Screen Porches in Forsyth County
Screen America builds custom screen porches in Cumming and across Forsyth County. We work from Ball Ground, directly west of you, and Forsyth has been in our territory since we started in 1997.
Near the Lake, the Insects Are the Whole Point
Most people want a screen porch for the view or the shade. Closer to Lake Lanier, that is usually not the reason at all — it is that the garden becomes unusable at exactly the hour you most want to be in it.
Standing water within a few hundred yards changes the calculation. Mosquito pressure near the water runs heavier and later into the year than it does inland, and the difference between a covered deck and a screened one is the difference between sitting outside in September and going indoors at seven. That is worth being clear about, because it changes what matters in the build:
- The gaps matter more than the mesh. Insects come in where the screen meets the frame, the deck boards and the house — not through the middle of a panel. On a lake-adjacent porch we spend disproportionate time on the perimeter.
- The floor line is the usual failure. A gap under the bottom rail where the deck is not quite level will undo everything above it.
- Door closure. A screen door that does not pull itself shut squarely is the other common route in, and it is worth spending on the hardware.
Newer Construction, and What It Means for the Roof
Much of Cumming went up from the late 1990s onward, and the common pattern is a substantial rear deck with no roof over it. Roofing and screening that deck is the project we are asked for most often here.
It is also the one with the most to check before anyone quotes confidently. A deck built to carry furniture and people is not automatically built to carry a roof: the footings, the post sizing and the ledger connection all have to be looked at first. Sometimes the answer is that the existing deck takes it as built. Sometimes it needs additional footings. Occasionally the honest answer is that rebuilding the deck is the cheaper route, and we would rather say so at the assessment than discover it halfway through.
What We Build Here
- Roofing and screening an existing deck. The most common request in Forsyth.
- Enclosing a porch that already has a roof. The most direct project of the four — framing and screening between the existing posts.
- A new screen porch from footings up. Built to the house rather than to a kit.
- Rescreening and repair. On a porch that is structurally sound but whose mesh has gone. See screen repair.
One Thing We Don't Sell
Retractable and motorized screen systems are popular in Forsyth and we do not fit them. We build the structure and fixed screen panels; a powered system is a mechanism with a warranty attached, and that is a dealer's product rather than a contractor's. If that is specifically what you are after, you want a dealer — and you should know that before booking an assessment with us rather than after.
Screen, or Something You Can Close?
Screen is the least expensive option and it keeps the space feeling like outdoors, which is usually the point. What it will not do is extend your season much past the first hard cold snap. If you want March and October as well, the step up is a panel enclosure that closes against wind and rain and opens again in spring. It costs more and changes the character of the room, so we would rather show you both than assume.
Get a Free Assessment
If you are in Cumming, near the lake or anywhere in Forsyth County and thinking about a screen porch, we will come out, measure, and put a written estimate to it. The assessment is free.
Get a free estimate now