[Carlsondm]

Sliders will give you more flexibility. I don’t know the orientation of your lanai, but ours is south and shaded by trees and a wall. We open the front door and sliders early in the day and whooosh, a breeze flows through the house.

We choose double pane sliders and love the quiet and lack of need for ac or a heater. Our neighbor has single pane fixed and said it was 104 plus in there last summer.

Our work was done by Fullview. Large lanai and they did our enclosure quickly so our swarm of cats would not complain. Excellent work and work flow. Highly recommend.

[Carlsondm]

Originally Posted by dori2002

My wife and I both suffer from allergies. While having the option to get fresh air is intriguing, up in New England we seldom have the sliders open due to the heavy pollen. Of course, would like to do it right the first time. Since this is first time living in FL, we are not sure how bad allergies really are. Thank everyone for the input.

Sliders will make the house easier to sell when you are ready for that. I have allergies too, but hi pollen count is intermittent. Open your house up on nice days and dilute that stale, musty air in the house or choose to keep it closed. At least you would have a choice.

[Pixelpups]

We've enclosed the lanai's in two houses. The first summer we experienced was so hot and humid that we didn't use the screened lanai at all. We used Custom Windows in Leesberg. We had double pane picture windows facing the view and sliders with a screen, at each end. Also had the inline ac in the ceiling to reduce the stress on the main house ac. Kept the stacking sliders from the living room to the lanai open year round. Then we moved to another house in The Villages and enclosed that lanai in a similar fashion. I'm a mosquito magnet, so I must have screens on open sliding doors.

[MDWolff]

We did a large pix window with smaller sliders on the right and left that we can open for fresh air. Hope this provides a workable option.

[MicRoDrafting]

the "CROSS VENTILATION" thru our home during this cool weather season is Quite Refreshing ... as soon as the temperature rises above 60* I quickly open all the screened windows and doors at the front of the house, as well as the horizontal sliders in the Lanai !!

[JoeBell100]

I am in the process of closing in my lanai 15x35.
Installed for an open view to pond with stationary 9 ft. tall double pane glass with sliders at opposite ends of lanai that open for ventilation.
Virtually no noise.
Installed by All Seasons and very happy with install.
Extending living room tile into the lanai in a couple of weeks.
Joe

[lawgolfer]

A lanai, whether screened-in or with sliders and screens seems like a great idea. In reality, they rarely get enough use to justify the space they take up.

We removed the slider from our living room to the lanai and finished off the opening. Next, we raised the floor of the lanai by topping it with 6" or so of new concrete and extended the flooring of the living room into the new room. There was no need to remove the existing concrete pad.

The exterior structure of the lanai was removed. A "knee-wall" was installed and the room framed and finished to match both the outside stucco and the interior sheetrock. The new exterior wall has 3-piece windows, the center part being fixed and the two outside parts being "sliders" with screens if we want to open them. The existing heat/air was extended into the new room. The new windows are covered with roll-up, powered, shades.

One end of the lanai was made into our TV room with a large-screen TV and reclining "theatre chairs". I'm almost embarrassed to admit that, unless we are in bed, we now spend 90% of our time in the new room. Previously, we didn't spend 1% of our time in the lanai.

The sliding windows serve as the required emergency exits. If you want a regular door, that is easily added at the end of the lanai opposite the large-screen TV. If you use a grill, you can have a small slab placed outside that door.

The conversion of the lanai into a useful room was neither cheap nor was it overly expensive as it all sits on the original "footprint" of the house and under the original roof. What it did do was to give us many additional sq. ft. of useful floor space.

[Laurawilcox]

I know you can pick up latches at their showroom for free. Each one just needs a screw driver for two screws. I have done it myself.

I understand they have a service fee after a year to have a technician run out. Perhaps a neighbor can help.

[Bwanajim]

I moved here from Fort Lauderdale and I’m curious why so many people are closing their patio with glass? Is it because you want more room?

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

I moved here from Fort Lauderdale and I’m curious why so many people are closing their patio with glass? Is it because you want more room?

We already had the large birdcage, so we really did not need a screened in lanai, and enclosing it gave us almost 400 square feet of additional room.

[yankygrl]

Originally Posted by lawgolfer

A lanai, whether screened-in or with sliders and screens seems like a great idea. In reality, they rarely get enough use to justify the space they take up.

We removed the slider from our living room to the lanai and finished off the opening. Next, we raised the floor of the lanai by topping it with 6" or so of new concrete and extended the flooring of the living room into the new room. There was no need to remove the existing concrete pad.

The exterior structure of the lanai was removed. A "knee-wall" was installed and the room framed and finished to match both the outside stucco and the interior sheetrock. The new exterior wall has 3-piece windows, the center part being fixed and the two outside parts being "sliders" with screens if we want to open them. The existing heat/air was extended into the new room. The new windows are covered with roll-up, powered, shades.

One end of the lanai was made into our TV room with a large-screen TV and reclining "theatre chairs". I'm almost embarrassed to admit that, unless we are in bed, we now spend 90% of our time in the new room. Previously, we didn't spend 1% of our time in the lanai.

The sliding windows serve as the required emergency exits. If you want a regular door, that is easily added at the end of the lanai opposite the large-screen TV. If you use a grill, you can have a small slab placed outside that door.

The conversion of the lanai into a useful room was neither cheap nor was it overly expensive as it all sits on the original "footprint" of the house and under the original roof. What it did do was to give us many additional sq. ft. of useful floor space.

by removing sliders you run the risk of having to report extra square footage which increases your taxes. I had mine redone with sliding windows, a screened door and picture window - no added cost as not included in total square foot of home.

[R2theb]

what company did you use to bump out your existing lanai?