Motorized Patio Screens · Dallas–Fort Worth
Shade that comes down when the sun does.
Exterior screens that lower from a housing above the opening and run in zipper tracks to the floor. Down against the afternoon sun, the wind or the insects; up and out of sight when the evening is right.
- Since 2012Measured, made and installed in Dallas–Fort Worth
- Warranty10-year screen · 5-year motor · lifetime frame · 1-year workmanship
- PriceOne written price for the whole patio
- TimingInstalled three to four weeks after the deposit
Made for one opening, then the next.
The fabric
Phifer SunTex 95 or 97 for most openings, chosen per opening for how much of the view you keep against how much sun you stop. Clear vinyl where the patio is used through the winter, and any fabric in the manufacturer’s range besides. The samples are in the showroom.
The motor
Somfy motors on a wall switch or a remote, with the limits set at installation so every screen on the patio stops at the same line.
The control
On their own, or on the ELAN or Control4 keypads with the rest of the house, lowered on a timeclock when the sun reaches the patio. That part is Blue Note A/V’s work, under the same roof.
One opening, on its way down.
Thirty seconds of an install day, phone in hand: a light fabric coming down over a pool view. The yard stays in the picture; the glare and the insects do not. Nothing loads until you press play.
One patio, three settings.
The same opening photographed with the screens fully down, stopped halfway and raised into the housing. Each screen stops wherever you leave it, and the housing is all that shows when they are up.
Which way the opening faces decides most of it
A west-facing patio in Dallas–Fort Worth takes the sun low and flat from mid-afternoon until it sets, which is exactly when people want to sit outside. A north-facing one may only need screens for insects. We look at each opening against the sun before choosing a fabric, and it is common for one patio to have two.
The zipper track is what makes them work
A screen that hangs free swings in a breeze and leaves a gap at each side. Here each edge of the fabric carries a zipper that runs inside the track from the housing to the floor, so the screen cannot blow out of the track, stays flat in wind and closes the opening to insects. The bottom bar seats against the floor, which is why we look at the slab before we measure.
Clear vinyl for the cooler months
A clear vinyl window in a fabric border, on the same housing and zipper track, keeps wind, rain and cold off the patio while the view stays open. Paired with a sun screen on a second housing, one opening covers the summer and the winter. Up to 16 feet wide and 12 feet tall.
Made in Dallas–Fort Worth
The screens are made to each measured opening in Richardson, from heavy-gauge aluminum, and powder-coated in one of seven standard frame colors or a custom color to match the trim.
Power is planned, not discovered
Each motor needs power at the top of the opening. In new construction that is a line on the electrician’s plan, and it costs little. On a finished patio we plan the route with you and your electrician and tell you before we start where anything will show.
Screens are for sun, wind and insects
They are not walls. In a storm they go up, and after dark, with the patio lights on, people outside can see in through any screen fabric. We say so at the first visit rather than after the first evening.
The house fabric: black and charcoal in three weaves, the value choice for most openings, plus the full Phifer and Twitchell ranges when a color has to match the house. Try them on an opening with the picker, then see the real swatches in the showroom.
Compare the fabrics →Motorized Screens: the questions clients ask us first.
What do they cost?
It depends on the width and height of each opening, the fabric and how the screens are controlled. We price after we measure. The free call is enough to tell you whether what you have in mind sits in a sensible range before anyone visits.
Do they keep insects out?
When they are fully lowered, yes. The edges of the fabric are zipped into the tracks, so there is no gap at the sides, and the bottom bar closes the floor. We check both at installation.
What happens in high wind?
Raise them. Tracked screens handle an ordinary Texas afternoon well, but they are not storm shutters. Somfy makes a wind sensor that raises the screens on its own, and we can add one where a patio is exposed.
Can I use the fireplace or a heater with the screens down?
Yes, as long as nothing hot touches the fabric and there is a gap for ventilation. A patio fireplace or a gas heater a normal distance from the screen is fine; the mesh is vinyl-coated polyester and wants air moving past it, not a flame against it.
Can a screen follow an arch?
No. The screen is a rectangle. On an arched opening it mounts above the arch and covers it as a rectangle when it is down, and disappears into its housing when it is up. Several of the arched patios in our projects are done this way.
Can I leave the screens down all the time?
Mostly, yes. Raise them when the wind gets above about 40 mph, and run them up and down once or twice a week even when you do not need to; a screen that moves regularly stays free in its tracks. A wind sensor does the first part on its own.
Do they keep rain out?
It depends on the fabric. The tighter the weave, the more rain and wind it stops: a 95 or 97 fabric turns most of a shower, an 80 lets more through. For a patio that has to stay dry, clear vinyl is the answer.
Can the patio be used in the winter?
Yes, with clear vinyl. It runs on the same zipper track as a sun screen and keeps out wind, rain and cold while you can still see the yard. The vinyl is Sattler or Serge Ferrari with a Fenestra or Panorama clear window, blackout is available, and one opening can carry a mesh roll and a vinyl roll together. Vinyl screens run up to 16 ft wide and 12 ft high.
Can they run with our ELAN or Control4 system?
Yes. Blue Note A/V programs both, so the screens can sit on the same keypads and app as the rest of the house, and lower on a timeclock instead of a remote.
How long does it take?
Most screens are installed three to four weeks after the deposit, and a rush is available when a date matters. Every screen is made to the measurements from the visit, and we confirm the installation day once they are in hand.
What is the warranty?
Two parts. The manufacturer covers the screen fabric for ten years, the motor and remote for five, the powder-coated frame for life, and clear vinyl for one year. We guarantee our own workmanship for a year from installation: if anything we put in is not right, we come back and put it right.
How small or large can a screen be?
From 36 in wide and 36 in high up to 22 1/2 ft wide and 16 ft high on a zipper track (25 ft wide when recessed, depending on the fabric). Clear vinyl screens run up to 16 ft wide and 12 ft high. A wider opening is split at a post or column so each screen stops at the same line.
Read more on this.
Guide · Motorized Screens · Dallas–Fort WorthThe Patio, Usable in August
A Dallas patio sits empty from June to September for three reasons — the afternoon sun, the insects, and the wind. Exterior screens answer all three, then come up out of sight when the evening turns pleasant.
Guide · Motorized Screens · Zip-Track & WindZipper-Track Screens and the Texas Wind
What holds a motorized screen in place when the wind comes up is the track. Here is how a zipper-track screen works, what it handles, and the honest limit — plus the sensor that raises it before a storm can do any harm.
Guide · Automation · ELAN, Control4 & SomfyScreens on the Same App as Your House
Because Outdoor Shades is a Blue Note A/V company, your patio screens do not have to live on a separate remote. They run on the same control system as the house — on a timeclock, a keypad, or the app you already use.
Guide · Pricing · One Written PriceWhat Patio Screens Cost, and What Sets the Price
We do not post a single price, because there is not one — each opening is measured and made for it. But the things that move the number are no mystery. Here is what sets the cost of patio screens, and how we quote it.
Start with the free call.
Fifteen minutes tells us both whether screens are the right answer for the patio, and roughly what they involve. No payment, no obligation.
Telephone
214 865 9936Showroom
11410 Mathis Ave, Office 1, Farmers Branch, TX 75234 — our showroom. Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, by appointment
Send a few photographs of the openings and which way they face. That is usually enough for a first answer.
The inquiry form →Screens on the same keypads as the rest of the house, programmed by the same firm.
Blue Note A/V →