I think what everyone else mentioned is what I was thinking of. Coroplast looks like it but the sheets are clear. We used a couple sheets of it as skylights in our carport until we re-did the roof and eliminated the skylights. Light is diffused through it. It looks something like this e-Joy 4 ft. H x 2 ft. Clear Polycarbonate Twin Wall 10mm Panels - Wayfair Canada
The price for the panels is a little steep for me ($1,600 + shipping) - and then having to install my own grommets too (they do supply the tool though). Maybe I hit the wrong part of the site. I will admit that I just looked at the price of one that looked like it was similar sized and didn't try for a custom quote.
I was looking at Storm Snaps, which may work for the lower portions, but they don't make anything large enough for the upper portion. They say you can get the frames disassembled (so I could get my own rigid plastic locally), but I can't figure out how to do that. I must be internet challenged today
bogieb the clear sun tuff panels I used are 8’ long and 2 foot wide coverage when I was buying them $30 ish apiece.. when dirty pressure wash if you want screen I built some of those back porch and can send ya a pic so you can see it
bogieb I have a similar setup to what others said about the clear poly panels. When we bought this place, in the shed was huge 2x4 framed OSB panels with glass windows. Took 3 people to install.. Went that route the first year.. Then pitched them. I use J-rail along my railing (outer side) and screw the panels in at the top. Simple one person job in spring and fall. Not sure what they want for the panels these days. BTW... I leave the lower OSB panels on year round. The J-channel can be left or removed. I overlap the panels as well. To cut the panels I put duct tape on both sides, and used a circular saw with a plywood blade reversed. Hope that makes sense. Otherwise those panels shred.
Thank you - looks like something I could do and I'll have to keep that in mind. Woke up and thought hey, they do something to keep wind out of truck doors all the time. I think this would also allow me to do next to the stairs as well as the south side of the porch (the open end). Bonus is if I want to lean over the railing for a closer look at something (say the sky overhead), I can do so.
Easy to change damage strips too! Not the cheapest option, but would likely work pretty well! Never realized how many different options there are for these strip curtains!
Got all my info entered for the 4 openings. In my two long openings, I would go with 12" strips at 67% overlap. This may be overkill since the railing and proch base will be there to help hold in place, but I'd ratehr not be disappointed by smaller strips/overlap. The south end, and the section between the lower porch and stairs, I would do 8" strips at 50% overlap. Yes, still fairly pricey but manageable. I am not going to do beside the stairs as I need to see how and where the roof dumps after adding the overhang in that portion. And I really never expected to get them covered anyway. Haven't actually hit the "buy" button, but I have the cart all set to go assuming I don't change my mind.
And look at that, just by leaving the stuff in my cart, they emailed me a coupon for 10% off my order. Time to hit the, for realz, "buy" button
Good deal...I'll do that on ebay sometimes if I'm not in a hurry...just by "watching" an item sometimes they'll send a discounted offer in a few days...sometimes that'll make up my mind for me if I'm waffling between an item that is carried by several vendors.
I really like Chaz idea. I never thought of the plastic strips as I didn't know they came in a heavier weight. I sure hope it works out well for you. I hope you post pictures after you get them installed and during the winter.
I will do that sometimes also. This time that wasn't my intent, just wanted to give myself some time to decide if that was actually what I wanted before committing my money. Should ship in 3-5 days but their coming from SD so that will add another week before they get here.
Those plastic strips; at least mine; are sky lights for metal roofs. Therefore meet snow load and have UV ratings for 15 years I believe.. Basically let light in and keep snow leaves out
I received the kits on 10/30. There were 4 boxes as I have 4 sections I am doing that each require a different length. well, to be fair, they probably would have used 4 boxes even if they had all been the same length because they get heavy pretty quickly. If things go right, they will be hung today - just in time to keep the wintry mix we are supposed to get tomorrow outside of the porch. Instructions say to lay the strips out on a warm floor for 24 hours before installing them (they come rolled up). Early yesterday morning I laid them out: "left" (90" long) and "right" (82") sections of the long side of the deck. These are the 12" wide strips that are heavy duty as they will be keeping out wind, rain, snow/ice. Side by the door (94") and then strips that will go before the steps (96"). These are a bit lighter duty strips at 8" wide. The actual hanging of them will be interesting as the bracket will follow the slope from the roof. They are also not the priority as they will mostly just block the wind. It was interesting as they don't completely cut the individual strips off the real but do the partial cut so you can tear them off like a paper towels.
The strips are up! They don't look as nice as full plastic panels would have, but there were challenges to overcome which the strips did nicely at alleviating. One of those challenges was I could not have put panels in front of the stairs - so that would creat a wind tunnel. I do need to trim a couple of strips on the short ends, close to the house so they can hang correctly, but they are functional as is. They handled the blustery wind we had on Wednesday, and did nicely at keeping the wintery mix outside yesterday, so I'm happy. This next picture shows nicely one of the challenges the strips overcome. The crew made the deck wider than they were supposed to. The support beams for the roof as well as the entire deck frame were supposed to be inset about 6". The post on that step should have been to the left, basically against the next step up - not on the outside edge of the step. That would have put everything nicely inside the drip line. The roof over the near portion has been there since 2017, so I know exactly where everything comes off the roof - heck, you can see it from the discoloration on the concrete step. Them not listening to me and enlarging it a bit didn't do me any favors, and unfortunately the error wasn't evident to me until too late in the process. At least I found a solution that at first blush seems to work well.
