Talk of The Villages Florida - My wife and I are are looking at homes and the lanai questions are our concern

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- - My wife and I are are looking at homes and the lanai questions are our concern (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/my-wife-i-looking-homes-lanai-questions-our-concern-321753/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelevision (Post 1975114)

It’s the name of one of the house models.

First off ..... Thank you sooooooooooo much for all of your answers and for your willingness to share your knowledge!!! How very kind of everyone and how very helpful, even with the many differing opinions. This is a large part of why we want to come to TV. All of you and the kind and caring people that we have run into while visiting. Nice houses and great weather is wonderful but it is the people that make TV the place we want to become a part of!

Since everyone has such great ideas I only have one last question..........................
Has anyone been able to successfully grow a money tree in their backyard yet? If we could solve that tiny problem then we would have the additional money we need to buy our home and come and join all of you!

Thank you so much again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We recently purchased and are enclosing lanai

We have a 10 x 18 fixed roof screened lanai that continues into a bird cage. We ordered the cabana series, single pane glass from Custom Enclosures for enclosing the fixed roof area and can't wait to have it installed. We get water on the bird cage side when it rains and this will stop it from running into the fixed area. Also anticipate being able to close up to keep heat inside during cold days to allow more use of room year round.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComingfromCT (Post 1975329)

I'm afraid we have the wrong type of soil to grow those
I'd try growing it on federal land:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

pgettinger, We were told that the step from house to lanai doesn't effect your taxes whether its a step down or level. If you remove the sliders, then it is considered part of house and is taxed. As far as the mini split, the companies put in a dehumidifier, not taxed, and change it out to the split ac/heater after .
.

Opinion If you want more inside AC buy a bigger house and enjoy the fresh air lanai.

We love our west facing screened in Lanai and use it almost every morning for breakfast and even many evenings. Probably it has a lot to do with our beautiful pond, golf course view. If we want to eat inside we still have a beautiful view to the outside thru the wall of sliding glass doors. We didn't need to add anymore enclosed AC space to our house and really didn't want to get involved in washing/cleaning a ton of outside windows after every rain storm. We like the fresh air and use sliding curtains to stop the sun if it happens to be in an annoying position in the evening; a rough guess might be 20% of the time. With 4 large sliding curtains we only have to slide one (some amount) to stop the sun if we happen to have that meal when the sun is low and and at a setting position it shines in on us dinning. My thinking is if you want more AC inside square feet buy a larger house because you will enjoy the fresh air and view a screen lanai provides. Another consideration is we eat breakfast at home almost every day (sun is never a consideration) and eat our evening meal out a fair amount of the time.

I have an enclosed lanai, thanks to the previous owners. Do not have air, but can keep the sliding door open without too much affect on my electric bill. I rented three homes with screened lanais and I was unable to use them in the summer. I enjoy my lanai all 12 months.

What ?? Munns put in a heat pump mini split for us from the get-go. Nothing was changed out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barborv (Post 1975685)

I think it's sort of like a balcony enclosure in condos. Some people spend lots of money enclosing their apartment/condo balcony and it becomes a strange indoor place just for storage. Much better open to the air, sun, potted plants.

If you enjoy sitting outside then the screened lanai is the way to go. If not then you might consider enclosing it.

Why are you asking people for their opinions? Some people like to sit outdoors and some don't.

Rule no. 1: lanai should face East or North. Ours is screened and East facing. It gets hot in late morning but is shaded by the house the rest of the day. Great sunrises and cooler in the evening. Look for a house with a Florida room and a lanai. The dog loves the morning sun on the lanai. A West or South facing lanai can be almost unusable in the afternoon and evening. If in doubt try sitting there for a half an hour.

Birdcage canvas top

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Originally Posted by LizzieBorden (Post 1974793)

Our home was new to us 16 years ago. A year after we bought it, we added a bird cage and made it larger than the lanai. Then 6 years ago, we added a canvas cover for the birdcage, and 4 years ago we added an outdoor kitchen in the birdcage. The back of our house is southern facing which means the sun rises on the left and sets on the right. We absolutely love it and spend a majority of our time out there. We have really nice comfy chairs with end tables, lamps, etc and then pole lamps and over head lighting for the outdoor kitchen…we use this after more than any other area. I love having my morning breakfast out there after we come back from playing pickleball…Is it hot, yes, somedays it is, but we have an overhead fan in the lanai section and another floor fan in the birdcage. We also enclosed the bottom portion all the way around of the lanai and the birdcage with the same siding as we have on our home. This keeps a lot of the dirt out that use to flow into the lanai/birdcage area and made a huge improvement. When it rains, we pull in the chairs close to the house to keep the cushions from getting wet. When we got north for the summer, we bring all that furniture into our home and put the dining table and chairs in the corner of the covered lanai. It works…and we love it. I think it is all personal preference. We like being able to sit outside with guest at night, having our cocktails and dinner..etc.. its so peaceful in our backyard….I dont think I would ever change that. We had a party before covid out there and was able to seat in chairs all around about 25 people. It was the best….

Who did you get to provide your top? Mine is 12 years old and leaking.