole from the Aspen, which was our original choice) I would love to be able to add width to the Lanai, but since we cannot, Could I please get some feed back from you guys about the usability of the standard 8 ft lanai?

we are able to do a 2 ft side stretch on the guest, LR and Lanai side so the Lanai will be 30 ft long and 8 ft wide. Sounds like a bowling alley or dog run....

I am hoping to have a narrow, (oval maybe) outdoor dining table and 6 chairs, at the DR end of the Lanai and a rattan type patio sitting area with loveseat, 2-4 chairs, coffee table end tables etc. on the LR end.

Does this sound like it would work? I would love to see photos of how you have used your 8 ft lanais.
Any suggestions appreciated!!
TIA!!

[jimbo2012]

Dotti, U already know the answer to spend all that money when U can switch lots & have a real open lanai??????

Ours is 12x45, the 12 is minimum I want due to all the time we spend there.

when you step out into a space U need 3' unobstructed, so that leaves 5'

Borrow a table & 4 chairs, take them to a model or a house under construction with an 8', if U can find one.

[Harleyman]

Is the 8 foot inside or outside measurement . If it is inside, it is even worse. When we were building a piece on our cottage my wife outlined it in yarn and put the furniture in it because she thought it was to small. I think you would be very disappointed with an 8 foot room and I also think that it would be a hard to sell if you decided to move, down the road.

[OCsun]

Dottie,

You can make anything work, but will it be what you want and how important is it to you. I built the Iris and stretched the Lani 4.5 feet. It made a big difference as far as furniture placement. It will be hard to cluster furniture for entertaining. You could put two chairs and an end table in one corner, place the couch against the screen. Not sure about the coffee table since you will need space to step out into the Lani from the sliders you will have. Also, Not so sure about the table and six chairs. You will need room to pull the chairs away from the table, therefore the normal outdoor kind of table and chairs may be to bulky.

But like I said, with some creative purchasing you can make it work. Building a home is not always an easy process. Best of luck! Pam

[bonrich]

We have a Whispering Pine. Our lanai is also wide, we wanted a 2' stretch, but were only able to add 1' stretch to make it 9'. We wanted the lot so we agreed to it, but would have been very happy to add 2' stretch to make it more comfortable to move around.
We have a 42" round table, and allowing for 2' for each chair, and that adds up to 71/2 feet from walls to screens.
Even with a rectangular table, 4' for two chairs and a 3' depth table, that just leaves you 1' or 6" on each side to move around.

[jblum315]

I don't think you'll be happy with it. Don't forget, anything that's against the screen is going to get soaked every time it rains.

[Uptown Girl]

Dotti, for a quick visual, take a room that you have now, that has furniture in it, like your living or dining room and measure 8' from the wall and maybe 10-12' in length. How much of your furniture fits within that measurement?

We measured our prior garage, with our stuff in it- to compare spatially what our garage here would reasonably hold- it was helpful to actually stand in the space, with US and stuff IN it.

A friend elsewhere in Florida has an 8' wide lanai. She has chosen to make it a focal point rather than a place to repose- by placing a row of waist-high, contemporary, rectangular planter boxes (raised underneath by little feet- for drainage) along the screen side filled with foxtail ferns. She ordered the planters online @ hay needle.com

She keeps empty plastic pots (in ground level holes) in the soil here and there and plops colorful, potted annuals into those empty pots, between the ferns. Makes it very easy to change them out. The result is very attractive and visually expands and compliments the view looking out from the living room.
Just a thought.

[cmfjr]

I too think that you will be disappointed with the 8' width. We have a CYV with the narrow, 8' width. Even with a 36" round table it is very difficult and uncomfortable to sit 2 people opposite each other. since we have the room we are going to add a 12' wide addition. As others indicated IF you plan on spending any time on it, go for a lot that will allow you to make stretches that will give you the lani you WANT.

[Happinow]

Are you able to change lots or is it too late? Our neighbors just moved from an8' lanai to a 10 foot lanai, ( they didn't move because of the lanai) and what a difference they said it made. I agree that down the road you will feel cramped. Most of us spend many, many hours out on our lanais and need the room to move around and entertain. With that said, if you can't find another lot then you will have to be creative with furniture. In the end, you will make it work.

[dotti105]

Thanks so much for the input!
We are building a sunflower/ begonia. We LOVE our lot! No one behind us. With the 8th Green and the Evans Prarie conservation area as our uninstructed view across Pinellas. But the lot allows no front to back stretch.
The only stretch allowed is a side stretch which we are using on the guest room, LR side. Maybe with the 2 ft stretch on the LR side we can steal 2 feet of living space across the back to allow for a 2 ft deeper Lanai.
It's quite a trade off. But the living area is very open and it appears that the LR/DR dimensions are just the carpeted area on the floorplan and since we plan to tile the entire area, I think I can cheat the DR table a bit and still have plenty of room inside.
This may be a decision that we will need to make when standing in the models. I just want 2 extra feet! Ugh!!!

[jimbo2012]

I would make the interior space smaller before compromising my lanai space, especially with that view.

[gomoho]

I would make the interior space smaller before compromising my lanai space, especially with that view.

Agreed - way pay all that extra $$$ for privacy and a view if you can't sit on the lanai and enjoy it???

[mickey100]

You will have room to sit on your 8 foot lanai and enjoy it. The question is, do you do enough entertaining to want to expand the depth of it and rob your living room space because that is probably when you'd like the extra room. It is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Most people I know don't use their lanai's 12 months/year. Good luck with your decision.

[JC and John]

We built a Lily with a 3 car garage on a corner lot and could not expand front to back. Our lanai is 8ft wide and we have a small outdoor 2 seat sofa 2 chairs 2 small side tables and a coffee table and it works fine for the 2 of us. That said, we built a 9x18 ft birdcage at right angles to the end our lanai to serve as a place for the grill and eating space. Best choice we made. We could have made the birdcage a bit wider and longer but feel it wasn't necessary. The key to buying outdoor furniture is the size of the furniture. We don't have big families come visit and we prefer to only have small gatherings for entertaining. Depends on the lifestyle to want to live at home. IMHO I'd go with location, location, location and be creative on making the rest work. Good Luck

[fb32162]

We had a house with a 12x 32 ft lanai and move to one with an 8x 28 lanai. It took a while to get used to the more narrow lanai but we love it now. We have a table and 4 chairs on one end and seating area with a loveseat, coffee table,small lamp table, two chairs and two ottomans at the other. We too traded lanai space for house/lot and don't regret it.

[784caroline]

I know WE would not be happy with an 8 ft lanai......it limits practically all your options, and you always have a crowded feeling. However if other alternatives are off the table I suggest another design option knowing the fact that you cannot expand back.

I would take out/eliminate the sliding doors from the lanai to the family room, arch the entrance way to the lanai, raise the lanai floor and extend the tile from the family room, then enclose the now lanai area with low E sliding glass windows over transom windows. THis way you can use the lanai area without most of the constratints of it being only 8ft, still have a great open view even moreso from the family and kitchen area, still have 50% air flow when needed, NO outside rain or dirt to worry about, adds liveable space under cover with HEAT/AC, and provides better traffic flow. This work can be done after new construction probably at a much more reasonable price.

Good Luck!!

[sralph99]

My lanai was 8 1/2 feet wide, which was fine for the two of us. Now that it is enclosed I wish it was 2 feet wider. At least I get good use out of it for all 12 months.

[dotti105]

Such great input! I really appreciate it! Keep it coming!!
I am really tempted, at this point, to add 2 ft to the Lanai from the LR/DR wall. Because we are doing a 2 ft side stretch, there will be no sq ft lost in the LR and the DR is generously sized. We are building without the columns and using tile throughout, so the 2 ft lost in the DR will be negligible. I'm glad we have a couple if months to let the wheels turn. Big decisions. Don't want to get them wrong!

[tommy steam]

Which direction does your lanai face?

[dotti105]

South southwest

[SALYBOW]

I had an 8 foot deck at home and I HATED IT

[gmcneill]

You are going to have views of some awesome sunsets during the cooler months of the year!!

Since you LOVE the lot, then just put the size of the lanai out of your mind. It is what it is. Those sunsets and the wildlife will make up for it.


If it were me, I wouldn't buy lanai furniture until after I have moved in and developed a feel for how things flow. You might find that you could do w/out a larger table on the lanai, opting for more informal side tables instead. One of your neighbors to be has "extended" the lanai by setting up lawn chairs seating area outside of the lanai.

No. I'm not a stalker! :) I live on Luraville and pass by your future street every day.

[dotti105]

I've seen some great patio areas built adjacent to the Lanai which really add some great usable space. There are more options that I realized. So I'll continue to check out our options.
Thanks Debbie, for sharing your photos, and everyone for the usefull opinions!!

[senior citizen]

Dotti:
Every single one of the posters above has shared some really really good advice from their own personal experience. Only you, though, know what your own entertaining style is......or how much larger (or not) your lanai needs to be.

However, that said........if you still have time to change your lot prior to the home being built......and you have serious doubts.......then I, myself, would listen to Jimbo2012. We've owned many homes ourselves and whenever we remodeled, whether it was a great room, a deck or a three season sun porch.......believe me, you will be happy with a bigger expanse of floor space........

When we were in The Villages for the month of November, we did not find it cold at all. We spent all of our time out on the lanai which had a bird cage "off of it"....so even more SPACE. The only time we sat in the living room was when it got dark out......to watch the news, etc.........it was November.

But that lanai got all of our "time" when we were at home. When our adult son and his wife visited over Thanksgiving weekend, it was obvious they also enjoyed it.

The minute they walked into the home.........they went from the foyer into the open concept kitchen and I could see them "buzzing" to each other as they looked through the living room slider to the outdoor area.

It was the "focal point" of the entire home..........

To us, as to Jimbo2012, outdoor living is what it's all about in Florida..............but good luck in whatever decision you make.

I believe his was 45 x 12.

[jimbo2012]

I've seen some great patio areas built adjacent to the Lanai which really add some great usable space. There are more options that I realized. So I'll continue to check out our options.
Thanks Debbie, for sharing your photos, and everyone for the usefull opinions!!

Dotti, those patio's must still be built within the building lot zone, you can not go into setbacks or rights of ways.

Since you're thinking about max out on the build you can't build an extra patio now or later.

[getdul981]

Check with your realtor to see if you can add bird cage space behind the lanai. We are in the process of having 4 1/2 foot bird cage added to our Lily model lanai in the back and expanding about 9 feet to the side. That will be behind the golf cart garage. The current width of the lanai is 9 1/2 feet and appears to bee awfully tight. We have not bought furniture for it because it just seems too small.

[keithwand]

Our covered lanai is 14X38 and we wish it was larger. We did not know we could have it enlarged during Design.

[jimbo2012]

When at home during the day or nite we find ourselves on the lanai, even when we visit others we R in theirs.

Fl = outdoors = lanai

I think inside is only for sleeping & taking a shower

[e-flyer]

:DDotti, those patio's must still be built within the building lot zone, you can not go into setbacks or rights of ways.

Since you're thinking about max out on the build you can't build an extra patio now or later.

Best to check with the real estate folks, ours told us as long as it wasn't attached to the house ( ie: birdcage) you can add open patios/Landscaping beyond the setback. Birdcages could only be added out to the setback. Good luck in your decision, we have an 8' kissing lanai & will make it work. We could have upgraded our lot but didn't want to be house poor, lol.

[jimbo2012]

:D

Best to check with the real estate folks, ours told us as long as it wasn't attached to the house ( ie: birdcage) you can add open patios/Landscaping beyond the setback.

Having just gone thru an application that is incorrect. :read:

It has nothing to do with attached or not or "real estate folks" it is the ARC and building dept.

However, having said that there is an exception to extend 2' beyond the building line without any structure ie: patio

So say U had 10' to build U can go 12' on a patio

[maddie101]

Room Planner - Jerome's Furniture (http://www.jeromes.com/en/service_room_planner). I have not used this site, but there are many room planning sites like this to see your limitation with room size and furniture

[LuckySevens]

Hi,
Here's my 2 cents worth.........we have a gardenia, and we stretched the lanai by 4'6", and it is still only 12' acual usuable space and still not nearly as large as I would like. 12' sounds like a lot, but when you have to move chairs to get out, etc, it is pretty crowded. If you plan on spending a lot of time on your lanai, I think you might be disappointed. I would change lots if I were you and find one where you can stretch the lanai.

[asianthree]

keep the lot you love and shorten up the DR

[e-flyer]

Having just gone thru an application that is incorrect. :read:

It has nothing to do with attached or not or "real estate folks" it is the ARC and building dept.

However, having said that there is an exception to extend 2' beyond the building line without any structure ie: patio

So say U had 10' to build U can go 12' on a patio

:thumbup: Good to know! Figures, I got the wrong scoop from our realtor....ugh,! We are in the same boat you are, wanting to put a birdcage or patio off the side on our corner lot. To me it just doesn't make since that you have such a large side yard, yet the setback is so close to the house. :22yikes:

[JP]

When we stayed in TV during our lifestyle visit we found the linai widths pretty narrow and confining so when we built our house we extended our linai to a 12 foot width and the length to 45 feet and have never regretted it.

It is so much easier to get around tables and furniture.

I prefer to be on the linai if possible so I think if you had to give up interior expansion for a linai expansion that would be a good tradeoff.

[dotti105]

Maddie101, Thanks so much for the link to the room planner. What a great tool! This will really help us plan throughout the house, not just the Lanai!

Good news from the design team!! When our sales rep told them that we wanted to stretch the Lanai by 2 ft by taking 2 ft out of the LR/DR, they offered instead to give us a 1 ft stretch to the rear, this would be across the entire rear, making the Master 1 ft deeper as well as the Lanai. AND they would move the LR/DR wall back in 1 ft to give us a 10 ft lanai. Actually per the floor plan it is 10'8" because it is frame. I can live with that!!!

We will also keep the 2 ft stretch to the guest/LR side, so the LR space will actually be a bit larger than the original plan.

They had originally said no front to rear stretch, so I was shocked that they came up with that offer. They sent us a copy of the plans with the stretches drawn in and the price quoted was $2100. We are thrilled! It's not the 12 ft Lanai that I would love but we will have 2 sliders, a 6 ft and a 12 ft going out so it will be very open and we can enjoy the view when inside with that much glass. This is all coming together..... Hurrah!!

Thank you all for your input! Because we are in Utah, I am having to really use my imagination and your input to help us make some tricky decisions. This is the last house we want to build and we want to LOVE it! It seems to be shaping up nicely!!

This forum is such a great resource! Thank you all!!

[jimbo2012]

A happy ending.......

[gomoho]

Sounds excellent!!!

[asianthree]

:BigApplause:

[senior citizen]

Room Planner - Jerome's Furniture (http://www.jeromes.com/en/service_room_planner). I have not used this site, but there are many room planning sites like this to see your limitation with room size and furniture

What a great resource to enable you to plan your furniture layout.

I also heard that Southern Living (which I think is the furniture at Lake Sumter Landing) has an online computerized room planning layout as well.

They are supposed to actually have all of the various room dimensions of the models built in The Villages.....so that also would be a plus.

Thanks for the hyperlink.

[senior citizen]

Maddie101, Thanks so much for the link to the room planner. What a great tool! This will really help us plan throughout the house, not just the Lanai!

Good news from the design team!! When our sales rep told them that we wanted to stretch the Lanai by 2 ft by taking 2 ft out of the LR/DR, they offered instead to give us a 1 ft stretch to the rear, this would be across the entire rear, making the Master 1 ft deeper as well as the Lanai. AND they would move the LR/DR wall back in 1 ft to give us a 10 ft lanai. Actually per the floor plan it is 10'8" because it is frame. I can live with that!!!

We will also keep the 2 ft stretch to the guest/LR side, so the LR space will actually be a bit larger than the original plan.

They had originally said no front to rear stretch, so I was shocked that they came up with that offer. They sent us a copy of the plans with the stretches drawn in and the price quoted was $2100. We are thrilled! It's not the 12 ft Lanai that I would love but we will have 2 sliders, a 6 ft and a 12 ft going out so it will be very open and we can enjoy the view when inside with that much glass. This is all coming together..... Hurrah!!

Thank you all for your input! Because we are in Utah, I am having to really use my imagination and your input to help us make some tricky decisions. This is the last house we want to build and we want to LOVE it! It seems to be shaping up nicely!!

This forum is such a great resource! Thank you all!!

Are you near Moab? Florida humidity will be quite a difference from the dryness out west. We are feeling the humidity today in Vermont after several days of monsoon like rains with our flash flood emergency beeper going off in the middle of the night.........

Humidity or not, I'm looking forward to the Florida sunshine.......which naturally would be more than what we experience.

I can just feel the "joy" you are experiencing in planning your home......
Best wishes..........and thanks for sharing....

[delpi767]

We moved after eight months in our original home because the eight foot Lanai was too narrow for anything.

We looked at all sort of options and decided that any of them was a waste of money in the long run.

My advice, bite the bullet and find a home with room to expand. We did and are very happy that we did.

[dotti105]

"Senior Citizen", we are in the Salt Lake Valley. Moab is about 4 hrs away.
both my husband and I grew up in Clearwater so we KNOW what we are getting into with the heat and humidity. We have always said we would NEVER go back to Fla. And yet, here we are, as excited as newlyweds to come to TV!! Haha! (Never say "Never"!!)

We just couldn't find anyplace that offers so much for retirement living. We have worked hard, with me commuting to Ca to work for over 8 yrs now. Tired of being apart, tired of the winters and ready to begin anew!

Sidenote: we moved to Utah at 35 to raise our family and to Ski. We loved the 4 seasons and the snow and the fabulous family centered lifestyle. Skiing was a big part of our lives when we first moved out to Utah. But I blew out both knees a few years later and hubby quit skiing when I did. Not so much fun to live in Snow country when you don't ski. 8-/ We moved from the beautiful ski town of Park City into the Salt Lake Valley and probably would have stayed and "retired in place", but our 4 kids and 11 grandkids are spread out from Ca, Ut to NC and Fl. So we decided to go where WE will be happiest. And that is with you great folks at TV! We fell in love with the place and the people the first day there. Have fast forwarded our retirement plans and are as excited as kids going to Disney for the first time!!

We really appreciate all the help, advice, comments and insight received on this forum! You guys are the best!

can't wait for our design appt!!!!

[TheCollierCpl]

Our lot will allow for no front to back stretches. Therefore we are stuck with an 8 foot Lanai. We plan to build a Sunflower.

We plan to have 2 sets of sliders, one 12' from the LR and one 9' from the DR. (the idea we stole from the Aspen, which was our original choice) I would love to be able to add width to the Lanai, but since we cannot, Could I please get some feed back from you guys about the usability of the standard 8 ft lanai?

we are able to do a 2 ft side stretch on the guest, LR and Lanai side so the Lanai will be 30 ft long and 8 ft wide. Sounds like a bowling alley or dog run....

I am hoping to have a narrow, (oval maybe) outdoor dining table and 6 chairs, at the DR end of the Lanai and a rattan type patio sitting area with loveseat, 2-4 chairs, coffee table end tables etc. on the LR end.

Does this sound like it would work? I would love to see photos of how you have used your 8 ft lanais.
Any suggestions appreciated!!
TIA!!
Our Begonia is under construction as we write YAY! Same floor plan as Sunflower. We added a slider from MBR to lanai. We also did the 2ft side stretch on the BRs/LR /guest bath. And, 4 ft wide on garage. (we were lucky and able to do 2' on the back also.)
We walked thru many models with an 8 ft lanai and it was fine. We (certainly) wanted a2' or even4' back stretch but would have taken the 8'. Arrange it in sections, it won't look like q bowling alley -unless you add pins and a ball return.

[graciegirl]

We had a narrow screen porch when we were in Ohio and a narrow lanai in our first home. Does the Gardenia come standard with an 8' lanai? We had the standard Gardenia lanai.

Anyway we have a wider one now and it is a huge enjoyment. A long time ago a poster named Village Kahuna posted that you spend so much time outdoors in this climate that he had spent extra money to enlarge his outdoor screened space.

I think he was right.

[dotti105]

Just revisited this post.
..We closed on our home in Feb and spent a week there enjoying the view!

The Lanai ended up being 10'8" deep and 31 ft long. We have 2 large sliders opening onto it, a 9ft and a 12 ft. So the entire LR/DR wall is basically open to the Lanai.

The 1 ft that Design "gave" us to work with helped so much. We did steal 1 ft from the LR/DR and put that in the Lanai so it is really a very comfortable outdoor space.

Because of the 20 ft of glass on that wall, the inside area seems very spacious too. We are very pleased with the way this worked out.

We noticed a neighbor with the same view has put in a beautiful stacked flagstone block sort of patio with the half walls. It is beautiful, nice place to grill and entertain.....giving us lots of great ideas stirring around in our heads....

Thanks for all of your experienced ideas and suggestions! We want this to be our last house and we wanted to get it right! So far so good!!

Now we just need to wrap up our lives in Utah and get down there to start our lives as "Frogs". That one week at closing just got us more excited about the move!

Thanks again Friends!!

[TNLAKEPANDA]

We have an 8' lanai and it it just too small for most furniture. Being on a corner lot we can not expand to the rear and the side for some reason has a 33' set back (not 20') and our side yard is huge... so we are pretty much out of luck. We decided to do a 19x28 patio with a raised wall. For some strange reason that is allowed but you can not put a screen to enclose it because that makes it permanent.... What? Who comes up with this stuff?

[e-flyer]

I know where you are coming from. A side lot with a 33' setback makes no sense to me. Why are some 20' and some 33'? Most side lots have plenty of room for a pool or lanai expansion but isn't allowed???? Doesn't make sense to me either. I'm surprised they allowed you to go out 19' with a patio. We were told only a few feet further out from the setback for a patio. Our setback is 33' and the side of our house is 43' so we could only go 10' wide for a structure (birdcage) that attaches to the house. I agree, who makes up these rules?