[yankygrl]

Originally Posted by GrumpyOldMan

We are considering enclosing our Lanai. We have a CYV and a smaller Lanai - 14' x 9'.

What we are considering is having the screens replaced with concrete block and stucco and windows that are the same as in the rest of the house,. We do not have a burning desire to raise the floor to match the house. And we want it well done, and are not worried about tax implications.

We want it look like it is part of the original house and not a "Florida" room or porch that has been enclosed. We have nothing against a glassed-in Lanai. We drive around and saw many we liked, but we are not "outdoor" people and plan to use the room as a game/tv room.

So, my questions:

1. Could anyone that has a finished to match the house lanai post some photos so we can see how others have.

2. Ballpark estimates. I have no idea, I expect it is roughly the same price. My guess is, and it is a guess for a two wall with split air would be about $15,000? Less would be better

We enclosed our lanai at 2276 Kincord Ct. (we no longer own this property) about 10 years ago. Don’t remember who did the work but we put in double pane, slide both way very large windows and loved it. I believe owners after us put in Mitsubishi AC unit. We left it as a step down. You could drive by to look, lanai faces Triggerfish.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by yankygrl

We enclosed our lanai at 2276 Kincord Ct. (we no longer own this property) about 10 years ago. Don’t remember who did the work but we put in double pane, slide both way very large windows and loved it. I believe owners after us put in Mitsubishi AC unit. We left it as a step down. You could drive by to look, lanai faces Triggerfish.

Thank you, we will drive by.

[Villages Kahuna]

You won’t get a building permit unless you raise the floor to match the level inside the house. It’s the building code and you can’t avoid it.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You won’t get a building permit unless you raise the floor to match the level inside the house. It’s the building code and you can’t avoid it.

I thought the rule was that you can enclose the lanai without raising the floor as long as you don't connect the existing HVAC duct system to it. That's what Munn's told me. If it's not true, there are a lot of non-complying houses in The Villages.

[Villagesgal]

Originally Posted by caleygirl

Our neighbor has the same size lanai- 14 x 9. She installed floor to ceiling, single pane sliders and did not have to add air. Her current system takes care of cooling the lanai with the sliders open from the house. She did not raise the floor and had no trouble with furniture placement due to the slight slope. It is not noticeable. Also, another neighbor got an estimate to enclose their 9 foot long wall on their lanai. The estimate for a solid wall on that side was 3000.00. I have seen positive reviews for Harbortown Homes on this site, certainly a possibility for at least one estimate.

Who did your neighbor use? What is your address or your neighbors. I would love to see how it turned out as I want to do the same. You can private message me. I would greatly appreciate the info. Thank you. L.

[Dan9871]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You won’t get a building permit unless you raise the floor to match the level inside the house. It’s the building code and you can’t avoid it.

When enclosed our lanai we did not raise the floor (now I wish we did) and had no trouble getting a building permit. We also got a permit when we added an A/C to the lanai without having to raise the floor.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

What direction will the windows face? Unless you like a LOT of heat and light, some sunrooms here can be unbearable and so unusable space for hours of every day or even months of every year. Get light and heat reflective glass and anti-UV glass unless you want the sun to fade your fabrics.

My office faces East, and the sun on them for several hours every morning was heating the windows so much that they were like a wood stove radiating heat into the room. Air conditioning and a ceiling fan helped, but the room was still ten degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Last week (with ARC approval) I installed heavy aluminum Bahama shutters (over 50 pounds) that also help with high winds (9 4.5” structural bolts into the header.) Now the sun only hits the bottom foot of glass for a few hours, and that helps a lot. The windows are now outdoor air temperature. 90° glass is better than 130° glass. (Guessing) Wide eaves or a veranda porch would help even more, but narrow eaves make more sense in an area where hurricanes are a possibility. Something that blocks the sun on the outside is much more effective at keeping a room cooler than something that blocks it on the inside, like shades.

We have a CYV with lanai size the same as Grumpy's. It is glassed in by former owner. We installed an outside awning that is the width of the lanai and goes out 15 feet by remote control. I think the company name is AwnAir. Our patio faces sort of south, with sun in the afternoon and morning in different spots. We put the awning out around noon & it keeps the lanai shaded. It also looks very nice.

Also, keeping the sliders open while the a/c is on adequately cools the lanai. But my husband is a heat seeker and loves to sit out there baking like a loaf of bread, with the outside sliders open but slider to the house closed.

We also installed a very high-powered fan on our front porch, and had AwnAir make a crank-sunbrella shade on the side of the porch not facing the street. This needed ARC approval Ours is a three-bedroom Charlotte model with a decent size front porch. I love to sit out there to read, in the hurricane-force winds the fan creates.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You won’t get a building permit unless you raise the floor to match the level inside the house. It’s the building code and you can’t avoid it.

We enclosed the lanai in glass and did NOT raise the floor. We kept the French doors and the sliding doors. And the slight slant.

[Larchap49]

If lanai roof is low you may not have room for a mini split and if not your ac unit may not pass code for adding a duct and cold air return. I would have that checked first so you're not blind sided by it after spending a lot on the construction. Happened to my neighbor. Architect missed this on the plans

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by Larchap49

If lanai roof is low you may not have room for a mini split and if not your ac unit may not pass code for adding a duct and cold air return. I would have that checked first so you're not blind sided by it after spending a lot on the construction. Happened to my neighbor. Architect missed this on the plans

Thank you very much, that is exactly the kind of information I am hoping to get here. I will definitely verify code requirements concerning roof height and adding a split-mini.

[tuccillo]

Mitsubishi makes a ceiling flush mount mini-split. It is about $1500 more than a wall mounted unit.

Originally Posted by Larchap49

If lanai roof is low you may not have room for a mini split and if not your ac unit may not pass code for adding a duct and cold air return. I would have that checked first so you're not blind sided by it after spending a lot on the construction. Happened to my neighbor. Architect missed this on the plans

[skippy05]

Your expectation of price is off by quite a bit. This will at a minimum run you 23k +. Now for some advice that no one else on here will give you but it is very important: If you want to have a mini-split AC in this room, one of those exterior walls MUST have a header area of wall ABOVE the window that is at least 16" and 20" header above that window would be even better. Yes, there are ways to have a mini-split that do not require what I say, but those will cost you, even more, to do (2x the cost). Therefore BEGIN your plan with which wall you will create with a window that has at least that much wall (header) above the window (as from the inside the room perspective) up to the ceiling. And, take one guess as to 'why' I know this to be true? (I didn't know or do this and my mini split had to be one of those which HANG from the ceiling because I didn't plan and that cost me 2x on my mini split. Oh, people will tell you don't worry you can get one to squeeze in the small space above the window and you can just have an inline water pump to deal with the condensate water instead of gravity pipe. Well, only do that if you ENJOY listening to an inline condensate pump vibrate loud every 20 minutes on a cycle! Thus I was forced to do a ceiling hanging version that cost 2x the cost but then allowed me to do a gravity drain pipe out the exterior wall.

[bobnyce]

I doubt that you can get a concrete block structure any size with air for $15,000. I built an 8 by 12 foot garage from frame with no air it was $20,000 three years ago. Good luck finding a contractor.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by skippy05

Your expectation of price is off by quite a bit. This will at a minimum run you 23k +. Now for some advice that no one else on here will give you but it is very important: If you want to have a mini-split AC in this room, one of those exterior walls MUST have a header area of wall ABOVE the window that is at least 16" and 20" header above that window would be even better. Yes, there are ways to have a mini-split that do not require what I say, but those will cost you, even more, to do (2x the cost). Therefore BEGIN your plan with which wall you will create with a window that has at least that much wall (header) above the window (as from the inside the room perspective) up to the ceiling. And, take one guess as to 'why' I know this to be true? (I didn't know or do this and my mini split had to be one of those which HANG from the ceiling because I didn't plan and that cost me 2x on my mini split. Oh, people will tell you don't worry you can get one to squeeze in the small space above the window and you can just have an inline water pump to deal with the condensate water instead of gravity pipe. Well, only do that if you ENJOY listening to an inline condensate pump vibrate loud every 20 minutes on a cycle! Thus I was forced to do a ceiling hanging version that cost 2x the cost but then allowed me to do a gravity drain pipe out the exterior wall.

Thank you very good advice.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by bobnyce

I doubt that you can get a concrete block structure any size with air for $15,000. I built an 8 by 12 foot garage from frame with no air it was $20,000 three years ago. Good luck finding a contractor.

Hmm, interesting. I am talking about brick and stucco of two walls which total 23 feet in length. Of that 23 feet, 3 feet is a swinging normal door, and there are 3 sets of double windows (2 in one wall and 1 in the other). So there is very little floor to ceiling brick walls. MOST of the walls actually are the 24 or 30 inches along the bottom (3 concrete blocks? and a row or 2 along the top.

I am also not sure if I need to raise the floor yet, which obviously would add more cost.

I am absolutely certain I could be very wrong on my posted guessimate, at this point, I usually am, but I am collecting a lot of good advice on questions to ask contractors, which is what I want.

Thank you.