My wife and I are are looking at homes and the lanai questions are our concern
 

We are looking at preowned homes and we aren't sure if we would be OK with just a screened in lanai or if it needs to be enclosed. If it should be enclosed what should we be looking for? Some homes have nicely enclosed lanais but they are more expensive. Some say you need acrylic windows and some glass and .......... on and on.

Is there some good basic wisdom from you all?? I know everyone is different but is there any general consensus? I would think that due to the heat that we would need an enclosed lanai to be able to spend time out there most or all of the year. I know I sound like such a rookie but we really are perplexed. Thank you in advance!!

Just our 2 cents, of course, but we hardly ever use our basic screened in lanai. Once in a while in the evening in the late fall/winter/early spring months, but that's it. We bought a preowned home and the owners had made the former lanai into a fully interior Florida Room. Windows and a slider on 3 walls so we can get as much airflow as we want when the temperature is right, and it's fully under air on the same system as the rest of the house. We spend all of our time in this room, other than cooking and sleeping of course. I don't know how much it cost, but it is the reason we bought this house. By the way, our house is an At Ease model (although not the same layout as the At Ease models they are building now). Hope that helps and good luck.

We have a large lanai and we enjoy sitting out there every day. We have never considered enclosing it.

Our lanai faces west, so it is great in the morning but not on summer evenings. We also have a small sitting area in front of our house that gets a lot of evening shade, so we sit there instead.

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Lanai vs. Florida room is apples & oranges.

Only enclose if you need the square footage.

I would never have a West facing lanai..........hot late afternoon sun.

We sit on our lanai 300 plus days a year. If I needed another air conditioned room, I would just buy a bigger house. We have actually turned down buying a home because the lanai was enclosed.

We have had both. For the home without much of a view we enclosed it with floor to ceiling sliding glass panes (not true sliding doors). It was pleasant to read the paper there with coffee.

For the second the lanai is intricate to the pool bird cage and it has a view.

For the begonia that we are selling, screened lanai.

In my opinion, when viewing houses, double pane glass with an HVAC system is the best, and is worth paying extra for. Single pane glass, acrylic, or regular screening add little or no extra value to the house.

I was born and raised in FL and have always been confused about why people in the villages enclose their screened lanai?

Like many things.. it depends. If you;re looking at pre-owned homes, many lanai's are only 8 feet wide. that wasn't acceptable for me. First home was pre-owned, faced east, was 15x15 and had double pane low E glass with sliding windows. Was way too warm for my liking most months. Added a mini-split and sun blocking manual shades. Gives you a room where you can add a TV and get some sound separation. Current house is also east facing (morning sun) and is 30x16, two sides of sliding glass doors, mini-split and remote controlled shades. 75" TV on solid wall, plenty of room for furniture etc. Of course you would expect to pay more for a home that has a climate controlled extra room, vs a screened porch that gets soaked during downpours.

Like most things no shortage of differing OPINIONS. So confession, we have screens.
Inventory is tight. Enclosed lanais more expensive? Only if there is a buyer who thinks it is worth more. As to plexiglass vs glass. Plexiglass is plastic. It is easily scratched.
Glass is well glass. There is thicker glass and there is safety glass both less likely to break. Property on a golf course? If, someone hits your glass it seems they are not liable according to previous threads. Proper air conditioning adds to the square footage of the home and increases TAX. It is unlikely that a home with an ac lanai has proper permits due to that reason.

We have enclosed ours. Two double slides and one triple slide which lets plenty of air in. With is closed it keeps our furniture nice and dry when it rains. We feel we have the best of both worlds.

Our lanai is screened - it just makes sense for Florida. It’s east facing.
Definitely think about the sun rising/setting when buying

We rented with glassed climate controlled lanais - it was nice for afternoon naps, but we didnt watch too much TV in them.

We have a screened lanai, and horrors of horrors, our lanai faces west. The only time it's uncomfortable is for about the last hour before sunset and only in the Fall & Winter (no leaves on the trees). In Spring and Summer, the trees block the setting sun. Wind-blown rain will come inside the lanai, in my case, about a foot inside. Indoor/outdoor rugs and furniture is the fix. When it does get wet, it's dry in 10 minutes. Rain hasn't been an issue for us. When we were house shopping, a screened space was a must-have. I have a screened patio up north, and I love that space too.

In reality, having AC for an enclosed lanai does not increase the property tax. Enclosing your lanai doesn't increase your property tax either unless you remove the sliding glass doors to the interior. If you use a reputable AC contractor, they will pull any required permits.

Agree with Toccilo In enclosing our lanai we had the floor raised to the same level as the house, had an electrical circuit added (outlets in floor) and used double pane low e glass along with a mini split a/c unit. We left the sliding glass door to the lanai in place. We are located in Sumter County and taxes did NOT raise. The contractor(s) we used each obtained the required county permits. Can't speak for Lake or Marion County. I would suggest that you contact the appropriate county for information on taxes. Just as an aside, be cognizant that some areas of The Villages are located in Wildwood, Lady Lake and Fruitland Park corporate limits. In those areas, in addition to the county taxes, you are also assessed for city taxes. Also be aware that taxes on preowned houses may be higher than shown on county records as taxes for a new owner are based on an assessment at the time of purchase.

County officials can provide you with information concerning building requirements, permits and tax information. Would suggest you call them. Sumter County (352) 689-4400.

Do what works best for you.

We have a screened lanai and love it. We like the outdoors and the bugs/lizards/dirt are really not so much to deal with for us. We didn't need nor want any more "indoor" space since one of our bedrooms serves as a cozy den. We did paint the lanai floor and got an outdoor rug for it and seems pretty nice to me.

If you want it enclosed, then you've lots of options and I'm sure others will give good advice from their perspective. My humble point is just to do what works for you.

Dust and pollen are the main reason we enclosed our lanai with windows. The yellow pollen you see on your car will easily cover everything in your lanai if it only has screens. Wind blown rain and humidity may also restrict you from having nice furniture in your lanai if it only has screening. Some of this may or may not bother you.

We are building new (design in 2 weeks) and have been told if we ever think of enclosing in the lanai, raise the lanai floor NOW in design. Would anyone see a negative in raising the floor and in turn maybe someday leaving it a screened space? Our plan was to enclose the lanai but use sliders to maintain ability to have screen. FYI, we are facing NW in the lanai.

The reason you would NOT raise the floor if the lanai is screened is rain - rain could fill up and come under sliders.
The lower floor allows rain to drain

Previously posted.

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We lived here 3 years and enclosed our lanai. Tired of the dirt and pollen and rain.
We face east so no need for shades.
Also put in a/c / heat & insulated over lanai.
Use it year round and it kept me sane during Covid.

We live being out in the fresh air. Hot or cold. We love our screen lanai. Use it EVERY day. Seems to me if I wanted an enclosed lanai I would’ve just gotten a bigger house instead. I have all the air conditioned square feet I need. No desire to enclose lanai for more.

Best of both worlds
 

We bought a house with enclosed & ACd lanai and added a birdcage. We are extremely happy with our choices.

We have a screen only lanai. It faces south, but we’re on a corner lot and also get the pretty sunset views to the west. It is a lovely breezy space.
It can get hot in the evening during the very warmest days. However, my only 2 issues are; that it gets rather dirty (pollen, dirt and bugs small enough to get through the screens), and I have to tarp my furniture when it rains.
I would love to enclose it with sliding doors to reduce the dirt and keep things dry in the frequent summer rain.

You just answered your own question. Born and raised vs retired from up north. You know theres a huge difference. You grew up with the heat, others didnt. You cant compare them to you and I personally prefer an enclosed lanai. I can still slide all the windows up and open the door anytime I want

We finished design in June and raised the lanai floor. Which is actually 3/4” lower than house floor but they slope the concrete on the lanai away from the house, so that water that may get in drains away from the house.

try to make sure that the lanai does not face west. North or east is much better....no sun in the afternoon

Enjoying a enclosed lanai with sliding glass doors with attached screen In pergola
 

Our lanai was fully in screened with a small birdcage. We enclosed our lanai with glass doors on all three sides with AC. We put a outdoor kitchen in the birdcage, had a cover put on the bird cage. Seeing that we wanted to be able to sit outside also we put an attached totally screened in pergola (not a fan of birdcages) with motorized screens and a fan. We could of put a “Santa Fe” roof (looks like a carport roof) but decided against it because wanted open air space. So now we can open all those sliders (650 sq ft) and everything out there is opened up for that outdoor feeling.

Closing the Lanai
 

We he enclosed our lanai years ago and mixed in A/C and ceiling fan. We also built an addition and expanded the carport. We enjoy the largeness of nearly 1600 square feet. We now enjoy a great room effect. We have 6 ceiling fans and 2 large skylights. We have plenty of room for family gatherings. We also leave FL during the very hot, humid summers. We also received offers to purchase that significantly exceed those of our neighbors
It is your choice!

Whichever you choose, make sure the lanai faces east. Facing west or southwest and you’ll bake every afternoon.

Now that I have an enclosed lanai with a mini split, I’d never go back to a screened lanai. If I want the enjoyment of the outside air, all I have to do is open my sliding windows. Also, enclosing your lanai and adding a/c does NOT increase your taxes. People that are saying that in this thread obviously don’t have theirs enclosed and don’t know what they’re talking about.

You are welcome to come by to see ours if you like.

Linai
 

We have a linai and recently enclose with single pain glass bu custom windows. Did not need double pain (twice as much). CW even said 80% at present single pane. The reason for enclosure was we face southwest. During summer excessive. Got an AC unit as well. Best decision we made. Use it every day!!! We also have a birdcage if we want fresh air. As well as two sliders on linai. BIGGER a issue in my opinion I’d WIDTH of linai. 8 ft width is way to confining!!!!

We’ve had both…glass over acrylic but we love our open lanai we just had a cover installed on the top so you can sit out when it’s raining. Open and cover on lanai roof. The best.

Screened Lanai
 

We like sitting in our screened lanai in the morning... Sun not as hot and we own one third of an acre that backs to a forest.... In the afternoons we like to sit in the front of our house where in the front of our house where the sun is not as bad. Ah as bad. Also did you know that if you add permanent enclosure it is considered another structure to your home You will have to pay for that added space on your taxes. It is considered a room addition to the square footage of your home so you will have to pay for that if you enclose it with glass or make it permanent

I prefer enclosed. It's easy enough to go outside if you want to be outside, but an enclosed lanai or Florida room is usually the best place to be on a warm/hot afternoon for me.

When we bought our house we had just a screened lanai - every time it rained I was cleaning liquid mud from the floor - so we decided to enclose it with hard screen acrylic windows that slide open ...I then also connected it to the main house A/C with a shutoff screen installed. Now we have the best of all worlds ...an A/C extra room if we need it. a non A/C extra room with the acrylics closed and an open lanai with all the acrylics open !!!

Windows or Screen - That is the Question
 

Let me tell you from my perspective. When my wife and I purchased a FSBO Colony patio villa the lanai was screened in. It also had carpeting on the lanai floor which had become discolored from the sunlight. After about a week, we had our first hard rain which promptly soaked the carpet. It was at that point we decided to not only install glass, but tile the floor as well. When they removed the carpet, the floor was covered with mold that had to be removed.. I don't remember the cost, but whatever it was, was well worth what we paid. At some point, you may want to sell your home, and an enclosed lanai will be an attractive feature in moving it.

Lanai
 

We bought a home with a West facing lanai and an East facing front "porch." We added a full screen to the porch so that we can sit "where the sun is" when it's cooler in the mornings or when it's cooler outside, and in the shaded side when it's warmer. We love having that flexibility, which allows us to be "outside" more of the time. Both the porch and the lanai have ceiling fans.

Enclosed with opening sliding windows allows use in cooler days with widows closed open on warm breezy days , best of both worlds glass is better than vinyl sliding windows.