[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Ours faces west as well, I would suggest getting a good blender and making up some frozen margaretas around sunset time.

At 95 degrees aint staying frozen too long.

That is why we now have a Florida room

[GoPacers]

Congrats!!! You'll get some beautiful sunsets that will validate your decision. Don't let the glass half empty folks discourage you. We shopped for a west or south facing back yard and could not be happier. Enjoy!!!

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

At 95 degrees aint staying frozen too long.

That is why we now have a Florida room

You'r not drinking them fast enough.

[Chi-Town]

If you've got a west facing lanai with a long open view you're in sunset Nirvana.

[chet2020]

We live on a lake in southern Wisconsin, west facing on the lake. Beautiful sunsets, but not gonna' lie, 4-6 PM on a hot day is brutal, porch is basically unusable. We get shade from trees after 6P, so then it's OK again. It comes down to, are the fabulous sunsets worth having an unusable porch for certain times? Comes down to personal preference I think.

[banjobob]

Yep ,unless you have shades you will not spend much time in the lanai for evening sun in summer

[Flanman]

We live in Linden. West facing as well. Summer gets hot 2pm-8pm but we use it in before and after. Shade Bros. put in motorized shades. We also have cooling acrylic on the lanai so floor stays cool no matter the temp.

[birdawg]

West is best you will love the sunsets.

[westernrider75]

We also have a west facing lanai and just had a Sunsetter awning installed. We love it! Not only keeps our lanai shaded and cooler but extends our living area by covering the additional concrete pad beyond our lanai! Authority Home Solutions did ours.

[oemsp1]

Originally Posted by Nanr07

We ended up buying a home in St Catherine with a west facing lanai, not our original intentions but did so because of several other factors.
Suggestions or comments? Our realtor suggested solar screens? We will be snow birds for awhile, not sure how impacted we will be by the setting sun. At least we can sit out there in the mornings!

Our first home in Bonnybrook had a west facing patio and pergola. It was too hot to use in the summer.

[Medtrans]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

Don't make a decision until you live there for at least a few months. A tempory solution could be a roll down curtain.

We have a west facing lanai. We enclosed our lanai and have air conditioning, have Coolaroo shades on the inside and an awning n the outside which is power controlled and retracts automatically if windy. All these make our lanai a great room with no problem at all. We can make all the choices based on the weather at the moment. We live here full time so can’t address what should be done when gone.

[kidnerkim]

We got blinds. I close in afternoon & it is amazing how much cooler. Then we open again at night & enjoy our view!

[davephan]

That’s really less than ideal to have the back of the house facing west! Our two story hone in Minnesota, the back faced east. It was great! The deck and backyard were automatically shaded by the house in the afternoons, the most likely time when you’d want to use the deck and back yard.

In Florida, the back of our house faces Northeast, which also gives us shade in the afternoons in the pool cage, the most likely times when we use the lani area. The direction your house faces, should be an important factor when choosing the home to buy.

Our in laws didn’t pay attention to the direction that their homes faced, and ended up getting things to provide shading, but we’re far less than ideal, than the automatic shading that’s provided by your house. Of course that doesn’t help you if you’ve already bought the house that doesn’t face the idea direction, but it’s a reminder for others, or yourself for your next house, to seriously consider the direction that your house faces. Get a compass app on your cellphone, and use it when you look at real estate!

[G.R.I.T.S.]

Originally Posted by VApeople

We have a west facing lanai. We installed screens that we can pull down manually.

We also had a patio built in the front of our house so we can sit outside in the evening.

That's what we did. Added bonus is we became closer to our wonderful neighbors, who stop by when we're out on the porch!

[donfey]

Originally Posted by Nanr07

We ended up buying a home in St Catherine with a west facing lanai, not our original intentions but did so because of several other factors.
Suggestions or comments? Our realtor suggested solar screens? We will be snow birds for awhile, not sure how impacted we will be by the setting sun. At least we can sit out there in the mornings!

Our lanai faces West, too, and we love it. However, knowing that Summer temps and sun would be uncomfortable sometimes, we screened in the front porch. Now, depending on temperatures, we can be in the sun or out of it. Both front porch and lanai have a ceiling fan.