Free Screened-In Porch Cost Calculator (2026)

Screening in an existing covered porch costs $10 to $25 per square foot with standard fiberglass screen in 2026, or $25 to $45 per square foot with vinyl window panels. A 200 square foot existing porch runs $2,000-$5,000 to screen in. Building a new screened porch from scratch is far more - $45 to $170 per square foot - because you are paying for a slab, framing, and a roof, not just screen.

A 12x16 screened porch (192 square feet) costs $11,500-$21,000 as a new standard build on a concrete slab, or about $2,000-$4,800 if you are screening in an existing covered porch. Premium builds with vinyl window panels, a tied-in roof, and a stained-concrete or tile floor push a 12x16 porch to $30,000 or more.

Yes. A screened porch costs roughly half of a comparable sunroom because it has no glass walls, no insulation, and no HVAC. A new standard screened porch runs $60-$170/sq ft, while a four-season sunroom runs $200-$500/sq ft. If you want year-round use, compare the two with our Sunroom Cost Calculator.

A screened porch typically returns 60-75% of its cost at resale and is one of the most popular outdoor-living upgrades. It does not count as heated living square footage at appraisal, so it adds lifestyle value more than appraised value. As with any addition, prices vary by region - get multiple bids and confirm the porch is permitted, because unpermitted structures get flagged at resale.

I price screened porches by the square foot, then add foundation and electrical separately. For a new standard porch I start at $60-$110/sf for the shell, add $6-$12/sf if it needs a new slab, and add $800-$2,500 for lights, outlets, and a ceiling fan. Then I layer in permits and my overhead and profit. Use our Contractor Estimate Template to turn those line items into a clean bid the homeowner can actually read.

A screened porch estimate takes me 20 to 40 minutes by hand once I have the measurements and know whether the roof and floor already exist. The slow part is pricing the roof tie-in and the screen system. With EstimationPro I cut that to a few minutes - snap photos, talk through the scope, and it builds the line-item estimate so I can quote the homeowner the same day.

Building a new screened porch almost always requires a building permit ($150-$1,000), and often an electrical permit if you add wiring. Screening in an existing covered porch sometimes does not require a permit, since you are not changing the structure - but rules vary by jurisdiction, so check with your local building department first. Never skip a required permit; an unpermitted addition causes problems at resale.

The cheapest path is to screen in a porch you already have at $10-$25/sq ft. If you are building new, a basic screened porch over an existing patio slab, with a simple shed roof and standard fiberglass screen, is the lowest-cost new build. To plan the slab, use our Concrete Slab Cost Calculator before you price the porch.