A Betterliving screen room transforms your deck, patio, or yard into a comfortable outdoor living space — protected from insects and the elements, designed for your home, and built by our certified team. The classic American screened porch experience, engineered to last.
A screen room — also commonly called a screened porch or screened-in porch — is a custom-built outdoor living space protected by insect-resistant screen mesh on all sides. The screening blocks mosquitoes, flies, gnats, wasps, and other Mid-Atlantic pests while letting the breeze, the natural light, and the views of your yard flow through unobstructed. It’s the closest you can get to sitting outside without actually being exposed to the elements that make outdoor living miserable.
Whether you call it a screen room, a screened porch, or a screened-in porch, the product is essentially the same: aluminum or wood framing supports floor-to-ceiling screen panels, a finished roof system protects from rain and sun, and screen doors give you easy access. The result is an outdoor room that you can actually use — for morning coffee, summer dinners, evening conversations, or just reading a book without getting eaten alive.
Screen rooms are one of the most popular outdoor living additions across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware — and for good reason. The Mid-Atlantic summer brings spectacular weather along with spectacular bug pressure. A screen room is the most direct, cost-effective way to reclaim your outdoor space from mosquitoes and other pests, extending how much of the year you can actually enjoy your yard.
Looking for a screen room that can also close up with glass for cold-weather protection? See our patio enclosures — including screen, glass, and combination options.
Every Betterliving screen room is built on a foundation of heavy-duty extruded aluminum framing — not the thin, lightweight aluminum used in budget kits or the wood framing that rots, warps, and attracts termites over time. Aluminum resists rust and corrosion through decades of seasonal exposure. It maintains its dimensional stability through every freeze and thaw. And it never needs to be painted, stained, or treated. Your screen room frame will outlast the house it’s attached to.
The screen panels in a Betterliving screen room use commercial-grade fiberglass mesh — the same screening used on high-end residential and commercial buildings. The weave is tight enough to keep out the smallest gnats and no-see-ums but maintains full visibility and airflow. The mesh resists UV degradation, won’t sag or stretch out over years of use, and is removable for cleaning or seasonal storage.
The roof is what separates a real screen room from a cheap kit. Every Betterliving screen room includes a fully insulated roof system that reflects summer heat away from the space and dramatically reduces the noise of rain hitting overhead — the difference between a peaceful summer storm experienced from inside the room and the unbearable racket of a metal-roofed kit. Available in single-slope (studio-style) or pitched configurations.
Screen door hardware is where most DIY kits and budget contractor builds fail first. A screen door gets opened and closed thousands of times over its life. Cheap hardware sags, jams, or breaks within a few years. Betterliving screen rooms use commercial-grade hinges, latches, and self-closing mechanisms engineered to handle decades of daily use. The door still closes cleanly five years in, ten years in, twenty years in.
Your screen room’s aluminum framing is available in three architectural color finishes — Earthstone, White, and Desert Sand — each applied as a baked-on, maintenance-free enamel. The finish is built into the aluminum rather than painted on top of it. That means it will never peel, chip, fade, or require repainting for the life of the room. Choose the color that complements your home’s exterior and it stays that way permanently.
Every Betterliving screen room is engineered specifically for the conditions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware — the freeze-thaw cycles of our winters, the humidity of our summers, the wind loads from coastal storms, and the snow loads of inland counties. This isn’t a kit designed for a generic climate. Every component is specified for the seasonal range your room will actually experience.
Unlike sunrooms and patio enclosures, screen rooms have a real DIY alternative. Home Depot sells screen porch kits. Local handyman contractors will build basic screened structures for a fraction of what a professional screen room costs. So why pay for a custom-built Betterliving screen room? Here’s the honest comparison.
The honest summary: a DIY or budget contractor screen room can absolutely give you a screened space at a much lower upfront cost. If you’re handy, willing to spend the time, and not concerned about long-term durability or resale impact, that path can work. But the total cost of ownership over 10-20 years almost always favors the professional build — fewer repairs, no replacement, no permit issues at sale, and a finished product that genuinely adds to your home’s value rather than potentially detracting from it.
Every screen room we build is installed by our own factory-trained team — never subcontractors. The same people who know the Betterliving system inside and out are the ones on your job site every day, from first panel to final inspection. That means consistent quality, clear accountability, and a single point of contact if anything ever needs attention. No call centers. No transferred calls. No being a number.
Your Betterliving screen room is backed by an industry-leading 50-year non-prorated warranty — full coverage, no depreciation, no fine-print exclusions on structural components. Half a century of protection on a space you’ll use every spring, summer, and fall. Few companies in the screen room or screened porch industry offer warranty terms anywhere close to this.
Every structural component in your screen room is manufactured in Pennsylvania — engineered specifically for the climate conditions of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. This isn’t a generic kit shipped from overseas. It’s built for the freeze-thaw cycles of our winters, the humidity of our summers, and the wind loads of our coastal and inland weather.
From the day you sign through final walkthrough, your screen room project has one dedicated manager overseeing every detail — permits, scheduling, deliveries, installation, and inspection. You always know who to call, where things stand, and what comes next. The whole experience is designed to be simple, transparent, and stress-free.
We design and install custom screen rooms and screened-in porches throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Delaware — including the following counties:
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Delaware
These three terms refer to essentially the same product — an outdoor living space enclosed by insect-resistant screening. The terminology varies regionally and by builder, but functionally there’s no meaningful difference. A ‘screened porch’ typically implies the structure is attached to a home as an extension of the porch concept, while a ‘screen room’ or ‘screened-in porch’ can refer to either an attached or standalone structure. Betterliving builds all three configurations.
Most screen rooms are physically installed in 1-2 weeks once permits are approved and materials are on site. The total timeline from initial design consultation to installation completion — including design, permitting, and scheduling — typically ranges from 4-8 weeks depending on your municipality’s permit processing time and our current installation schedule. Your project manager will give you a specific timeline during the design process.
In most municipalities across PA, NJ, and DE, yes — a screen room or screened porch is considered a permanent structural addition and requires a building permit. Permit requirements vary by township, borough, and county. Betterliving MidAtlantic Sunrooms manages the permitting process on your behalf as part of every installation. Skipping permits can cause major problems at home sale or insurance claim time — we never recommend an unpermitted build.
Sometimes, depending on the original construction quality and foundation. A well-built professional screen room with proper foundation work can potentially be converted to a three-season or four-season sunroom with significant additional investment — installing insulated glass panels, adding insulation, and potentially upgrading the roof and electrical systems. Our design team can discuss conversion paths during your consultation if year-round use is a long-term goal.
A well-built, permitted screen room or screened porch addition generally adds to your home’s appraised value and can be a real selling point for prospective buyers — particularly in PA, NJ, and DE markets where outdoor living spaces are highly valued. The appraisal impact varies based on quality, integration with the home, and local market preferences. Permitted, professionally installed structures consistently add more value than DIY builds, which can sometimes flag as ‘unpermitted additions’ during inspection.
Your free in-home design consultation is the first step. Our team will visit your home, assess your space, walk you through screen room and screened porch design options, and show you exactly what your new outdoor living space will look like — before you commit to anything.
Serving PA, NJ & DE homeowners since 1946. Response within one business day.
