[jnieman]

We used Brian Terry Vinyl and were very pleased. We went with the double pane E-3 Florida tinted glass and love it. We find that it blocks out almost all of the noise from the neighbor's pool pumps and golf cart street noise.

[bwahrend]

thank you, I'll check it out

[bonrich]

Bryan terry vinyl did our lanai. Excellent. Heavy glass sliders but slides easily. Blew in extra insulation in roof after install. Hard Wired outside light over door and not a solar powered. If you don't put A/C or Heat in the lanai it is not taxed as a room. Very happy with the install.

[biker1]

The installation of a mini-split AC is not the deciding factor for whether an enclosed lanai is taxed. The sliders between the house and lanai need to be removed in order for the enclosed lanai to increase your property taxes.

Originally Posted by bonrich

Bryan terry vinyl did our lanai. Excellent. Heavy glass sliders but slides easily. Blew in extra insulation in roof after install. Hard Wired outside light over door and not a solar powered. If you don't put A/C or Heat in the lanai it is not taxed as a room. Very happy with the install.

[Mrs. Robinson]

Originally Posted by bwahrend

Looking for suggestions for enclosing our lanai. Glass vs plexiglass. Also looking for any good contractors to hire for this project. Thanks

Originally Posted by villagetinker

OP, and others, you might want to call or visit the Sumter County Building Dept, Pinellas Plaza, there was a significant revision to the building code about 1.5 to 2 years ago, I know our project got caught in the change. Some of the info you are getting MAY be dated. I always like to go to the source, so I get the correct info. I am not sure of the current Hurricane requirements.

Finchs, in your case, I would definitely ask the building dept, and tell them your ultimate plans, you may find there will be other work required.

Hope this helps.

Some good advice, Tinker.

I believe a couple of the changes are that the floor must be raised to be level with the living area.
Also, I don't think they permit the Mitsubishi A/C units in the wall any longer.

We enclosed our lanai as a real room, not a glass enclosed one. When I say a "real" room, I mean roof, exterior stucco, regular windows, doors, etc., and we took out the original sliding doors so there would be a flow from the living area. We are extremely happy we did it that way. Many of the glass enclosed rooms are very hot, even with the window treatments closed. Then, of course, the room is dark, as is the living area off that room. We also did not want vertical blinds and there are not many choices for an all glass room.

There are many things to consider regarding enclosing a lanai.

Regardless of what bwahrend does, my suggestion would be to use only glass, not plexiglass.

[doran]

White Brothers in Leesburg have been around for ever. Make sure you put in some sort of Air conditioning and get the darkest tint possible. Otherwise the room of glass becomes an oven. Speaking from experience. Mitsubishi Slim is great A/C for lanai.

[bwahrend]

Thanks to everyone for all of your great ideas. We can't wait to move into our new home and we really appreciate everyones thoughts on this forum. It sounds like glass is the way to go and we now have a few contractors and showrooms to check out. Thank you all so much.. Brad and Jackie

[biker1]

A requirement for raising the floor of the lanai to be level with the rest of the house is based on how high the level of the lanai floor is above the grade. If it is sufficiently high above the grade (I don't recall the requirements), then you can leave it as it is.

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

Some good advice, Tinker.

I believe a couple of the changes are that the floor must be raised to be level with the living area.
Also, I don't think they permit the Mitsubishi A/C units in the wall any longer.

We enclosed our lanai as a real room, not a glass enclosed one. When I say a "real" room, I mean roof, exterior stucco, regular windows, doors, etc., and we took out the original sliding doors so there would be a flow from the living area. We are extremely happy we did it that way. Many of the glass enclosed rooms are very hot, even with the window treatments closed. Then, of course, the room is dark, as is the living area off that room. We also did not want vertical blinds and there are not many choices for an all glass room.

There are many things to consider regarding enclosing a lanai.

Regardless of what bwahrend does, my suggestion would be to use only glass, not plexiglass.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Robinson

Some good advice, Tinker.



I believe a couple of the changes are that the floor must be raised to be level with the living area.

Also, I don't think they permit the Mitsubishi A/C units in the wall any longer.



We enclosed our lanai as a real room, not a glass enclosed one. When I say a "real" room, I mean roof, exterior stucco, regular windows, doors, etc., and we took out the original sliding doors so there would be a flow from the living area. We are extremely happy we did it that way. Many of the glass enclosed rooms are very hot, even with the window treatments closed. Then, of course, the room is dark, as is the living area off that room. We also did not want vertical blinds and there are not many choices for an all glass room.



There are many things to consider regarding enclosing a lanai.



Regardless of what bwahrend does, my suggestion would be to use only glass, not plexiglass.

I had a mini-split Mitsubishi unit installed 2 weeks ago. A permit was required, and the county (Sumter) inspected the installation.


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[billethkid]

It was a code requirement in Sumter County that if one wanted to include HVAC the level of the floor being enclosed had to be level with the main living area. Hence a continuation of the dwelling and taxable.

I understand that requirement has been relaxed. It was only in place for a couple of years.

[Trish Crocker]

As far as the new living space adding to the taxable value...it also raises the price of your home because it adds square footage. When your home is eventually sold, you will probably see that the price increase makes up for any extra you pay in taxes.

[bobthegolfer]

Just finished removing vinyl windows and replacing them with glass picture windows. It is correct that it's wise to check with the Building department in your county (we happen to be in Marion). You will be surprised what you can and can't do! Also, we used D&D Contractors. We were very happy with them.

[Lottoguy]

Our house already had enclosed lanai with the plastic glass sliders. I have not noticed any scratches on them. The room is climate controlled with two a/c vents in the ceiling. We spend lots of time out there. It's our favorite room in the house.