Many years ago we moved to a new house, and used 10% of the equity on the sale of our old house to build a spendypants 18'x14' post-and-beam porch to replace a deteriorating deck. Ipe decking, 4 huge skylights that open, floor-to ceiling screens on 3 walls, a lofted v-match pine ceiling with suspended ceiling fan/light, etc. When it was new it was the bees knees and we got a lot of use out of it for the first few seasons.
Unfortunately the humid northeast US climate has resulted in way more required maintenance than we anticipated. Rain + pollen + mold + snow + dust == dirty scum on every surface, which is increasingly hard to clean off every spring. In practice we only get to use the porch ~July through ~Sept. Now there are some holes in the screens, we're always battling carpenter bees and ants, the decking needs resealing, etc. It's become more of a burden than a joy.
There are three thoughts we've had about the porch, usually triggered by the reluctant annual cleaning ritual:
1) Acknowledge that we're too lazy for the kind of maintenance it requires, so we just won't use it anymore. Let it rot until it needs to be torn down. Sunk cost, let bygones be bygones. At least it provided a valuable lesson that has prevented other large impulse purchases. But I'm pretty sure I'd hate myself a little bit every time I walk past that huge reminder of failure attached to our house (as I do now).
2) Become more proactive and just deal with the extra effort and cost required to keep it maintained. A fairly modest expenditure of effort and cost will make it usable again -- and presumably give us a lot of enjoyment again -- for many years to come. This sounds sensible, but I also know our tendencies, and I don't think it would be long before we slacked off on the maintenance again and ended up right back where we are now.
3) Renovate the porch to make it more like a 3 season room. Basically this would amount to replacing the large, 4' wide by 7' tall screens with a short knee wall and (screened) windows. Also replace some of the wood trim with PVC boards to discourage pests. The windows would keep rain/snow/pollen out, but could be opened to let the fresh air in and make it more porch-y. In theory this would eliminate the majority of the maintenance and also allow us to use the porch for ~9 months per year instead of ~6. It would likely cost around $10k if I had a contractor do the work. I think I could probably do it for half that. Before you scold me for considering an(other) impulse buy, we had actually priced out the work when we had the porch built, but decided to put off as an eventual phase II of construction. We've been thinking about this option off and on for years.
Putting aside any shock, horror, or outrage at the original $25k sticker or possible $10k renovation...do you have any tips on how to weigh the various options? Maybe you've gone through something similar with a home addition and/or renovation, and have some wisdom to share.