What are the current trends in screenroom and patio design?

Right now, screenrooms are the most popular, along with pool enclosures. Glass rooms and sunrooms have fallen off.

Back during the boom, when people had more money than they knew what to do with, people would take a second mortgage out on their house and add a sunroom for $35,000. But the days when every homeowner was putting an extra room on the back of their house are gone.

Things have changed quite a bit. Right now, most people are tending to fix what they have. Repair it, refurbish it and keep it going. I recently rescreened an enclosure that was probably 16 years old. They could have replaced it, but they elected to hold onto it for a few more years.

What options do I have for my enclosure?



There are options between a glass room and screenroom. You can put in acrylic or vinyl windows. That will make the room warmer, but it gives you a room you can still use in winter. The windows will keep out driving rain. Some people like to put down carpets, but you need to be careful, because rain will still tend to leak in.

When is the best time of to have a screenroom or patio built?

We can work all the year around, so there's no one time that's better than another to have a screenroom or patio built. It's never cold enough not to work. You should give your contractor at least a month from start to finish for this kind of job. You have to work on the engineering, do drawings and get permits.

Is there anything else I should consider before getting a screenroom?

You need to think about the ceiling fans ahead of time if you're getting a screenroom. The roofs now are a composite roof - aluminum skin with three inches of insulation. The ceiling fan beams have become really important. There's no physical beam you can see through the room. You have to know you want the fan beams prior to me ordering it. It's not something you can go back and add later.