Making vinyl windows for our screened porch

[Julian]

Every year we have a New Year's Eve party and it can get chilly later in the evening even with patio heaters. Especially when there is any wind. So I've had on my list for a while, screening in some or all of the porch. The plan I started with began from this Youtube video:

My initial goal is to stop cross wind, and to enclose the top screens to prevent all the hot air from escaping right out the top of the porch. Then I plan to work my way around the lower section. The challenge I'll have is that the side sections are 53" (and vinyl comes in 54" widths) - so the sides are ok, but the center section of the porch has 64" widths....so I'm not sure what I'll so there.

Once I got started and had a few pieces up, I then ran out of brass grommets and went to HomeDepot for more - and they were out, so I changed my plan some.

Initially I was following the video directions to the letter using the grommets. Below you see the sheets of vinyl being laid out and cut, then taped with ProGaffe tape and then grommetted:

Measuring the vinyl (I bought 20 gauge vinyl from Onlinefabricstore.com, I bought 18 yards at 5.90 a yard ($106.20) with free shipping.

For square sections it would be easy....doing the upper sections was a PITA!!! Here you see one of the top sections with grommets in place



Here is a close up of the grommets (one with holes cut, one with grommets hammered on):

Here are the of top sections in place. The one on the left only has grommets and nails holding it up. The one on the right has Screw Snap Fasteners holding it up (there are grommets in it too....but I switched to snap fasteners when I got to HomeDepot to get more grommets and they were out, and they now had snap fasteners). If I were to do this again, I'd go with snap fasteners only! Learn from me! LOL



Here is a shot of the door (I put the vinyl on the outside of the door as it was both easier, and the wind blows from that direction so I want the cross wood to hold it on more):


Here is a wide shot of the porch so you have some idea of what I'm dealing with. I'm not fond of heights and this ladder is the only one I have that allows me to get to the top without also going through the screening material. I'm glad the top two sections are now complete!

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Well done! I like the black tape usage.

 

[GiddYupJoe]

Lookin good @Julian glad you figured out a solution that fits your needs.

 

[rkluck]

Very Nice - I assume your plan is to take it down later. When you store these sections do you need to keep them flat?

 

[Speedling]

Nice looking room!
That will be a blast when you're done.

 

[Julian]

Very Nice - I assume your plan is to take it down later. When you store these sections do you need to keep them flat?

Yes, they will come down after pollen season in the spring. I plan to roll them up for storage the same way my camper cover is rolled up for storage.

The Progaffe tape has worked really well. Really sticky stuff....hard to untape, and then get off your fingers! Its like a Chinese torture session!

The snaps are working so much better than the grommet approach.....just wish I'd thought of/seen them sooner!

 

[txav8r]

I bet those on the windows really allow you to retain or heat that porch with little effort! Nicely done! @Julian

 

[96Pirate]

Nice work @Julian

What size room is that? It looks pretty big. I am in the planning stages of building 1 and really not sure what size to go with.

 

[Julian]

@96Pirate It is roughly 24x16....we have neighbors with a big porch, and loved it, so we went big too.

 

[96Pirate]

@96Pirate It is roughly 24x16....we have neighbors with a big porch, and loved it, so we went big too.

Cool...thanks! I was thinking 20'x16' but I might need to go bigger. Going too much larger will play into my irrigation which I did not really want to touch but I might need to anyway.

 

[eastcoaster]

What width Pro Gaff tape did you use. Looks like 2" but hard to tell from the pics. Where you happy with the 20 mil vinyl ? Considering 30 mil but not sure if it would be worth the extra cost. Definitely going to give this a try, Thanks for posting!

 

[Sheboat]

Julian, I was following this same video and bought all the supplies but my concern is that I have an aluminum screen porch and not sure how well the snaps will go through the aluminum and how expensive they are.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Are these the same snaps found on your boat canvas or carpet? (I didn't watch video)

The male snaps found on our boat floors have a screw mount back that would screw right into the aluminum after drling pilot holes. You can find different screw sizes -- I beleive #10 is the smallest. The female snap would them be affixed to the clear material.

 

[Julian]

@eastcoaster - yes it is 2" Progaffe tape. The 20 mil/gauge clear vinyl has worked fine so far. Time will tell how it holds up and if the snaps stay in it without tearing out. So far they are fine.

@Sheboat - Yes the snaps are more expensive than the grommets, but far superior end result. There is probably somewhere cheaper to get them than Homedepot/Lowes where I bought mine...but I was into it and needed them ASAP. The other question is how many do you need? I have some pretty big pieces of vinyl (54"x 108") and put the snaps every 12" across the top....might have been too many, but I didn't want to much weight on each snap. You can see how few I put on the smaller section on the right (vs left large piece) in the photo below



On the far left of the photo you can see the seam I made between two large sheets. There I used grommets and simple twist ties to join them together - this worked well too (the span was too wide for the 54" vinyl to reach the next vertical post).

 

[Julian]

The project continues.....as I only enclosed the top and sides for the New Year's Eve Party, I am now in the process of ordering a second batch of vinyl for the remainder. I'm using Fabric.com as it has the lowest price for the vinyl, and if you sign up for their newsletter when you FIRST go to their site they offer you a 10% discount (if you miss this, either go to a new computer, or clear your cookies to get it again). I'm ordering 22 yards this time, which will cover 7 vertical sections of the porch.

I also found a place that sells the snap fasteners I used - CHEAP. I was using General Snap #1268, and Skygeek sells a replacement kit without the tools for only 2.77 for a pack of 6 (you will need to buy at least one full kit so you have the small tooks to press them together). While researching these and trying to find a coupon code I also came across a cool tool box plier organizer which I'm ordering from them too!

I wasn't able to find a coupon code, but I did find a post that advised not to check out right away and that after some period (not sure how long), the site offers you a 5% discount to complete your checkout....so I'm waiting to see if that happens (will probably wait 24 hours as I'm in no rush!)



Yes....I'm anal....

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Love those racks in your drawers! I never knew they existed!! I need one!

Oh yeah, I was so distracted by the player rack I forgot to post where I get my canvas snaps and etc.

http://www.perfectfit.com/15329/Fasteners-Canvas.html

 

[Julian]

Love those racks in your drawers! I never knew they existed!! I need one!

Oh yeah, I was so distracted by the player rack I forgot to post where I get my canvas snaps and etc.

http://www.perfectfit.com/15329/Fasteners-Canvas.html

Those racks aren't in my drawers, but I just ordered one so there will be one soon.....

I don't see the screw in bases at your snap site....I see photos of them, but can't seem to find them on the site.....

 

[Murf'n'surf]

They are screw stud fasteners, look at last item in the list. These are 3/8" long screws. There are many sizes available.

http://www.perfectfit.com/39290/154465/Pull---The---Dot-Fasteners/Pull---The---Dot-Fasteners.html

Here's a bunch of options:

http://www.perfectfit.com/Search.aspx?q=Screw stud&f=&SearchPageNum=1

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Is this supplier competitive on similar product?

http://www.perfectfit.com/15282/Clear-Window-Vinyl.html

 

[Julian]

So @Murf'n'surf mailed me his Professional Grade snap fastener press, so today I spent some quality time putting more sheets of window screens together. I've got all but 2 sheets left to fabricate, and then I'll hang them up and voila....should be done! Here is a pick of production line snap fastener pressing in progress (applying snaps to three sheets at one time-10 snaps each):