Roll Down Screens on Sanibel Island, FL
You did not buy on Sanibel to look at a wall. A screen is the only rated product
that covers the whole lanai and still lets you see out of it.
The opening that faces the weather
Island lanais point at open water or open preserve, which is the view and also the exposure. It
is the widest opening on the building and on most Sanibel houses there is nothing rated in front of
it.
That matters structurally rather than cosmetically. Wind entering a large opening pressurises the
building and starts lifting the roof from underneath. And the pool cage in front is not protection
— a screen enclosure is not rated opening protection, was never designed to be, and when one
fails its own aluminum becomes the debris standing beside your sliders.
What goes on it
Fabric on a track in a housing above the opening, down over the whole span in one piece, sealed
at both edges. Up to 30 feet wide by 20 feet high in a single screen with no post in
the middle of the view. It retracts out of sight afterwards.
We install the MagnaTrack Defender and
UltraShield, both Florida product approved and both
tested with a nine-pound 2×4 fired at them followed by thousands of pressure cycles. If you have
heard them called Kevlar screens, that is a nickname rather than the
fabric.
Eleven months of the year
The fabric on both systems is rated for year-round use, which on Sanibel is most of the point.
The island has serious insect seasons and serious afternoon sun, and a screen you already own that
handles both is used most weeks rather than once a decade. Cheaper polypropylene screens cannot do
it — UV destroys them, so they are storm-only.
What the structure will carry
A thirty-foot screen puts real load into whatever it is fixed to, so on an older island house the
backing gets verified rather than assumed, and occasionally that is the first thing to sort out. On
an elevated rebuild the housing can be recessed while the structure is open, which is much cheaper
then than later.
Sanibel permits its own work, strictly
The City of Sanibel runs its own building department and the island is known for holding a tighter line than anywhere else in the county — on what may be attached to a building, on vegetation, and on lighting. Anything fixed to an exterior wall is reviewed properly rather than waved through. We specify to that rather than submitting and hoping. Permitting is handled as part of the job.
Talk to us about roll down screens on Sanibel
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
Does my pool cage protect the lanai?
No. Screen enclosures are not rated opening protection and are not designed to survive a major hurricane. A failed cage becomes wind-borne debris a few feet from the glass behind it.
Can one screen cover the whole opening?
Usually – up to 30 feet wide by 20 feet high in a single screen, checked against the approved size and pressure schedule for your address before anything is ordered.
Is it any use outside hurricane season?
That is when it gets used. The fabric is rated for year-round service as an insect and solar screen, which on this island earns its keep from spring onwards.
More questions? Our full hurricane shutter & screen FAQ covers products, service, permitting and financing.
More in Sanibel: accordion shutters · Bahama shutters · roll down shutters · storm panels · roll down screens · impact windows · everything we do in Sanibel
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