The system layer

MagnaTrack® Motorized Screens

A motorized retractable screen system built around a magnetically retained track. It closes an opening when you want it closed and disappears into a housing when you do not — and what decides whether it suits your space is the opening, not the brochure.

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What it is

What MagnaTrack® is, and who makes it

Kudu Outdoor Living is an authorized dealer of MagnaTrack® motorized screens by Progressive Screens. MagnaTrack® is a registered trademark of Defender Screens International LLC, d/b/a Progressive Screens.

Kudu Outdoor Living designs, specifies, installs and programs. We do not manufacture screen systems and we do not own the technology. The engineering, the material range, the finishes and the control options are the manufacturer's. What is ours is the specification decision, the installation, the programming and the handover — and that is the part of the job you are actually hiring us for. The about page sets out how we work and what we will not claim.

We do not publish manufacturer specifications on this site. Wind ratings, spans, fabric openness figures, finishes, approval numbers and warranty terms are the manufacturer's, they differ by component, and they change. We confirm the current published figures for your specific openings, in writing, before anything is quoted.

How it works

Track, housing, material and controls

Four parts doing one job. Most of what makes a motorized screen succeed or fail happens at the sides.

The track

Everything interesting happens at the edges

A gap at the side undoes the whole screen. An insect mesh with an open edge is not an insect screen, and a solar panel that bows away from its track stops doing its job at exactly the moment you want it. The retention system along the sides is what holds the material in place through wind, and it is the difference between a screen that gets used and one that gets abandoned.

MagnaTrack® uses a magnetically retained side track. The practical consequence is that the material can be released and re-seated rather than tearing out of a fixed channel.

  • The mounting surface has to carry the track, not just the housing.
  • Side track routing decides whether an opening is workable at all.
  • Post width and column material change what can be fixed where.

The housing

Surface-mounted or recessed

A housing can be fixed to the face of the structure or built into it. Recessed is cleaner and is a straightforward decision at framing stage; on an existing structure it may or may not be possible depending on what is above the opening. Neither is better in the abstract — the structure decides.

If you are building, this is the conversation worth having early. Everything difficult about a retrofit is easy before the ceiling goes on.

  • Recessed housings need to be planned before finishes go on.
  • Surface-mounted housings are the usual answer on an existing patio.
  • Power routing is decided at the same time as the housing.

The material

The fabric is a separate decision

The system carries the material; it does not dictate which one. Solar mesh, insect mesh, a denser privacy weave and clear vinyl all behave differently, and the right answer depends on which problem the opening actually has. This is why the same house can end up with two different materials on two sides of the same patio — the fabric guide compares them directly.

  • Sun and glare point toward a solar mesh.
  • Mosquito pressure after rain points toward an insect mesh.
  • A single bad sightline points toward a privacy weave.
  • Wind-driven rain and blowing dust point toward clear vinyl.

The controls

Operating it should be the easy part

A screen that is awkward to operate stops being used by about the third week. Remote, wall control or integration with a compatible home automation platform are all possible; the manufacturer publishes which motor brands and platforms it currently works with, and that list changes, so we confirm what is available for your system rather than printing one here that will date.

Most control problems turn out to be power problems, which is why control gets planned during specification rather than added at the end.

  • Decide the control method before the housing is fixed.
  • Power has to reach the opening, not just the wall nearby.
  • Automation can usually be added later; power usually cannot.

Where it fits

Where this suits an opening — and where it does not

A motorized retractable screen suits a covered opening with a structure that can carry the track, where you want the option of closing the space and the option of having it fully open. Covered patios and outdoor kitchens, pergolas with a suitable frame, pool-side structures, garage openings and commercial terraces all fall inside that description.

It is the wrong product where the real requirement is a permanent enclosed room, where the structure cannot carry side tracks and adding structure is not on the table, or where the expectation is protection from severe weather. An ordinary motorized screen is not hail protection and it is not storm protection. If that is the requirement, a screen is not the answer and we will say so rather than sell you one.

Where these go Screens in San Angelo

Questions

Questions about MagnaTrack® systems

Does Kudu make MagnaTrack® screens?

No. MagnaTrack® is manufactured by Progressive Screens. Kudu Outdoor Living designs, specifies, installs and programs motorized screen systems — we are not the manufacturer and we do not claim to own or to have invented the technology.

How wide an opening can one screen cover?

Maximum spans are published by the manufacturer, they differ by configuration, and they change. We do not print them here. We confirm the current published figures against your measured openings before anything is quoted — which is the only version of that answer that will still be true when you order.

What happens to the screen when it is not in use?

It retracts into its housing. That is the whole argument for a retractable system over a fixed screen room: the space is fully open when you want it open, and closed when you want it closed, without a permanent visual change to the structure.

What is the warranty?

Warranty terms are the manufacturer's, they differ by component, and they change over time. We go through the current terms with you in writing before anything is ordered rather than summarising them on a web page that will go out of date.

Can it be retrofitted, or does it need new construction?

Both are common. Retrofit is decided by the structure — header depth, mounting surface, post width and power routing. New construction is simply easier, because housings and power can be planned before finishes go on.

Will it survive West Texas wind?

Wind ratings are published by the manufacturer and we do not republish them, partly because the figures that circulate online often belong to a different product in the range. The practical guidance is the same regardless of the number: a retractable screen is retracted ahead of severe weather. Anyone quoting you a wind figure for a patio screen should be asked which specific product it applies to.

Start a project

See whether it suits your openings

Send a photograph from where you sit and a rough width of the widest opening. That is enough to start.
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