Screen Porch Covering

[Porch Potato]

Hello All.
A couple of years ago we renovated our 100+ year old camp; it was on the verge of collapse with the next heavy snow. The original screen porch had a slatted wood floor covered in an oil based paint. The new porch floor is solid fir and it is treated with something called Australian Timber Oil. We are debating the need to proactively protect our new porch from the heavy winter snows that accumulate in and around it.
We are contemplating covering the screens of the porch with canvas attached to the outside of the house to block the snow.
Have you ever heard/seen anything like this?
Any thoughts are appreciated.

[mcdude]

Are the screens removable? At our old place we used to 'wrap' the removable screens with clear plastic (available at any hardware store) and then put the screens back in place which did the trick!

[Porch Potato]

No, the screens are not removable. Our main concern is keeping the snow off the porch floor. Friends had walked across the lake one winter and sent us photos of the house. The snow drifts were very high all around the house. This is what prompted us to start thinking about protecting the porch so that it will last for many years to come.

Thank you for the reply.

[Chris Exley]

We Staple the plastic on the inside of the screens. When we open in the spring, we just pull the staples out.

[Porch Potato]

Thank you for the suggestion. It seems so simple, we should have thought of it before! My husband thinks it will work for us. Thanks again.

[Outlaw]

We used to do the same thing year after year, wrap or staple plastic to/around the screens. but we found this product that made life simplier. You attach thin (less than 1/4") plastic tracks to the framing around the screened area (preferably outside the screens) and then you cut to size a 3mil plastic to fit over the screens and in the track, and then run another plastic piece of piping over the screen which secures (locks) in to the bottom track. Made screening a 12 x 12 porch a 1/2 hour job (the second year once all the tracks were nailed up and the plastic cut to size).

I will have to look at my records to get you the name. I'll put the name in another post for you, but wanted to share the product info with you first.

[Outlaw]

Here's the link to their web site. They work great even for North East facing porches on the water which get those nasty noreaster winds.


http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/21_392_693

[Porch Potato]

Outlaw,
Thanks for the recommendation and the link. This is a very interesting product and could very well fit the bill. We are going to see if we can find it locally and check it out. Our only issue may be the sizing; three of the screens are 5'h x 10'w, but I am certain that we could order the plastic from another source if necessary. My husband loves the idea of putting the tracks up once and it seems that they are small enough that they would not be very noticable.
Thanks again.

[Outlaw]

Outlaw,
Thanks for the recommendation and the link. This is a very interesting product and could very well fit the bill. We are going to see if we can find it locally and check it out. Our only issue may be the sizing; three of the screens are 5'h x 10'w, but I am certain that we could order the plastic from another source if necessary. My husband loves the idea of putting the tracks up once and it seems that they are small enough that they would not be very noticable.
Thanks again.We covered 5 screens that measure 4' x 9 ' each and I'll attach a picture of what we did. Since I couldn't find the plastic tall enough, I inserted a brace (on the outside of the screen framing) at the 7' mark, painted it and attached two strips of the plastic rail on the brace and covered it as if it were two screen sections. The rail itself is 1/2 wide in total and can be painted too. In fact in the picture of the screen the rail is on and blends in cuz its painted.

We ordered it from the web site and it arrived in 3 days. (I hope my picture comes through ok).