Retractable Screen Systems

Lake Norman & Surrounding Area

Your Outdoor Living Experience Starts Here

Integrity - Leadership - Transparency - Honesty - Quality

The problem with a screened porch is that it's always screened. You've traded a clear view and open air for insect protection, permanently, and on the twenty perfect evenings a year when there are no bugs at all, you're still looking through mesh.

A retractable screen system removes that trade. The screen rolls down when you want it and disappears into a housing when you don't. Motorized, it's a button. Or your phone. Or a voice command.

Vivid Outdoor Living installs Sunspace retractable screen systems throughout Lake Norman and greater Charlotte. See our Gallery!

What it does beyond bugs

Insects are the reason most people start looking. They're rarely the main benefit once it's installed.

UV. The right fabric filters up to 90% of UV rays — protecting the people underneath and the furniture, rugs, and finishes that would otherwise fade.

Heat. Sunspace publishes a temperature reduction of as much as 11°C in summer — roughly 20°F. That is the difference between a west-facing patio being unusable at 5 p.m. and being the best seat in the house. A screen intercepts solar radiation before it enters the space, which is why an exterior screen outperforms any interior shade at the same opacity.

[That 11°C is a temperature DIFFERENCE, so it converts to a 20°F difference. Please don't let anyone run it through a standard C-to-F formula and publish "reduces your patio to 51.8 degrees."]

Privacy. Higher-opacity fabrics give you real screening from a neighbor's second-story window or a road, without building a wall.

Wind. Denser fabrics cut wind noticeably, which extends the season on an exposed patio well into fall.

Choosing the fabric

This is the decision that determines whether you like the result, and it gets almost no attention from most installers.



The fabrics come from the two names that matter in this category. Phifer — an American manufacturer making architectural screen cloth in Alabama since 1952 — supplies TuffScreen and the SunTex range. Serge Ferrari, a French technical-textile maker, supplies Soltis. Sunspace rates the range like this:

PanoramaFR Clear sits outside this matrix entirely — a clear vinyl panel rather than a mesh, used as a retractable windbreak that keeps the view fully open.

How we'd actually advise:

• Bugs are the whole problem, and you want to keep the view. TuffScreen. Low privacy is the trade — you can see out, and so can everyone else. TuffScreen No-See-Ums if you're near water; the tighter weave stops the small biting midges a standard mesh doesn't. Anyone on or near Lake Norman should take this seriously.
• Heat and glare are the problem. SunTex, in the density that matches your exposure. Higher numbers mean more sun blocked — SunTex 80 on a moderately exposed patio, SunTex 95 or 99 on hard west-facing exposure.
• You're overlooked and want privacy. SunTex 95 or 99 is the workhorse here — high UV block, high wind control, and enough density to screen a neighbour's sightline. Sheerweave rates highest in the range for privacy if that's the priority; we'll confirm the right style for an exterior opening when we spec it.
• Exposed, windy site. Soltis 502 — very high durability and very high wind control. Note the low pet resistance; if you have a dog that leans on screens, this is the wrong fabric.
• You want a windbreak but not a screen. PanoramaFR Clear — clear vinyl that blocks wind and rain while keeping the view completely open. Like every fabric in the line, it gets retracted in severe weather; it's a comfort product, not storm protection.

If you have both a bug problem and a heat problem on the same opening, tell us. There are ways to handle it and the answer is usually not a compromise fabric.

Sizes

Twenty-three feet in a single unit covers most residential openings without a post in the middle. Wider spans are done as multiple units, and we'll lay out the divisions so they land on structural members rather than in the middle of your view.



Motorization and controls

Somfy motors are standard — the reference brand in this category, and the reason to care is service life and parts availability a decade from now rather than anything you'll notice on day one.

• Handheld remote
• Wall-mounted switch
• Smartphone app
• Voice, via Amazon Alexa and Google Home, and compatibility with leading smart home systems

Obstacle detection is available in standard or intelligent versions — the screen is designed to stop when it senses an obstruction, which protects the screen and the motor. On frequently used openings, specify the intelligent version. It's a small cost.

Manual operation is also available where motorization isn't wanted or where there's no practical power run. It works fine. But on any opening over about twelve feet, a manual screen tends to get used less and less over time, and the whole value of the product is that you actually use it.

Build quality

Frames and components are aluminum and stainless steel — corrosion-resistant materials that matter on a lakefront or a covered porch that gets wind-driven rain. The screen runs in a guided track system rather than free-hanging, so it stays put in a breeze instead of billowing and slapping.

Five standard frame colors: White, Black, Driftwood, Bronze, Silver.

The housing can be recessed into the structure so it's essentially invisible when the screen is up. If you're building a new patio cover or louvered pergola, tell us you want screens now even if you're adding them in a later phase — concealing the housing is easy during construction and awkward afterward.

The system is backed by a manufacturer warranty; we'll go over the terms with you before you order.

FAQs

Screens only when you want them

Free consultation and fabric recommendations for your specific exposure.