Motorized and Manual Rolling Screens – Metro Phoenix

Motorized rolling screens are retractable mesh screens that roll down over a patio, porch, window, or storefront opening from a slim housing and run on a motor, so a button raises and lowers them. People also call them automatic, electric, or powered screens. The motor sits inside the roller tube, the screen runs in side tracks that hold it taut, and it rolls fully away into the housing when you want the opening clear.

Manual rolling screens are the same retractable mesh screens worked by hand instead of a motor, usually with a gear-driven hand crank. There is no power, no wiring, and nothing to charge, which keeps the cost down and suits smaller or simpler openings. You turn the crank to lower the screen and again to roll it back up into the housing.

It depends on the opening, not a rule. A wide or high screen, one you use daily, a run of several screens, or anything that should move on a schedule or while you are away points to motorized. A small opening you reach easily and use now and then is often better and cheaper as a manual patio screen. We walk each opening with you and say plainly where a motor earns its place and where manual is the smarter call.

A tubular motor inside the roller winds the mesh up or down, and the side tracks keep it flat and taut. One press on a remote, a wall switch, or your phone runs it, and several screens can be grouped to move together. The motors we install include obstacle detection, so the screen stops if something is in its path. When it is up, it sits hidden in the housing.

A manual retractable screen uses a gear and a removable hand crank. You fit the crank, turn it to lower the screen down its side tracks, and turn the other way to roll it back into the housing. It is simple and needs no power. Because there is no motor, there is nothing to schedule or automate; it moves when you move it.

For the right opening, yes. A motor earns its keep on wide spans that are heavy by hand, on high openings you cannot reach, on runs of several screens, and anywhere you want a schedule or a sensor to do the work. For a single small opening you use occasionally, a manual screen does the same job for less. The honest test is how often, and how easily, you will actually move that opening.

Yes. A handheld remote is the standard control on an electric patio screen, and one press raises or lowers it. You can add a wall switch by the door, group several screens onto one remote channel so a whole side moves together, or add a small hub to run them from your phone. Choose whichever mix fits how you use the space.

Yes. Motorized screens for a patio, porch, or pergola all mount to the structure already around the opening, so most go on with no rebuild. A pergola or a detached porch far from power is exactly where the solar option helps, since it needs no wiring run. We check the mounting surface and the clearance on site and size the screen to the opening.

That depends on the motor. A solar motor has no electrical requirement at all: it powers itself from its own panel and battery, so there is nothing to wire. A hardwired electric motor needs a power source near the opening and a wiring run, which is where an electrician comes in. We tell you at the estimate which fits your opening and what, if anything, it needs.

The solar option is a self-contained package: a panel, a battery, and the motor, wired together and mounted where the panel gets good sun. The panel keeps the battery charged and the battery runs the motor, so there is no connection to the house and no electrician. It arrives charged, and because it is off the grid it also keeps working when the power is out. It even recharges in indirect light.

A solar or battery motor does, because it runs off its own power rather than the house, so an outage does not stop it. A hardwired motor will not run during an outage on its own. If keeping a hardwired opening working through an outage matters to you, a crank manual override can be added to that motor; tell us at the estimate and we will spec it.

On a hardwired electric motor, yes: a crank manual override lets you work the screen by hand if the power is out, which is worth having on an opening that has to function during an outage. It is not offered on solar or battery motors, and those do not need it because they already run off the grid. Ask about the override at the estimate so we set the opening up the way you want.

There is no list price, because every screen is custom-fit to the opening it covers. What moves the number is the size of the opening, whether it is motorized or manual, the controls you choose, and the mesh. The only figure worth anything is the one you get after someone measures, and that comes free and in writing with the on-site estimate. For a fuller breakdown, see what rolling screens cost in Phoenix.

A manual patio screen usually costs less than the same screen motorized, because it skips the motor and the controls. How much less depends on the opening and how many screens you are doing. On a big or high opening the motor can be worth the difference; on a small, easy one the manual saves you money for the same screen. Your written estimate prices both, so you can compare on your own openings.

Very little. Rinse the mesh with a hose now and then, more often after a dust-heavy monsoon blow, and let it dry before rolling it back up. Keep the side tracks clear of grit so the screen runs smoothly. The motor itself needs no routine service. Skip pressure washers and harsh cleaners, which can damage the mesh.

We do not publish a single lifespan figure, because it depends on the opening, the exposure, and how often the screen runs. What we can point to is the manufacturer warranty: 10 years on the fabric against fading, 5 years on the motor, and 5 years on the extrusions and parts. Kept clean and retracted in high wind, a screen lasts well in the Arizona sun.

Yes. The motor is a tubular unit that can be swapped out if it ever fails, and the mesh, tracks, and parts can be serviced or replaced without redoing the whole screen. Our own Metro Phoenix crews handle repairs on what we install, backed by local support. The motor is covered for 5 years and the extrusions and parts for 5 under the manufacturer warranty.

The mesh runs in zip side tracks that lock it into the guides, so it stays taut instead of billowing on a wide span. In a real monsoon gust the safest place for any screen is rolled up in its housing, and a motor brings it up in seconds. Our screens have no automatic wind sensor, so raise the screen when the wind builds. Wind damage is not covered under the warranty.

They suit the Valley well. A solar motor uses the same Arizona sun that drives the demand, and a motor lets you drop or raise a screen in seconds when a monsoon storm rolls in. The mesh sits outside the glass, and zip side tracks hold it taut against the dust and the gusts. Bring screens up in a serious blow, since wind damage is not covered under warranty.

Yes. We sell and install motorized and retractable patio screens across the Phoenix metro, with our own crews rather than a subcontractor, in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, and Surprise. Rolling screens are a Phoenix-metro service for us. Roll-A-Shield has worked from the Valley since 1979, licensed, bonded, and insured under ROC 342265.