Hi Tammy- I have a question about enclosure fabrication
by Janeen
It's me- Janeen . I'm doing my first large enclosure and the customer is not really sure what he wants. He wants screens for sure. Is it sort of standard to have u-shaped windows that roll up for air in the larger enclosure parts and then screens that will alternatively zip into those 'smile' windows? Or would you put screens as entire replacements of the whole window part? Does that make sense? What do most people request when they envision enclosures with screens?
Thanks for any input!
Janeen
Hi Janeen,
Good to hear from you. I'm removing some personal info so I can post this online, it's a great question and might be of interest to others. There are many ways to do screens on a boat enclosure, but the most common way is to build them in at the same time you install the plastic. The plastic would already have a smile/moon zip built in. So basically the plastic with smile would overlay the the screen, screen being on the outside of the panel, then sew in. This is also the most economical way.
Ok, here is the downside of this. With this method the screen is always exposed to the sun. This is a problem, because the screen won't hold up as long as the rest of the enclosure. There is a screen that is a vinyl encapsulated mesh that is fairly tough, but still has it's limits. Another undesirable issue with this style is the fact that debris can build up between the glass and the screen, making in fairly hard to keep clean. Again, this is a standard way to do screens. You can install them just within the smile zip and fix the dirt problem, but a little more difficult to do.
Next way would be to make them as an interchangeable piece, one way to accomplish this is to use 1 1/2" polyester, not nylon Velcro at the top of the inside of each enclosure panel. I do this instead of using a zip at the top. All other components would be identical between two panels. Roll one up and let the other down and zip in. This makes them interchangeable. The velcro at the top keeps the screen from getting lost and using polyester velcro instead of nylon helps with longevity. Since this is creating two identical panels, it can really run the cost up, but super nice if the budget is there.
So these are two great ways to accomplish the screen in boat enclosure installation.
Happy to answer any questions that pop up, good luck with your enclosure!
Tammy
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