Glass in Lanai experience
 

hi,
contemplating this with Custom Windows. Any recommendations on type of glass to keep temp low so can use existing a/c which is 3.36 ton. Area is just under 200 sq ft
existing house is 1850 sq ft.......what kind of prices have you experienced for this size job.....thanks for the input

We have a small 2/2 home and had Custom Windows enclose our small lanai last September. Even with the sliding glass door open, we could not keep the lanai cool enough to sit out there in parts of May, June and now July, so we made the decision to have Munn's AC install a Mitsubishi split air conditioner. It was installed last week and it made the difference. I'm currently sitting on the lanai enjoying the cool lanai and writing this post.

You want low E glass.

Our lanai is 320 sq ft. We did it 2 years ago and would think prices much higher.

Good experience with Custom Windows but took longer than expected due to covid shutdowns of factory

Deep question:
If one encloses their lanai is it still a lanai?

Lees deep questions:
If you enclose your lanai in glass and put up shades and air condition it, isn't it just another room ? Can't you do the same things in the living room and even more in the bedroom? :D
Does this now add on to the square footage (feetage? feets?) of your home and increase your taxes?
Why do they call those "Mitsubishi Splits" dehumidifiers in all the advertisements and not air conditioners? Is there some sneaky reason to get around something?

I can answer a few since I've asked the same questions...

1) It's considered another "room" if the floor is raised to be level to that of the house. That would add square FOOTage to your home and would increase the taxes.

Technically, enclosing a Lanai probably would be called something else. We enclosed ours with Low E windows and call it our Sunroom.
Don't know or want to know what you do in your other rooms.
We added a Mitsubishi mini/split air conditioner with a dehumidifier control. Probably a technicality in Sumter County relative to whether it gets counted as additional living space. You could question Custom Windows regarding that. Our unit can heat, cool and dehumidify. Our Sunroom is 350 sq ft and is on the south side of home. We did not raise the floor and the room is not considered living space for tax purposes.

We were advised to wait a year or so before adding an A/C to determine the need. We decided that we wanted a year-round room and paid the $5000. We also added shades. Glad for both decisions. Even with Low E windows, the Temp can get up to the Mid 80's mid-day even with LR and BR doors open. We could set up fans to push air from house out but that is quite frankly a pain and depending on thermostat location may force you to keep the house cooler to get optimum temp in Sunroom.

Sunroom is now usable 365 days per year and is now our room of choice every day. Wide screen wall mounted TV, recliners, Lounger, Bar, Tile, carpets, patio table, cushioned chairs and wrap around view. Have seen others omit the AC and Low E windows and they are limited to special events when they set up to insure comfort.

This is not true.

The only thing that raises your taxes is if you take out the original sliding glass door between the living room and lanai.

Enclosing your lanai and putting in air conditioning does not add the square footage to your house or increase your taxes.

As a Floridian, it’s so strange to me that people enclose their lanai? It’s a space so you can enjoy sitting outside bug free. Like a deck in non bug parts of the country. :a040:

I paid for a lani to sit outside and enjoy fresh air without bugs.
I also paid for a house to sit inside in climate controlled space.

Why would you want to close off your lani and defeat the purpose?

Maybe you needed a bigger house??

Did Custom windows with a Munns spilt years ago. Now a she shed. Very satisfied.

Not true per Sumter county inspector. Same floor level between house and Florida room makes the Fl room additional living space and adds to taxes.

We have a western exposure and often too hot to sit in lanai so for additional living space converted to Florida room. Hindsight should have bought a bigger house

You still have screens but it can get so hot you need to go in the house.

Still have screens.

We did not have any luck with Custom Windows so we went with Cook Aluminum for ours.

Glass the Lanai
 

A few things to consider. What do you like about being in the lanai? The fresh air flow? Perhaps the view? Also, which direction does the lanai face? If it faces North, your cooling needs will be less than if it is facing West or South. Low E, multi-pane glass may not be necessary or desired if you want an unobstructed view facing North. The multi-pane glass will require more framing and you will loose some of that open view thing, but that may not be bad for your case. If the lanai faces West or South, you will get more heat from the sun, especially in the late afternoon. But in winter, that can be nice. So there's a tradeoff.. Lead times can be long if you look for multi-pane work. In part, that coincides with quality of work and ability to get the windows built. There are several companies servicing the Villages that come with great recommendations and a long list of references. Go with the best you can afford. Depending upon the size and extent of the job, figure starting costs around $10K and that goes up from there.

just going through this. it's over 12K double pane is the only way to go, the "low e" single just won't cut it. I already have 2 fans out there so with the sliders open the house air won't need to be extended at all. I'll actually be able to open up a vent that is currently closed.

Keep in mind that custom windows only does that so ifyou want anything else done you'll need someone else. we did CVS because of that. same pricing anyways.

Check again
I raised the floor and added a mini split without increased taxes
If you remove the sliding doors, or connect a vent in the lanai to your central air conditioning this is taxable
Double check as it is confusing
Mine was done 5 years ago in Sumter and inspected with no tax increase

Stay away from aluminum frames they get hot and generate heat into the room.

One on the largest manufactures of glass is in Ocala and make the best solar glass used their Solar 366 glass on my last home the lanai faced south, no extra AC added just open the sliders (in fact temp removed them).

LoĒ3-366 Glass | Cardinal Glass Industries

Custom windows was a rip at that time, can't recommend anyone I did the windows myself.

That glass made all the difference.

We went with "custom windows and exterior design" back in April of last year. We chose the glass that is slightly thicker and tinted, but it is also heavier. No problems at all so far. We spent $12,600 for a lanai area of about 250 sq. ft. We did not install any additional equipment for a/c or heating and our home is 1840 sq. ft. The temperature in the lanai tends to run a few degrees different from the rest of the house depending on the outside temperature; using our existing systems, but the difference is barely noticeable. This morning they are running the same temperature. The only recommendation I would make is to get removable screens, so you can wash the outside of the windows. The company we used could not install removable screens with the full length glass, and it makes cleaning the outside of the glass a little more tricky, as you have to spray wash through the screens. Our lanai faces south, by the way.

Before we enclosed our lanai (250 sq.ft), it would absolutely flood with every rain storm. All the lanai furniture would have to be moved inside or got soaking wet. Too hot in summer, too cold in winter to even sit out there. Why would you pay a mortgage for space that you can only use 25% of the time? Now it is a usable, comfortable and enjoyable room all year round.

Do you have to get permission to enclose with glass?

we put up a sun setter awning that extends out behind our sun room and it makes an immediate difference. ours goes out 13 feet to shade the spa and cost $6000. a cheaper one that shades the sun room would be less.

Yes it will increase your taxes

We enclosed our lanai with large sliding doors, there was a smaller set of sliders from the house to the lanai that already existed. We were told at the time as long as we did not put air-conditioning in the area it would not be considered a room. There is a step down, but not that big of a deal and since then my wife ended up in a wheelchair and I built a ramp. It was the best investment I ever made. We now eat all our meals out there and with the inner sliding doors always open there really isn't much of a temperature difference if any. Do it you won't regret it.

went with custom windows and their "Bella line" double pane tinted Low E.. Based upon experience with first Village home, immediately went with a ceiling (vs wall) mounted mini split. Installed quality shades. Also have two fans in the room and 8 recessed can lights. Did not take down original sliders as a large screen TV was mounted to allow for separate viewing preferences (esp during football season) which allows for some noise separation .. We get the morning sun in back. The product is manufactured in Florida, and IMO of excellent quality. They buy direct because of their volume. Most others go through a distributor. Only complaint was I feel we got the "C" install team and that required several call backs on minor annoying issues.

We had Aluma-tek enclose ours with low-e sliding glass windows almost 5 years ago. The lanai is 11x15. Sun Kool wanted to install a split ac unit for $5000, to which we said no. I asked the guy about tapping into the existing duct work and installing a vent in the lanai ceiling, which after much hemming and hawing, and talk about possible code violations, he admitted that they could do. They charged us $850 which included insulating the lanai ceiling.

Best decision we made as we can and do use the lanai 365 days a year.

We enclosed our lanai (about 150 sq ft) but we went with First Choice Windows out of Ocala. Our neighbors used them, too. They were fantastic!!! They were also half the price of Custom Windows for better quality. We got double paned windows and a custom doggie door for around 7k last year. We had a company come out and shoot some insulation over the lanai (and garage while we were at it) for just a couple hundred dollars. That and double pane was the trick to not having to use a separate a/c! We keep sliders open and the lanai stays within 2 degrees of the house temp. No impact on electric bill that we saw. We were super pleased with the company and results.

If you want a level floor you have to take out the sliding door rails so there you go, taxable.

Enclosing the lanai and adding AC is reason enough for tax man to add to your taxable square footage.
However, enclosing the lanai and adding a DEHUMIDIFIER (which could be a mini split AC) does not qualify as new taxable square footage.

We used All Season Rooms, great smaller family company with personal service. They offer a double pane glass that has a lifetime "Transferrable" warranty which the others do not offer and they were priced lower than the others. We chose sliders all the way around so we can still use it as an open air lanai if we choose, so far we have never chosen to do that as the view is still great, no rain intrusion, no dust, no dirt. Quite the enjoyable room now. It's been over 3 years with no problems whatsoever with the installation or the materials they used. Call Chip for a no pressure presentation of what they have to offer and the cost, you have nothing to lose.

An enclosed lanai does not mean you can't sit out and enjoy a beautiful bug free day. On a beautiful day you can open the glass sliders on your lanai and enjoy it as much as anyone else. The advantage is, you can still enjoy it when the weather does not permit you to sit outside.

Gorgeous!

We enclosed our lanai because of the rain and dirt that got in. We have wide sliding windows out there so in cooler weather we open them and it feels like your sitting outside. Why would you not enclose your lanai?

It does if you raise the floor.

Some people do not agree that raising the floor to the same level as the rest of the house causes an increase in real estate taxes no matter what the inspector working for Sumter says

Good evening, this is a test reply to make sure I have everything working ( first reply post ). EJ AuBuchon state of Fl. licensed plans examiner and retired Sumter Co. Bld. Dept. Will post answers to questions soon. Thank you.

Welcome we can sure use your expertise

You can verify this statement with Sumter county property tax accessors office; The accessed square footage of your home ONLY increases IF you remove the sliding glass door from the main part of residence to the sunroom (lanai) They view it as increasing the perimeter of the living area. AC, leveling slab, etc. DOES NOT increase the taxable value. My qualifications: Managed Sumter Plan review office for 7.1 years 7/2013/- 8/2020. Many of you may remember speaking with EJ concerning your lanai conversion to sunroom. Hope this helps.