Screen enclosure or rear "outdoor" room additions? (Jacksonville: rent, HOA)

[dmb1529]

I just bought a single famly residence (no pool) in Rock Creek, Cooper City, and move in late July or early August. I want to add a large screen enclosure room with windows, door and roof or a "family room" addition behind the house in the patio area. Any ideas on design, anti-hurricane construction, state grants or contractors for this? I like the Four Seasons rooms but I bet that these are more expensive than a generic custom addition done by a local contractor. My price range is $10,000 to $30,000 depending on what is done. I do not want a "sun room" that gets hot..my desire is to stay cool and keep the mosquitoes/bugs/rodents out in addition to weather protection.
I realize that I have to conform with my HOA, city and county codes and regulations/setbacks. thank you.

[runswithscissors]

I have no first hand experience in this but a screened porch is a priority of mine when I buy, so I pay attention to all the "additions" that I've seen in counties from Indian River through Broward.

I haven't seen much of the "Four Season" type construction in Fl. First, I'm sure it's not recommended because of hurricanes. The porches/patios are high risk. The Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2005 alone was a significant weather year. There were 27 named storms, 15 were hurricanes, exceeding the 1969 record of 12 and 7 were major hurricanes, not just the famous Katrina. Of the 7, an unprecedented 4 reached cat 5 status. About 8 of them hit the US in some form that year. (footnote NCDC: Climate of 2005: Atlantic Hurricane Season Summary)

Not all of this activity would have affected you of course, but my son was living in Tamarac at the time and spent several storms at the Marriott before Wilma and Rita (GF's employer perk and requirement for them to stay there), and had to hold his mattress against his living room door for 6 hours during Wilma or Rita (I forget which one), the one time he stayed home.

I see mostly screened enclosures or just regular rooms like part of the house added on. And living with and replacing a simple screen addition is much easier and tolerable than rebuilding a Fours Seasons maybe. I realize that might not be what you're looking for though.

I'm not following what you're exactly looking for. Are you talking about an addition that is more of a room built with block or frame with windows? Meaning mostly not glass?

A Four Seasons type room is not going to be cool in So Fl. no matter what, IMO, with all that glass. Even with Low E windows, tint and screens. Glass, windows and cool are mutually exclusive LOL.

I'd also say that price shopping or "generic" might not be the best end result for you since the room might end up unusable if you don't incorporate heat reduction methods. Conversely, making a 30,000 investment in a "room" that is likely to be destroyed might be another not so great idea. Not to mention the huge metal posts turning into projectiles LOL.

Remember the UV index in FL is very extreme and you will have to protect yourself and family from the rays even if you air conditioned the room. 3M window tint will provide 99% filter of UVA and UVB and 77% (going from memory) of the heat. I tinted my windows and it's great but using the darkest tint makes the room "shady" . You cannot feel the extreme heat putting your hand on the glass. My two small birds living here actually thought that it was bedtime at 5:30 when the guy left and they always go at 7:30 (their bodies are regulated by a sensor in the brain)...that confirmed for me that it's a true thing about the UVA and UVB you can't fool a bird's brain lol. I'm glad I only put it on the East and West facing two windows I have.

If you google it you can read about it, there's even an example of a guy out west who built his entire giant house incorporating 3M tint, the entire house was glass windows overlooking a beautiful desert mountain view.

I might be completely off base with the hurricane resistance of a Four Season's room but I'd call them and ask about it. Then at least you have a benchmark to compare all the others to, like why they say it's hurricane resistant etc so you can understand the requirements for some kind of success.

I would go with a regular house addition .... concrete and hurricane resistant large windows with screens (or several patio sized doors you can open up WIDE)...OR a screened enclosure for a cool 5,000 or so...easy to replace but no heat resistance of course. Hurricane resistant windows will add lots of value to your home for resale too. I've seen alot of panoramic windows (hurricane resistant) on HGTV shows in Miami with high end spenders who won't sacrifice the view even for a hurricane. A spendy concept but probably do-able but not economically and I would never just assume a generic local contractor would suffice. I'd call high end architects too for referrals for contractors.

[fauve]

We found the least expensive way to do this with the most bang for the buck was to have a 15x30 tiki hut built on an existing deck and then had that screened in. Total price: $6,000 - So far so good as far as hurricanes.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by fauve

We found the least expensive way to do this with the most bang for the buck was to have a 15x30 tiki hut built on an existing deck and then had that screened in. Total price: $6,000 - So far so good as far as hurricanes.

Can you post a pic? Great idea...

[taylorsmom]

I'd like to see a picture of that tiki hut, too. Sounds really cool!

[fauve]

file:///C:/Users/Me/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-5.jpg (broken link)


file:///C:/Users/Me/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.jpg (broken link)file:///C:/Users/Me/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-4.jpg (broken link)
file:///C:/Users/Me/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-6.jpg (broken link)file:///C:/Users/Me/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-7.jpg (broken link)

[taylorsmom]

Wow!!! That's very cool....I love it, very tropical and fun. Thanks for posting the pictures.

[dmb1529]

Where did you buy the Tiki Hut? What is the life expectancy of the roof? Some neighbors in Cape Coral (where I have lived) complain about Tiki Huts because of roof deterioration, later appearance and debris blown off the roof. Have you had any problems with the Tiki Hut? Do you know of the hut's expected ability to withstand storms? I might be interested in the Tiki Hut or something similar..if anyone knows of another type of roof and enclosure, please post it here.
I posted the original message in this thread and I thank everyone who replied. I am moving to Cooper City now from Cape Coral, FL.and this Forum's message opinions on hurricanes regarding the type of outdoor structures are accurate. Statistically, the hurricane probability for the area near Cape Coral/Fort Myers and Jacksonville have the lowest "hurricane hit" probability in the entire state. Perhaps that is one reason I never had any problems in Cape Coral with a home that had a huge cathedral designed roofless screen enclosure 1 1/2 stories high around a large pool, recreation area and spa. Note: I am not saying that others in Cape Coral never had a damaged screen enclosure because there have been many. I do expect more damage in Cooper City because the hurricane probability is much higher there than in Cape Coral.
However, I want to add a room that has a roof (for shade and to shield from the weather) with either all screen side walls OR side walls with sliding windows/door and a semi-permanent side wall. I am only trying to stay cool/protected and I am not worried about getting heat in the room. I will consider an actual room addition but I think the city, HOA and county codes might prevent me from constructing a room that is very large. Right now, though, there is an existing patio with a Mexican tile ground cover that is perhaps 10 X 8 feet or larger next to a sliding door from the house.
Please post some more reactions on this topic...I want to have the addition in a month or two...Does anyone think I should wait until mid-November to avoid a potential hurricane or severe storm? thank you again for your valuable input.

[dmb1529]

here are some photos of three sided, add-on, screen rooms with windows and a door, flat roof.
TEMO Sunrooms - Sunroom Design: Studio or Shed Roof
file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dolores/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-12.jpg (broken link)file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dolores/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-13.jpg (broken link)
file:///D:/AAAcondos/studio_int_109.jpg (broken link)

file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dolores/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-10.jpg (broken link)file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dolores/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-11.jpg (broken link)

[runswithscissors]

You may be putting the cart before the horse if you're in an HOA. What do the other neighbors have? or is it new construction?

The HOA docs probably say approvals on an individual case basis. But if your patio is 10x8 I'm going to guess that if they allow anything, it'll start with a simple screened porch. The classic type that you see with the thinner metal beams and one exit door if the patio is next to a house wall. so that one of the walls of the house are contiguous to the patio. If your patio is just sitting there with no walls at all they may not allow anything, it's hard to guess.

Sometimes you see a bumped out full 4 sided screened enclosure beyond the patio and frequently in attached villas if they permit it at all.

Where I rent in Vero there are a couple of streets that are the villa attached type and one person has that. (it's sorta ugly to tell you the truth lol the whole house is yellow, clay spanish style with this white metal frame poking out).......

But a screened enclosure is my number one priority in a house so I understand it. I also like the tall birdcage type enclosures but I live with two small birds so maybe I'm prejudiced LOL.

But the HOA is the number one thing you need to check. You have to submit a detailed plan and it has to be approved by the committee(s) and they can take awhile. And you may have to revamp your original several times if it's not standard. So before you get all jazzed up planning something great I'd say have a conversation with the board to find out what is most likely to be approved. They won't keep it a secret ha ha.

If you are in an HOA I'd say forget about Tiki. I love it but I'm totally sure it's not going to fly in an HOA. And probably if you were next to me I'd object too (even though I love them).

I also believe that the enclosure that you showed in the link will not be permitted. This would significantly change the look of your home from all the other homes which is what the HOA is trying to avoid. Also I still believe that the construction would cause projectile missles to be hurled around the neighborhood in a hurricane, causing further damage to your home and others. Which, although I really don't know, but I would think that the reason you see so many "lighter weight" beams on the standard screened porches is for that reason.

My screened porch is like that and the horizontal beams are about 2x2 and all the beams are heavily screwed into the concrete walls on three sides and a roof, and into a pillar on the fourth corner. But it's a given that you will likely have a trashed screened porch in a bad hurricane so the smaller dimensions mitigate some of the damage.

Speculating isn't helping you though lol, start with the HOA imo.

And yes, I'd wait until after the storm season. Unless it's a small investment that you won't mind replacing, don't forget to consider your hurricane deductable anyway....if all you were to lose was the porch, you'd likely be paying out of pocket to fix it. Or at least a major part of it. I was told the larger birdcage tall screened enclosures (that I like that you see over pools etc) run about 5,000.