How We Constructed a Screen Room

Florida Screen Room Project Underway

Sharing Our Project - Construction of a Screened Lanai in Florida

Recently, we hired a company to construct a large screen room of about 2,000 square feet. People use these outdoor living spaces a lot in Florida. Many have a pool or a hot tub. Even without one of those, it's best to get the largest space you can afford. Winters in Florida are mild enough to spend your days outside quite a bit of the time.

We had a previous screen room that we had torn down and the surface of pavers removed. They put down easy-care concrete with special cooling properties. Then they built a new structure, a large screen room.

For us, it provides space to entertain all our neighbors or to host visitors who come to see us in the winter. We have a hot tub, but our screen room will also serve as an outdoor kitchen, our regular dining area, a place to lounge by the lake or to watch the wildlife.

Here's the process we went through to get this new screen room.

You Can See the First Part of the Project (Removing the Old Screen Room and Replacing the Pavers with Concrete)

• Replacing Pavers With Concrete
  What's involved with taking out a patio of pavers and replacing it with concrete? Here's our project which shows the steps.

The Screen Room in the First Stage

This Video of a Smaller Screen Room Under Construction Shows the Steps)

Some of the Steps in a Screen Room Project

• Decide on the size and shape you want
• Ask friends, family, neighbors for recommendations of companies
• Check reviews at the Better Business Bureau and online review sites like Yelp.
• Get proposals from various construction companies that specialize in screen rooms
• Review the proposals and prices, choose a company
• Get architectural approval from your community (if necessary) and building permits from local government
• Have landscaping and irrigation system removed from the area where the screen room will be
• Have termite treatment done before the base is put down
• Construction begins
• Check for any issues before giving final approval on the finished project

The Workers Team Up to Get the Pieces into Place

Are You Planning a Screen Room?

Putting Up the Roof Sections

We Are Quite Happy with the New Screen Room

Many thanks to MD Construction of Winter Haven for their careful and precise work. Their workers were meticulous and put in a full day's work, sometimes staying until dark to finish.

There were some delays due to thunderstorms and heavy rain, but that is unavoidable in Florida in the summer. If you construct your screen room during the winter, you won't have that issue.

Screen Room Under Construction

Two Months after Construction of the Screen Room, Along Came Hurricane Irma

Our screen room came through in good shape with no lost screen sections. Our area of Florida had the eye go right over us on its way to Orlando. We had winds of 70 and 80 mph with gusts up to 100 mph.

Some neighbors with 10-year-old screen rooms did lose some screening which isn't too surprising as the screens and splines holding it in weaken over time. At least that's what I've been told.

The Finished Screen Room

Making Use of All That Space

I like to garden so I grow various flowering plants in containers. It's rare for Central Florida to get a hard freeze and the mild winters let me grow many ornamentals inside the screen room.

We've made wonderful friends right on our street so the screen room will be spacious enough to host some fun neighborhood parties. There's room to set up a number of tables so everyone can sit down to eat and chat.

On a daily basis, we like to eat outside whenever it's not too hot or too cold. Ceiling fans over the dining area offset some of that Florida humidity. After dinner, it's relaxing to stretch out on the deck chairs and gaze at the lake and the wildlife.

Look at the Wonderful Outdoor Living Space the Screen Room Provides

Questions & Answers

Question: Will a screen room stand up to Florida's hurricanes?

Answer: When constructing a screen room in Florida, the local building codes dictate that it must be able to withstand certain speed of winds. It varies with the locale. Because we are away from the coast, ours was built to withstand 140 mph winds.

© 2017 Virginia Allain

Jackie Lynnley from the beautiful south on September 02, 2017:

Wow, I bet you are the envy of just everyone! Beautiful.

kimbesa from USA on September 02, 2017:

That will be a wonderful addition to a relaxing Florida home!