Hurricane Screens in North Fort Myers, FL
Motorized hurricane screens for North Fort Myers — retrofit work on older homes, permitted through Lee County.
North Fort Myers does not get written about much, which is odd given how many people live here. It is unincorporated Lee County on the north bank of the Caloosahatchee, and it has an older, more varied and generally more affordable housing stock than the Cape across the river or the city on the other side of it.
That changes the advice. On a $2m Gulf-front house the question is which premium system fits. Here the question is usually simpler and more useful: where does the money do the most good?
Answer: the biggest opening, first
Almost every home has one opening that is disproportionately more dangerous than the rest — the widest, least protected face on the building. On most North Fort Myers homes that is the lanai or the rear slider.
Protecting that one opening well is worth more than protecting six small windows and leaving it exposed. Wind that gets inside a building pushes out on the walls and up on the roof at the same time the storm is pushing in, and it does not much matter which hole it came through.
We would rather sell you one correctly specified screen on the opening that matters than a whole-house package you have to finance. If that means a smaller job, that is fine. Say so at the consultation and we will scope it that way.
Manufactured and mobile homes are a different conversation
North Fort Myers has a lot of manufactured-home and 55-plus communities, and they need to be handled honestly. Hurricane screens and shutters are engineered to attach to a specific structure — the anchor schedule in a product approval assumes a substrate. A manufactured home’s wall assembly is not the same substrate as a concrete block wall, and the community itself will often have rules about what can be attached.
So we will look, we will tell you plainly whether we can do it properly, and if we cannot, we will say so rather than fastening a rated product into something that turns the assembly into an unrated one.
The code still applies out here
Being inland of the river does not exempt anyone. Lee County’s design wind speed places the entire county inside the Wind-Borne Debris Region, so Florida Building Code Section 1609.5.2 requires impact-rated glazing or code-compliant shutters or screens on exterior openings. Whether that is triggered on your existing home depends on the work being done and when the home was built.
North Fort Myers is unincorporated, so permits go through the Lee County Department of Community Development, not the City of Fort Myers across the water. Permitting is handled as part of the job.
What we install
For wide lanais, MagnaTrack Defender spans up to 30 feet wide by 20 feet high in one piece on a dual-pull neodymium magnetic track, whose magnetic fields dampen wind and debris and hold the screen flat. Florida Building Code approval #30798. UltraShield keeps its housing at 7 inches or under at every size with the clearest view out in the industry, under Florida product approval FL-42141. Both are on our motorized hurricane screens page.
For standard windows and doors on an older home, accordion shutters or rolldown shutters are often the better value, and impact windows and doors make sense if you are replacing the units anyway.
Where we work
North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers Beach.
Hurricane screens across Southwest Florida:
Cape Coral · Naples · Fort Myers · Punta Gorda · Bonita Springs · Estero · Sanibel · Fort Myers Beach · Port Charlotte · Marco Island · San Carlos Park · Babcock Ranch
Hurricane shutters in North Fort Myers, FL
North Fort Myers is where the shutter question is usually a budget question, and that is a perfectly good reason to ask it. Accordion shutters protect more openings per dollar than anything else we sell, and storm panels beat leaving a window bare. If the house is a manufactured home, we will tell you honestly whether we can attach to it properly before quoting anything.
Shutters and screens are different products doing different jobs, and most houses in North Fort Myers end up with some of each. If you are not sure which your openings want, that is exactly what the call is for.
Talk to us about your openings — North Fort Myers
Tell us what you are looking at and someone from our team will call you the same business day. We go through it on the phone first — your openings, the products that actually fit, what is involved — and if it is a fit we come out and put a written quote in your hand. No charge and no obligation.
North Fort Myers hurricane screen questions
Do I permit through Lee County or the City of Fort Myers?
North Fort Myers is unincorporated, so permits go through the Lee County Department of Community Development, not the City of Fort Myers. We sort out which jurisdiction applies and handle the permitting for you.
Can hurricane screens be installed on a manufactured home?
Sometimes, and it has to be assessed honestly. Product approvals include an anchor schedule that assumes a specific substrate, and a manufactured home’s wall assembly is not the same as concrete block. Your community may also restrict attachments. We will look and tell you plainly either way.
I can only afford to protect part of the house. Where should I start?
The widest, least protected opening, which is usually the lanai or the rear slider. Wind entering through any one opening pressurizes the building, so protecting the largest gap first does the most good per dollar.
Does the building code require this on my existing home?
Lee County sits entirely inside the Wind-Borne Debris Region, so new work on exterior openings must meet Florida Building Code 1609.5.2. Whether it is triggered on an existing home depends on the scope of work and the year it was built.
Is a screen or a shutter better value here?
It depends on the opening. Screens earn their keep on wide lanais no panel system covers in one span. For standard windows on an older home, accordion or rolldown shutters usually cost less and do the job.
More questions? Our full hurricane shutter & screen FAQ covers products, service, permitting and financing.
Florida Screen & Shutter, LLC · 883 NE 27th Ln #5, Cape Coral, FL 33909 · (239) 409-0426
License #SCC131152867 · Fully Licensed & Insured Florida Contractor · MagnaTrack President’s Club, #6 in the country, 2025