Retractable screens in Uxbridge

Retractable screens in Uxbridge

Retractable screens are aluminum-framed mesh panels that roll out of a slim housing and lock into a track, closing off a porch, patio or garage opening without blocking the view. For the full rundown of mesh grades, mounting options and finishes, see our main retractable screens guide.

In Uxbridge the install itself looks a little different from a typical subdivision job. Properties run from in-town lots around Uxbridge town and Coppin's Corners to wraparound porches on hobby farms out toward Goodwood, Zephyr and Sandford, where a single visit might mean screening four or five openings on one structure instead of one sliding door. Longer porch runs need extra guide rail support, and on some older farmhouses we're mounting to a fascia that was never quite square to begin with. We measure every opening on site rather than off a drawing, because the frame has to seat tight against the house or the mesh rattles and lets bugs in at the edges.

Wind is the other variable we design around out here. Open farmland and the exposed approach to the Durham Forest trail network push gusts across a porch that a sheltered subdivision lot never sees, so we size the track and motor for that load rather than the minimum the opening would otherwise need. The magnetic side rails hold the mesh through a gust and pull its edge back into line afterwards, so neither a motorised nor a hand-crank screen is left flapping when the weather turns.