[mrrmauu]

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with having their lanai enclosed? I’m mostly interested in what it costs and was installing an A/C unit a challenge? Did you do anything with the floor? Just curious what others have done to “upgrade” the basic lanai. I was thinking of putting up a wall in the middle and have half lanai and half enclosed / air conditioned.

[Babubhat]

Glassed mine in years ago. Get three current quotes. Split ac installed in 3 hours. No issues. Put tile in lanai.

Custom windows, D and J, cvs seem to be popular contractor choices

[Stu from NYC]

We converted our lanai to a Florida room about 18 months ago.

The cost will vary widely depending upon how big a lanai you have and the glass panels you purchase. I am sure price is up substantially in this time.

We left our floor as is. We have not gotten a split a/c yet so far it appears out hvac can handle the space.

Did use Custom Windows they have a large showroom where you can see the possibilities.

[Garywt]

We used Cook Aluminum for ours. We had painted the floor and then had the sliders put in. We had 2 double sliders, a triple slider, new door and screened in our front entry way for about $5400. We have not put an AC in yet but have spoken to SunCool about it.

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by mrrmauu

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with having their lanai enclosed? I’m mostly interested in what it costs and was installing an A/C unit a challenge? Did you do anything with the floor? Just curious what others have done to “upgrade” the basic lanai. I was thinking of putting up a wall in the middle and have half lanai and half enclosed / air conditioned.

Recently enclosed our Lanai and I could easily give you our price but there are many considerations affecting costs, which you can easily resolve by getting several free quotes from responsible suppliers.

Here are some thoughts:

1/ Is your enclosure such that you can simply add windows or do you need carpentry?
2/ Do you have a knee wall or will windows be floor to ceiling?
3/ Window quality options vary greatly. Thermopane, warranty, tinting? Custom size or Standard i.e. Anderson?
4/ Do you need ceiling insulation?
5/ Are you changing inside wall finish?
6/ Is room remaining separate or do you plan to incorporate into existing house?
7/ Are you in need of outside wall electrical outlets?
8/ Window style - sliders, picture windows or some of both?
9/ Outside doors?
10/ New ceiling fans?
11/ Raising floor to house level or resurfacing?
12/ Size of room (area) and linear feet of windows required?
13/ Air conditioning part of existing house unit or separate unit?
14/ Furnishing? TV,
15/ Window coverings, Privacy, sun protection, comfort?
16/ Reason for enclosure, year-round use?
17/ Do it yourself?

Given the above, my room is 29 by 13 = 380 sq ft with 47 linear feet of windows and two outside doors. Our windows include 6 custom picture windows ~45"w by 60 "high and 2 sliders ~ the same size with two doors. Windows installed on existing Knee-wall. We had to insulate ceiling and added electrical outlets on exterior walls. Kept walls (Hardiboard), did not raise floor but retiled. Floor was $2200 for tile and install ~$6/sq ft. Went with best quality windows/thermopane and doors with warranty that even covers breakage. Cost for above except floors was about $400 per linear foot. We had another quote for lower cost windows at about $300/linear foot

Separate Mitsubishi AC Minisplit installed at about $5000. Note that we did not have to use the heating part at all this winter. Perfectly comfortable with the radiant heat coming in. Have yet to need the AC as the fan circulation is comfortable.

We can see a need for shades coming up, but have yet to pursue.

This room has become our room of choice and we are glad that we went with the higher quality.

[davem4616]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

We converted our lanai to a Florida room about 18 months ago.

The cost will vary widely depending upon how big a lanai you have and the glass panels you purchase. I am sure price is up substantially in this time.

We left our floor as is. We have not gotten a split a/c yet so far it appears out hvac can handle the space.

Did use Custom Windows they have a large showroom where you can see the possibilities.

ditto on the above...except we put tile in

we enclosed it within 4 months of moving in...makes a huge difference

get a few quotes

the exposure you have will make a difference on whether you need a split...we have an 11 foot opening leading out to the lanai and haven't needed a split. We also put sunscreens in to help keep the direct sunlight out

we used All Season Rooms 352.322.2298

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by mtdjed

Recently enclosed our Lanai and I could easily give you our price but there are many considerations affecting costs, which you can easily resolve by getting several free quotes from responsible suppliers.

Here are some thoughts:

1/ Is your enclosure such that you can simply add windows or do you need carpentry?
2/ Do you have a knee wall or will windows be floor to ceiling?
3/ Window quality options vary greatly. Thermopane, warranty, tinting? Custom size or Standard i.e. Anderson?
4/ Do you need ceiling insulation?
5/ Are you changing inside wall finish?
6/ Is room remaining separate or do you plan to incorporate into existing house?
7/ Are you in need of outside wall electrical outlets?
8/ Window style - sliders, picture windows or some of both?
9/ Outside doors?
10/ New ceiling fans?
11/ Raising floor to house level or resurfacing?
12/ Size of room (area) and linear feet of windows required?
13/ Air conditioning part of existing house unit or separate unit?
14/ Furnishing? TV,
15/ Window coverings, Privacy, sun protection, comfort?
16/ Reason for enclosure, year-round use?
17/ Do it yourself?

Given the above, my room is 29 by 13 = 380 sq ft with 47 linear feet of windows and two outside doors. Our windows include 6 custom picture windows ~45"w by 60 "high and 2 sliders ~ the same size with two doors. Windows installed on existing Knee-wall. We had to insulate ceiling and added electrical outlets on exterior walls. Kept walls (Hardiboard), did not raise floor but retiled. Floor was $2200 for tile and install ~$6/sq ft. Went with best quality windows/thermopane and doors with warranty that even covers breakage. Cost for above except floors was about $400 per linear foot. We had another quote for lower cost windows at about $300/linear foot

Separate Mitsubishi AC Minisplit installed at about $5000. Note that we did not have to use the heating part at all this winter. Perfectly comfortable with the radiant heat coming in. Have yet to need the AC as the fan circulation is comfortable.

We can see a need for shades coming up, but have yet to pursue.

This room has become our room of choice and we are glad that we went with the higher quality.

Interesting. $400 a linear foot for sliders seems very high. I got several quotes on double pane glass last summer and it was about half that. Definitely agree you want to do it right.

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by mrrmauu

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with having their lanai enclosed? I’m mostly interested in what it costs and was installing an A/C unit a challenge? Did you do anything with the floor? Just curious what others have done to “upgrade” the basic lanai. I was thinking of putting up a wall in the middle and have half lanai and half enclosed / air conditioned.

[QUOTE=Packer Fan;2070951]Interesting. $400 a linear foot for sliders seems very high. I got several quotes on double pane glass last summer and it was about half that. Definitely agree you want to do it right.[/QUOT\\

Price is high but included electrical work, insulation of ceiling, framing and installation. Just trying to show some cost reference. It is what it is.

[Stu from NYC]

[QUOTE=mtdjed;2070959]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Interesting. $400 a linear foot for sliders seems very high. I got several quotes on double pane glass last summer and it was about half that. Definitely agree you want to do it right.[/QUOT\\

Price is high but included electrical work, insulation of ceiling, framing and installation. Just trying to show some cost reference. It is what it is.

So many variables putting in what we paid would be meaningless/

[patfla06]

We enclosed our lanai in 2016 so the prices would be useless now.
Before we even moved in we tiled the floor.

Custom Windows did the sliding doors and never had a problem.
Daniels Heating & Cooling installed the Mitsubishi mini split, a 2 ton unit.
We used the heat this Winter as it was unusually cold. Daniels was
more competitive in price. Had insulation added to lanai attic.

We now use the lanai year round and it’s so much cleaner.

It is the best thing we’ve done to our home.

[Sensei]

a number of years ago we realized the screened lanai was hot, humid, horribly dirty, and rarely used. We enclosed...we went full-bore and are fully delighted using the "new" room many hours of every day. Raised the floor, tiled the floor, installed electrical outlets, raised the outside walls two blocks high. Installed two large slider windows and four fixed, new doors, extended the walls to fully cover the stacked sliders then enclosed them in removable panels. Covered the threshold rails of the sliders with removable panels. Had a split air unit installed by a cut-rate firm. Had the split air unit reinstalled properly by M&S Air Conditioning. Entire project was pricey. Entire project ENTIRELY worth it.
john

[VillagerNut]

I would not split the current lanai in half. The larger the lanai, the better the resale. Put glass windows so you do not have any problem with discoloration of windows down the road. Put a tint on the windows if needed. Leave the sliders from the house into the lanai so you still have that protection from weather issues. And at some point you can add a mini split at a cost of about 5K. The flooring can be either an outdoor tile or just do a driveway coat.

[Fastskiguy]

Can I ask a followup about the mini split systems? Can they be put in to direct cool air to other rooms too? For instance, our bedroom is cool in the winter and hot in the summer and it would be nice to be able to cool down the garage too. Is there a system that could cool the soon-to-be-enclosed lanai, the bedroom, and the garage or is that just completely ridiculous? Thanks

Joe

[BobbyM46]

Originally Posted by Fastskiguy

Can I ask a followup about the mini split systems? Can they be put in to direct cool air to other rooms too? For instance, our bedroom is cool in the winter and hot in the summer and it would be nice to be able to cool down the garage too. Is there a system that could cool the soon-to-be-enclosed lanai, the bedroom, and the garage or is that just completely ridiculous? Thanks

Joe

Joe, Yes you can add individual units to different rooms using an upgraded outside unit. Mitsubishi does offer this type of setup. It is called a multi system operation. May be a little pricey but is doable.

[skippy05]

I got quotes from real AC companies for Mini split AC installation in my sunroom. Quotes were 5k, 7k range. Instead, I went on Facebook Market Place and searched for "mini split". On there you find a lots of guys doing it for a living on the side out of the trunk of their car. They provided the new mini split and labor and it was 2300 total. I did not worry about stupid electrical permits or inspections or approvals and paid them in cash. It worked out perfectly. Further advice: Custom Windows of Leesburg is TERRIBLE service and workman ship. I used them for my glass and had to withhold money in order to leverage them to come back several trips to fix their terrible work.