Anonymous
Post 01/17/2023 21:34     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:We have a screened in deck, an open deck and a stone patio. I can tell you we spend 90% of our time in the screened porch. Only time we spend significant time on the deck and stone patio is when we are having a large scale party.

As far as darkness goes we have skylights that are so bright we have electric retractable shades for the skylights.


We also have 4 skylights and walls are 10’ high so no issues with darkness. In fact, we have so much light coming in that I had to get solar shades for the screen panels. love the porch!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2023 21:23     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m hoping to hop on the screened porch train in the next couple of years! We have a large deck the previous owner put on - it’s only a few feet off the ground and I’m hoping a portion of it can be converted into a screened room though I’m sure they’ll have to improve the footers.

Here’s my question for those of you that have screen porches! Is a typical that the entrance to the screen room is from inside the house or do most of you walk onto a deck or patio area and then go in an outside door to the screen room? I feel like it would possibly be a lot cheaper to just have the screen structure built with a door we must enter from being outside already. But is that bad? Do bugs get in more and defeat purpose?
Would love some feedback on the entrance issue!


You definitely want an entrance inside your home to the porch. I go out there in my pajamas to drink coffee, or am out there while it's raining, or am coming in late at night. In none of those scenarios would I want to walk outside to access the porch.


I agree that you want an entrance directly from your house. It nice to leave the door open sometimes (cross breeze, fresh air, get house smells out, etc.). It's also handy to set food out there to cool or, in the winter, stay cold. I routinely put oven roasted brussels sprouts out there. I love them but they do smell awful right out of the oven!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2023 21:20     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:Our screen porch was torn down and a sunroom was added. I like it so much better. Screened porches have no sunlight. And everything is seen through the lense of a screen.

I’d prefer the attic with a bath. A teenager or guest would love the privacy.


No sunlight? Mine is like sitting under a shady tree - which is what you want in our weather. I don't even notice the screens.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2023 03:53     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
We have a screened in deck, an open deck and a stone patio. I can tell you we spend 90% of our time in the screened porch. Only time we spend significant time on the deck and stone patio is when we are having a large scale party.

As far as darkness goes we have skylights that are so bright we have electric retractable shades for the skylights.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 21:41     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
We've had our screened in porch for over a decade, 20 x 10. We don't have a fireplace, but we do have a 65 inch TV running off our WiFi connection, and a large dinner table and a seated area for the TV watching. Pollen sucks, but we use it 10 months a year without a heater, sometimes heated blankets.

Initially we purchased a cheap 40 inch Roku TV that lasted for 6 years until we decided to upgrade to a nicer TV. Temperatures never harmed the TV, and they were not engineered for outside, and 2nd TV is still good since start of Covid.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 21:22     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:Another perspective that won't really help you decide, OP!

We tended to not use our porch that much because of weather (and we had the heaters and a fan out there) and because of the pollen dump, twice for us--with very bad oak pollen-- just felt so tedious hosing it out, washing all the furniture covers.

On the other hand, if you had the 50K to put in those EZ windows, could save it.

On the other hand, I would want the indoor space too esp if there's an extra bath or powder room


Yep, we have a screened porch with gas fireplace and Sunspace windows, so we can use it year-round and can open and close the windows during pollen season. We have a TV over the fireplace, so we are out there all the time. It is glorious. It is possible to add Sunspace or EZ Breeze windows to an existing porch.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 21:02     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:OP your followup comment mentioning the attic has a full bathroom is a huge detail. A deck is useless in a buggy muggy climate, trust me. The question here isn’t porch vs deck but porch vs an attic bonus room with bonus full bathroom. And that IS a hard call!


OP here. I suppose you're right. We can always build a screened porch down the road. But building that attic space is virtually impossible the way they set it up (stairs going into a mainly finished loft with a full bathroom). Especially in a house we will be in for 10+ years.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 20:18     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:Our screen porch was torn down and a sunroom was added. I like it so much better. Screened porches have no sunlight. And everything is seen through the lense of a screen.

I’d prefer the attic with a bath. A teenager or guest would love the privacy.


A sunroom is inside space. The porch is outside space which I prefer.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 20:14     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
We always joke we bought a $1million porch with a house attached. We love that room.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 19:26     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Our screen porch was torn down and a sunroom was added. I like it so much better. Screened porches have no sunlight. And everything is seen through the lense of a screen.

I’d prefer the attic with a bath. A teenager or guest would love the privacy.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 19:21     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
My neighbor has the scenario where she walks outside a few steps to her porch due to another addition they had previously put on. It's weird, the only one I have ever seen like that. Definitely a con. I have the same model house and love leaving my sliding glass door open to the porch in nice weather. The dog goes out there to lay in the sun sometimes.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 19:18     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
OP your followup comment mentioning the attic has a full bathroom is a huge detail. A deck is useless in a buggy muggy climate, trust me. The question here isn’t porch vs deck but porch vs an attic bonus room with bonus full bathroom. And that IS a hard call!
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 18:21     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:I’m hoping to hop on the screened porch train in the next couple of years! We have a large deck the previous owner put on - it’s only a few feet off the ground and I’m hoping a portion of it can be converted into a screened room though I’m sure they’ll have to improve the footers.

Here’s my question for those of you that have screen porches! Is a typical that the entrance to the screen room is from inside the house or do most of you walk onto a deck or patio area and then go in an outside door to the screen room? I feel like it would possibly be a lot cheaper to just have the screen structure built with a door we must enter from being outside already. But is that bad? Do bugs get in more and defeat purpose?
Would love some feedback on the entrance issue!


You definitely want an entrance inside your home to the porch. I go out there in my pajamas to drink coffee, or am out there while it's raining, or am coming in late at night. In none of those scenarios would I want to walk outside to access the porch.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 17:32     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
Anonymous wrote:I’m hoping to hop on the screened porch train in the next couple of years! We have a large deck the previous owner put on - it’s only a few feet off the ground and I’m hoping a portion of it can be converted into a screened room though I’m sure they’ll have to improve the footers.

Here’s my question for those of you that have screen porches! Is a typical that the entrance to the screen room is from inside the house or do most of you walk onto a deck or patio area and then go in an outside door to the screen room? I feel like it would possibly be a lot cheaper to just have the screen structure built with a door we must enter from being outside already. But is that bad? Do bugs get in more and defeat purpose?
Would love some feedback on the entrance issue!


We are also in the planning process of adding a screened porch. We have considered the option you are describing - more like a free-standing porch a few feet away from the house. It would make our construction easier since we have a single story house and wouldn’t have to tie into the roof in that case. But we decided not to do it that way because we want to be able to just leave the house door open to the porch on a nice day and to not have to go through two doors when we are bringing dinner out or whatever. I don’t think it would totally defeat the purpose of the porch, but I imagine getting a little less use out of it that way.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2023 16:41     Subject: Pros and cons of a screened porch
I’m hoping to hop on the screened porch train in the next couple of years! We have a large deck the previous owner put on - it’s only a few feet off the ground and I’m hoping a portion of it can be converted into a screened room though I’m sure they’ll have to improve the footers.

Here’s my question for those of you that have screen porches! Is a typical that the entrance to the screen room is from inside the house or do most of you walk onto a deck or patio area and then go in an outside door to the screen room? I feel like it would possibly be a lot cheaper to just have the screen structure built with a door we must enter from being outside already. But is that bad? Do bugs get in more and defeat purpose?
Would love some feedback on the entrance issue!