Zip screens for a Hermanus patio
Vertical screens locked into zipped aluminium side channels — the product that actually holds against real wind, not just an ordinary drop roller that flaps and escapes its guides.
The zip is the whole difference
A zip screen is a vertical drop screen whose fabric edge is welded into a zipper that runs captive inside aluminium side channels — no flapping, no gaps, real wind resistance. It’s the product behind the modern "outdoor room": seal a patio, balcony or window opening against sun, wind and insects while keeping the view through the mesh. Sunscreen mesh at various openness levels is the standard choice for glare and UV control with daytime privacy in; clear PVC panels give a wind-and-rain-proof enclosure for a winter braai room without losing the view; blockout options exist for an outdoor cinema or a hard west-sun kill.
Motorisation is standard on wide spans, with wind-sensor retract recommended for any exposed position, and channels colour-match to the structure. Spans run wide — 4m-plus class per screen — and a multi-screen patio enclosure is one of the bigger-ticket items in the range.
Why it suits a Hermanus home specifically
An ordinary drop screen without a zip edge loses its wind resistance almost immediately here, because Hermanus takes the summer south-easter and winter north-westerly fronts equally hard, with no mountain behind town to soften either one. The zip channel is what actually holds a patio enclosure together through that — not a nice-to-have upgrade, the reason this product exists over a plain roller screen. On an Eastcliff braai deck backing onto the golf course, or a Sandbaai entertaining area at the mouth of the valley, wind direction can shift through an afternoon; on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, the valley itself funnels its own cross-draughts on top of the prevailing pattern. We check your specific exposure and recommend mesh, PVC or a blockout panel accordingly at the free measure.
Zip screens, answered
Will this actually hold in a south-easter?
That’s the point of the zip edge — the fabric stays captive in the aluminium channel rather than flapping loose the way an ordinary drop screen does. We still recommend motorised wind-sensor retract on the most exposed positions.
Can I keep the view through the screen?
Yes, with sunscreen mesh at the openness we recommend for your specific aspect — you keep the outline of the view while cutting glare, UV and insects. Clear PVC panels go further, giving a genuinely see-through enclosure for winter use.
How wide can one screen span?
Individual screens run to the 4m-plus class, and wider openings simply add screens side by side, motorised and colour-matched to the structure — we confirm exact spans at the free measure.
What a screened-in deck costs
Zip screens run in side channels with the mesh held under tension, which is more hardware than a plain outdoor blind and is exactly why they cope where an open awning arm will not. The guide per square metre installed is R2,800 to R4,500 for a crank-operated screen and R4,000 to R6,000 motorised.
Mesh openness, the channel system and whether a screen closes one opening or wraps a corner all move the number inside that band, and a narrow screen carries a minimum charge. As with everything else on this site, the band is for planning; the written per-opening price comes out of the free measure once the deck has been seen.
Let’s measure your patio properly.
Free in-home measure, a written quote, and screens specified for whichever wind reaches your specific corner.
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