Screened in porch/sunroom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone,
Thinking of doing a screened porch and wondering what I would do in the screen porch that I wouldn’t do inside the house or outside in the sun. We had a small one in our last house and it was not used much and became a catch all for stuff as we passes into the house . Curious what others do in the area.

Sit and read outside...
Nap outside...
Eat outside...
Have a glass of wine outside...

all of the above but without being in direct sun and without having to deal with bugs

[Anonymous]

Thinking of doing a screened porch and wondering what I would do in the screen porch that I wouldn’t do inside the house or outside in the sun. We had a small one in our last house and it was not used much and became a catch all for stuff as we passes into the house . Curious what others do in the area

We just moved into a house with an 8' x 12' screened in porch off the living room. It's already turning into a space to collect strollers and snow shovels. One deterrent from using it is that the floor gets really dirty (not because we walk in there, just from dirty coming in through the screens I guess?). Like dusty/sandy but hard to sweep up. Our screens go floor to ceiling - do others have some other set up or configuration of windows/screens that help keep things clean? I can't imagine having furniture that is remotely nice or has cushions on it out there, it would get filthy!

[Anonymous]

For living space I would absolutely do a sunroom with heat/ac. You can always do casement windows that crank open when the weather is nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi Everyone,
Thinking of doing a screened porch and wondering what I would do in the screen porch that I wouldn’t do inside the house or outside in the sun. We had a small one in our last house and it was not used much and became a catch all for stuff as we passes into the house . Curious what others do in the area.

We eat meals, have coffee or wine, read the paper, knit, visit on the porch.

We have an eating area and a seating area.

We put twinkly lights up and candles in lanterns. In nice weather, it is magical after the sun sets.

Sometimes I nap on the chaise lounge on the porch.

[Anonymous]

We to did a screened in porch (60K) and I will say, it really made the back of the house very dark. I'm considering putting in skylights to help with the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We to did a screened in porch (60K) and I will say, it really made the back of the house very dark. I'm considering putting in skylights to help with the problem.

NP - I'm worried about this. The sun is what makes our current deck pretty miserable during the summer, but it's also what makes our kitchen (right off the deck) nice and bright all year long. A sunroom would help with the former, but may kill the latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We to did a screened in porch (60K) and I will say, it really made the back of the house very dark. I'm considering putting in skylights to help with the problem.

NP - I'm worried about this. The sun is what makes our current deck pretty miserable during the summer, but it's also what makes our kitchen (right off the deck) nice and bright all year long. A sunroom would help with the former, but may kill the latter.

Yea, no matter what our kitchen and family room are dark now. We also always have to have the lights on as well. Not that we can't see, we just need the lights on because it is dim. Not sure I would do it again, because when it is hot in the summer, it is hot. No matter if you have a porch or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We to did a screened in porch (60K) and I will say, it really made the back of the house very dark. I'm considering putting in skylights to help with the problem.

NP - I'm worried about this. The sun is what makes our current deck pretty miserable during the summer, but it's also what makes our kitchen (right off the deck) nice and bright all year long. A sunroom would help with the former, but may kill the latter.

The back of our house gets full sun and we added a screened in porch. We put in a large sliding glass door and we have noticed the living room is a little brighter than it use to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also just did a screened in porch for $45k. It's smaller (~12x20) due to some lot constraints but we used a higher-end contractor - floor is trex and we also have infrared heaters. They built a small patio too. The screened in porch was actually probably $38k and the patio another $7k. DH wanted to do the patio himself but in the end we decided to pay a little more let them do everything all at once. We love it. - The heaters have allowed us to use it already and I worked from home in the screened in porch a couple times during the warm days in February.

What builder did you use?

[Anonymous]

If you did your self probably 3-5k. If you hire someone probably 30k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thinking of doing a screened porch and wondering what I would do in the screen porch that I wouldn’t do inside the house or outside in the sun. We had a small one in our last house and it was not used much and became a catch all for stuff as we passes into the house . Curious what others do in the area

We just moved into a house with an 8' x 12' screened in porch off the living room. It's already turning into a space to collect strollers and snow shovels. One deterrent from using it is that the floor gets really dirty (not because we walk in there, just from dirty coming in through the screens I guess?). Like dusty/sandy but hard to sweep up. Our screens go floor to ceiling - do others have some other set up or configuration of windows/screens that help keep things clean? I can't imagine having furniture that is remotely nice or has cushions on it out there, it would get filthy!

I set my Roomba out there to work on the floors. Pollen is our biggest issue in the spring.

[Anonymous]

I would say definitely put heat (under the floors or hanging) and a fan if you're going to bother to build one. I think room-y furniture makes a big difference. A sofa, rug, lamps, pillows, etc. Outdoor fabrics and furniture have come so far. Pollen (particularly those f*ing oaks) would be annoying but c'est la vie. Vacuum, wipe, voila.