SOLAR SCREENS Lakeway TX Installation

This customer lives in the Lakeway area off of Spillman Ranch Loop. This is a beautiful solar screens Lakeway TX installation that involved installing 17 90% solar screens. The gentleman that I worked with for this home was an outstanding human being. He’s an educator at the Lakeway Texas High School. We used the chocolate brown solar screen fabric with white framing. It’s really hard to tell by these pictures that the fabric used was chocolate brown, but it is.

17 solar screens Lakeway TX 2017 Installation

We completed this solar screens Lakeway TX installation on June 28th 2017. We installed a total of 17 solar screens, including three arched solar screens and one solar screen for his patio door.

What a flush clip looks like that is put in place to keep a solar screen from coming off on its own.
What a flush clip looks like that is put in place to keep a sun screen from coming off on its own.

Many of these windows are pop-ins. Which means they have a track at the top and a track at the bottom of the window. With these tracks, we spring load our screens with heavy-duty leaf springs installed at the top. In addition to that, we add turn clips. Especially important because this area of the home gets a lot of wind. The turn clips will hold the screen against the window.

We added the flush turn Clips at the center leg height for each of these opening windows.

Flat flush turn clips will keep that screen pushed up against the window. So the homeowner never has to worry about wind coming along and pulling the screens off.

Likely what happens

Generally what will happen if a screen gets pulled off by the wind, is that the screen was already pushed out for some reason.

Most of the time it’s because of a large pet, like a Dog, or a child.

I rarely have to go over to people’s homes to put solar window screens back on to Windows. Because I am so good at putting them on in the first place. My window shade screens all fit super tight.

The times that I can recall where I have had to go back to a home. Those are times from when I did not use turn clips. Now I consistently do. And as a result, I don’t ever get calls of screens coming out windows.

Animals removing screens from windows

I remember clearly a particular time. I went over to a person’s house and repaired (rebuilt) a screen that got blown off of the window. The window was open. I put the screen back on to the window and one of their very large dogs came over. That dog immediately started pushing the screen out. That was the reason why the screen came off in the first place. I remember another time around 5 years ago being called out to Pflugerville. I get out to Pflugerville and the screen was bowed out, pushed out, at the bottom. The window was for that of a child’s bedroom. We mostly all have children, so we know that this happens. When a screen is coming out of a window, it’s most likely because it got pushed out from the inside.

Screens coming off vinyl windows during a storm

Vinyl windows do not have any kind of tracks for a screen to fit into. With vinyl windows, the sunscreens get screwed onto the window frame. The screens get screwed on with small 3/4″ self-tapping screws.

Sometimes during a strong storm with a strong wind, the screen may get yanked off the window. Even though the screen is screwed on, the screw will get out. Thus stripping out the hole in the vinyl. It’s no big deal and easy to fix, but that just goes to show you how powerful the wind can be.

screen installed on vinyl window
A solar screen installed on a vinyl window. Screwed on with self-tapping 3/4″ screws.

About this solar screens Lakeway TX installation.

For this Solar Screens Lakeway TX installation, 17 90% solar screens were installed.  This is a fine example of how good all of our Austin TX solar screen projects look like. 
For this Solar Screens Lakeway TX installation, a total of 17 90% solar screens were installed.  This is a fine example of how good all of our Austin TX solar screen projects look like. He kept all the rest of the windows with their original insect bug window screens.
Where to find Good Austin Commercial Window Shades

For this solar screens Austin TX Project, the three arched Windows there on the second floor and the solar screen for the back patio door, we screwed those on with our small 3/4 inch screws. For all non-opening Windows, we screw the screens on to the channel framing going around the glass. That channel framing is there to keep the glass held in place.

Back of home showing 17 90% solar screens
Back of home showing 17 90% solar screens
Grid Pattern Solar Screens, Austin Texas

Installing solar shade screens on windows with bent tracks.

This installation was a little problematic, I remember well. Quite a few of those first-floor Windows there had elevated uneven bricks underneath the bottom of the window frame. This makes it difficult for the screens to fit into the window framing.

We had to customize quite a few of these screens. We customized them by cutting one side down an eighth of an inch or so. And, we had to re-roll the framing while we bent it. We did this so that the framing would wrap around the curvature of that bent (bowed) window framing.

How a masonry person lays the bricks under the window.

What happens is the masoners will lay their bricks from the foundation up. When the masoner works his way to the window, the spacing could be tight. The fit could be tight. If the fit is tight, the masonry person will most likely cram the bricks in instead of chipping the excess brick away. They have to make the bricks fit and doing so will cause the bottom of the window framing to bend upward.

This will cause the bottom frame to bend. The bottom window frame, the bottom track that the solar shade screens fit into, will bow.

If you put a straight edge on that bottom window frame, you will see that it’s not perfectly level. Doing this will illustrate how the bottom frame bows up. Now you can take that same level or straight edge and put it onto a window without the brick. This will show how straight those windows are. You will then see that those bottom window frames are straight because they don’ have bricks bowing them up.

In summary, the masonry person starts at the foundation. They start laying their bottom rows of bricks and they work their way up.  When they get to the window, they have to judge that 4 inch or so for additional bricks. Bricks for below the bottom window seal. Now, if they only have 3-1/2″ and they need 3-3/4″, they’re in trouble.  What they will do is that they will bend up the window frame. This makes room for those bricks to fit under the window seal.

All this causes the bottom of the window seal to bow up.

Installing a Patio Roller Shade in Lakeway, 2021

Lakeway is part of my Austin TX installation area.

I install the solar screens, replacement window screens and patio roller shades in Lakeway.

For this homeowner I installed a 12′ patio roller shade made out of my 97% grey sun shade fabric.

Patio Roller Shade install in Lakeway TX
Grey fabric patio roller shade for gazebo in Lakeway

Installed on the inside of this gazebo is one of my beautiful 97% grey/white patio sun shades.

This gazebo is now well shaded from the Western sun.

This side is West facing and the homeowners could not sit out there because of the sun.

With my patio solar sun shade, they can now sit out there.

What are motorized outdoor Roller Shades?

As you can see, I did not need to go down very far in order to get good sun shade for this gazebo.

Where the homeowners sit at that table is now very much shaded from the sun.

When the sun sets, it sets directly behind the roller shade. So the roller shade is giving the homeowner plenty of awesome shade from the sun.

Lakeway TX outdoor solar sun shade for patio
Gazebo in Lakeway is now shaded with my outdoor sun shade.