Pool Screen Enclosures in Tampa Bay: Permits, Costs and Who Builds Them

Start with where you want to sit, walk and enter the yard. Put the pool, paved area and proposed screen cage on the same sketch before asking for quotes. You can talk through the door locations and the connection to your lanai while the layout is still taking shape. Ask each builder to describe the enclosure included in the proposal rather than treating a cage as an unnamed extra.

A pool builder often arranges a separate aluminum contractor for the screen enclosure. Ask who will name that contractor in the paperwork and who is responsible for coordinating the scopes. You should know which proposal describes the cage, which describes the pool and who handles questions where the plans meet. Keep the answers with your project documents so the work you expect is clear before contracts are signed.

This collection captures 353 enclosure permits found with the pool records. It is a partial view of screen work, rather than a complete regional enclosure count. Pasco, Pinellas and Manatee file most aluminum screen rooms under other permit types, leaving many outside this collection. The company table can help you identify recorded activity, but a low captured count does not establish how much enclosure work occurs in a town.

Salco Screens, Inc appears on 51 captured permits, and Tampa Screens & Aluminum Inc appears on 27. Those are company counts from the enclosure records shown here. They do not describe workmanship or current project availability. Use the names to ask your pool builder who would handle the cage for your project, then check the proposed contractor's license and compare written quotes for the same enclosure layout.

Pasco's requirement for screen enclosure building permits makes this a question to settle early in a county pool project. Ask which contractor will file the cage application and how the work will be coordinated with the pool. Where the property is within a city with its own office, have the contractor identify that office. A county mailing address alone does not establish which permit department handles the project.

Manatee County's Building Division has jurisdiction over the unincorporated county. Its published requirements state that pools and screened pool enclosures must be 5 feet from side and rear property lines. Keep that fact tied to the county office; it is not a regional setback rule. Ask the contractor to show the proposed enclosure on the site plan and confirm the requirements for your actual property and issuing office.

Bring the pool safety plan into the enclosure discussion. Florida law provides a compliant barrier option and alternatives such as an approved safety cover, exit alarms, self-closing latching devices or a certified pool alarm. Under the barrier provisions, gates open outward and must be self-closing with a self-latching lock. Ask how the selected safety option fits the cage, doors and pool layout, and how it will be addressed at final inspection.

A separate enclosure permit can have its own public record. Keep its number with the pool permit and check the description, contractor and status by address in the public search. The pool timing samples on the county pages are not enclosure duration estimates. Ask the contractors to explain their proposed sequence together, including how plan revisions, HOA approval where relevant and weather would affect the enclosure work.

Read the company list within its limits. Pombo's Contracting Services Inc appears on 15 captured permits and Advance Aluminum and Screen Inc on 13. The table counts the enclosure records found in the collection, with many permits elsewhere under other categories. Those numbers help you ask about recorded activity. They do not establish a complete regional ranking or replace comparing the scope proposed for your own pool deck.

Ask the pool builder to identify the enclosure contractor before you commit to a combined proposal. Check that contractor's license at myfloridalicense.com and match the name to the contract for the cage. The enclosure company list does not supply license numbers, so obtain the proposed contractor's details for that check. Keep the enclosure and pool paperwork together so you can see who is responsible for each part of the project.

Have the payment stages and inspection responsibilities written down for the work you are buying. Florida's deposit rule says a contractor receiving more than 10 percent initially must apply for permits within 30 days and start work within 90 days after issue unless an exception applies. Ask how the proposed payments fit the permit and work sequence. Keep the enclosure scope clear when a separate contractor and contract are involved.

If you are planning a new pool with a cage, pick up to 3 pool builders in our network. They will contact you to look at your yard and price the project. Tell each one about the screen enclosure at the start, including your lanai layout and deck plans. Ask them to identify the enclosure scope and contractor in writing so your pool quotes describe the same complete backyard project.