The purpose of birdcages.....
 

If there are not many mosquitos and other flying bugs in this area of FL, then why the popularity of birdcages? What is their function?

good question. i dont have one because it would block my golf course view!

We just built a huge birdcage. Some people like them if they have a pool because you do not have to cover the pool all the time with a birdcage (no debris gets in) We are putting in an above ground swimspa 19 ft by 8 ft and wanted it under cover. As well, it does help when you are sitting outside and the sun is overhead, it keeps it off you directly. Also we will enjoy it for parties and having a large dining room (well outside wicker long table) out there for company and also lounge chairs etc. We have a big view and can see it clearly through the bird cage, totally unobstructed.
I am interested in other peoples reasons too!!!

Thanks, Jane. The idea of it protecting you from direct sun is a good one. I hadn't thought of that, but that's an important one for me. When your spa install is done, please come back and post pics!

The swimspa is above ground, it is a Michael Phelps momentum, you can google it. It is coming in a few weeks so I will be coming down around March 16th for a week to see it crane lifted over our CYV and also enjoy our new home for a few days. I am hoping to hang some sheers and do some other things while I am there. And relax under the birdcage....with some very cold wine!

birdcage use
 

Isn't there a law in Florida that inground pools have to be fenced?? If so, the birdcage would accomplish this. I always thought that besides the bugs, this is what they used in place of a fence like we have up north.

It's like having a screened in porch, and comes in handy during "love bug" season. Also keeps out beetles, wasps and other flying insects.

As an added bonus, I believe a birdcage is an excellent way for your your pets to enjoy the outdoors, if you don't live in a villa.

As an added benefit, I would imagine they are very good at keeping birds out also.

An added benefit noticed these last few days is that the screening blocks some of the wind, so you can enjoy the outdoors even when it's windy.

Also, I can grow things in pots without worrying about birds and bugs getting to them.

I don’t have one and looking at them from the outside, I never really got the “allure” of them. Until I saw one from the inside. They’re just....really, really cool. Actually, I can’t come up with the right words to describe my impression of them once I was inside one. I guess, “tropical” would be a good word. I wish I had a big enough lot to add one.

Does the rain come in like you are outside? How does it keep the sun out if it's just screen? (boy, you can tell the newbies can't you?) How do you deal with the furniture cushions getting soaked in the rain if your lanai isn't large enough for all of your cushioned pieces to be in that area? I thought I wanted a large birdcage to offset a smaller lanai but will it keep out rain and sun for me?

No, it won't keep the rain out, nor will it keep the rain off your furniture, nor will it keep the sun out. Your furniture needs to be under the roofed portion of the lanai. It will expand your view and give you a feeling of spaciousness and it will keep the bugs out. It did all of that for us and we love it!

We just cemented our whole back yard and put a bird cage over it ........It feels like we increased our house by a third and we just love it.................We went 32' deep and don't know how wide but you pass a Golden Corral on the way..........We may have gone a little to high as we have our own clouds........

fumar...............:plane:

I think that the function of a birdcage is similar to a deck. They provide additional living space for leisure and entertaining. We have a smallish home, probably 1500 SF. We added a large birdcage to our lanai, and when we slide open the 3 panel glass door in our living room, it suddenly feels as if we have a huge living room!

Birdcages are a must have for not only our pool but the host of "things" that would love to fly, crawl or wander in. It has some SPF protection and does NOT chakllenge the actual view .......

Slightly off topic, has anyone installed a canvas cover over a birdcage. Who did the installation? Approximate cost?

We just removed our birdcage and instead installed a year-round, climate controlled lanai. We do not have a pool or swim spa. We found we didn't use it enough. It was too hot in the summer and a little chilly in the winter. It required a lot of upkeep... very dirty and needed to be powerwashed frequently. We had to cover the outdoor furniture from rain and dust. Now that we have our enclosed lanai, this time of year we use open the screen sliders and enjoy it every day.

When you say too hot in the summer ...how hot? Isn't it the same as it is outside the lanaii? and too cold in the winter, I would assume it is the same temperature as outside?

The screening doesn't keep any dust out? How does it keep UV out?

How often does it need to be power washed?

I like it because it keeps out the alligators, racoons, coyotes, stray cats and dogs, homeless people, sandhill cranes, and many other UN-desirable things. Without one you could come home some day and find a gator just sitting there watching television. I just wish I could find where those pesky geckos are sneaking in. They keep trying to sell me insurance.

You forgot zombies!

Yes, the birdcage temperature is the same as it is outside... if it's 49 degrees (as it is this morning), you can't use it. Right now, my husband is relaxing in the enclosed lanai reading the morning paper. And yes, when it's in the high 80's and 90's and the sun is beating down on you, you can't use it.

No, screening does not keep the outside dust from coming in. We paid for the tightest screening on the sides of the birdcage and we paid for the "sunscreen" type screening on the top of the birdcage and it didn't work.

In the summer, with the high humidity, there was a lot of mold that needed to be cleaned frequently.

I'm not trying to discourage you from a birdcage, but I wish we had known some of the "negatives" before we build the birdcage, only to remove it two years later... made decision on our part.

I have a large birdcage that extends beyond the covered lanai and love it. We eat almost all of our meals there sometimes even when there is a gentle warm rain. This week I loved the warmth and energizing sun while I read and napped. When there was construction still happening we did get dust and dirt but that is not a problem now.

When Charlie flew in to Punta Gorda my sister lost her cage over their pool.
They could not believe the amount of water loss each day without the screen or how much the cage had deflected the sun.

Zombies just break through the screening.

Not totally sure but the birdcage might satisfy the law. But as I remember it the doors to the pool area must be alarmed and exit doors from the lanai to the outside need to have handles at least 54" above the ground level. I have seen houses, on golf courses outside of TV, that have a barrier around their pools and inside of the birdcage.

You have a covered lanai. We did not. We only had the birdcage, and that's why we didn't like it and removed it.

Added a birdcage
 

We just added a bird cage. It extended out from the roofed lanai. This allowed us to remove the screening from the roofed lanai walls. We are outdoor people...crusied our sailboat and did the RV thing for about 12 years before moving to TV.

When we open the sliders, which is often, we like the feeling of moving from indoors to outdoors with out any doors. Kewl for us. But bird cages and screened lanais are not for every one as evidenced by all the folks that enclose lanais.

Another advantage is letting the cat have an out door area.

The builder used sun screening for the roof and standard screening for the sides. The sunscreen is very good to knock down the temps and UV exposure. We also have an umbrella for full shade. Our grill is in the cage as well as our dining table so we have most meals there. We will be adding a propane fire pit soon for those cool evenings.

The options are endless to create a comfortable out door living space. But, like I said you have to like the outdoors in the first place.

So there is different types of screening you have to pick out? Yikes. I thought all birdcages were equal except for the columns. Anything else we need to know about before ordering a birdcage?

we are also going to put a very long (outdoor type) dining table and other such furniture in our new birdcage. How do you deal with the furniture in the birdcage? Does it get soaked when it rains? And in regard to the grill in the birdcage, there is no issue in having a gas grill being used in the birdcage? We have been wondering about this. Thanks for any info.

We have a birdcage and a propane grill that we use all the time inside the birdcage. Not a problem. Wind direction sometimes blows the smoke into the covered portion of the lanai, but not often, and the birdcage is large enough and the grill on wheels so I can roll it to another spot if necessary.

I use to live in Pensacola, Florida for 6 years and had owned two different homes during that time with pools. Neither had a bird case, just a privacy fence. In fact I never saw a bird cage the entire time I was in Pensacola and there are thousands of pools there.

I believe the Florida law requires a barrier around residential pools because in the past many children have drowned in a neighbors pools. Since fenced yards are not allowed in TV except for a CYV, a bird cage has to be used whether you want it or not.

You were right about pests could get into the pool that didn't have a bird cage. My worse experience was one day I lifted the lid off the skimmer to empty the basket and inside coiled up was a water moccasin. Since I'm not a fan of snakes, I went and got my neighbor who was a Marine and with a golf club he was able to get the snake. Another time on a very cold day with the temps in the 30's I checked the pool and found a dead frozen squirrel floating in the pool. Another time we had a hurricane come right next to Pensacola and we had winds of 95 mph and when I checked the pool afterwards I had about 50 pine cones laying on the bottom of the pool. It was not fun trying to lift them up from 8' deep with a pole net.

You don't need to choose between enclosing you lanai and having a birdcage. We did both. We expanded and enclosed the lanai on all three exposed sides with sliding doors that collapse into the space of one panel (4 feet). We also put a birdcage on one of the sides of the lanai such that the 16 foor door, when fully opened, creates a 12 foot opening into the birdcage.

While we love being able to use the lanai regardless of the weather, we also love to eat most of our meals and have happy hour out in the birdcage. We were fortunate to have the cage on the east side of the lanai such that the hot afternoon sun is not an issue after about 4 PM. We also added an outdoor floor fan and light combo (available from Sams Club as a seasonal item) that goes into the hole in our table where an umbrella usually would be. The shade from the house and the air from the fan makes even the warmest afternoons and evenings very comfortable. I was extremely dubious about the value of the birdcage, but am now very happy I listened to my wife and included it into the design of our expanded lanai.

To prevent birds from escaping.

Sailor 47: So you are saying that the suncreening type on the roof actually keeps the temperature down when it is really hot?

Yes, there is a tighter weave screen that keeps even the smallest flying bugs out. In addition, there is a "solar-type" screen for the roof of a birdcage. T&D gave us all the options.

The CYV we rented last had a small pool and a birdcage over the entire back. The only thing we saw inside. . . you guessed it. . . GECKOS. I couldn't figure out how they got in either.:smiley: I just told them "sorry no solicitors allowed"!! In our seven visits, we've noticed it is windy a lot. The birdcage does help block the wind a bit. If you have a garage screen and a birdcage, opening the doors and getting that breeze though the house, without fear of bugs, is sweet. Reminded me of my days as a kid and having only an attic fan. Open your bedroom window at night and getting that breeze is was nice!

So is that the reason for garage screens? To get a cross breeze?

[QUOTE=John_W;459226]I use to live in Pensacola, Florida for 6 years and had owned two different homes during that time with pools. Neither had a bird case, just a privacy fence. In fact I never saw a bird cage the entire time I was in Pensacola and there are thousands of pools there.

Awhile back we visited a good friend in the Pensacola area who talked about his birdcage. He said that his was unuual for the area because of the area's proximity to hurricanes. Apparently the locals who do have cages cut all the screens preceeding a hurricane in an attempt to avoid structural damage to the framework. His birdcage appeared to be built twice as strong with double the bracing as one sees in TV. I assume it cost double of ours, not to mention the cost of re-screening every 2, 3 or 4 years.
I also have a Miami native as a neighbor, and he told me that if TV is ever threatened with a strong hurricane he was planning to cut his screens to save the basic metal structure.
The only problem we have with our birdcage is that the local squirrels will chew holes in the screens if we leave food outside unattended for a good period of time.:mad:

So why are they so popular in TV? When the hurricane? came through or was it a tornado? did people have much damage to their birdcages?