Screen for Warmth

Ill-fitted screens create ill tenants and homeowners. While this may like an easy to disprove generalization, the fact is that if your screens are old, worn out, or ill-fitted, you are asking for cold air to come into your home during the coldest months of the year. We all know that while it is actually germs that cause illness, creating a breeding ground for these germs and lowering your immune system to invite them to stay a while ensures you will be a constant victim of the winter illnesses floating around your town and schools.

Repair First

Before you run through your home and begin tearing out every single screen you have in your windows, doorways, and porch, conduct an inspection. Some screens are a perfect fit, but they are just a bit worn or need a very simple repair to be good as new. Therefore, take the time to look at your screens and fix the ones that may have small holes or issues. This will likely help with some of the insulation issues you may have been having throughout the fall and aid in making the winter easier to combat.

Check the Fit

Checking the fit does not only mean how secure the screen is in your frame. It may also refer to the fit for its job and location in the home. For instance, some screens are designed to let air in, as opposed to keeping it out. These screens are not ideal for keeping your home insulated during the winter months. Other times, the fit actually implies how the screen fits into the frame. If the screen is a tad too big or small, it will allow too much air to break its barrier and therefore become detrimental to your home. This is the issue which requires total replacement. Make sure the team replacing your screens are experts with screens. They must know not only how to measure and fit your screens in place, but also how to help you determine the best type of screen for your home and needs.

If you are located in the North, where the winter can be extremely brutal and difficult, your screens must be able to withstand this type of weather and help your windows maintain their level of protection. It is essential your windows, doors, and screens complement one another to allow the insulations to be flawless. If they contradict one another, it makes it a sure thing that your doors and windows will need additional insulation techniques, such as plastic coverings over the windows and towels under the doors.

In the end, keeping your house warm throughout the winter is a matter of several features working together to keep your home insulated – without you ever having to think about it beyond the preparation in the fall. Your screens must be well maintained and fit exactly, and repairs must be made if needed. To inspect your screens, make sure you have the right screens for your needs, and replace or repair those screens in need, contact the experts at Screenmobile at (763) 473-0180.

The Truth of Hidden Fees

Many contractors make their living by charging hidden fees. When talking over the phone or giving an estimate, they will quote for the actual labor and materials. However, once the invoice is received, there are often additional fees that may cost up to $1,000 or more. Suddenly, you are charged for mileage, clean up, and even installation. You may attempt to argue the invoice; however, the estimate you signed clearly stated it is only an estimate and additional charges may apply. If you are not accustomed to working with contractors, you may not know the questions to ask to prepare for the hidden fees.  The question becomes: what are the hidden fees and how are they applied?

The Actual Job

It would be nice to assume that a contractor’s quote includes items like trip fees for extended trips or installation fees to finalize the project and install the fixtures properly. However, many contractors consider this an added service and make sure to charge an added fee. These fees, such as trip fees, may be tacked on for any job that is further than ten or fifteen miles from the warehouse and may cost an extra $50 to $100 or more. Installation fees may be separate, due to the use of a specialized installation technician who is subcontracted. While they should be included in the original quote, often the contractor waits until the work is done to present the fees. Upon receipt of a quote, it is appropriate to ask if the trip and installation fees will be added, and if so, what are the associated charges?

The Aftermath

Many times, such as with a screen or door installation, there is an old screen or door to remove from the home. Contractors will offer this service for an additional fee or leave the homeowner to decide how to dispose of this larger waste. In addition, debris from the job may be left on site, and homeowners are expected to clean it themselves or pay a fee. While a reputable contractor may take pride in the finished worksite looking pristine and include garbage removal as part of his upfront fees, some contractors are interested in getting through one job and moving on to the next as quickly as possible. Therefore, it would be appropriate to ask if the contractor removes old door, screens, or fixtures and whether a fee is associated with the removal. It would also be smart to ask if the job includes garbage removal or if that is an extra cost.

The best idea is to find a company that has no hidden fees for a job. It is always best when pricing is transparent, and the homeowner knows exactly how much to budget and what to expect. ScreenMobile prides itself on offering quality service at an affordable rate with no hidden fees. The prices quoted will be the price of the job, no matter the circumstances. Old screens are removed, and garbage is cleaned before any job is complete.  Contact ScreenMobile at (763) 473-0180 for your estimate.

The Benefits of Carports

A garage is always nice, especially if your vehicle can actually fit inside it. However, homes with a garage are either hard to come by or out of many people’s price range. Even those who have a garage often utilize it as a workspace, as opposed to a home for their vehicle. Building a full enclosure attached to your home that meets the proper regulations can be a costly and long, drawn-out process. Therefore, it may be better to install a carport in your driveway instead. A carport can be a cost-effective way to protect your vehicle in all types of weather.

Weather Protection

Minnesota gets the worst of the snowstorms in winter and lots of rainfall in the spring and summer. Combine these elements with the horrible heat in summer, and your car will be sure to look worse for wear over the years. The elements can do serious damage to any vehicle, such as rusting, faded paint, and even mechanical problems. Even the tires and battery of your vehicle will be protected more with a carport, rather than leaving them to face the elements. Installing a weather-guarded carport in your driveway can protect your vehicle for many years to come, while still maintaining the original integrity of the home.

Other Benefits

A carport actually adds value to a home. Aside from the obvious benefit of protecting your car, a carport can be used as outdoor shelter for barbecues, family get-togethers, and even outdoor dinners. As a result, a carport makes a home desirable to potential new owners when you are looking to sell. However, unlike a garage, if you wish to keep that value for yourself, they can also be unscrewed and moved to your next home.

Another benefit is they are much more affordable than building a garage.  A garage requires licenses, permits, and inspections from the municipality. Also, the supplies and workers can be quite costly. Installing a carport is quite easy, especially in comparison to building a garage. Adding an aluminum base and roof to a free standing structure is often much easier and more cost effective than attempting to build a brick enclosure, especially when you must also consider electrical matters to make the garage function properly.

Finally, carports are much more easily available than garages. Many companies that handle outdoor repair and/or siding and screen repair are quite well-versed in installing carports and finding the best one for your home. Screen Mobile is one of these types of companies. Building a reputation for many years as the go-to screen experts has provided them the knowledge regarding all types of removable enclosures, including the all-important carport. They can assess your needs and make the best recommendations to help protect your vehicle all year round while adding value and function to your home. And since Screen Mobile specializes in customized fits, you know your carport will fit your driveway like a glove. Contact the experts at Screen Mobile at (763) 473-0180 for your free estimate today.

Say "I Do" in Style

It is wedding season, and one of the most sought-after places to say your vows may be in a beautiful gazebo. Many venues will boast of their gazebos and display photos of nuptials taking place in them throughout the entire season. However, during the harsh off-season, with the terrible rains, vicious snows, and unforgiving ice, those beautiful gazebos can become horrible messes. It is essential to keep the gazebos protected all year to make sure they are picture perfect come the start of wedding season.

Screen Installation

Many gazebos are built open on all sides, with little or no protection from the outside elements. As a result, rain, leaves, snow, and debris have access to the interior wood. Continual exposure may cause deterioration of the wood. There is, however, a solution. Installing screens to the openings of the gazebo can keep the interior wood safe from the elements while keeping the atmosphere open and inviting. For many of these structures, invisible screens will serve the dual purpose of protecting the beauty of the wood and keeping the gazebo’s appearance open.

Screen Repair

Over time, as with any exterior fixture, weather can cause damage to screens. Gazebos, like many structures that are not insulated, may experience higher than average damage throughout each and every winter. At the start of the new season, there may be holes, the screen borders may be warped and misshapen, and rust may have formed around the borders, making the screens almost impossible to open and close. In addition, these issues make for unsightly photos, which can ruin a couple's special day.

Therefore, it is essential to stay on top of inspections and repairs. As the gazebos are preparing to be opened for the season, inspection should occur by a certified company that is happy to come to your location. You have enough to prepare for, getting the grounds and facility ready for the rush of new brides and grooms shopping for the perfect location. The last thing you should have to handle is fixing mistakes made by a company that does not understand screens and their importance.

Just because a company specializes in doors or windows does not mean they specialize in screens. Screens are a special niche, which need to be handled with a certain care that is different from the care needed for windows or doors, which are made of more solid and much less flexible material. Screens are easily damaged if mishandled. They need to specially fit to the opening to ensure gaps and tears do not occur. Otherwise, not only can damage occur, but also a beautiful bride and groom may be too busy fighting off insects to appreciate and enjoy their special moment. Repairing the screen is not as easy as fixing a hole or tear, especially if the screen is invisible. Special knowledge and skill is required to maintain the integrity of the screen and fit it to adjacent screens.

Whether you need screens installed from scratch or need to repair already existing screens on your gazebo, the experts at Screenmobile are happy to help.  Contact them today at (763) 473-0180 to make sure your gazebo is ready for this season and the next.

Business Benefits of Motorized Screens

Nice spring and summer days are often met with people longing to eat and drink outside. They seek out bars and restaurants with an outside deck to enjoy the weather and ambiance. However, we all know it can start to rain at a moment’s notice, and people will make a mad dash to run inside to avoid getting soaked. What if your guests could have the best of best worlds, and enjoy the warmth rain or shine?

Enjoy the Outdoors

Screens, in general, are an amazing way to enjoy the outdoors. If installed correctly they keep out the bugs and elements that make the outdoors less exciting, and allow in the fresh air and smells that make the outdoors appealing. However, sometimes people will deal with the bugs or utilize other options to keep the insects away in order to get away from the enclosed feeling we often feel throughout the long winter months. Motorized screens allow this transition to happen easily. Instead of having people running to the screens to push them open or close them at a moment’s notice, often having to squeeze between tables or move chairs out of the way, a quick push of a button or remote can lift the screens with ease, opening the deck to the great outdoors for your guests to enjoy. In the same vein, if the sky should open up and the rain should begin to fall, you can simply press a button and close the screens almost immediately. This option makes dining at your open spot more appealing to any customer who hates getting themselves or their meals soaked with rain.

Avoid the Hassles

Opening screens manually, especially in a busy restaurant or bar, is filled with obstacles. Even worse, having to close them on a moment’s notice can actually be hazardous to one’s health. Unlike your home, a busy restaurant or bar, or even a storefront, likely will have people, tables, chairs, and merchandise all standing between you and the screens. Those obstacles do not even include issues of reaching the high points entry or dealing with any issues that might make it more difficult to open and close the screen, such as rust. Motorized screens make such hazards and issues disappear. With motorized screens, you can open and close them from anywhere without having to push, pull, or even lock the screen to keep it shut. They often move from ceiling to floor in a horizontal position to open the entire room up with one panel. Sometimes, more importantly, when the rain comes through, there is no need to worry about your wait staff and janitors breaking a leg or worse, a customer getting injured by the rush to close the blinds.  The same push of a button will close the shades as quickly and easily as it opens them.

To learn more about how motorized shades can help your business become the busiest place on the block, contact the experts at Screen Mobile at 763-473-0180.

Screen Your Patio to Enjoy It More

When you first bought your home, you fell in love with the porch. You envisioned nights in the spring sitting out back on your comfy porch furniture drinking a glass of wine while watching the kids play in the yard. The original home owner sold that vision, talking about the many nights she and her family spent on the porch enjoying the view. Then you had your first spring, summer, and fall in your new home. The first time you sat on the porch you spent the majority of your time trying to find the best way to keep the flies, bees, mosquitoes, and gnats out of your face. Then, it rained for a week straight. The cycle continued, leaving you unable to realize your original dream for your porch in your house. You are determined that the following year will be different, so what do you do?

Bug Repellant

You begin with the idea of putting up some tiki torches and some candles that are known to repel mosquitos and other bugs. While it starts off as a good idea, there are several problems. First, depending on the types of insects with which you are dealing, the citronella candles and tiki torches may not work at all. Sometimes the scents and chemicals are just not strong enough. Second, you must replace these items regularly, which will end up costing you a lot of money throughout the seasons each year. Third, these items may be fire hazards. With kids running around, accidents are more likely to happen. They may get burned or even knock them over, burning someone or something else. Finally, this only helps with one problem, the bugs. It does not keep the rain away.

Custom Screens

Another option that may cost a little more upfront but save you money in the long run and even increase your property value would be to install custom screens for your porch. Depending on your needs, there are a plethora of options from which to choose that will help you enjoy your porch without bugs or rain, and may even make it enjoyable through the winter months. You may choose bug resistant screens or even fiberglass to enclose your porch, and the benefits are amazing. First, you no longer have to swat away those annoying and sometimes dangerous bugs as you enjoy your friends and family. Second, you can still enjoy the fresh air through the screens. Finally, custom screens can help protect your porch and its furniture from the elements like rain, sleet, snow, or even extreme sunlight without covering everything in plastic or sheets. If and when the time comes for you to sell your house, you will not be selling an idea, you will be selling the real experience of an ideal outdoor dream.

Screen Mobile are experts at building and installing custom screens. Contact them at 763-473-0180 and one of their expert technicians can help you develop the perfect plan to increase your use of your patio for the season and potentially the year.

Keeping Your Porch Bug Free This Spring and Summer

As we near the end of winter we are all looking forward to spending our days and evenings enjoying the warmer weather. Those of us with a porch or sunroom are already preparing to open the glass and let the breeze and fresh air in. Unfortunately, many times this also includes letting in those pesky flies and mosquitos. There must be a way to enjoy the fresh air and not have to douse yourself in bug spray throughout the season!

Candles and Other Options

One way to help protect your porch from those pesky bugs is with Citronella candles, tiki torches, mosquito lights, and propane skeeter eaters. These are often helpful in the outdoors when no screen is involved, but they can create a warmer than intended feeling in an enclosed area. If you choose to simply open a glass window, these may be a great option. They keep you a little warmer on those chillier spring and fall evenings while helping to keep the bugs away. In addition, the ambiance and the scent created by these types of options are quite nice and remind many people of their younger days in the summer.

Screen Options

If you prefer not to use these types of products or they just don’t work and you find yourself being eaten alive by mosquitos and other insects, it may be time to find a screen that works for you.  There are several options available that help keep the fresh air flowing while keeping the bugs out. For instance, Tuff screens are heavy duty screens specifically designed to keep bugs out. They are not full of holes and they do not rip or tear easily. As a matter of fact, they even withstand cats and dogs that like to scratch at the screens while trying to chase the bird just outside their grasp.  

Another option is a No-See-Um screen.  These screens are made of fiberglass, but they still allow fresh air in. They help guard against both large and small insects. Because of the fiberglass constitution, they do not tear or rip and can withstand the elements quite well. The benefit to these screens is the size of the fiberglass netting, as it is so small, almost all insects are kept outside while you enjoy a beautiful view and the fresh air from the inside.

One last option is the superscreen. These screens are much like the Tuff Screens and No-See-Um screens in that they are heavy duty mesh screens designed to withstand all the elements and prevent rips and tears while keeping bugs out. In addition, these screens have a biocide to maintain their luster for years to come and protect from mold, mildew, and other issues related to the elements of the seasons. Superscreens come in two sizes to help maintain your view while keeping larger and smaller insects out.

To enjoy your porch this spring while keeping the insects on the outside, contact Screen Mobile at 763-473-0180. They will be happy to help you make the best decision to protect your home.

Winterize Your Porch

Most people enjoy their porches for nine out of the twelve months in a year. We enjoy the sunlight shining in as we sip our morning coffee and read the paper. We love the fresh air as we entertain guests or curl up with a great book. However, during the winter months—especially the unforgiving winter months in Minnesota—we stay as far away from our porches as possible. Even all of the doorways leading toward the porch are closed off and remain closed until spring. When the first sight of spring blooms arrives, the process of reopening the porch begins, which includes intensive cleaning. However, we at Screen Mobile ask, what if you could enjoy your porch all year round?

Steps to Winterize Your Porch

Winterizing your porch may actually be a bit easier than winterizing your car. It really only requires a few simple adjustments that will allow you to watch the lovely snow fall from the comforts of your warm porch. First, you must find a trusted company that understands the best methods for winterizing a porch. We here at Screen Mobile will not make it any more difficult or costly than necessary. We promise to explain the process from beginning to end, discuss the options available, and work within your time frame and budget.

The next step is to fill in any cracks or holes you may have that would allow warm air to escape from your porch. This piece includes installing insulation to keep the cold air out and the warm air in. This should be a fairly easy process, as long as your porch is in good condition when the project begins.

Finally, the screens must be removed and replaced with panels. Typically, acrylic, vinyl, or polycarbonate panels are the best options. These panels help increase the effectiveness of the insulation without interfering with the view and the beauty of your porch.

The Benefits

Once you winterize your porch, you can truly use it all year long without worrying about the chill that comes with the winter months. If properly winterized, you will be able to maintain and enjoy the view only your porch can provide. Another benefit of winterizing your porch is you eliminate the need to conduct a once-a-year, re-opening process that is not only labor-intensive, but extremely time-consuming. The reopening process may include redecorating, repainting, and of course heavy cleaning. However, if you are able to enjoy your porch all year, regular cleaning is all you will need. By eliminating this dreaded chore, you will truly have more time to enjoy your porch and your family. Finally, a winterized porch may actually add to the value of your home. Winterized porches can make your home more aesthetically pleasing as well as increase the resale value should you choose to sell your home.

If you are in the market to upgrade your porch and do not want to break the bank, it is time to call the trusted experts at ScreenMobile. Call 763.473.0180 today to talk to one of our skilled professionals.