A new screen room with an insulated roof in West Monroe, LA typically costs $10,000 to $35,000 installed, or about $50 to $175 per square foot per the 2026 HomeGuide screened porch guide, while screening in an existing patio cover runs $2,000 to $5,000. Mosquitoes, gnats and the sun are what keep people off a West Monroe, LA patio, and a screen room with a Structall insulated roof fixes all three. Donnie Grubbs builds them with aluminum framing and our own crews, and has since 1976.
Pricing screen rooms work in West Monroe, LA starts with three things: the scope you want, the materials you pick, and the shape of what is there today. Here is what local homeowners typically pay, what pushes a price up or down, and how the job runs from the first visit to the final walkthrough.
West Monroe sits on the west bank of the Ouachita River in Ouachita Parish, directly across the water from Monroe, and it is where our showroom at 402 Cypress Street has been since the company started here in 1976. The town was laid out in 1837 as Byron, replatted as Cotton Port in 1854, and grew into a river port and rail depot once the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific line bridged the Ouachita. The Cottonport Historic District and Antique Alley along Trenton Street still carry that older downtown, while Kiroli Park and the Ike Hamilton Expo Center anchor the north side of town. The 2020 census counted 13,103 residents in about 6,240 housing units, with a median year built of 1976 and only 44 percent of occupied homes owner occupied according to Census ACS estimates, so a large share of the calls we get here are for 1960s and 1970s brick ranches and for rental duplexes where a landlord rather than a tenant is making the decision. Those brick homes are the reason replacement windows in West Monroe almost always go in as insert units that leave the brick untouched, and the reason most patio covers tie into a low fascia over a slab that was poured with the house. Being a few minutes from the job also changes how we work: a second look at a roofline before the panels are ordered, or a permit question at the city building office, happens the same day instead of on the next trip through. The permit for a cover or an enclosure here comes from Building and Development inside City Hall at 2305 North 7th Street, reachable at 318 396 2600, and we file it as part of the job. Every covered structure needs one, and the drawings have to show how the roof resists wind uplift, with a continuous path from the panels through the beams and posts into the slab. That is the part a boxed kit from a home center cannot document, and it is the usual reason a homeowner built cover gets flagged at inspection. On the houses themselves, a mid 1970s brick ranch here usually has a low fascia over a patio slab poured with the house, which is close to the ideal case for an attached insulated cover: the tie in is straightforward, the slab is already level, and the posts land on concrete rather than needing new footings. West Monroe's own storm reports are specific enough to plan around. NOAA's Storm Events Database logs a home damaged by thunderstorm wind in West Monroe on March 8, 2016, trees brought down across town on April 29, 2020, and a tree and power lines down on April 9, 2021, and on July 2, 2021 it records flash flooding at the McMillian Road and North 7th Street intersection, on the same street as City Hall. For a patio roof the rain figure that matters is the heavy one: NOAA Atlas 14 puts the hundred year one hour rainfall at the West Monroe city center at 4.01 inches, the kind of cloudburst a nearly flat cover has to shed without backing water toward the wall. The city's permit fee schedule, effective October 1, 2018, is short and public. A residential addition is $100 plus 11 cents a square foot, residential plan review is another $100, a residential renovation under $25,000 in market value is a flat $60, and an accessory structure permit is $25, so a 12 by 20 cover handled as an addition comes to $226.40 with plan review, while a failed inspection costs $25 to redo. Which line applies is the building official's call. The permit application has boxes for an addition, a carport and an accessory building and asks for the contractor's Louisiana licensing board number, and the building department's direct line is 318 397 6722. The housing mix is less uniform than the median suggests. Census ACS counts 3,774 of the city's 6,240 housing units as single family detached, about 60 percent, plus 337 mobile homes, and the 1990s edged out the 1960s as the busiest building decade, 1,037 homes against 1,023, so two West Monroe streets can call for different cover heights. For window work West Monroe leans even more on electricity: Census ACS puts 65 percent of occupied homes on electric heat and 32 percent on utility gas, so glass that leaks heat in January shows up on the same meter as the July air conditioning. The age split matters for trim too. Roughly 3,458 homes, 55 percent, date from before 1980, which covers the pre 1978 houses where the EPA's lead paint rules require certified work on any painted surface that gets disturbed, window sashes included. Near the older downtown the paperwork can start earlier. West Monroe's Historic Preservation Commission hears applications for Certificates of Appropriateness for exterior improvements to structures within the city's historic districts, which covers a window change on a house inside one of those districts, and that review comes ahead of the permit. The airport normals across the river also explain why a West Monroe window buyer should weigh both seasons. Monroe Regional averages about 2,495 cooling degree days and 2,213 heating degree days a year, the closest balance of the NOAA stations near the markets we serve, and with 65 percent of homes on electric heat both halves land on one power bill. A replacement window here earns its keep in January as well as in July, so the U factor deserves as much attention at the estimate as the solar heat gain rating.
The typical West Monroe home dates to around 1976 per Census data, roughly 50 years of Louisiana weather and daily use. There are roughly 6,240 housing units here with a median value near $174,400. Most of West Monroe went up in the postwar decades, often with low eave lines, so for screen rooms the details worth checking first are the fascia height, the existing slab or foundation, and where roof water already runs. A large share of occupied homes here are rented, so scheduling and approvals often run through an owner or a property manager rather than the person who answers the door. We are used to that, and we keep both parties on the same email so nothing stalls. Values in West Monroe sit toward the lower end of the markets we serve, so the question is usually which option returns the most service life per dollar, and we will show you the point where spending more stops paying for itself. That local mix shapes how we scope and schedule screen rooms work here. Figures are U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates.
Typical installed ranges from the 2026 HomeGuide and Angi cost guides, sized for common West Monroe, LA patios. Your price depends on the footprint, whether the roof is new or existing, the screen type, and electrical, and comes from a free in home estimate.
| Screen room project | Typical installed range |
|---|---|
| Screen in an existing patio cover (panels, kickplate, door) | $2,000 to $5,000 |
| New screen room, 12 by 16 (192 sq ft) | $10,000 to $24,000 |
| New screen room, 14 by 20 (280 sq ft) | $14,000 to $35,000 |
| Rescreen an existing room (new mesh only) | $800 to $5,200 |
Figures are typical ranges and vary by project. Your free estimate is exact.
Donnie Grubbs measures your project and gives you a clear written estimate at no cost.
We are a local home improvement contractor and we stand behind every job. You are not handed off to a subcontractor. Every job follows the same disciplined process:
Ask anyone in West Monroe, LA what keeps them off the patio from May through September and the answer is mosquitoes, gnats and the sun. Louisiana's warm wet climate gives mosquitoes most of the year to breed, NOAA normals put summer highs in the low to mid 90s with roughly 96 to 99 days a year at or above 90 degrees, and an open porch is unusable at exactly the hours you want to be out there. A screen room with a Structall insulated roof solves all three at once: tight mesh keeps the bugs out, the foam core roof keeps the heat off, and a ceiling fan keeps the air moving. Donnie Grubbs has built screen rooms in this climate since 1976, and the rooms get used from spring through football season.
Donnie Grubbs works across the West Monroe area, including:
Screening in an existing porch or patio cover typically costs $2,000 to $5,000, or $10 to $25 per square foot, according to HomeGuide's 2026 data. That covers aluminum screen panels, a kickplate, and a self closing door set into the existing openings. If the existing cover is not structurally sound, Donnie Grubbs will tell you at the estimate and price a proper insulated roof instead.
Yes. Donnie Grubbs is a local, licensed and insured home improvement contractor, family owned in West Monroe since 1976, and BBB accredited with an A+ rating. Our own crews measure, build and finish every screen room.
Most screen rooms are complete within a few days once materials arrive. The insulated roof goes up first, then the aluminum framing, the screen panels, the door, and finally the electrical for fans and lights. Screening in an existing cover is usually a one day job. Materials are cut to your dimensions after the estimate, so plan on a few weeks of lead time.
They are mostly the same thing described three ways. A screened in porch usually means mesh added to a porch the house already has. A screen room is a purpose built room with its own aluminum framing and an insulated roof set on the slab. A patio enclosure is the broad term for either, and it also covers glass rooms where sliding glass panels replace the mesh. Donnie Grubbs builds all three in West Monroe, LA.
Yes, and it is a common second step. If the framing is sound, sliding glass panels with screens behind them can replace the mesh in the existing openings. Tell Donnie Grubbs at the estimate if glass is the long term plan so the posts and beams are sized for it from the start.
Yes. Louisiana enforces the 2021 International Residential Code with state amendments, and a screen room falls under Appendix AH, which treats enclosure walls of insect screening as a patio cover as long as the room stays one story, under 12 feet, and is used for outdoor living rather than as a habitable room. Permits are issued locally by the city or parish, and Donnie Grubbs handles the paperwork as part of the job.
Yes. Donnie Grubbs offers military and senior discounts on every project, and we accept cash, check, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. Ask at the estimate and we apply it to the written price.
Fiberglass mesh typically gives many years of service before sun and weather make it brittle, and rescreening a room costs $800 to $5,200 per Angi's 2026 data, with most people near $2,900. The aluminum frame, the insulated roof and the door outlast the mesh many times over, so a rescreen refreshes the room without rebuilding it.
Often, yes. If the existing cover is structurally sound, we add aluminum screen panels, a kickplate, and a door to the openings without touching the roof. If the posts or beams were never sized to carry panels, or the roof is a thin metal sheet that traps heat, we will tell you and price a proper Structall roof. Either way the estimate is free.
Yes, mainly because of the insulated roof. The Structall panels block the sun and the foam core stops heat from radiating down, which is the whole difference between a room you use in July and one you avoid until October. Add a ceiling fan and the room is comfortable on most West Monroe, LA summer evenings, even with NOAA's normals showing roughly 96 to 99 days a year at or above 90 degrees.
Call Donnie Grubbs or send the estimate form and we schedule a free in home visit in West Monroe, LA. We check the slab and any existing cover, measure the openings, and hand you a clear written price for the complete room with no obligation.
Standard fiberglass screen for most rooms, a finer no see um mesh where gnats are the problem, and pet resistant screen where dogs or cats will be leaning on it. We can mix types in one room, for example pet screen on the lower panels and standard mesh above. A solid kickplate along the bottom is the best defense against mower clippings and paws.
The median West Monroe home was built around 1976 per Census American Community Survey data, so a large share of the housing stock is 50 or more years old. That is the age where screen rooms and the other big updates come due, and it is the work Donnie Grubbs does every week.
West Monroe sits on the west bank of the Ouachita River in Ouachita Parish, directly across the water from Monroe, and it is where our showroom at 402 Cypress Street has been since the company started here in 1976. Donnie Grubbs plans around those specifics from the first visit.
For most West Monroe homes a screened patio is worth it because it turns a slab you avoid from June to September into a room you use, and the reasons are measurable. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Monroe Regional Airport, across the river, count about 97 days a year at or above 90 degrees and 55.1 inches of rain, with April the wettest month at 5.83 inches, so an open patio loses to the sun, the showers and the insects that follow them. Screen walls under a Structall insulated roof deal with all three. The typical installed ranges in the table on this page run $2,000 to $5,000 to screen in a patio that already has a sound cover, $10,000 to $24,000 for a new 12 by 16 screen room, and $14,000 to $35,000 for a 14 by 20. West Monroe's housing helps the math: Census ACS estimates put the median home here at 1976, and a brick ranch of that age usually has a level slab poured with the house, which keeps the budget in the room rather than in site work. Donnie Grubbs pulls the permit from West Monroe Building and Development at 2305 North 7th Street.
Screen room installation in West Monroe, LA starts with a free in home estimate from Donnie Grubbs, whose showroom sits at 402 Cypress Street a few minutes from most jobs. The crew checks the slab and any existing cover, measures the openings, and prices the whole room in writing. Materials are cut to those dimensions, which takes a few weeks, then the Structall insulated roof goes up first, followed by the extruded aluminum framing, screen panels, kickplate, self closing door and electrical for a fan and lights. Most rooms are complete within a few days of materials arriving, and screening in a sound existing cover is usually a one day job. Typical installed ranges from HomeGuide's 2026 screened porch guide: $2,000 to $5,000 to screen an existing cover, $10,000 to $35,000 for a new room. The permit is pulled by the company under Appendix AH of Louisiana's 2021 residential code, and the crew hauls off the debris before the walkthrough.
A Donnie Grubbs screen room in West Monroe, LA comes standard with a Structall insulated roof panel system (a foam core between two aluminum skins, in 3, 4 or 6 inch thicknesses), extruded aluminum posts and beams in white or bronze, your choice of standard fiberglass mesh, fine no see um mesh or pet resistant screen, a solid kickplate along the bottom, a self closing screen door, and wiring for a ceiling fan, lights and outlets. Nothing is wood, so nothing rots, needs paint or feeds termites through a wet Louisiana spring. The typical installed range per HomeGuide's 2026 guide is $10,000 to $35,000 for a new room, with a 12 by 16 room near $10,000 to $24,000, and $2,000 to $5,000 to screen in an existing cover. West Monroe's median home was built in 1976 per Census ACS estimates and 44 percent of occupied homes are owner occupied, so quotes for landlords are as routine as quotes for homeowners. Estimates are free and military and senior discounts apply.
Donnie Grubbs
402 Cypress St, West Monroe, LA 71291
Local, licensed and insured, and proud to do the work ourselves. Tell us about your project and we will give you a clear written estimate at no cost.
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