Recently Tropical Storm Elsa (and at one point, Hurricane Elsa) threatened the state of Florida. After days of speculation, Elsa ultimately missed most of Florida’s East Coast but not before causing some angst. But, as you know, we are just at the beginning of our six-month long hurricane season. As builders of pool enclosures and screened in patios, we at Tripod Aluminum, thought it might be helpful to give you some tips on protecting your pool enclosures and patio enclosures during inclement weather.
TIP #1: REMOVE ALL OUTDOOR FURNITURE
While patio furniture looks great, it isn’t as lovely flying across your backyard, crashing into your windows, lying at the bottom of your pool, or tearing the screens of your pool enclosure or screened in porch! Store your patio furniture somewhere safe, such as your garage, a very sturdy storage shed, or even inside your house. Just think of it as extra seating while you’re stuck inside during the hurricane!
TIP #2: REMOVE ALL OUTDOOR DECORATIONS
All your cute beach signs and hanging shell decorations look great when you have friends over or even when you are just relaxing by yourself in the backyard. During a hurricane, those become flying projectiles! They can easily cause tears or holes in your screening. Grab a large box, storage tub, or even large trash bags. Pile your decorations in them and carry them inside to safety.
TIP #3: REMOVE ALL POOL TOYS
Remove all pool toys from the pool. This may include flotation toys or weighted diving toys. While it might not seem like a blow-up dolphin could damage your pool enclosure, you would be surprised what anything being hurled through the air at 90 mph is capable of doing! Remember, those inflatable toys have hard plastic parts like inflation valves and handles.
TIP #4: TRIM ALL BUSHES AND TREES
We recommend making sure all bushes and trees in the yard are trimmed. If you don’t have time to trim all of them, then at least trim any that are near your pool enclosure or screened in porch as they are more likely to cause damage.
TIP #5: REMOVE BOTH DOORS FROM POOL ENCLOSURES AND PATIO ENCLOSURES
According to Pool and Deck Concepts removing the doors allows airflow through your enclosure. They state, “Creating a path of least resistance helps reduce a lot of the strain that would otherwise result in tears in the material.”
WHAT TO DO IF POOL ENCLOSURES OR PATIO ENCLOSURES ARE DAMAGED
Tripod Aluminum not only builds pool enclosures and patio enclosures, but we also repair screen damage. In spite of all your efforts, should your pool enclosure or screened in porch become damaged during a hurricane, then please don’t hesitate to call us! We are located in Melbourne and serve our surrounding areas, such as Cocoa, Merritt Island, and Vero Beach. We look forward to serving you!
