Acrylic in place of screen on porch

[JanetRose]

Does anyone have acrylic in place of a window on their porch or lanai?

We don't want anything expensive; there is a screen there now; so acrylic may work for us.

Just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with acrylic.

We live in Florida.

thank you!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Can you share a photo of what you mean?

 

[HopperFan]

We were looking at doing it to make our screened porch usable in winter (Georgia). My bro is an industrial designer and builds with it all the time. He said for our porch 12 x 16 angled roof the product alone would be about $3000. Add labor to that. And we'd have to switch our door. Total with his discount would be around $5,000.

He said for sure in summer we should take down and store. One concern was warping in heat (our upper sections are big) and the acrylic can become cloudy over time. Apparently there is very high end that should not get cloudy but that would not be in our budget.

We decided to spend that much and possibly have to replace in a few years was not worth it to us for just 4-5 mos a year. Right now we haven't decided if we want to make a permanent enclosure or maybe add a heater. I would for sure research types of plastic, issues with cloudy, warping, what is the best size for framing etc.

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

I have never seen that but it is an interesting concept. So you would not have any breeze with no screen? I think I would still prefer a screen.

 

[JanetRose]

Right now, we have Florida Glass Privacy Screens but my husband didn't install it tightly enough so we want to fix it with something sturdier. ​

I circled the areas.

We want to keep the upper area screened.

The estimate I got was $800.

 

[_19disnA]

He said for sure in summer we should take down and store. One concern was warping in heat (our upper sections are big) and the acrylic can become cloudy over time. Apparently there is very high end that should not get cloudy but that would not be in our budget.

I was wondering the same thing. If you someone lives in Florida where it doesn't tend to get very cold, not sure what this would accomplish. Perhaps if you live further north, the intent would be to extend the length of time an outdoor area could be used during cooler weather. But obviously, ALL of the screens would need to be replaced with these plastic panels to keep out the cold. Plastic tend to fade from UV exposure and not sure you would like how it looks after a few years. They would also have to be fit very securely to keep out the cold and probably the insulating value of the plastic isn't very good.

If the OP's upper area would still be screen, I am not sure what blocking off only the lower area accomplishes.

 

[barkley]

and the acrylic can become cloudy over time

this would be my concern as well-in addition to scratching. we have a side by side vehicle that is NOT used for off-roading, just simple on the property tasks. even though it is stored in a building so it's not exposed to the sun/weather elements 24/7 the acrylic windshield became cloudy after a handful of years. if the acrylic is in an area where it would be washed with or sprayed (sprinklers) by a hard water source then it will speed up the clouding. on the scratching-we've only ever used the same kind of squeegee on the windshield that is used on our glass house windows but the acrylic scratches very easily. we recently replaced the windshield with glass.

 

[MICKIMINI]

DH has been talking about doing this to keep the blowing snow out of our 16' x 8' screened in porch. We have to either remove furniture or tarp it as we live in NH at elevation and get lots of snow. I will be watching this for more info!

 

[JanetRose]

Don't care if it gets cloudy......want to keep the rain out.