Do you have a lot of bugs in your backyard? Only you can decide what you can put up with by your pool. Our pool would be unbearable with all the mosquitos without a cage. We also get a lot of critters in the pool without a cage so it's nice to keep them out too. Is your yard fenced in? If you tell your pool builder to pour the footers for the cage during construction, you can always skip it now add it later if you decide you need it.

I wish I could answer but we haven't even built the house yet. I'm trying though to get all my ducks in order in the beginning so we don't have too many change orders once we start building.

I like your idea of pouring the footers now.

gw_monkey is right. Cages are pool accessories and you call the shots if you need to add them or not. However, if you really have problems with mosquitoes, then a cage is a must.

I'm in southwest Florida and the cage is a must, in my opinion. The bugs are vicious and critters abundant....I mean rodents as well as millions of lizards

I honestly don't know. We are in SW FL too and in the downtown area. the bay is less than 1/2 a mile from us, and a finger of one of the bayous is one block away. Really behind the houses across the street. the bayou's finger is just enough water to launch a kayak at high tide and at low tide is low enough to stand in up to your ankles. We are 2 blocks to 41.

It's a lot of 19 homes to be built in an area just south of downtown in a community of older homes (1920's to present) on small lots (6100 sq feet). they have upgraded the streets for drainage especially for no flooding (we checked during heavy rains) but no idea about the critters. We should have nice breezes still where we are.

The retractable screens are pricey. Personally I think an enclosure would add value to the home as a selling feature where the retractable screen would not. Of course there is also the functionality and the enclosure will allow you to use the pool into the dusk. You might want to check with http://enclosurenetwork.com/ for a contractor referral in swfl.

This wide-angle photo shows the large (36' x 60') screened enclosure my wife Suzanne and I had installed over our pool in Naples, Florida (Zone 10b), at a cost of $10,000. It replaced the original enclosure which measured just 24' x 36', the exact dimensions of the concrete patio surrounding the 12' x 24' pool. The new structure went beyond the patio 12' in three directions, by encompassing part of our half-acre garden. The area within the enclosure was thereby enlarged by 250%, so we're now able to use the space as a mosquito-free outdoor dining area. If you can afford such a pool cage, you'll be saving the cost of installing retractable patio screens. (You can click on each photo to enlarge it to see its details.)

The second photo shows the narrower (36’) end of the enclosure, with the rest of the structure seen through the screening. The remaining photos show its interior, where we’ve planted many native flowering shrubs in the area around the original patio. There I also created two large water lily ponds where hundreds of goldfish and other species are breeding. The screening protects the fish from the beautiful but hungry herons, egrets and other water birds flying overhead. We were also breeding six different species of butterflies within the enclosure, keeping them and their caterpillars safe from the frogs, toads, lizards and other predators.

The space is also frequently used for the informative gardening classes given by our Gardeners of Southwest Florida group. Like the group's free membership, the classes are always free, and are scheduled on weekends two or three times a month throughout the year. They’re taught in the gardens of different members of the group each time, often by professional horticulturists. That gives the members (now totaling over 1,300 gardening families around Naples and Fort Myers) the opportunity to see what’s growing in many different gardens, as well as the screened enclosures of those who have swimming pools. Hundreds of photos plus full details of the 123 previous and upcoming gardening classes and upcoming classes are on the group’s extensive website at ww.meetup.com/FloridaGardeners.

This thread is 2 years old and I have decided to forgo a cage.