Applications

Motorized Screens for Covered Patios & Outdoor Kitchens

The room is already built. Screens are what make it usable in August, in October, and on the evening the mosquitoes arrive — and on most West Texas patios more than one of those is in play.

Request a Design Consultation The screen solutions

The problem

Four failures, and many patios have at least two

A covered patio in this region generally fails in a small number of predictable ways, and which ones apply depends almost entirely on which direction each opening faces.

Low afternoon sun comes in flat under the roofline on the west side. Grit arrives ahead of a front and settles on every horizontal surface. Mosquitoes appear for a few weeks after rain and empty the space at exactly the hour it is most pleasant. And one open side takes wind-driven rain that the roof does nothing about.

The mistake is choosing one material for the whole structure. Two openings on the same slab are frequently solving different problems, and specifying them identically means solving neither properly.

The specification

What actually matters on a covered patio

Five things we look at on site, roughly in the order they constrain the answer.

01 — Above the opening

Roofline and header depth

The first constraint is what sits above the opening. A housing needs somewhere to mount, and the depth and construction of the header decides whether that is a surface-mounted or a recessed option — or, occasionally, whether it is possible at all without modification. This is measured, not estimated from a photograph.

  • Header depth decides housing type and position.
  • Soffit construction affects concealment options.
  • Some headers need blocking added before mounting.

02 — Orientation

Which openings, and which way they face

Most covered patios have two to four usable openings, and they rarely need the same treatment. A west-facing side is usually a solar question; the side you sit beside on summer evenings is usually an insect one; the side that takes the weather is usually a vinyl one. Screening all of them identically is the most common overspend we see.

  • Specify per opening, not per structure.
  • Orientation drives the material more than anything else.
  • Screening the worst opening first is a valid project.

03 — The sides

Posts, columns and where the track can run

Side retention has to fix to something. Timber posts, steel columns, masonry piers and stone-clad columns all behave differently, and a wide stone column can change where a track sits or whether a particular opening works at all. Column material is one of the first things we look at.

  • Post width and material decide side track routing.
  • Masonry and stone cladding need different fixing approaches.
  • An irregular slab affects how the bottom bar meets the floor.

04 — Cooking areas

The outdoor kitchen changes the layout

A cooking area adds heat, smoke and a firm requirement to keep ventilation where it is needed. Screening every side of a space containing a grill is rarely the right answer — which openings stay open is as much a part of the specification as which ones close.

We do not publish clearance figures for cooking equipment. Those come from the appliance manufacturer's own documentation for your specific unit, and we work to those rather than to a number invented for a web page.

  • Ventilation around cooking equipment is preserved by design.
  • Clearances come from the appliance manufacturer, not from us.
  • Cabinetry and appliances benefit from a screened side against grit.

05 — Use pattern

How the space is actually used

A patio used for dinner three evenings a week has different priorities from one used for a Saturday afternoon with the family. When you use it decides which problem is worth solving first, and it is the question most likely to change the specification between the first conversation and the quote.

  • Time of day matters more than square footage.
  • Furniture layout affects where sightlines actually land.
  • The opening you already avoid is the one to start with.
How the system works

What fits here

What often gets specified on a covered patio

Named in the language of this space rather than by product category.
Shade for the west side Cutting low afternoon sun and glare on the opening that empties the patio at four o'clock. Keeping the evenings usable Closing the opening to mosquitoes for the weeks after rain, while air still moves through. Closing the weather side A clear panel on the one side that takes wind-driven rain, buying back spring and autumn. Managing a sightline When a neighbour's window or a street frontage is the reason the space goes unused. Running several openings at once Grouping so one action closes a whole side, decided before anything is fixed. The system underneath Track, housing and retention — the layer that decides whether the rest is possible.

Other spaces

Other places these work

Related applications, and where to go next.
Pergolas & Gazebos An open top is a different engineering question from a roofed patio. Pool Areas Water changes glare, material choice and the sightlines that matter. New Construction & Recessed If the patio is still being built, almost everything here becomes easier. Covered patios in San Angelo The local climate case, with sourced figures for the hot season.

Questions

Questions about covered patios

Can motorized screens be added to an existing covered patio?

Often, yes — retrofit is a large share of this work. What decides it is the structure: header depth, mounting surface, post width and whether power can reach the opening. Those are site questions, which is why we measure before quoting.

Do I have to screen every opening?

No, and you usually should not. Screening the opening that fails first is frequently the whole project. Planning the rest at the same time still matters, because it affects where power and controls go.

Can I have different materials on different sides?

Yes, and on a patio with more than one exposure it is normally the right answer. A west-facing side and a sheltered side are not solving the same problem. The fabric guide sets the materials against each other.

What about my outdoor kitchen and the grill?

Ventilation around cooking equipment is preserved by design, and screening every side of a cooking space is rarely right. Clearances come from your appliance manufacturer's documentation for that specific unit — we work to those rather than publishing figures of our own.

Will the screens protect my furniture from hail?

No. An ordinary motorized screen is not hail protection. It keeps everyday blowing grit off surfaces, which is useful, but severe weather calls for retracting the screens rather than relying on them. The weather exposure page explains the distinction.

How wide can a single opening be?

Maximum spans are published by the manufacturer, differ by configuration and change over time, so we do not print them here. We confirm the current published figures against your measured openings before anything is quoted.

Start a project

Send us a photograph from where you sit

Not from the doorway — from the chair. It tells us more about which opening to solve first than a floor plan does.
Request a Design Consultation