Roll Down Screens on Marco Island, FL
On a Marco canal lot the lanai does not just face the water — it faces the
dock, the lift and the boat. That is the view, and it is also the widest unprotected opening on the
building.
The canal side is the exposed side
Marco’s residential canals run out to open water, which means there is very little between the
back of your house and the weather. The lanai is wide, it is low, it sits on that side, and on most
of the island there is nothing rated in front of it.
That is a structural problem rather than a cosmetic one. Wind entering a large opening
pressurises the building and begins lifting the roof structure from underneath. It is also where
the money is: a lanai on a Marco canal home is frequently the most valuable room in the house and
the least protected.
And the cage is not doing this job. A screen enclosure carries no rating, so on a Marco canal
home the largest opening on the building is protected by something that is not protection.
One span, no post
Fabric on a track in a housing above the opening, down over the whole span in one piece and
sealed at both edges. Up to 30 feet wide by 20 feet high in a single screen, which
covers the large majority of Marco lanais without a post standing in the middle of the water.
It retracts out of sight afterwards, and the fabric on both systems we install — the
MagnaTrack Defender and
UltraShield — is rated for year-round use, so
the same screen handles the insects and the low afternoon sun off the water the rest of the time.
If you have heard these called Kevlar screens, that is a nickname
rather than the fabric.
The debris on a canal lot comes off the canal
Inland, the debris that breaks a window is somebody’s roof tile. On a Marco canal lot the nearest
loose objects are yours and your neighbour’s, and they are sitting on the dock: canvas, cushions,
a bimini, lift motors, gear lockers, boarding steps, whatever is on the deck of the boat.
That is a short distance from the lanai and a straight line. A rated screen across that opening
is doing a specific job here, which is stopping the contents of the waterway from arriving in the
back of the house.
Worth saying alongside it: clear the dock before you leave for the season, not the week a storm
forms. Screens deal with what is airborne. They are not an argument for leaving cushions out.
What the quote turns on
Three things, and none is the brochure. The span, checked against the approved
size and pressure schedule for your address. What the structure will carry —
a thirty-foot screen puts real load into whatever it is fixed to, and on original Deltona-era
construction the backing gets verified rather than assumed. And where the housing sits,
which on a canal elevation is worth getting right because that is the side of the house you look
at from the water.
The City of Marco Island permits its own work
Marco incorporated in 1997 and runs its own building department, so this is a city submittal rather than a Collier County one even though the mailing address is Collier. Separate process, separate review times. Permitting is handled as part of the job.
Talk to us about roll down screens on Marco Island
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.
Questions we get asked
Can one screen cover my whole lanai?
Usually – up to 30 feet wide by 20 feet high in a single screen, with no centre post. Your opening is checked against the approved size and pressure schedule before anything is ordered.
Does my pool cage count as protection?
No. Screen enclosures are not rated opening protection and are not designed to survive a major hurricane. A failed cage becomes wind-borne debris right beside the glass behind it.
Is it any use outside hurricane season?
That is when most people use it. The fabric on both systems is rated for year-round service as an insect and solar screen.
More questions? Our full hurricane shutter & screen FAQ covers products, service, permitting and financing.
More on Marco Island: accordion shutters · Bahama shutters · roll down shutters · storm panels · roll down screens · impact windows · everything we do on Marco Island
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