[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by baybob

OK, I'll admit it. I am a forever New Englander. I am looking at homes in TV on a regular basis and just don't understand some of the descriptios. Perhaps you all can help.

1) Why do some houses have screens for the garage? I can't imagine what purpose they serve.

2) What are solar tubes? Why do some houses have them?

3) What's the difference between a lanai and a Florida room?

4) What is the acrylic in a lanai all about?

5) What in the world are volume ceilings?

6) This is my favorite. What is an air handler and why is it a big deal when one has been relocated to the garage?

Any and all help here will be much appreciated.

Thanks

A lanai (named after the sixth-largest Hawaiian island of Lana'i) is an open patio. If a lanai has a screened enclosure, it is a screened lanai. In general usage in Florida, a lanai means a screened lanai, in my experience.

A Florida room is a porch with screened windows.

Dirigo

[Ooper]

All the homes down here are on slabs.

[NJblue]

Our sales agent said that what diferentiates a Florida Room from an enclosed lanai is that a Florida room has heat/AC ducts in it.

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by Ooper

All the homes down here are on slabs.

Except the manufactured homes East of 441.


.

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by NJblue

Our sales agent said that what diferentiates a Florida Room from an enclosed lanai is that a Florida room has heat/AC ducts in it.

Except the manufactured homes East of 441.

.

[EdV]

A paved outdoor area attached to the house is a patio.

Enclose it with screening for the walls and roof, it becomes a bird cage.

Or instead, put only a solid roof over it and it is a lanai. Add screening for the walls and it becomes a screened lanai.

Or, put a solid roof over it with screened windows and it is an enclosed lanai. Add heat and A/C and it becomes a Florida room.

Sometimes, as in Barefoot’s case, you’ll see part of the patio is an enclosed lanai or Florida room and the other part is a bird cage. When it’s warm and dry you can use the bird cage with its increased ventilation. And when it’s cold, raining, or out of Africa hot, you can use the Florida room.

When a lanai is a free standing structure (most often octagonal shape), it’s called a gazebo.