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What Motorized Patio Screens Cost

There are no dollar figures on this page, and that is deliberate. What follows is what actually moves the number, what a quote should itemise, and how to tell a specification from a guess.

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Why there are no prices on this page

We could put a range here. Every competitor page that does has picked two numbers wide enough to be technically defensible and narrow enough to look informative, and neither number will match your project.

The reason is that the variables genuinely dominate. Two covered patios on the same street, with the same number of openings, can differ substantially because one has a header deep enough for a recessed housing and the other needs blocking added, or because power reaches one opening and not the other. A figure quoted before those are known is not a price — it is a guess that will change.

A guess that changes after the site visit is worse than no number at all, because you have already made decisions around it. So instead: here is everything that moves it, so you can judge a quote from anyone.

The variables

What actually moves the number

Roughly in order of how much influence each tends to have.

01 — Scope

How many openings, and how wide

The largest single driver. Each opening is its own assembly — housing, roller, motor, material and side tracks — so the count matters more than total area. Width then drives what the assembly has to be: a wide span is a different specification from a narrow one, and maximum spans are the manufacturer's and confirmed against your measurements rather than assumed.

Count of openings matters more than square footage.
Each opening is a separate assembly.
Width drives specification; spans are confirmed, not assumed.

02 — Structure

What the structure already is

The variable people least expect and the one that most often separates two otherwise identical quotes. A header with depth to take a housing, posts that can carry side tracks, and a level slab edge make for a straightforward install. Shallow headers, clad columns, uneven slabs or a frame needing reinforcement all add work before a screen is even fitted.

This is why we measure before quoting, and why a number produced from photographs should be treated with suspicion.

Header depth and post construction drive install complexity.
Structural remedial work can exceed the screen cost.
A quote from photographs alone has not assessed this.

03 — Housing

Recessed or surface-mounted

A recessed housing conceals into the structure; a surface-mounted one fixes to the face of it. On new construction planned at framing, recessed is a modest additional provision. Retrofitted into finished work it is a substantially different proposition — and sometimes not possible at all.

Recessed at framing: modest additional provision.
Recessed into finished work: substantially more involved.
Not every structure can take a recessed housing.

04 — Fabric

Which material

Solar mesh, insect mesh, privacy weave and clear vinyl are not priced the same, and a patio carrying different materials on different openings will reflect that. The fabric guide covers what each one actually does — worth reading before assuming the cheapest option suits the opening.

Materials differ in cost as well as in behaviour.
Mixed specifications across one patio are normal.
The cheapest material is not always the right one.

05 — Controls

Controls and power

Remote-only is the simplest. Wall controls mean cable runs. Grouping several openings onto one action, or integrating with a home automation platform, adds specification and sometimes wiring. And where power has to reach an opening that has none, that work is part of the project.

Cable runs and control positions are real line items.
Grouping and integration add specification work.
Power to an opening that has none can be significant.

Controls and automation

06 — The rest

Access, review and everything else

How easily the site can be worked, whether a terrace has to keep trading during installation, and whether a design review or association submission is involved all bear on a project. On a commercial terrace the installation plan can be as significant as the specification.

Site access and working conditions affect labour.
Commercial phasing around trading is a real cost.
Review requirements can extend a timeline.

How to compare

What a useful quote should tell you

Whether or not it is ours, a quote you can rely on should answer these without you having to ask. If it does not, that is worth noticing.

Which openings, with measured dimensions. Not "patio screens" — each opening, measured.
Which material on which opening. Specified individually, because they should not all be the same by default.
Housing type and mounting method. Recessed or surface, and what it fixes to.
Any structural work required. Stated separately rather than absorbed invisibly.
The control scheme. How many controls, where, what is grouped, and any wiring.
Electrical scope. What is included and what is not.
What is excluded. The most informative section of any quote.

A quote answering all seven may well be higher than one answering none. It is also the only one of the two that will still be true at the end of the job.

What we do not publish, and why. We do not publish price ranges, per-square-foot figures, starting prices, financing arrangements, promotions or discount offers anywhere on this site. Not as a negotiating position — because any of them stated without seeing your openings would be invented.

Where to go next

Cost FAQ

Can you give me a ballpark over the phone?

We would rather not, and we would be wary of anyone who does. The variables that dominate — structure, openings, materials, controls, access — are exactly the ones that cannot be assessed over a phone call. A number given before those are known will change, and by then you will have made decisions around it.

Why do two quotes for the same patio differ so much?

Usually because they are not specifying the same thing. Check whether both measured the openings individually, whether both address structural work, whether both include the electrical scope, and whether both state exclusions. A cheaper quote that omits a structural issue is not cheaper.

Is it cheaper to do all the openings at once?

Sometimes, because some of the work is shared. But screening the one opening that fails first is frequently the better project regardless — one opening specified properly beats four specified indifferently.

Does a recessed installation cost more?

It depends entirely on the stage. Planned at framing on new construction, the additional provision is modest. Retrofitted into finished work it is substantially more involved, and sometimes not possible.

Do you offer financing or run promotions?

We do not publish financing arrangements, promotions or discount offers on this site. If that changes it will be stated plainly rather than implied.

What is the most common thing people underestimate?

Structural condition, followed by power. Both are invisible in a photograph and both can materially change a project — which is the whole reason we measure before quoting.

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Get a number that holds

A consultation and an on-site measure, then an itemised quote you can genuinely compare against someone else's.

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