How much does a 20x20 screened-in porch cost?

HomeGuide publishes $4,000 to $10,000 to screen an existing 20x20 porch and $20,000 to $70,000 to build one new and screen it. Pick 20 x 20 above and the tool shows both columns, with the per-square-foot reading beside them.

How much does a 12x12 screened-in porch cost?

HomeGuide's porch table reads $1,400 to $3,600 to screen an existing 12x12 porch and $7,200 to $25,200 to build one. Its lanai table prints the same row unrounded at $1,440 to $3,600, which the tool shows as the second reading.

Why can't I type in my own dimensions?

Because HomeGuide publishes rows, not a formula, and a row the guide did not print would be a number we invented. Pick the nearest published footprint; the per-square-foot band on the right is the honest reading for a size between rows.

What does the calculator not include?

Screen upgrades like pet screen or Florida Glass, doors, flooring, a roof choice beyond HomeGuide's band, engineer-sealed plans for a cage permit, and anything your city charges. HomeGuide prices many of those on the porch and lanai pages linked on this site; none of them is knowable without a site visit.

Does this calculator give me a quote?

No. It gives you the published band for your footprint and shows what each line does to it. Only a licensed contractor who has measured your yard can quote the job, and you should get three of those in writing for the same footprint and screen.

Screen enclosure cost calculator

A pool screen enclosure costs $4,000 to $14,000 and screening an existing porch $10 to $25per square foot, on HomeGuide’s published figures. This calculator reads your footprint off the same tables, with every figure sourced.

This page is general information, not professional advice. It cannot see your yard, your roofline or your city’s permit rules, and the only number that counts is a written quote from a licensed contractor who has measured the job.

1. What are you screening?

A screened porch or lanai is priced on HomeGuide’s porch table; a pool cage on its HomeGuide table. Different tables, different bands.

2. How big?

These are the footprints HomeGuide publishes a price for. Nothing in between is offered, because nothing in between is published — pick the nearest row and read the per-square-foot reading on the right for the size you actually have.

3. Is the porch already there?

Screening a porch that has a roof and a floor is one column on HomeGuide’s table; building the porch and then screening it is the other, and the roof is most of the difference.

4. Include the permit?

HomeGuide prices a building permit for a new screened porch at $200 to $500. Your city sets the real fee and decides whether screening an existing porch needs one.

12 x 12 ft porch, screened

Published estimate

$1,400 – $3,600

HomeGuide’s published row for this footprint, plus the lines you included. Not a quote — the spread is real, and your written quotes will land somewhere inside it.

The published row
$1,400 – $3,600 for a 12 x 12 ft existing porch, on HomeGuide’s table.
Permit — left out
Not in the total. A new porch needs one on HomeGuide's description; ask your city about an existing one.
If only the screen is done
$288 – $576. HomeGuide prices rescreening a porch at $2 to $4 per square foot — the number for a porch whose frame is sound and whose mesh is not. HomeGuide.

The second and third readings

HomeGuide’s per-square-foot band for this job, $10 to $25, applied to 144 square feet reads $1,440 to $3,600 — HomeGuide rounds its rows, so the two do not agree to the dollar. HomeGuide publishes the same ladder for a lanai, unrounded — its 12 x 12 existing row reads $1,440 where the porch table reads $1,400. Printing one number would hide that.

Every choice above is in the web address, so the link opens on the same numbers.

HomeGuide's published screened-in porch cost by size: screening an existing porch, and building one new.
Size	Screen an existing porch	Build a new screened porch
5 x 10 ft	$500 – $1,250	$2,500 – $8,750
8 x 10 ft	$800 – $2,000	$4,000 – $14,000
10 x 10 ft	$1,000 – $2,500	$5,000 – $17,500
10 x 20 ft	$2,000 – $5,000	$10,000 – $35,000
12 x 12 ft	$1,400 – $3,600	$7,200 – $25,200
12 x 16 ft	$1,900 – $4,800	$9,600 – $33,600
12 x 20 ft	$2,400 – $6,000	$12,000 – $42,000
16 x 16 ft	$2,600 – $6,400	$12,800 – $44,800
20 x 20 ft	$4,000 – $10,000	$20,000 – $70,000
24 x 24 ft	$5,800 – $14,400	$28,800 – $100,800
24 x 36 ft	$8,600 – $21,600	$43,200 – $151,200

Source: HomeGuide.

Figures last read from their sources on August 21, 2026.

Where every price on this page comes from

HomeGuide supplies the screened-porch size table, its two per-square-foot bands, the rescreen rate and the permit line; its companion HomeGuide guide publishes the same ladder unrounded for a lanai. HomeGuide supplies the pool cage size table, the per-square-foot band, the two-story footnote and the super gutter line, and HomeGuide the rescreen figure for each cage footprint. HomeAdvisor and Angi are the second reading on a cage. Each was read first-hand on the date stamped above, and each is linked next to the figure it produced.

They do not agree exactly, and that is printed rather than smoothed over. On a screen cage HomeGuide’s band starts at $5per square foot and HomeAdvisor’s and Angi’s at $8; HomeGuide’s own Florida read is $6,000 to $12,000. Averaging those into one number would invent a figure nobody published, so the tool shows the readings side by side.

Why the sizes are a ladder, not a box

Because the guides publish rows. HomeGuide prints eleven porch footprints and HomeGuide three cage footprints, and each row is a figure HomeGuide stands behind. A 14x18 porch has no row, and a tool that quietly made one up by interpolating would be presenting our arithmetic as their price. So the control offers the published rows, and the per-square-foot band on the results panel is the honest reading for a size in between — it is also published, and it is labelled as the second reading because HomeGuide rounds its rows and the two never agree to the dollar.

The one multiplier, and whose it is

HomeGuide’s pool enclosure table carries a footnote — a two-story enclosure requires scaffolding and costs 30% more — and the two-story control applies exactly that, as HomeGuide’s line. Nothing else on this page is scaled. There is no regional slider, because no guide publishes one; no screen-quality factor, because HomeGuide prices mesh per square foot of material on its repair guide rather than as a percentage; and no height slider beyond the published row.

What is not in the number

Doors, flooring, a specific roof, electrical, and screen upgrades such as pet screen or the vinyl-laminated panel Florida contractors call Florida Glass. HomeGuide prices several of those separately — a gable roof at $70 to $155 per square foot of roof, a flat patio cover at $20 to $60, an electrician at $50 to $130per hour — and none of them is knowable before someone stands in the yard. On a pool cage, the plans a Florida city requires an engineer to seal are the contractor’s cost to quote.

The deeper pages behind this tool: pool screen enclosure cost by size, screened-in porch cost by size, what rescreening costs and what Florida cities require for a cage permit.

Questions people ask about this

How much does a 20x20 screened-in porch cost?: HomeGuide publishes $4,000 to $10,000 to screen an existing 20x20 porch and $20,000 to $70,000 to build one new and screen it. Pick 20 x 20 above and the tool shows both columns, with the per-square-foot reading beside them.
How much does a 12x12 screened-in porch cost?: HomeGuide's porch table reads $1,400 to $3,600 to screen an existing 12x12 porch and $7,200 to $25,200 to build one. Its lanai table prints the same row unrounded at $1,440 to $3,600, which the tool shows as the second reading.
Why can't I type in my own dimensions?: Because HomeGuide publishes rows, not a formula, and a row the guide did not print would be a number we invented. Pick the nearest published footprint; the per-square-foot band on the right is the honest reading for a size between rows.
What does the calculator not include?: Screen upgrades like pet screen or Florida Glass, doors, flooring, a roof choice beyond HomeGuide's band, engineer-sealed plans for a cage permit, and anything your city charges. HomeGuide prices many of those on the porch and lanai pages linked on this site; none of them is knowable without a site visit.
Does this calculator give me a quote?: No. It gives you the published band for your footprint and shows what each line does to it. Only a licensed contractor who has measured your yard can quote the job, and you should get three of those in writing for the same footprint and screen.