Screen Room vs. Sunroom vs. Patio Cover: Which Is Right for Your Evansville Home?

The short answer: a screen room is the most affordable way to enjoy the outdoors bug-free, a sunroom (three-season or four-season) gives you a glass-enclosed space you can heat and cool, and a patio cover simply shades and protects your existing patio. For most Evansville and Tri-State homeowners, the right choice comes down to how you want to use the space and your budget. Here is how the three compare.

Screen Room: The Affordable Way to Enjoy the Outdoors

A screen room is an aluminum-framed structure with screen panels that encloses a patio or porch. It keeps out bugs, pollen, and debris while letting fresh air flow through, so it feels like being outside without the nuisances. It is the most budget-friendly of the three options.

Best for: enjoying spring, summer, and fall evenings outdoors, keeping mosquitoes and pollen out, and protecting patio furniture. Typical cost in the Evansville area: $119 to $134 per linear foot installed, using heavy-duty powder-coated aluminum that will not rot or warp like wood.

Sunroom: Glass-Enclosed Living Space You Can Use in More Seasons

A sunroom is a fully enclosed, glass-walled room built on an engineered, load-bearing aluminum structure with an insulated roof and insulated lower walls. Unlike a screen room, it seals out the weather entirely, so you get a bright, comfortable room you can furnish like any other part of your home. Sunrooms come in two versions: a three-season room with single-pane glass, and a four-season room with insulated double-pane glass.

Best for: homeowners who want a true indoor-outdoor room they can use in more seasons, add a PTAC unit to for on-demand heating and cooling, and treat as an everyday living space. For most Tri-State homeowners, a three-season room with a PTAC delivers nearly the same year-round comfort as a four-season room at a lower cost, because our mild climate rarely justifies the insulated-glass upgrade.

Patio Cover: Shade and Protection for Your Existing Patio

A patio cover is a permanent roof structure over your patio, deck, or porch. It does not enclose the space with screens or glass; instead, it provides shade, blocks rain, and protects whatever is underneath, while keeping the open-air feeling. Our insulated aluminum patio covers reduce heat buildup and stand up to Midwest weather.

Best for: homeowners who want to use their patio in more weather without fully enclosing it, shade a hot west-facing patio, or protect an outdoor kitchen or seating area. Typical cost in the Evansville area: about $37 per square foot installed, which works out to roughly $5,500 for a 12x12 insulated patio cover.

Quick Comparison at a Glance

Screen room: open-air with screens, no glass, best for spring through fall, most affordable, $119 to $134 per linear foot installed.

Sunroom: fully glass-enclosed, can be heated and cooled with a PTAC, usable in more seasons, mid-range to premium cost depending on three-season versus four-season glass.

Patio cover: a roof only, no walls, provides shade and rain protection while staying open-air, about $37 per square foot installed.

How to Decide Which One Is Right for You

Start with how you want to use the space. If you mainly want bug-free fresh air on nice days and the lowest cost, choose a screen room. If you want a real room you can enjoy in more seasons and control the temperature in, choose a sunroom. If you just want shade and rain protection over a patio you already have, choose a patio cover. Budget and how many months a year you will realistically use the space are the two biggest deciding factors.

We manufacture all three in-house right off Baumgart Road in Evansville, and we have been serving Tri-State homeowners since 1979. Because we build them ourselves, we do not make more money by steering you toward the most expensive option. We install throughout Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky, and Southern Illinois, including Newburgh, Boonville, and Henderson, within roughly 50 to 60 miles of our shop.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a screen room and a sunroom?

A screen room uses screen panels and stays open to the air, so it keeps out bugs and debris but not the weather. A sunroom uses glass walls on an insulated, engineered structure, so it fully seals out the weather and can be heated or cooled. A screen room is more affordable; a sunroom gives you a true year-round-capable room.

Which is cheaper, a screen room or a patio cover?

In the Evansville area, a screen room typically runs $119 to $134 per linear foot installed, while a patio cover runs about $37 per square foot installed. For a typical patio, the two often land in a similar range, but they do different jobs: a patio cover only adds a roof, while a screen room fully encloses the space with screens. The best value depends on whether you want bug protection or just shade and rain cover.

Can I use a screen room or sunroom year-round in the Tri-State area?

A screen room is best enjoyed spring through fall, since it is open to the air. A sunroom can be used year-round when you add a PTAC unit for heating and cooling. Because Evansville and the surrounding Tri-State have relatively mild winters, most homeowners find a three-season sunroom with a PTAC comfortable in every season without paying for a full four-season insulated-glass room.