A few questions about houses in Florida

[luvflorida]

If a house has a screened-in lanai, is that counted in the square footage of the house?

For anyone that has a screened-in lanai, how many months of the year do you use it?





Thanks!

 

[dish rag]

It is not counted.

Use it here and there.

 

[longboard55]

side question, when we drive from the airport to WDW, everyone has a bug screen, but WDW seems to be bugless. How do they do it, or is it one of those better to not know how they do it things.

 

[dish rag]

side question, when we drive from the airport to WDW, everyone has a bug screen, but WDW seems to be bugless. How do they do it, or is it one of those better to not know how they do it things.

The thing my pool screen does is keep leaves out and dirt. The bug problem in Florida is really over rated on the Dis. The mosquitos are worse in Ontario than they are in the central Florida suburbs. Imo.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

side question, when we drive from the airport to WDW, everyone has a bug screen, but WDW seems to be bugless. How do they do it, or is it one of those better to not know how they do it things.

I have family that moved to Florida and they told me that whole neighborhoods were essentially bug-bombed. They had trucks that would come maybe once a month and gas the neighborhood to keep the creepy-crawlies at bay. Possibly Disney does this as well?

 

[NotUrsula]

Pool screens are not meant to keep out mosquitoes, the mesh isn't small enough. They are meant to keep out leaf debris and larger critters than the average no-see-um.

Yes, of course WDW sprays with truck foggers; that's standard in any sub-tropical climate jurisdiction that has the cash to pay for it. It's done by health depts as part of Vector Control. They also treat all standing water, which is where mosquitos breed.

OP, if you have questions re: the Ocala area, ask those in a separate thread; the title of this one seems to be asking about architecture, so you are unlikely to get anyone who is specific to Ocala. (FWIW, having driven through Ocala a number of times, I can tell you that these days it is the equestrian capital of Florida. Lots of stables there. Marion County is very heavily agricultural.)

 

[luvflorida]

OP, if you have questions re: the Ocala area, ask those in a separate thread; the title of this one seems to be asking about architecture, so you are unlikely to get anyone who is specific to Ocala. (FWIW, having driven through Ocala a number of times, I can tell you that these days it is the equestrian capital of Florida. Lots of stables there. Marion County is very heavily agricultural.)

Yes, thank you! I added it as an afterthought. However, I've since done some research and have decided Ocala doesn't seem like a good fit! Looking more at Clermont and surrounding towns.

 

[luvavacation]

We live near Clermont, and use our screened in pool deck all year round!

In the swimming season, it keeps out the bugs, debris, etc., and our pool is much easier to keep clean than the pool we had up north.

In the cooler months, we eat outside, with no bug problem at all, and nice cool weather. I send pictures to my friends in the snow of our relaxing outdoor meals in January. They send me pictures of lovely fall leaves while I am still sweating in October, so I guess it's all fair!

The one problem I do have with the screened in area is that the spiders inhabit the upper beams of the structure. I can't reach those beams to clean them, even with my power washer, and am considering having a pool company come out and remove all the spiders. I know they serve a purpose, but I rather they serve their purpose outside of the screen (and outside of my house!)!

If you have dogs that want to chase squirrels that use the screen for a ramp from tree to tree (or cats that like to climb screens as they hunt the lizards on the other side of the screen), invest in the pet proof screening. It will be worth it in the long run. Also, the screened area will be a little bit darker than the outside area. This may or may not be a compromise that one would appreciate.

 

[luvflorida]

We live near Clermont, and use our screened in pool deck all year round!

In the swimming season, it keeps out the bugs, debris, etc., and our pool is much easier to keep clean than the pool we had up north.

In the cooler months, we eat outside, with no bug problem at all, and nice cool weather. I send pictures to my friends in the snow of our relaxing outdoor meals in January. They send me pictures of lovely fall leaves while I am still sweating in October, so I guess it's all fair!

The one problem I do have with the screened in area is that the spiders inhabit the upper beams of the structure. I can't reach those beams to clean them, even with my power washer, and am considering having a pool company come out and remove all the spiders. I know they serve a purpose, but I rather they serve their purpose outside of the screen (and outside of my house!)!

If you have dogs that want to chase squirrels that use the screen for a ramp from tree to tree (or cats that like to climb screens as they hunt the lizards on the other side of the screen), invest in the pet proof screening. It will be worth it in the long run. Also, the screened area will be a little bit darker than the outside area. This may or may not be a compromise that one would appreciate.

Thank you so much for all this info! It's very helpful! We're living in the Phoenix area and I can't for the life of me understand why nobody out here screens in their pools. It wouldn't keep out the dirt from the dust storms during the monsoons, but it would keep leaves, lizards and other similar things out of the pool. And almost every house has a patio with a roof over it, but again, nobody screens them in. We have a 10'x20' patio that we did screen in and we love it. Too hot to use it much in the summer months, but the rest of the year, it's lovely! We have a corner lot surrounded by trees, so we do get a lot of leaves and such in our pool.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We use ours daily year round, but we live in far SW Florida. The screening on our pool cage was destroyed after Hurricane Irma (we are located where the eye made landfall on the SW Coast), but it was original and probably needed to be replaced anyway. We don't have problem with bugs, but the plants we have on the lanai still get aphids from time to time (I use Horticultural soap to kill them). We don't usually get no-see-ums on the lanai, but we get them on the beach. While the cage screening was gone, we got lizards, bugs, all sorts of things in the pool area. But since it was replaced, it's pretty good. We have a ceiling fan on the ceiling of the lanai. We do have a pool cover and pool heater that we use during the cooler months, but it usually doesn't get much cooler than 50 or so in the dead of winter. We do use the pool during the winter with the pool heater since it heats the water to about 80 degrees. The cover helps keep it warm during the night.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Random question, is lanai a regional term? I’d legitimately never heard it (like had to look it up) before seeing it used quite commonly on the Dis. I’ve lived in the Midwest (Great Lakes midwest), East Coast, the South, and Florida and only ever heard porch, deck, or verandah from anybody in real life.

 

[wgeo]

We use ours daily year round, but we live in far SW Florida. The screening on our pool cage was destroyed after Hurricane Irma (we are located where the eye made landfall on the SW Coast), but it was original and probably needed to be replaced anyway. We don't have problem with bugs, but the plants we have on the lanai still get aphids from time to time (I use Horticultural soap to kill them). We don't usually get no-see-ums on the lanai, but we get them on the beach. While the cage screening was gone, we got lizards, bugs, all sorts of things in the pool area. But since it was replaced, it's pretty good. We have a ceiling fan on the ceiling of the lanai. We do have a pool cover and pool heater that we use during the cooler months, but it usually doesn't get much cooler than 50 or so in the dead of winter. We do use the pool during the winter with the pool heater since it heats the water to about 80 degrees. The cover helps keep it warm during the night.

We are in the same geographic area as you and have a very similar set up. Our lanai is covered and has a couple of ceiling fans on it making it very comfortable to use year round. The pool has a cage over it and I didn't realize how good it was until we lost a few sections to Irma - man the amount of debris that fell into the pool was incredible. I will say that we do still get lizards on the inside sometimes because one of the cage doors is often left open for the dog.

As someone mentioned earlier the lanai isn't counted in the square footage, but at least for us it really is a frequently used extension of the house. We have sliding doors to the pool area and for most of the "winter" months they are left pushed wide open all day.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are in the same geographic area as you and have a very similar set up. Our lanai is covered and has a couple of ceiling fans on it making it very comfortable to use year round. The pool has a cage over it and I didn't realize how good it was until we lost a few sections to Irma - man the amount of debris that fell into the pool was incredible. I will say that we do still get lizards on the inside sometimes because one of the cage doors is often left open for the dog.

As someone mentioned earlier the lanai isn't counted in the square footage, but at least for us it really is a frequently used extension of the house. We have sliding doors to the pool area and for most of the "winter" months they are left pushed wide open all day.

Our door to the outside is always latched (one of our dogs can be a wanderer). But my two cats adore going out on the lanai. One is a cat who has never been outside and he thinks it's just another room of the house with the plants, furniture, etc. The other was a rescue who was found outside and he loves to sneak outside. With the lanai, he can go out and not get lost like he did last year before we moved. He knows he is outside and loves it.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Random question, is lanai a regional term? I’d legitimately never heard it (like had to look it up) before seeing it used quite commonly on the Dis. I’ve lived in the Midwest (Great Lakes midwest), East Coast, the South, and Florida and only ever heard porch, deck, or verandah from anybody in real life.

Yep, pretty much. We moved from Louisiana and had a large deck/patio outside our house. Here, it's definitely called a lanai, whether it is covered with a pool cage or not.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Random question, is lanai a regional term? I’d legitimately never heard it (like had to look it up) before seeing it used quite commonly on the Dis. I’ve lived in the Midwest (Great Lakes midwest), East Coast, the South, and Florida and only ever heard porch, deck, or verandah from anybody in real life.

I guess you’ve never watched The Golden Girls? The girls were always hanging out on the lanai.

It’s an Hawaiian word for porch or veranda (according to the dictionary) and it’s kind of silly to use it here on the mainland. I guess it sounds more exotic or upscale than saying my patio.

 

[OKW Lover]

If a house has a screened-in lanai, is that counted in the square footage of the house?

For anyone that has a screened-in lanai, how many months of the year do you use it?

Thanks!

We live just a couple of miles from the Castle. We use our screened in lanai fairly often. Not every day but a few times a week. In the summer we are enjoying our pool and in the shoulder and winter months we often eat out there.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Yep, pretty much. We moved from Louisiana and had a large deck/patio outside our house. Here, it's definitely called a lanai, whether it is covered with a pool cage or not.

Where is here if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Where is here if you don’t mind me asking?

Marco Island, near Naples.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Marco Island, near Naples.

Interesting! I guess it’s even regional to parts of Florida, I’ve been here 10+ years and never heard it.

 

[portocall]

I was born and raised in Florida and most of my family still lives there. We have always called it a screened porch and used it year round. I had never heard it called a lanai until about twenty years ago. Most people called it a patio or porch. It could have been a New York thing since that is where my family came from and same for most of my neighbors.

As a kid I loved it because it was a great place to play while the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in during the summer. In the fall, spring, and winter (when the weather wasn't so hot) we would take our meals out there. We never had our pool inside the screened area though.