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A solarium is a luxury addition to a home and can be an excellent breakfast area or reading space, but that doesn't mean there aren't disadvantages. For one, since the room is made of glass it can look dirty very quickly. Another disadvantage is solariums are notoriously hard to balance temperature and will most likely significantly increase your heating and air conditioning bill. Unlike a greenhouse addition to a house, a solarium won’t help you grow as many plants.

A screened-in porch requires maintenance to keep the screens clean and in good shape, and you may have to do some screen repair or replacement from time to time. A screen porch isn’t an all-season porch, so the weather can get in, including wind and rain.

If you want to hire a professional to build a screened-in porch, a local sunroom or porch contractor is your best bet. If you can't find a local sunroom builder, another option is to consider hiring a general contractor to perform the work. 

If you're handy, you may consider building the porch yourself. Before you do so, make sure you understand the local permit requirements and building codes so that you don't have any problems with the safety or structure of the porch.

The cost to screen in a porch depends on whether you are adding screens to an existing structure or building a new one from scratch. Adding screens to an existing porch costs about $5 to $7 per square foot, with a national average cost of around $2,800. For example, screening a 12-by-12-foot (144-square-foot) porch would likely cost between $700 and $1,000. If you are building a new screened-in porch, the cost is substantially higher. A new 12-by-12-foot screened-in porch can cost between $6,400 and $18,300, while a new 14-by-16-foot one averages around $11,000. The final price will vary based on the size of the porch, labor costs, and the materials you choose.