It’s been a while since I’ve done a piece on costs or updated any of the screen enclosure cost pieces on this website. And well since they were published costs have gone up radically, so in this post the numbers will be much higher than in other posts, but they are accurate.
In this post we’ll be coving the cost for a screen enclosure with aluminum solid roof as is typical for many homes in Florida.
12×24 Screen Enclosure With Solid Roof Cost Example
For this post we’ll be speaking mostly in context of 12’x24′ screen room. This is a pretty common size that allows for flexibility in use. We’ll be providing rough square footage costs so you can do your own approximate estimating.
Permitting: $2000
Concrete with basic texture: $6,048
Composite Roofing: $7,436
Screen Wall Structure: $5,200.
Project Total For 12’x24′: $20,684
We’ll break this down.
Let’s start with the permit.
A screen enclosure is considered a permanent structure and subject to all building codes and zoning ordinances. To permit the structure, engineered plans signed by a licensed engineer will need to be done certifying the design to meet the building code. In many places a survey and siteplan will also need to occur. Engineering for even a small structure will cost at least $500 to the contractor, and permitting fees / inspection fees will typically be about $500. Do note permit fees may be relatively low, but some building departments add-on additional fees to inspect it. Then there is the contractors service to prepare and process the permit which is tedious and requires more ‘management’ than you would expect. All-in I would expect permitting to cost about $2,000.
On to the concrete.
A screen enclosure with aluminum roof will require a concrete footer. 8″ x 8″ is the standard size footer. The area will need to be excavated and leveled with the footers dug out. Rebar will be set in place, then inspected. Finally concrete will be poured.
Small concrete patios are often more expensive than you would expect as their is high fixed cost involved. For example in most areas of Florida concrete deliveries are charged at a minimum full truck loads, so if you’re pouring a 12×24 patio you’ll only need about 50% of the concrete in the delivery, but you (or the contractor) is still charged for the full amount. Also working the concrete takes the same time wheter you have 288 sqft or 500 sqft.
For the concrete foundation you should expect to pay about $16/sqft with a minimum of $3,000 regardless of project size. At a 12×24 dimension expect $4,608 for concrete.
Standard grey concrete really isn’t what most homeowners desire for their patio flooring so it is necessary to budget for finishing. A simple texture and paint of flo-crete costs about $5/sq ft. Pavers would be about $20/sqft.
Now on to the roof.
The roof will be an aluminum composite panel which is a high density aluminum core with aluminum on the outside. This provides insulation and keeps it about cooler underneath the roof. There are thing ‘sheet-metal’ roofing available that are slightly cheaper but they are no longer used frequently to due to their quality.
Composite panel roof construction is typically about $22 / sqft. Do consider that the roof will have overhanngs on the side. So for a 12×24 screen room with a host structure (your house) on one side the roof size will be 13×26. Total for this aspect $7,436
The screen walls.
Screening on the side walls of the enclosure will be billed at a square footage rate of the walls. The square footage is calculated not from the footprint but the surface area of the sidewalls; the same as you would calculate square footage of wall paint.
The screen walls are currently costing about $10/sqft. In our 12×24 example; assume a 10′ eave height in 2′ of undertruss of roof overhang. In this example there would be 520sqft of walls. At this size a cost estimate of would be applied $5,200.