How to Protect Your Screened-In Porch or Lanai From a Hurricane

In the Carolinas, our screened-in porches and lanais are more than just additions; they are cherished outdoor living rooms. They are where we relax, entertain, and enjoy the beautiful coastal climate. But these wonderful spaces, with their large openings and lightweight screen construction, are extremely vulnerable to the destructive forces of a hurricane.

Protecting your porch isn’t just about saving the screens; it’s about protecting the main structure of your home. A destroyed porch can create a massive opening for wind and rain to enter your house. At American Hurricane Shutters, we specialize in providing engineered solutions to secure these beloved but vulnerable spaces. This guide will explore the best options for making your porch hurricane-proof.

The #1 Solution for Porches: Hurricane Fabric Screens

For protecting large, open-air spaces like porches and lanais, there is one solution that stands out as the clear winner in terms of performance, convenience, and value: **hurricane fabric screens**.

Why Fabric is the Ideal Choice

Our Alutech StormTex screens, made with advanced OmegaTex fabric, are perfectly suited for this application.

• Cost-Effective for Large Spans: At approximately $44 per square foot, hurricane fabric is often the most affordable way to enclose and protect a large area. Creating a solid wall of metal shutters around a porch can be prohibitively expensive.
• Extremely Lightweight: The fabric is a fraction of the weight of any rigid shutter. This means it doesn’t add significant stress to your porch’s existing support structure, and it’s incredibly easy for a homeowner to deploy with our motorized rolling hurricane screens.
• Maintains Light and Airflow: The woven fabric is translucent, preventing your porch and the adjoining rooms from becoming dark caves. It also allows some air to pass through, which helps to equalize pressure and reduce the forces on the structure.
• Easy, Compact Storage: A huge screen that covers your entire porch can be rolled up and stored into a compact hood and deployed at the push of a button- saving valuable garage or shed space.

The installation process involves installing a permanent, low-profile track system around your porch openings with hoods above. Before a storm, you simply press a button to lower the screens. If it is a particularly wide area- we can add bottom bar retention clips to prevent bowing. It’s a fast, effective, and elegant solution.

Other Viable Options for Porch Protection

While fabric is often the best choice, we also offer other excellent, permanently installed systems that can be used to secure your outdoor living spaces.

Accordion Shutters: A Solid, Convenient Barrier

Our Bertha HV Accordion Shutters can be configured to enclose an entire porch. We can install long, continuous tracks along the perimeter of the porch. The shutters can then be pulled from their stacks at the corners to meet and lock, creating a solid aluminum wall.

• Benefit: Offers incredible strength.
• Alternative: Our Clear or Aluminum Bertha HV Storm Panels are another cheaper option- but at a significantly increased labor cost. Porches are often so large that the individual panels will be very tall and heavy, and you will need many to cover even a one-sided porch. It may involve more labor than the rest of your house combined. These also require storage
• Consideration: This is a heavier and but less costly option than fabric, at approximately $34 per square foot. The solid metal will also completely block all light.

Roll-Down Shutters: The Premium Enclosure

For the ultimate in convenience and a seamless look, Roll-Down Shutters can be used to create a completely enclosed, secure space. We can install multiple rolldown shutters side-by-side, supported by removable center posts.

• Benefit: With motorized versions, you can enclose your entire porch with the push of a button. When retracted, the shutters are completely hidden in their housing boxes, preserving your view.
• Consideration: This is the most premium and expensive option, starting at $48/sq ft for manual plus the cost of any necessary support posts and motorization ($700 per motor).

Don’t Write Off Your Outdoor Living Space

Many homeowners assume their porch is a lost cause in a hurricane and don’t even consider protecting it. But with modern storm protection systems, you can preserve the space you love and, in doing so, add a critical layer of defense to your entire home. Protecting your porch keeps the storm one step further away from your main living area.

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