Living in an area like Fort Myers Florida requires you to protect your home and family from severe weather. Mostly all homeowners install hurricane shutters or impact glass to protect their windows and doors. But if you are like many homeowners, your patio and/or outdoor spaces are probably left unprotected. After all, living in Florida means you can enjoy your patio with friends and family all year long. So protecting your patio from damage is important. But the problem is many hurricane shutters are not suitable for wide openings. Or they may take away from your patio space. So the question becomes, what can you install to protect your patio without taking away from it? One option is to use retractable hurricane screens for patio protection. We discuss using hurricane screens to protect your patio in more detail below.
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Why Hurricane Screens Are A Good Fit for Patios
While hurricane screens are not usually used to protect windows and doors they are a great choice for patios, lanais, etc. There are a few reasons why. We discuss each reason below.
Perfect For Wide Openings
Hurricane screens can be installed on openings up to 360″ wide, depending on the location of the install. That is a whopping 30 feet. This truly allows you to protect mostly any outdoor space present on your home. So you can use them for large outdoor openings, such as your patio, sunroom, porch, and more.
Attractive
You want your patio or outdoor space to look as nice as possible, right? Of course! So its only natural that you pick an attractive option to protect your space. And storm screens fit that requirement.
First, they are small and sleek when the screens are up (open). They have smaller housing boxes than some other shutter options that are suitable for wide openings. This means they are less noticeable and less intrusive to the look and style of your patio.
Second, they look great when they are down (closed). Pick from a variety of standard colors to match your patio or complement the look of your home.
Provide Shade and Reduce Sun Glare
Whether it is the heat or the sun glare the Florida sun can be flat out brutal. So sometimes it is nice to sit outside and get some fresh air while taking a break from the sun. This is an area that retractable hurricane screens really shine. They provide shade and reduce glare so you can enjoy your patio space more comfortably. And if you want the sun then you can easily open them. In other words, you can easily have shade when you want it.
Further, you can see through them. Unlike some other shutters that completely black out your view screens allow you to see out of them. This means you can watch the kids in the pool or enjoy the lovely view while sitting behind them in the shade.
Protect Your Patio
Yes, retractable storm screens are great for wide openings. And yes, they are attractive and improve the enjoyment of your patio. But most importantly they are made to offer serious hurricane protection for your patio and outdoor spaces.
How strong are they? Our Eurex Shutters PTX™ Hurricane Screens are made from aramid fiber fabric, a super strong, yet lightweight and see-through material. They can withstand hurricane force winds up to 180 MPH. They meet Florida Building codes and Miami-Dade requirements. So in other words they offer some serious protection.
You can quickly and easily protect your entire patio just by closing your screens. This is much easier compared to moving, removing and securing everything on your patio.
Retractable storm screens are very easy to close when a storm is approaching. In fact, with motorized ones you can close them with a switch or mobile app in about a minute or less. This truly beats preparing your patio and outdoor space before a storm.
Conclusion
While many homeowners in Florida protect their windows and doors they do protect their patios. One great option is to use retractable hurricane screens for patio spaces. They work great for extra wide spaces, are attractive, provide shade and offer serious storm protection. They are also easy to open and close.
Are you interested in installing hurricane screens on your Southwest Florida home? We would love to work with you. We have been installing, repairing and maintaining hurricane protection products in Southwest Florida for 35+ years. So feel free to contact us for a complimentary consultation and estimate.
