Enclosing lanai with glass
 

Looking for suggestions for enclosing our lanai. Glass vs plexiglass. Also looking for any good contractors to hire for this project. Thanks

My thought would favor using glass. Plexiglass will likely scratch and will need to be replaced more often. T&D have a division that does that sort of project. Not sure how their costs will be on this. We are having them install the solar heat system on our pool and they were very competitive with that.

Why are you wanting to enclose your lanai? We are debating the same thing. I am courious what is your motivation.

Custom Windows in Leesburg. Get the sliding doors that stack. You keep 66% of the open feeling yet when closed keeps the lanai clean and out of the rain. They have a showroom off of 441.

We were going to replace our vinyl windows with glass, but because the room was an aluminum with the same type of add on roof, they would not allow glass sliders. Said the room had to be included under the construction type roof. Said it was code

I agree. We had ours done 3 years ago by Custom Windows. Great job and quality product.


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I agree.

I would suggest glass and Custom Windows in Leesburg. Plexiglass I believe will scratch over time and I also think it would be hotter. We keep ours open every day and still are able to sit in it without it becoming too hot. We are so happy with our lanai.

Approximately how much did it cost?

We are thinking of putting in glass windows in our lanai mainly for protection against wet, stormy weather. It stays dusty out there and keeping it clean is our second motivation. My friend has the stacking sliders from the house to the lanai and it is lovely, but I cannot imagine you would put those on the exterior wall of the lanai. Am I wrong about that? We have a Camelia floorplan, and I think we will have to build interior walls in the lanai to hold the windows and to generally finish it off properly. I think we can adjust the size of the windows by doing the interior rebuild so they don't have to be so large, too, that is a plus. Just not sure how much all this is going to cost!

OP, and others, you might want to call or visit the Sumter County Building Dept, Pinellas Plaza, there was a significant revision to the building code about 1.5 to 2 years ago, I know our project got caught in the change. Some of the info you are getting MAY be dated. I always like to go to the source, so I get the correct info. I am not sure of the current Hurricane requirements.

Finchs, in your case, I would definitely ask the building dept, and tell them your ultimate plans, you may find there will be other work required.

Hope this helps.

Custom Windows of Leesburg, which has a showroom.

Glass is the way to go.

We waited 3 years to do it and wish we had done it sooner.
We also added a Mitsubishi mini split and use the lanai year round.

To answer your specific question, we used Brian Terry Vinyl. They did a good job, on time, and within estimate. The total cost for acrylic sliders was @ $7000 for a 22x11 lanai. Now for the other part. I agree 100%with VT's post. Contact Sumter County to get the current building codes. We discovered that we had to add a window to our bedroom for an additional escape route. Which we did. Our neighbor was told the same when she inquired about enclosing her lanai.

Next, we were told installing glass windows changes the status of the lanai from a porch to living space. It requires different building standards and becomes taxable! Do your due dillagence!

Another vote for Custom Windows. We had the under roof portion of our lanai/bird cage enclosed with the sliding glass, stackable doors on three sides. We elected to use the tinted single pane vs the double pane windows (about half the weight and cost). We have 4 fans and one of those portable air conditioning units in complete comfort for all but the freezing temperatures. And use the portable unit less than 10% of the time.

They are very good with creative designs to make the challenging configurations work with ease.

Get quotes from others as well. Custom Windows for our project were significantly lower.....with the better quality product and configuration.

If you have a Camelia, isn't that the vinyl sided Gardenia? We put Custom Windows stackable sliders on the outside. They don't even take the screen down until the windows come in so you don't lose any use of your lanai. We don't have a huge lanai just the standard size so we open sliders to bedroom and sliders to livingroom. On the hottest days we put fans on in the lanai turning clockwise. Then put the bedroom and living room fan on counter-clockwise and the a/c circulates great. If you have a larger lanai you may want to put in a Mitsubishi split A/C. Go over to Custom Windows showroom and see all options and they know current building code because they will pull the permit, not you.

Your enclosed lanai will not increase your property tax unless you remove the sliders between the house and the lanai.

We used Brian Terry Vinyl and were very pleased. We went with the double pane E-3 Florida tinted glass and love it. We find that it blocks out almost all of the noise from the neighbor's pool pumps and golf cart street noise.

thank you, I'll check it out

Bryan terry vinyl did our lanai. Excellent. Heavy glass sliders but slides easily. Blew in extra insulation in roof after install. Hard Wired outside light over door and not a solar powered. If you don't put A/C or Heat in the lanai it is not taxed as a room. Very happy with the install.

The installation of a mini-split AC is not the deciding factor for whether an enclosed lanai is taxed. The sliders between the house and lanai need to be removed in order for the enclosed lanai to increase your property taxes.

White Brothers in Leesburg have been around for ever. Make sure you put in some sort of Air conditioning and get the darkest tint possible. Otherwise the room of glass becomes an oven. Speaking from experience. Mitsubishi Slim is great A/C for lanai.

Thanks to everyone for all of your great ideas. We can't wait to move into our new home and we really appreciate everyones thoughts on this forum. It sounds like glass is the way to go and we now have a few contractors and showrooms to check out. Thank you all so much.. Brad and Jackie

A requirement for raising the floor of the lanai to be level with the rest of the house is based on how high the level of the lanai floor is above the grade. If it is sufficiently high above the grade (I don't recall the requirements), then you can leave it as it is.

I had a mini-split Mitsubishi unit installed 2 weeks ago. A permit was required, and the county (Sumter) inspected the installation.


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It was a code requirement in Sumter County that if one wanted to include HVAC the level of the floor being enclosed had to be level with the main living area. Hence a continuation of the dwelling and taxable.

I understand that requirement has been relaxed. It was only in place for a couple of years.

As far as the new living space adding to the taxable value...it also raises the price of your home because it adds square footage. When your home is eventually sold, you will probably see that the price increase makes up for any extra you pay in taxes.

Just finished removing vinyl windows and replacing them with glass picture windows. It is correct that it's wise to check with the Building department in your county (we happen to be in Marion). You will be surprised what you can and can't do! Also, we used D&D Contractors. We were very happy with them.

Our house already had enclosed lanai with the plastic glass sliders. I have not noticed any scratches on them. The room is climate controlled with two a/c vents in the ceiling. We spend lots of time out there. It's our favorite room in the house.