The screened-in porch can be a real nostalgia-tickling sight for many South Floridians. It seems everyone from Jupiter Beach to Miami can conjure a shared memory of humid evenings in the screened-in porch. While that wave of nostalgia can be a powerful motivator to add screens to your outdoor living space, updating the experience with some modern style and modern functionality will also have a powerful impact on your outdoor living. So, let’s explore how a screened-in pergola will elevate your home’s style as well as the fun you and your family will have with a modern luxury patio cover.
When designing for the gingerbread looks of the Florida Keys, the traditional screened-in porch might be an appropriate iconic style, but fitting your outdoor living space into the haute styles that dominate Palm Beach or Delray Beach necessitates a new level of cool. While a screened-in porch will create full-time shade, a screened-in pergola allows control of the sun and shade balance on your deck or patio. If full-time shade is the goal, then a fixed-roof pergola will do the trick. However, if you want to ever invite the sun, then an adjustable louvered roof pergola is the most flexible solution on the market. And fear not, if that Key West style is appealing, we can certainly channel that design with a white pergola adding gingerbread accents as well.
The most pressing reason to cover a patio or deck is to create protection from the all too frequent rain showers in South Florida. The solid, shingled roof of a traditional screened-in porch will certainly get the job done, but choosing the right screened-in pergola can both block the rain and open to allow in the sun. The pergolas we design and build with our manufacturing partner, Azenco, can incorporate a uniquely-designed dual-walled louver that completely blocks out the rain when closed. With the touch of a button, the motorized louvers open to reveal blue skies and sunny days.
Homes that feature an existing deck are often prime targets for a screened-in porch. Erecting a roof, attaching it to the home, adding supports, and screening-in the outdoor room sounds like a relatively simple project, right? In actuality, wood construction like this is extremely heavy, and most decks require reinforcement or rebuilding to accommodate such a renovation. Choosing a modern screened-in pergola delivers a similar look with a fraction of the weight. Constructing our modern pergolas from strong yet lightweight aluminum makes adding a pergola to the deck a more accessible option. Additionally, we are able to color match the pergola’s exterior powder coating to accent your home or even add different wood grains to better fit the existing deck. If delineating the covered portion of the deck is part of your design vision, we can also incorporate unique pergola flooring options.
If you have not yet experienced one of our modern pergolas, you may be wondering how a pergola can keep out bugs. Afterall, that is the entire point of the insect screens. Traditionally, louvered roof pergolas have featured fixed slats that create only a bit of shade, and are unable to block out the rain. Many modern pergolas feature the aforementioned adjustable louvers that open and close to block sun and rain, but R-Blade pergolas from our manufacturing partner, Azenco, are even more unique amongst these modern structures. They are the only adjustable louvered pergola on the market that closes to
form a tight enough seal to block out rain. It’s this tight seal combined with retractable insect screens embedded in the pergola frame that create a barrier to keep out bugs as well.
The level of control that a homeowner gets over the sun, rain and insects on their patio or deck is what separates a screened-in pergola from a screened-in porch. Motorized louvers and retractable insect screens can be controlled from a standard handheld remote, smartphone app, or with voice controls. But, for the most intuitive outdoor living experience, we can embed autonomous smart sensors into your screened-in pergola. The sensors monitor for rain and automatically close the louvered roof at the first sign of a shower. Insect screens can also be programmed to roll down at dusk to seal out pesky bugs.
If you are considering adding a new screened-in porch to your home, we would encourage you to take a moment to contact our design team to learn how a modern screened-in pergola can deliver as both a functional living space and a screened-in porch.
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