Screened in deck vs 3 season room....give me the good and bad

[Ottakee]

After 2 days and about a foot of new snow we have sun.  That has me thinking of spring.  My deck is going to need some work.   That got me thinking of doing a screened covered deck or possibly a 3 season room.

It is a smaller deck, about 12*14 or so.  I love to sit outside but don't like the bugs.  We are in West Michigan so we do get snow and cold.

Give me the pros and cons, things to think about, and any input on costs.  I would want it done right but don't need fancy.

[AngieW in Texas]

Personally, I would rather have a screened-in deck. I don't need more interior space.

A screened-in deck would be a place where the dogs and I could be outside but not getting rained out. The screening would keep us from getting eaten alive by the mosquitos.

It would also act as kind of a buffer area for dogs to get mud off of their feet before coming into the house.

I really miss having a covered porch. My last house had a wraparound porch and this house (16 years now) doesn't have any covered area in the backyard at all.

[Mbelle]

if you got screens, later on you could the clear porch shades and a gas heater to extend the amount of time you can use the deck.

https://www.tarpsnow.com/clear-vinyl-porch-curtains.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmZDxBRDIARIsABnkbYSMFqU-WlFpswPwiA1OpO_xoqBU1I6fFt9ncpr9njxR1qfdJeljv4kaAoWCEALw_wcB

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-48000-BTU-Stainless-Steel-Patio-Heater-NCZH-G-SS/302563841?mtc=Shopping-VF-F_Vendor-G-D28I-28_26_PATIO_FURNITURE-MULTI-NA-Feed-LIA-NA-NA-SHP&cm_mmc=Shopping-VF-F_Vendor-G-D28I-28_26_PATIO_FURNITURE-MULTI-NA-Feed-LIA-NA-NA-SHP-71700000052543511-58700005046030172-92700044087835651&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmZDxBRDIARIsABnkbYRNrpPVq6ZgAooi0EsN7Hus3HAloEcSPgtRLl7qhlEHOimfEVpayC0aAg2AEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[athena1277]

I’ll probably be the only one, but I’d rather have the 3 seasons room.  Mainly because my family deals so much with pollen and other outdoor allergies.  It would be an “almost outside room” where the pollen stays out.  

[PeterPan]

My mother has a 3 season room in northern Indiana, and the only trouble is the length of the one season where you can't use it, lol. 

[KungFuPanda]

If I had a 3 season room, I'd need another deck for being outside.  We love sitting outside.  We keep the bugs away with an oscillating fan.  An overhead fan would be even better, but our patio has no roof.  It doesn't even have to blow that hard to keep the bugs away.  I developing a bit of a plant problem, so having a sun room would be cool too, but not at the expense of outdoor seating.

[ScoutTN]

I'd choose the screened porch.

[Ottakee]

I need to figure out the costs for these things.  Not sure either will be in the budget this year but I am dreaming 

[mom@shiloh]

I've had both, but in different houses. I'd vote for the screened porch if you have plenty of interior space to gather during the winter months. The house where I had a 3 season room was small, so we used the room often in the winter with some auxiliary heating. I had both a living room and a family room in the house with the screened porch, so we really didn't have a great need for another gathering area and I liked the feeling of being outdoors, but protected from bugs in nice weather. 

[Pawz4me]

We have a so called three season room. I say "so called" because the term makes no sense here. Our summers are hot enough that it's frequently way too hot to use it (or at least to use it economically--read on for more on that), and our winters are mild enough that it's usable for parts of the winter. Ours has its own dual heating/cooling unit. DH loves the room and uses it daily unless it's really very hot or very cold. He doesn't mind paying the electricity bill to keep it comfy. I don't like the room at all. I've never been able to completely put my finger on the reasons why. It's a nice space. I just . . . don't like it. I'd much rather have a covered porch. So much so that I got some estimates on converting it, but the estimates are so high that it really doesn't make sense.

The extra heated/cooled space does come in handy when we have people over (although that's rare for us). Our house is arranged such that our living room, dining room and the three season room sort of flow together, so we can have people spread out but still mill around and mingle easily.

[MEmama]

We have an attached glassed in 3 season porch that I use as much of the year as possible (May/June- early October). The cats love it out there and will occasionally even go out in winter for short periods.

Our deck is uncovered and so basically useless to us. Between the weather and the bugs, it’s an uncomfortable place to hang out. We would love to screen it in (or, like you, glass it in) but I doubt we’d have proper zoning. Glassing it in would be ideal for us as it would extend the useable season. 

[PrincessMommy]

I have a 3 season sunroom which we have converted into a 4 season room.   I really enjoy having the extra space when I want it.  We put in a gas stove and we have a window air conditioner we put in for the summer (it's hot and muggy here in the summer).    Its part of the house (set up with a large dining table and couch/chairs) but the heating/air conditioning is separate.  Of course, yours would be smaller and it would be quicker to heat.

So my negative is that since it is so big I feel like I need an excuse to heat the room up... such as a party or guests for dinner.  Otherwise, the room stays closed off.  But, I love seeing the outside.

We have friends who have a  small screened in porch.  They love it and wanted access to it in winter. So they added fold down plastic similar to what is used for outdoor wedding tents and he put in a propane heater.   He says it holds in the heat quite nicely for the hour or so a day he uses it.  He did it to see how much he'd like and use the space without spending the money required to make it a proper 3 season room first.  They may convert at a later time after saving up money, but they may find that they're happy with it the way it is.  

[Annie G]

When we lived in Illinois we considered both options you’re talking about. But in the end, I needed a place to sit in the sun on those days when it was finally starting to warm up. I needed that sunlight like nobody’s business.  During the hot summer we used the deck in the morning or evening, or at night to look at stars.  
An enclosed area would have been great but only if I still had  a nice place to sit outside and to grill. 

[katilac]

Unless desperate for space, I'd want the screened in deck. We have a patio with roof but no screen, and we use it all the time (even though we live in the land of heat, humidity, and mosquitos). We do have those roll down fabric screens to block the sun when needed and a big fan for air circulation. Table and chairs. Oh, and a stove for cooking outside when it's hot, I love that as well! We bought it used for $150 and use propane. 

We're inside more than enough, I'd much rather a comfy outdoor space over more inside space (although that would not be amiss either). 

[J-rap]

I'd choose a screened-in porch.  To me, a three-season porch is mostly just a family room with extra big windows.  A screened-in porch, on the other hand, is almost like being outside.  We had three screened-in porches at our last home.  We loved them and spent all the time we could on them when the weather was warm enough -- ate our meals out there, etc.  We could even be out there when it was raining, as long as it wasn't storming.  And there's no way we could just put a fan outside to keep bugs away... way too buggy here!

[Guest]

We have a large fully screened porch, which I really like. So do the cats. We do a lot of our homeschool group stuff out there except during the winter. Having said that, I would love to have a "Florida Room", with the windows all the way around that can be opened, but also can be used as climate controlled space, but those aren't super-common here. 

[kbutton]

22 hours ago, Seasider too said:

This is how I feel - I’d really want to feel like I were outside, and the 3-season rooms I’ve seen don’t make me feel like I’m outside. 

As far as bugs, be sure you run screen under the floor boards to keep mosquitoes, etc, from drifting up through the cracks. A fan is also nice. 

If allergies are not an issue, that helps keep options open. Where I live, allergies are a big deal, but where my parents are, not as much. They are in northern PA, and they have a screened in porch. A three season room would be limited there. 

Some things they did that make their porch really nice are what Seasider said above. They also used all composite decking, lighting that can withstand weather, etc. so that they can hose it down and scrub it really well in the spring. They have plenty of outlets for lighting after dark, a screen they can put down to keep the sun out of your eyes, roof windows for extra light, etc. They love it--it becomes their dining room for probably 4-5 months of the year as they want to be out there the minute it's comfortable to be out in a jacket. They've slept outside on it with the grandkids in the summer. People stop by to sit and talk (could be good or bad according to preference). When the weather is nice, they open the house windows and the door that leads to the porch and use it like a spare room or as a way to get a good breeze going.