The best way to screen a deck depends on how permanent you want the fix to be. Temporary options — outdoor curtains, freestanding panels, planters — add privacy fast and cheap, but in Florida they come with a storm-season catch. A professionally built aluminum screen enclosure costs more up front and solves privacy, bugs, sun, and weather in one permanent structure engineered for our wind. Most homeowners end up somewhere on that spectrum, and this guide walks the whole thing honestly — including which ideas we'd actually recommend on the Space Coast and which ones need to come down every time a storm brews.
Quick and cheap (with a Florida asterisk). Outdoor curtains on a heavy-duty rod, roll-up bamboo shades, freestanding lattice or resin panels, and tall planters with palms or grasses all work — they're renter-friendly, adjustable, and installed in an afternoon. The asterisk: in hurricane country, anything freestanding or fabric is a projectile in high wind. Sandbags and brackets are fine for an afternoon sea breeze, not a named storm. If you go this route, plan on taking panels and curtains down every time severe weather threatens — that's not a footnote here, it's the routine.
Living screens. Climbing vines on a trellis, dense evergreens, container bamboo — soft, natural, and they thrive in our climate. Trade-offs: they take seasons to fill in, need watering and trimming, and never block bugs.
Permanent screening — the framed aluminum enclosure. This is the version that solves everything at once: aluminum framing with screen walls (and a door) built onto the deck, engineered and permitted to the wind-load for your location. No seasonal takedown, no fabric to replace, bugs handled permanently, and mesh options that add privacy and sun control on top. It's what we build — more below.
One system can mix these — solar or privacy mesh on the exposed side, standard or no-see-um everywhere else.
A permanent enclosure on your deck is a permitted structure in Brevard and Indian River County — engineered drawings, wind-load compliance, and inspection, the same as any screen room. Temporary, freestanding, and fabric solutions generally don't need permits, but HOA rules can apply to anything visible, including curtain colors and panel styles — get sign-off in writing before you build. We handle the permitting end-to-end on enclosure projects.
One structural note specific to decks: the deck itself has to be able to carry the enclosure. Part of our assessment is confirming the framing and footings below can support the structure — and being honest with you if they can't without reinforcement.
Usually, yes. A framed aluminum enclosure builds onto the existing deck — we verify the framing and footings can carry it, then attach the structure to the deck and house with engineered connections. No demolition, no starting over.
For a permanent framed enclosure in Brevard or Indian River County, yes — engineered drawings, wind-load compliance, and inspection, which we handle. Temporary curtains and freestanding panels generally don't need permits, but check your HOA either way.
Quality fiberglass mesh — good visibility, corrosion-proof, easy to repair. Aluminum mesh is stiffer but slightly reduces clarity; pet and privacy weaves trade some view for their function.
Only fine no-see-um mesh — the tiny biting midges near the water pass straight through standard screen. If your deck is coastal, it's the upgrade that makes dusk usable.
A permanent enclosure is engineered and anchored to the wind-load code for your location; the mesh itself can tear in extreme wind, and that's repairable. Temporary panels, curtains, and shades are a different story: they must come down before severe weather, every time, or they become debris.
Privacy mesh in a framed enclosure is the permanent answer. Short of that: slats or lattice mounted to the railing, tall planters, or outdoor curtains — with the storm-takedown routine above.
Yes — glass or acrylic panels for full weather protection, perforated metal for decorative privacy, and screen-and-glass combinations. For most Florida decks, though, the screen enclosure's airflow is the point — sealed panels turn the space into a room, which is a different project (and one we also build).
Temporary screening buys privacy by the season; a framed aluminum enclosure buys it permanently — plus bugs, sun, and storm-rated structure — and in coastal Florida, aluminum is the material that wins the long game. Match the solution to how you actually use the deck, be realistic about the storm-takedown routine for anything temporary, and if you're ready for the permanent version, get it engineered and permitted properly.
We build custom aluminum screen enclosures on existing decks and patios across Brevard and Indian River County — engineered, permitted, and fitted with the right mesh for your spot on the coast. Call (321) 652-1078 or request a free estimate and we'll take an honest look at your deck.
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