Living in South Florida has its share of benefits. Beautiful beaches, blue skies, and great food, for starters. For a few months out of the year, though, Florida residents have to prepare for hurricane season. Many homeowners have screen and pool enclosures for convenience and protection against the elements while enjoying their backyard, which also needs to be prepped for a hurricane. If you don’t know what that entails, we have listed comprehensive steps to ensure your screen enclosures in West Palm Beach remain safe, along with the items they are enclosing.
Brace Your Enclosure
Screen enclosures are often damaged during hurricane season because the mesh is clogged by debris and they are not properly braced. It’s important that the roof and front wall of the enclosure are properly braced, as this will ensure stability. The professionals at Screen Builders will thoroughly evaluate the structural condition of your screen enclosures. They will conduct tests to measure each screens:
- Structural integrity
- Screen mesh air flow
- Attachment to structural gutters
- Wear and tear of parts such as screws, bolts and angle brackets.
Our technicians will also ensure that the wind bracing is reinforced. If your enclosure is old, we’ll check the screws for rusting, which is common in South Florida’s tropical, humid weather. We will replace all old screws with corrosion-resistant ones, so you never have to worry about moisture damaging them.
Enclosures should be inspected at least once a year to ensure they can withstand a hurricane. By doing this simple step, you can significantly reduce damage when a hurricane passes through.
If you are considering buying a screen enclosure, we recommend the new Finer Thread Phifer Brand Bettervue mesh screen panels. The core yarn is designed to sustain extreme wind conditions tested up to 110mph with heavy simulated rain, so you can worry less about damage to the mesh.
Trim Down Branches
The good news about this step is it’s already on your to-do list for general hurricane prep. When you manicure your landscape, you prevent large branches and limbs from devastating not just your home, but also your screen enclosure. So, this step becomes doubly important when you own an enclosure, whether it be for your patio or pool.
Make sure to clear the area of dead or weak trees, bushes, branches, and limbs. They will not be able to withstand strong winds and can severely damage the mesh lining of your screen enclosure.
Secure Or Stow Away Loose Items
Stowaway all items that aren’t already secured. This includes things like your barbecue pit, potted plants, and other objects that can become potentially dangerous in strong winds. If it isn’t secured, store it in your house or garage.
Protect Your Pool
Make sure the pool is full and add an extra dose of chlorine to combat contamination. Do not forget to turn off your pool’s breaker, as the rain from the hurricane can create electric shock, which has the potential of damaging the equipment on your property.
Remove Panels
If your screen enclosure has removable handles and you don’t feel confident that bracing it will prevent the hinges from coming off, then remove the panels and bring them indoors. Fortunately, Screen Builders’ exclusive removable panels are engineered for easy removal by opening the flow of air from one side of your enclosure through to the other side. Removing the panels will also help prevent torn mesh.
Once the storm has passed, the screen panels can immediately return to their structural placement. By removing the panels, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing your screen enclosure won’t be damaged or cause damage to your neighbor’s property if it gets swept up by strong winds.
Contact Screen Builders
Preparing your screen enclosure for hurricane may be tedious and time-consuming, but if you skip it, the damages can be costly. During Hurricane Wilma, most of the damage found on-screen enclosures involved inadequate bracing on the roof frame, damage that can easily be avoided. Additionally, an unsecured screen enclosure can do a lot of damage to your property. Screen Builders has been Palm Beach County’s leader for screen enclosures for pools and patios. We have a full department for repairing all your screen or fence needs. Don’t wait another day to make hurricane preparations. To protect your screen enclosures in West Palm Beach, contact our team. Call (561) 793-6029 for a free quote.