Snowbird Rolling Shutters – Metro Phoenix

They put an aluminum barrier on the outside of every opening you close before you leave. The curtain comes down from a box above the opening, runs in guide rails on both sides, and covers the opening from top to bottom using those rails and a bottom locking bar. Sun, dust, rain and wind-blown debris reach the shutter instead of the glass, and it holds that position for as long as you are gone. It does not create an airtight seal, but it substantially reduces what gets through. Closed, the opening is a flat aluminum face and is not visible from the street.

The difference between a two week trip and a six month absence is that nothing can depend on you being there. Home security on vacation usually leans on someone checking in. A rolling shutter does not. You close it on your way out and the opening stays covered with no one on site, no schedule to keep and nothing to reset. That is the whole argument for a physical barrier over an opening rather than a device that needs monitoring.

Broadly, seasonal residents arrive in the fall and leave in the spring, so the home sits closed through the hottest months and through monsoon season. We do not publish arrival or departure figures and are not going to invent them. What matters for planning is the fixed date at the other end: monsoon season runs June 15 through September 30, the window the National Weather Service uses to define the season. Most Arizona snowbirds are gone before it starts, which is why the shutters need to be in and tested before you fly out rather than after.

Yes, with the right hardware. A compatible motorized shutter can be upgraded with a Bond Bridge, a small Wi-Fi bridge that gives phone app and voice control of any of our remote-control RTS Gaposa or Somfy motors. With it in place you can control your shutters from your phone whether you are home or away, and use Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.

See motors, controls and Bond Bridge setup →

Three things. A motorized shutter, a remote-control RTS motor, and a Bond Bridge. The Bridge works with any of our RTS Gaposa or Somfy motors, including the solar and battery-powered versions of those, because they still carry a remote receiver. It does not work with the battery OZRoll motor, which has no receiver at all. One standard Bridge covers a home of up to about 2,500 square feet and up to 30 devices, and it should sit reasonably central to the shutters. If control is ever spotty, moving the Bridge closer usually fixes it.

The standard Bridge is Wi-Fi only, so it depends on the home network staying up while you are away.

Your rep confirms Bridge options and setup on the quote.

Wired and remote motors are available with a hand-crank manual override, so the shutter can be operated when the power is out. Solar and battery motors keep running on their own stored charge, and optional battery backup solutions allow motorized operation during extended outages. A shutter that was already closed before you left stays closed through an outage, because nothing has to happen for it to hold position.

We are not going to give you a number we cannot stand behind. Roll-A-Shield does not publish a wind speed, an impact rating or a test standard for these shutters, so treat any figure you see quoted elsewhere with caution until it comes with a standard attached.

What we can tell you is what the product is. The 63 mm single-wall profile is extruded solid aluminum and is the one specified for high-security and storm-exposed work, up to about 20 feet wide, with end retention. On any profile, the slats run in reinforced guide rails on both sides and the side rail and locking bar system keeps the curtain in place under lateral pressure. The closed face deflects driving rain before it reaches the window frame.

As a general guide, a single residential window typically runs about $800 to $3,500 installed. The range is wide because every shutter is custom built, and on a seasonal home the biggest variable is usually how many openings you are covering. Opening size is the next largest driver, then the slat profile, then whether it is manual or motorized. All seven standard colors are priced the same, so finish is not a cost decision. Your exact price comes from a free on-site estimate. Read the cost guide →

The current terms are the same for residential and commercial: shutter parts five years, motors five years, electronic components two years, labor one year, and strap-operated manual shutters one year. Coverage is parts only, so after the first year the labor for a repair is yours. The period starts on the date of installation, not the date you order. If you see a seven year figure in older material, it is out of date.

Worth knowing before you leave for the season: unauthorized alteration or repair voids coverage, and so does having the shutter serviced by anyone other than an authorized Roll-A-Shield agent. So does painting the slats. See the full warranty →

It is decided by the opening, not by preference. The 38 mm insulated slat covers small and light residential openings up to about 12 feet wide and takes any operator, manual, spring, battery or motor. The 55 mm insulated slat is the most common residential profile and runs up to about 18 feet, electric or remote only. The 63 mm single-wall extruded profile goes up to about 20 feet and is electric or spring only. Any shutter over about 12 feet wide or 100 pounds has to be motorized, which is worth knowing early because it changes both the build and the price.

Yes. The same product covers entry doors, side and service doors, sliding patio doors, garage openings and covered patios. On a seasonal property the side and service doors are worth as much attention as the front, because they sit on a property with no one on site for months. The most common install method is retrofit surface mount, which works on nearly any existing building without structural changes, with the box and guide rails attaching directly to the exterior wall. Interior mount is available where exterior mounting is not practical.

Not while you are gone. A closed shutter holds its position on its own and there is nothing to reset or reopen. The published maintenance is annual and light: clean the guide rails and lubricate the moving components, which the site puts at under 30 minutes per shutter. Most seasonal owners do it when they get back, which also handles the dust that settles in the rails and box over monsoon season. Rolling shutters typically last 20 years or more, with residential units around 15 to 25 years, though a motor or remote may need service over that life.

For the shutters specifically, five things. Close them on the west and south facing glass. Close the ground floor openings and any side entry doors. Confirm the operation method you will actually be using from out of state, and test it once before you go. Walk the guide rails and check nothing is leaning against them or sitting in the track. And book service before you leave if a unit is sticking, running slowly or not seating fully at the bottom, because a small fault in April is a locked-open opening in July.

The shutter does not change. It is still an exterior barrier on the opening, operated the same way. What changes is who is operating it, so the question becomes what you leave on site. A wall switch or a lockable key switch gives control at the opening, and a multi-channel remote covers one shutter, a group, or all of them from a single handset. Manual shutters use a crank handle, tape drive, or pull-down strap with a built-in lock.

Roll-A-Shield does not make insurance claims. If your coverage or your rental agreement is part of the decision, ask your carrier.

Yes. A lot of seasonal living in the Valley happens in park model homes and resort communities rather than conventional houses, and the shutters are built to the opening rather than to a house type. Retrofit surface mount attaches the box and guide rails directly to the exterior wall, so the constraint is the wall and the clearance above the opening, not the kind of home. What we build is a fixed shutter on a fixed structure, so this is the wrong product for anything on wheels that moves between sites.

Our process starts with a free on-site estimate where a local specialist evaluates the opening, your shutters are then custom built for that exact opening, and our own local crew installs and tests the finished system rather than a subcontractor. Measuring, manufacturing, installation and warranty service all come from one Arizona company.

If you will be out of state, call us to talk through scheduling and access before you plan around it. (480) 376-1629

Lead times on custom built rolling shutters typically run three to four weeks from order to installation, so work backward from your departure date and add margin, because the schedule moves week to week in busy season. If you are leaving in late April or early May, early March is the right time to get your quote and lock in the install date. If you want everything installed and tested before the June 15 start of monsoon season, March through May is the window, and by April or May at the latest. Expedited timelines are available if you need faster turnaround.

Monsoon season runs June 15 through September 30, and it falls squarely inside the months most seasonal homes sit closed. A closed shutter face deflects driving rain before it reaches the window frame, and it substantially reduces dust infiltration by covering the opening from the outside before dust reaches the frame or the interior. It does not create an airtight seal. The practical point is that the shutters are already down. Nothing has to be closed when a storm builds, and nobody has to be on site to close it.

A closed shutter blocks the sun before it reaches the glass, so the sun is stopped at the outside of the building rather than after it is already in the room. Foam-filled aluminum slats also create an insulating air pocket between the shutter and the window, and that extra layer keeps heat out in summer. We do not publish a temperature figure or a savings figure for a house that is closed up and unoccupied, and we are not going to invent one. What the shutter does is physical: it keeps direct sun off the glass on every opening you cover.

We serve all of Metro Phoenix, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria and Surprise, and we install with our own local crews rather than subcontractors. Roll-A-Shield has been building rolling shutters here since 1979 and is licensed, bonded and insured under Arizona ROC 342265. If you are searching for rolling security shutters near me, that means measuring, manufacturing, installation and warranty service all come from one Arizona company. Request a quote online or call (480) 376-1629 and we will schedule a free on-site estimate.