Year round lanai
 

Has anyone finished their lanai on a patio villa and put it under heat and air for year around use. We could use some additional living space.

Probably many have done that.

My wife wants to put windows in the Lanai and I am against it because I enjoy the the screened porch effect.


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enclosed lanai
 

We closed our lanai and did miss the openness on nice days, but do not miss the dirt and mess. We also are adding a birdcage so we can get back the open feel. So when you figure out your budget you may want to price both enclosing the lanai and adding a birdcage. JMO

IMHO, at our location, an added birdcage blocks the view from the family room.


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I love our lanai. It has a knee wall then acrylic windows that slide/pocket into each other so it opens wide enough to feel you are out in the open. The floor is tiled. There is no ac and it has a ceiling fan. It was a little chilly in the winter but usually when the afternoon sun came around, it would warm up nicely. When it was very cold, I'd close off the doors to the remainder of the house to help keep the cold out. I think the summer will be the clincher. Have to chase the sun around the house now! There are sunshades around the lanai but so far the view outweighs comfort!

We enclosed our lanai with glass windows but when you slide open the windows you feel like your outside. We've been able to use the lanai when its not too cold and when it's not too hot. I am unable to extend my duct work into the lanai as I was told my ac/furnace unit is not large enough to cool/heat additional space. There is a wall ac/heat unit that could be installed on the wall of the lanai which would solve that problem. The unit costs $2300 and I'm still considering going that way. Have to consider whether it's worth the cost vs. the useage we get now.

John

i have enclosed my lanai with dual pane glass windows by Elite, which have screens over the outside.
when cleaniing windows with water am plagued with hard water stains......any suggestions on how to have clean windows and no stains.
screens cannot come off. thanks, albert

Adding a bird cage to our lanai
 

We are thinking about adding a bird cage to our lanai. It could not be a very large one. Does anyone have any idea of the cost involved and someone we could call for a quote?

I use $24 a square foot for a birdcage when doing price comparisons. That should include concrete and cage. Probably cost just a little more then that as that is an average. The bigger the cage will drop that just a bit. A range might be $22 to $26 depending an selections.

Thanks for your reply. This is a big help. Now we just have to find someone to do the work.

Windows
 

We enclosed our lanai with sliding glass doors under the existing roof. One side has 9 feet of screen and the other 6 feet. We have ceramic tile throughout the house and were able to get the same tile for the Florida room. We took the sliding glass door out separating the living room and lanai or now Florida room, and brought the lanai (Florida room) floor up to level. The next step is to put insulation in the roof above the room and a vent for air.

We made one mistake, though. We should have purchased smoke glass instead of clear glass. Also, we purchased see-through shades instead of regular shades. The sun heats the room up and now we have to figure out something to shield the sun, maybe canvass awning.

We are very happy with the room and the workmanship was excellent.

WE enclosed our entire lanai..did not use smoked glass but we did use LOW-E double pane glass which is specifically made for reducing heat gain in a room . WE have 60 in sliders over 20in tempered transom windows so you get a total window efffect and still have the ability to open the top portion and get 50% air flow. We also screened in the front door entrance way and that definietly adds a breeze/cooling effect whenn the front door and back screens are open. OUr contractor (small independent general contactor) was very patient in explaining all the pros and cons with not only windows but also how a window needs to be framed correctly in order to withstand potentially damaging high winds we can get.

You might be able to get an inside A/C unit for under $500 that use a hose like your dryer to exhaust the hot air. Go to the big box stores and look around. They are call ed portable A/C. One use is back up A/C for computer rooms.

why are they called birdcages?
 

We live in Orlando, and we are planning to move to The Villages. We have a "screened pool deck" and lanai. Until we visited TV, we had never heard the term:D birdcages :Dfor the screen! WE think it's hilarious! We can't wait to become part of the fun!