Love my screened porch would love to screen the back porch too eventually. If you have cats they will love it. Your eye very quickly stops noticing the screen. Also screens come in different colors green, to gray, to black...i like the gray screen. The only negative is that they do collect dirt and need to scrubbed down every once in a while and if you have lots of oaks over hanging your porch the screens sometimes grow mildew when it rains a lot.

We recently had our porch screened, mosquitoes were a problem. Ours is only the width of the living room. I wouldn't want it all the way across because of dust and pollen. Ours is 10 feet deep and the screen didn't seem to darken the living room.

We built our house with what was planned to be a large screened porch off the back. We postponed the screening since it wasn't required for occupancy and getting in was more important. We built it with a ceiling fan so have the ability to create our own breeze and so far (knock on wood) have had very few occasions where bugs force us inside. We don't often use the porch lights at night when we're out there so that helps not draw them to us. And as lyfia said, the ability to hose down the porch is a plus.

Porch in our new house will be about 12'x16' and absolutely screened in. Extends your living space and no bugs, a must.

lyfia gave you an excellent list. My large back porch was built with the intention of screening (it's sized appropriately), but we never put the screen on. A few additional thoughts:

- Without screen, we can let the dog out of the house, and he can run straight out to the yard -- if we had screen, we'd have to walk to a second door and open that for him. Also, if we leave him out while we're not home, he can stay on the porch and be out of the sun and rain.

- My husband is a BBQ grill fiend, and he loves having the big porch to cook upon, which he couldn't do if we had screens.

- Screens will eventually need repair /replacing. It's one more bit of maintenance.

Two suggestions for you:

- Size your porch so screens'll fit ... but live without screens a while and see if you actually want them.

- You can get retractable screens, which might be the best of all worlds: Keep them rolled up when you're not using them or when you're grilling ... roll them down when it suits you.

Some really great points that help me decide about hosing off, dogs, etc. that I would not have thought of thank you!

Retractable screens!! Wow that's sounds amazing. Wonder what those cost....

My parents built a house in the woods in Minnesota, with a covered deck across the back of the house. 1/3 was screened, next to the kitchen.

They lived there for almost 40 years, and the open deck part was never used, except when Mom filled bird feeders on the railing, or hung something over the railing to dry. The screen porch was used continuously all summer long. The sliding door between kitchen and porch was left open most of the time, so only one door to open. It was our favorite room in the house - cool, shady, no bugs - practically like being in a tree house. It was only 10'x10', but a delightful space.

Screens did need to be repaired/replaced occasionally - like when a grouse flew through a screen.

It's a must for us. DH is a bug magnet. No screened in porch means it's either slather up with bug spray or stay inside.

Love our screen porch. Enables us to have the breeze from the north blow through the house on hot days. We have glass in the lower third which prevent most rain blowing in. Slate floor. Our dog loved it out there.

Yes, create your screened in porch area. For longevity, however, raise the bottom wooden rail (between columns) at least half an inch above the concrete slab lever, so that rain and periodic hosing allows the water to run off the porch and to the outside. Oh yeah...be sure and slope the concrete floor slab so that water and rain drain naturally to the outside. You really don't want a swimming pool on your back porch after the 3-inch rainfall!

We built a screened porch across the entire back of our house in St Louis many years ago. It opened off the library, the DR and the kitchen. It, too, faced north and we were worried the kitchen and DR would be dark, so we installed 2-3 (can't remember!) large skylights in the roof. It let in light very nicely.

Screened porches DO get dirty - they need cleaning on pretty much a daily basis, depending on how much wind - in KS, my mother had to dust ours twice daily with all that wind blowing.

I wish I had one now. I have a beautiful terrace that is rarely used due to mosquitos.

Screens can be practical but can also be visually off putting.

In our new build, a screened in porch was one of my prioritys. We are on the very edge of town and there are woods and a neighbors large pond nearby. ( mosquitos!). We have an 11 x14 ft screened porch off our dining area. We love it and spend a lot of time out there. We have put rollup bamboo shades on it (which are rolled up most of the time and cannot be seen from the outside) for the sun and privacy when needed. We also have a ceiling fan which helps a lot in the humid Illinois summer. We put up 2 hummingbird feeders and enjoy sitting in the porch watching them feed. The only con is that there is a field a half block West of us that when plowed in the Spring, blows a lot of dust and if we leave the sliders open, I notice a lot of dust on the dining table inside. With the 6 ft sliders we don't notice any lack of light from it. It faces South and gets a lot of light. I think you would get plenty of light.

I struggled with this for our new build. I decided to go with fully motorized retractable screens. Best of both worlds. They are completely concealed and hidden when they are up. Perfect solution. Screens are essential but kill the view when you you aren't on the porch fending off mosquitos. So check out "Phantom Screens." Mine are currently being installed. They can go 24' wide and 16' tall per motor. I can't wait to enjoy the porch on hot summer nights and then have them tucked away safely during the winter and having the open view.

I would love a screened porch, but we are owned by a Great Pyrenees who takes her livestock guardian duties very seriously, launching herself off of the front porch to bark at coyotes, so the screens would last a day or two if we were lucky.

I don't find the screens off putting or view killing. Not sure where that idea comes from. I just went out and looked and there is virtually no difference in looking out through the screens or glass and looking out the open door. The screens disappear.

Well of course you can still see through a screen but they do change the view, fuzz the detail of what you're looking at and block some of the light from getting to your eyes so the things you're looking at aren't as sharp and in focus as they would be without screens. That may or may not bother you or even if it bothers you it may be preferable to having bugs get in. I'd love to go screenless on all my windows - the view is much improved without - but I also like open windows so screens it is.

And I say this without any snark - if you look side by side out a screened window and an open door and truly see no difference at all, see an eye doctor because that's not good - you should be able to discern the difference. Whether it bothers you or not is something different.

Pfftt

A porch-sized screen would be quite apparent to me also. I have screens over the half of my windows that opens, so I am quite familiar with the effect the wire produces.

You like to spend time outdoors? You have bugs and flying, biting little buggers? Then use a screened in area. You don't have flying, biting critters? Then have a nice, open outdoor area. You're welcome! :-)