suggestions for a screened porch

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

Thank you so much, John!

My parents had put glass panels over their screens through many winters, but it was such a hassle putting them up and taking them down and having to store them somewhere, that they stopped doing it after a while.

The prices are not that bad either. Is it because it’s not real glass?

A lot of camps in our association have those in their porches and love them. If you're only doing an 8x16 or something, the price would certainly be reasonable. For decent size openings on our 10x30 screen porches, it's ~$4k for just the windows vs. under $1k for manufactured screens.

It's certainly nice to be able to shut them down in weather/the off-season without having to cover the whole of the porch with a series of separate windows or whole tarp, etc.

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[Susie Cougar]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

A lot of camps in our association have those in their porches and love them. If you're only doing an 8x16 or something, the price would certainly be reasonable. For decent size openings on our 10x30 screen porches, it's ~$4k for just the windows vs. under $1k for manufactured screens.

It's certainly nice to be able to shut them down in weather/the off-season without having to cover the whole of the porch with a series of separate windows or whole tarp, etc.

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think,
You have screens on your porch. Many of your neighbors have the new vinyl glass. How do you think it’s different? I don’t want a closed in feeling, like I am indoors. I definitely want to feel like I am outdoors. You chose not to do this on your porch and I know how much you research everything. Why did you make the choice that you did?

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

think,

You have screens on your porch. Many of your neighbors have the new vinyl glass. How do you think it’s different? I don’t want a closed in feeling, like I am indoors. I definitely want to feel like I am outdoors. You chose not to do this on your porch and I know how much you research everything. Why did you make the choice that you did?

I think a lot would have to be about design. My father had the windows put in to his camp, and I thought he gave up a lot in terms of outdoorsy feeling. The average window size for our porches here is 36" wide by 48" high, so when 1/4-1/3 of it is taken up by the vinyl when "down," it appears more closed off (the windows are 4 sections). If we had floor-to-ceiling windows like in some of the ad pictures, where the vinyl pieces are pushed down almost to the floor, it might be less noticeable.

We have decided not to go that way because camp opens May 1st and closes October 28, so it's only a few weeks of "3-season" weather and it's easy enough to throw full coverage tarps up for the winter.

Were money not an issue, were it my year-round home, and were I able to design it from scratch, I gotta think I would go with the windows because I could design it to minimize the "drawbacks" of the windows while having the benefits: cleanliness (pollen is BRUTAL on a screen porch) and cold and rainy weather.

At camp, though, it's supposed to be totally outside, so I do (for now) prefer full screens.

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[MeredithMan]

....This is what we had in our last house. It was essentially a pressure-treated deck with white aluminum walls and a roof. It was hexagonal in shape so the ceiling was a conical cathedral ceiling. All of the window panels were removable for screens...we typically only did a few of them in the summer, which allowed for plenty of breeze. When we bought the house, we upgraded the floor from just a PT deck to ceramic tile that looked like wood, and also added a ceiling fan.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by MeredithMan

....This is what we had in our last house. It was essentially a pressure-treated deck with white aluminum walls and a roof. It was hexagonal in shape so the ceiling was a conical cathedral ceiling. All of the window panels were removable for screens...we typically only did a few of them in the summer, which allowed for plenty of breeze. When we bought the house, we upgraded the floor from just a PT deck to ceramic tile that looked like wood, and also added a ceiling fan.

You can replace the glass with optical vinyl if the weight of the glass panels becomes too much.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

I think a lot would have to be about design. My father had the windows put in to his camp, and I thought he gave up a lot in terms of outdoorsy feeling. The average window size for our porches here is 36" wide by 48" high, so when 1/4-1/3 of it is taken up by the vinyl when "down," it appears more closed off (the windows are 4 sections). If we had floor-to-ceiling windows like in some of the ad pictures, where the vinyl pieces are pushed down almost to the floor, it might be less noticeable.

We have decided not to go that way because camp opens May 1st and closes October 28, so it's only a few weeks of "3-season" weather and it's easy enough to throw full coverage tarps up for the winter.

Were money not an issue, were it my year-round home, and were I able to design it from scratch, I gotta think I would go with the windows because I could design it to minimize the "drawbacks" of the windows while having the benefits: cleanliness (pollen is BRUTAL on a screen porch) and cold and rainy weather.

At camp, though, it's supposed to be totally outside, so I do (for now) prefer full screens.

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In some cases they get designed that way to deal with the fall protection codes.


An added benefit was that the screens got protected from ''walk through''. For a window of only 36x48... probably best to use a tilt-wash double hung or gliding window; and just remove the sashes during the season.
It cost more, but can really extend a season even into four season should the need arise.
Problem has always been the storage of the sashes.

Some have wanted to use the large double hung or gliding window that we have in the Meredith Marvin showcase... but removing those sashes is at minimum a two person job... very heavy.

We did have one customer that has done the folding door with the retractable screen... but that was to open their entire walkout basement to the outside.