A front entry screen enclosure in Florida typically costs $700 to $1,800, and it lets you leave the front door open to the breeze without letting mosquitoes and lovebugs into the house. It is usually a set of aluminum screen walls and a screen door fitted under the roof that already covers your front porch. Before you price one, check the HOA: a front entry screen enclosure Tampa homeowners want is allowed in some communities and banned outright in others.
This page covers entries in Tampa, FL and across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota and Hernando counties.
What a front entry screen enclosure costs
The enclosure itself is the main cost, and the door hardware is where small extras add up.
| Item | Published price | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Front entry screen enclosure | $700 to $1,800 | Sarasota-area Florida company |
| Screen door replacement | $50 to $150 per door | HomeGuide, 2023 (national) |
| Door rebuild or full replacement with hardware | $250 to $650 per door | Central Florida screen company, 2026 |
| Door hardware replacement | $100 to $250 per door | Tampa Bay contractor guide, Mar 2026 |
| Pneumatic door closer | $15 to $40 part; $50 to $150 labor | Tampa Bay contractor guide, Jul 2026 |
| Self-closing hinges | $7 to $30 | HomeGuide, 2023 (national) |
| Safety locks | $10 to $50 | HomeGuide, 2023 (national) |
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Compiled from published contractor pages and national cost guides fetched 2026-10-13. Treat these as planning ranges, not quotes.
What moves the price
- Opening size: a wide porch with two or three screen walls costs more than a single recessed doorway.
- Doors: double doors for a French-door entry, or a door on each side, add framing and hardware.
- Roof: screen under an existing entry roof is the simple version; extending or adding a roof is a larger, permitted job.
- Kick plate and decorative details: solid lower panels and decorative door grilles add cost.
- Screen: No-See-Um or pet screen costs more than standard 18x14 fiberglass.
HOA rules: allowed, approved or banned
The front of the house is where HOAs are strictest, so this is the first thing to check. Published rules from Tampa Bay communities fall into three groups:
| Community | Rule | What it means for a front entry |
|---|---|---|
| Panther Trace II (Riverview) | Front screen enclosures permitted with approval | Allowed after review committee approval |
| Cambray Villas (inside Panther Trace II) | Front screen enclosures not permitted | Not allowed |
| FishHawk Ranch (Lithia) | No enclosure at any location forward of the rear corners of the home | Effectively not allowed |
| Starkey Ranch (Odessa) | Screened enclosures must be located in rear yards | Effectively not allowed |
| Country Club and Edgewater villages (Lakewood Ranch) | No part of a cage may be seen from the street from the front of the home | Ask before planning anything visible from the street |
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From each community's published design guidelines or homeowners manual, fetched 2026-10-13. The Lakewood Ranch rule is written for pool, lanai, shower and veranda cages. Rules change; get the current version and written approval from your association.
Where entries are allowed, frame and screen color usually follow the same rules as the pool cage: white or bronze frames with charcoal screen are the most common requirement in the guidelines we found, and Panther Trace's Cambray Villas section allows white frames only.
Permits for a screened entry
Screen under an existing entry roof is often exempt; anything that adds roof or structure is not.
- Hernando County lists aluminum screen enclosures under an existing roof as exempt, with two conditions: at least one entry has a 36-inch-wide door with a matching screen door, and extending the existing entryway roof requires a permit. The exemption does not apply in a flood zone.
- Manatee County treats screening an existing porch that already has a roof and a floor or slab as no-permit work; closing a wall in with panels, or a kick plate over 12 inches tall, changes that.
- Hillsborough County's screen enclosure checklist covers screen additions with plans signed and sealed by a Florida architect or engineer, and the City of Tampa permits porches under its Aluminum Screen Room/Pool Cage/Porch permit type.
- Florida's HB 803, in effect since July 1, 2026, lets single-family owners request in writing to skip a permit for non-structural work under $7,500 outside flood zones. Most entry enclosures cost less than that, but new aluminum framing may count as structural, so the building official decides.
The Tampa Bay permit guide lists each county's rules.
Why screen a front entry in Tampa Bay
A screened entry keeps bugs out of the house at the door you use most. UF/IFAS advises adding screens to windows and doors, particularly on the prevailing windward side of a building, as a defense against lovebugs, which swarm for a few weeks every April to May and August to September. UF/IFAS also counts more than 80 mosquito species in Florida and recommends repairing torn door screens to keep them out of the house.
With a screened entry, the front door can stand open for cross-ventilation on a mild evening, and the screen door takes the knocks and pets instead of the front door.
Doors, closers and screen choices
The door is the part of an entry enclosure you will touch every day, so it is worth getting right.
- Width: 36 inches is the benchmark, and Hernando County requires it for its under-roof exemption.
- Double doors: for a wide or French-door entry, a pair of screen doors keeps the full opening usable.
- Closer: a pneumatic closer keeps the door from slamming or standing open; replacements cost $15 to $40 for the part.
- Latch and lock: safety locks run about $10 to $50 on national figures.
- Kick plate: a solid panel at the bottom of the door protects the screen from feet, packages and pets.
- Screen: standard 18x14 fiberglass suits most entries; Phifer's 20x20 No-See-Um is made for gnats and sand flies near marsh or the coast; PetScreen resists claws.
- Frame color: match the house trim or the color your HOA requires.
Front entry screen enclosures across Tampa Bay
Screened entries are requested throughout the region, from Riverview, Spring Hill, Palm Harbor and Venice. Every town is on the service area page. For the back of the house, see patio screen enclosures or pool cage rescreening, or request a free quote.
