Glassing the lanai
 

Closing on new home in St. Catherine's in July. The Boss wants to glass the lanai.
Do we need to get a permit or CDD permissions to do so ?
Any other words of advice are appreciated.
*The recent thread about advice to new Villagers is of great help ! Thank you all and we hope to meet you soon.

do we need CDD approval / permit to paint the driveway ?
 

Forgot to add this question. I know I can contact the CDD about these things but the advice from 'the veterans' is invaluable.

You need a permit. We used custom windows and they handled the process.

Sumter county came out several times to inspect the job

You will need ARC approval, contact Community Standards, and as mentioned above I am sure there will be one or more building permits involved.

I used CVS (Custom Vinyl Systems) out of Ocala for my glass enclosed lanai. They handled all permits and ARC approval forms. The process was very easy.
CUSTOM VINYL SYSTEMS – Your One-Stop-Shop!
352-237-3088

Glassing lanai
 

Thanks - CVS is doing an estimate for us.

We used Custom Windows 5 years ago and they did all the permit and approval work. They installed floor to ceiling sliders so when we want them open it feels like a screened porch. Excellent work.
Beware - our friends had the sliders installed by another company and the windows cannot be tilted out for cleaning of the outdoor side of the glass. The outdoor side has a non-removable screen. They can only wash it by washing with a hose. Not good!

Be sure to use Custom Windows if you enjoy: Not showing up when promised, leaving the job after only 15 minutes of arriving to go work on another job, scratching up and denting your new frames while transporting them to your house in a manner that does not protect them from this, and installing them as if you'll never say anything, sloppily installing the plastic trim pieces and not even cutting them to the correct size, asking you to pay the remainder of the bill and they have not even close to finishing installing the product, denting/bending/creasing your screen frames while they insert them and bending them back into place hoping you won't say anything, ruining the crimping trim outside pieces so that they don't even hold anymore and hoping you don't touch them to learn that they are not even fastened on well, measuring wrong the windows and cutting them later with equipment and banging them into place. None of this made up, this is how they did mine. Wonderful Company.

So theyre late and leave after 15 minutes. Thats sweet of you to allow them to come back and destroy your home.

They are licensed contractors fill a complaint with the agency that licensed them if found guilt they can lose their licensed to do work in your county and your money returned you paid

one of the first things we did. elite Lifestyles on 301, they also raised the floor, got a permits

Sorry you had such a poor experience with them ours was fine.

They do seem to do more Florida rooms in the villages than anyone else.

They did ask for payment before job was totally finished. I refused and told them when it was done and we reviewed the job with their inspector we would pay.

They agreed and when we had a problem with a window lock they promptly came out and fixed it.

We used Magellan....they took care of all county permits and ARC approvals. Great to work with.

Glass enclosure for Lanai
 

Custom windows without a doubt!

"Sweet of me to allow them to return to my house to destroy it"? They (Custom Windows) already had a 1/3 non-refundable deposit and no language in their contract to allow me to get that back and no language in the contract of the fact that they can delay as long as they like. I rode the ride and had to hound them over and over again in the process until finally, things were mostly ok. Hindsight is always 20/20 in every situation. The only thing I can do at this point is advise you guys of the experience I had with them. Make your own decision if you want to do business with them.

I got three estimates and CVS was by far the highest, and in my opinion not the best.

What companies did you get estimates from? Which did you choose? Did they do a good job?

Thank you

We had Custom Windows, as did our neighbors. Great experience. Sorry yours was not

Same here, Custom Windows did our lanai, handled all permits and paperwork and they were great. We installed full-length sliding glass all around to still get open feeling when wanted. Most of our neighborhood used them also and never a complaint. I'm sorry skippy had such a bad experience with them.

What about A/C and critters?
 

To build on this, I have 2 additional questions. 1. Do you need to add an additional A/C, if you enclose the lanai or just open up the sliding glass doors? 2. When they enclose the lanai, do they somehow seal the interface with the house to keep out the lizards? I ask because we have an occasional lizard in the lanai.

The cost is about $10,000-$12,000 depending on size for double pane glass. If you intend to use all year you should:

Consider a split Heat Pump for air condition and heat
Double pane tinted glass to help cool and heat
Flooring resistant to moisture like tile, vinyl...
Insulate the roof above the Lanai
Tinted glass to help cool

Your taxes will increase.

The contractor will get the permit when you give them the job. I used Custom Windows who did a great job......352-787-9797. They have many different options available. All depends on what you want.

Our taxes did not increase when we converted Lanai to Florida Room. As I recall it is because they are on slightly different levels.

Glass was double pane low E.

We are considering whether to add a split so far 50/50 on whether we will do it.

Had no issues with them. Did good work

Taxes increase if you level the floor to the interior

We used Cook Aluminum and they were great and gave us a good price. Did the work when we were not there which was fine with us. Had gotten a price from another popular company but they kept changing the price and never showed up when they were suppose to, not sure why they are so popular.

And that is why we made sure to keep two levels

Its another room
 

I heard comments of.. if you "glass in the Lanai" it counts as another room.. so more house tax. Suggest you check this out as well.

Taxes go up if you raise the lanai floor to the height of the house floor.

Taxes for enclosed lanai
 

Property taxes do not increase for raised floor in Sumter County. If the homeowner removes the sliders then the property taxes increase. As long as the sliders stay in place you can raise the floor, add a mini-split A/C, add vented A/C or zoned A/C or do just about anything to the lanai and the property taxes will not increase. For Sumter County as long as the sliders stay in place, the square footage does not change.

We removed lanai concrete floor, added vapor/moisture barrier (plastic sheeting), installed new concrete level floor (with tile on top to match rest of house), added zoned A/C, A/C outlets, cable outlets, horizontal slider windows with solid glass wall on bottom, standard style rear door, extended lanai from 10x30 to 14x30, new ceiling with recessed lighting and two new fans and all was done per code. Zoned A/C for lanai could only be added if vapor barrier was in place under concrete. When they kicked out the lanai 4 feet we had them install the new pillars evenly spaced. If you check your lanai, my guess is the spacing between pillars will not be equal. Making the spacing between the pillars equal made the new windows look more consistent. We left sliders in place and the square footage did not change. When we sold the house we advertised it with basic square footage, but reported 420 sq ft lanai with zoned A/C and its own thermostat. I think enclosed lanai with big screen TV on wall and its own thermostat A/C was the big selling point.

If you want to verify or know for your particular county, call property appraiser of permitting department for your county.

It is truly refreshing to read a fact-based account of a real world scenario.

Yes, must be approved and also you must follow the rules/laws that apply , once they build it must be inspected before using.

Permits relating to Enclosing Your Lanai
 

You need a building permit and Architectural Review Approval (your responsibility not your contractors) and a good contract, make sure they have current workman’s comp insurance and liability insurance.

The project is expensive but worth it. Check several contractors including T&D and Doc’s Restoration. These may not be the cheapest and there likely will a wait to get it done, but it will be done right. There are other good contractors but also some not so ethical or qualified contractors out there.

CVS Did ours👍 * Option to full sliders to save $$$
 

We used CVS, did good work, on time as scheduled.

We opted for triple sliders on East Sid, Door on West side, and large windows with screens on Long South Side. Saved a few thousand over all sliders.