Lanai Cleaning Cost: What the Floor Rate Covers

Lanai cleaning cost is $120 when the cage floor measures 60 square feet. Bay Balcony’s published figure is $2 for each square foot of that slab, so an 80 square foot cage is $160. Mesh around the slab is washed in that same visit, not invoiced again. Downtown St. Petersburg and Tampa do not itemize the drive. We do not bring a hose, and we do not bring a pressure washer. A split panel is not priced here.

What does a lanai cleaning cost?

The figure that startles a long-time owner is $120. An old invoice was often one lump. The floor is the ticket. Sixty square feet times two dollars is one hundred twenty.

Cage floor	Square feet	This visit
Modest cage	60 sq ft	$120
Usual cage	80 sq ft	$160
Wide corner cage	120 sq ft	$240

Three cage floors at $2 a square foot. The mesh is not added on.

One hundred square feet is $200 at the same multiplication.

Balcony	Size	Price
Juliet / step-out	25 sq ft	$50
Compact condo balcony	50 sq ft	$100
Typical downtown balcony	80 sq ft	$160
Large corner unit	120 sq ft	$240
Wraparound terrace	300 sq ft	$600

The published card, so a cage quote can be checked against named sizes.

A cage is not a sixth row on that card. A 60 square foot floor is absent from the named sizes, so multiply anyway. Pinellas salt and a Hillsborough oak do not change the math.

Is the screen cage a second bill?

The cage is not a second bill. Mesh, frame, and the track in the screen wall are washed because the floor is being washed. Counting panels does not create a line. A screen roof is not area we bill. You cannot walk on it.

The service write-up is the lanai cleaning page. It prices the floor, and the mesh rides along. A neighbor told “screens extra” was quoted a different job. We do not print that neighbor’s number. If they will not state square feet, you cannot compare.

A hose along the outside of the cage, the way some vendors worked a decade ago, is not this visit. Towers have since told owners the rinse cannot leave the slab. The price did not grow a wall fee to replace that hose. Gulf-facing film is not a second rate.

How do you measure a lanai floor?

Tape the slab, not the walls. Stand at the slider. Measure out to the screen you can touch while your feet are still on the floor. That distance is depth. Along the screen, inside corner to inside corner, is length. Multiply. Do not add the height of the cage.

Walkable floor is the slab inside the cage, in feet, not the mesh walls and not the roof.

The measuring guide is the open-balcony version. An L-shaped cage is two rectangles, added. A photo from the slider shows a notch a floor plan skipped. No tape: walk it as a first guess. We confirm from the photo before anyone is booked.

Note

Do not measure the screen roof. It is not floor, and it is not a line on this bill.

Sixty square feet is about 10 by 6. Eighty is about 10 by 8. One hundred twenty is about 10 by 12. A 9 by 7 is 63 square feet, which is $126. Send the awkward number.

What does that price include?

The slab, the rails, glass you can wipe without leaving the slab, the mesh and its frame, the groove the cord sits in, outdoor chairs, a grill that lives outside, a ceiling fan, bird mess, a drain look, and the slider track. One figure. A decade of film does not add a surcharge.

The method is on the no-pressure washing page. The bucket comes back inside with us. Nothing is pitched past the screen onto the neighbor.

Gently scrub your window screens with a soft bristle brush.

Source: Phifer screen article, February 6, 2023

That sentence is their tool line, written for a house. The same article then says to lean a panel on a fence and rinse with a hose. A tower cannot use the hose step. There is no fence up high, and the water would leave the cage. Phifer does not ban a pressure washer in that article. We still do not bring one. We follow the soft-brush line and skip the hose line.

Text the two floor numbers if you want the cage priced before anyone comes up.

Text the floor size

What does a torn screen cost?

This visit does not price a torn screen. A shop that sells mesh can. We will not invent that shop’s figure, and we will not fold a new panel into the wash. If the photo shows a split, the split will still be there when we leave.

Repair torn window and door screens to exclude mosquitoes from indoors.

Source: UF/IFAS, mosquitoes around homes

That sentence is about keeping insects out of the rooms. It is a repair, not a wash. The screen-care guide is how a soft brush avoids making a small split worse. It is not a price list for replacement mesh. A popped cord is the same category: we can see it, and we will not guess a shop price for a new one.

Watch out

A quote that bundles “rescreen if needed” into the wash is hiding a second job. Ask for that line to come off. We will not fill in their number.

Yellow mesh is not automatically a tear. Intact threads at noon mean the wash is the right job. A finger through the weave means the hole stays.

How should a lanai quote read?

It should read as a product you can check. Square feet of floor. Two dollars. Mesh included. Torn panel excluded. No separate drive line in the two downtowns. No hose, and no pressure washer. A total by itself cannot be audited.

Line a quote should show	What you can check
Floor size	Feet of slab inside the cage, not panel count
Rate	$2 a square foot, written as a number
Mesh	In the visit, not a second invoice
A split already there	Named as excluded, with no invented shop price
Drive	Not itemized inside either downtown
Tool	Bucket and soft brush, nothing past the screen

Six lines that make a cage quote comparable. A total alone is not one of them.

Ask whether the mesh is inside the total, and what happens if a panel is already split. The balcony cost guide is the same published card on an open slab. Use it if someone tries to charge the cage a different dollar per foot.

The restrictions apply to all of Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties

Source: Southwest Florida Water Management District, June 23, 2026

Those limits cover lawn watering in Pinellas and Hillsborough. They do not make a balcony rinse a crime. A tower skips the hose because the water would hit the unit below.

We text a payment link after the work, with photos of the finished cage. Tape the floor, multiply by two, and hold every other bid to that product.

Frequently asked questions

Is lanai cleaning cost different from an open balcony?

Both are billed from the slab you can stand on, at the published two dollars per foot. A cage does not get a multiplier. The film on the mesh changes. The arithmetic does not.

Is the screen cage billed on its own?

The mesh is washed in the visit the floor already pays for. A quote that adds a panel fee is a different offer. Ask them to restate the job as floor times two dollars.

What does a torn screen cost on this visit?

This visit does not sell a new panel, so the tear gets no dollar figure here. A mesh shop can quote the repair. We will not guess their price.

Is there a trip fee in the two downtowns?

Bay Balcony works St. Petersburg and Tampa. Arrival inside those two downtowns is not itemized. Floor times two dollars is the figure.

Does a dirtier cage from years of ownership cost more?

Film and age do not change the figure. A failed panel is named as a repair, not added as a soil fee. The invoice stays the floor.

How should the quote read before I book?

It should show square feet, two dollars a foot, mesh included, and a torn panel excluded. A lone total cannot be checked. A photo from the slider is enough to start.

Sources

Phifer. How to Clean Window Screens (February 6, 2023). The page says: Fill the bucket with warm water and add a few drops of mild dish soap. phifer.com
Southwest Florida Water Management District. District Extends Modified Phase III Water Shortage (June 23, 2026). swfwmd.state.fl.us
University of Florida IFAS Extension. Mosquitoes and their Control, ENY-753/IN1045. edis.ifas.ufl.edu

What Does Lanai Cleaning Cost on a Cage Floor?