[SilverRose]

I recently signed a contract on a house in The Villages. My husband and I are considering glassing in the lanai. I am interested in hearing opinions from both those who glassed in their lanai and those who didn’t.

If you did glass in your lanai was it worth it? If you didn’t, why not?

I can’t wait to become a Villager! It really is like living in a combination of Disneyworld and a resort.

[GrumpyOldMan]

And not only was it worth it, but do you actually USE the Lanai often, and for what kind of activities.

(I assume it is too low for Trapeze or high wire acts!)

[valuemkt]

100 % glass in and put in a mitsubishi split. Use it often ? Absolutely. Wife and i have some similar, but many different viewing interests.

Think about the upcoming season .. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL ?? I am .. no contention for the TV .. Also great for reading.. bright, sunny, temperature conditioned sitting space.

Without glass and temperature control it's mostly a hot house that gets wet everyday.

[Chatbrat]

We enclosed our lanai with CVS vinyl stacked windows, not that hot--our cat is the only resident who really uses the lanai--if you don't enclose your lanai--get a good wet/dri shop vac

[karostay]

Glassed our in with sliding glass windows length of Lanai 4 more outlets insulated over Lanai 2 Ft knee wall only regret didn't know it at the time would have raised Lanai floor same height as the home
also have found no need for any additional ac or heat we leave slider a jar turn on fan.Plus we have coolaroo shades work great

[billethkid]

We enclosed ours with stackable, single pane glass sliders.
The only mistake we made was not doing many years ago.
We chose not to air condition as the shade and ventilation as well as 4 ceiling fans keeps it comfortable even during higher temperatures.

The enclosing has allowed us to enjoy our lanai throughout the winter. We have an electric fireplace with thermostat controlled heat....perfect!

We spend more hours per day/week/year on/in our lanai than any other room in the house.

[coffeebean]

I seem to be an oddity here but I much prefer to have outdoor space available to me. I have plenty of indoor climate controlled space and really don't need any more. Our lanai was enlarged by the original owner our home and it is screened in. I have our BBQ on the lanai, under the original lanai roof and it is directly outside of the slider from our breakfast room. I have a very short walk from the kitchen to the BBQ to our outside table and chairs. Of course we don't use this space in the hot months but absolutely love our open lanai during the cooler months. Actually, I do cook on the BBQ 12 months of the year and in the rain too because it is covered by the roof. (I BBQ a lot). So far the lanai ceiling is as clean as the day it was painted (12 years) so I don't anticipate it ever getting charred by the smoke from the grill.

[JSR22]

Ours is enclosed with heat and air. I keep the house at 74 the fans and open sliders could not make it cool enough for me. We use it every day and if we eat dinner at home we eat on the lanai. We have a bird cage off the lanai so we do have outdoor space.

[sunny70]

We have been here 17 years. For 15 years we had Vinyl 4 track floor to ceiling windows. They were fine, but we finally decided two years ago to replace them with Double Pane Picture windows. We love them! In our case, we found we didn't open the Lanai a lot due Allergy, Pollen covering everything in the Spring, too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Now we use it year around and love it. I guess it depends on your view and what your plans are for using the Lanai. Ours now is carpeted and has comfortable indoor furniture. We have a Glass table with wicker chairs for eating out there is we want to. We love the double pane windows. Really cuts down on noise, retains the heat in winter and keeps the room cool in the summer! We used D&D construction and highly recommend them!

[JudyLife]

Our CYV had glass when we bought which we are happy about. It also has great shades to help with the hotter months. We can’t wait to use it more in autumn & winter. Have used it a few times in the summer with the fan on & slider open particularly on a cloudy day.

[graciegirl]

Our glassing in of lanai was just completed and we enjoy eating dinner out there and I have a place for my painting and drawing and it is a nice view of the pool. Most of all it keeps all the furniture clean. It needed to be wiped off every few days and little spiders and some gecko's would sneak in. I am sorry we didn't do it before now. We chose heavy glass and do not need an additional cooling unit. Here are some pictures;

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Our glassing in of lanai was just completed and we enjoy eating dinner out there and I have a place for my painting and drawing and it is a nice view of the pool. Most of all it keeps all the furniture clean. It needed to be wiped off every few days and little spiders and some gecko's would sneak in. I am sorry we didn't do it before now. We chose heavy glass and do not need an additional cooling unit. Here are some pictures;

Very nice!

[SilverRose]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Our glassing in of lanai was just completed ... Here are some pictures;

Just beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

[SilverRose]

Thank you all for sharing your opinions!

[OCsun]

Silver Rose, If you enjoy the feeling of being outside but don't enjoy the 90 degree days, you will love having your lanai enclosed. I had a small air/heat system installed and now I can use it year round in any weather. The floor to ceiling stackable sliders can be used to open up the space for fresh air during those few months when the weather is just beautiful.

I also agree with Gracie - no more bugs or dirt to clean up.