Motorized Screens for New Construction & Recessed Installations
The cheapest time to make a screen disappear is before the ceiling closes. Brought into the drawings early, the housing pockets away and the tracks become part of the architecture.
Everything Difficult About a Retrofit Is Easy Here
On an existing patio the constraints are fixed. The header is where it is, the columns are where they are, and power has to be brought to the head of each opening through finished surfaces. Good work is still possible — retrofit is a common route — but it is work around the building.
On a project that has not been built, all of that inverts. The pocket for the housing is framed in. The side tracks sit in the columns rather than on them. The circuit is run before the drywall. Keypad locations are agreed with the electrical layout. The result is a patio where, with the screens up, there is very little to see.
The cost of doing it this way is almost entirely coordination. The cost of not doing it is permanent.
What Has to Be Decided Early
Pocket depth and framing
A recessed housing needs a defined void at the head of the opening, coordinated with the framing, the ceiling build-up and any soffit. That dimension has to come from the specified product, which means the product is chosen before the framing is drawn.
Side tracks in the structure
Tracks planned into columns or wall returns read as a reveal rather than an addition. Retrofitted onto a finished column, they tend to read as an addition.
Power and control routing
A circuit at each opening and a wire to each keypad, run before surfaces are closed. This is trivial early and disruptive later.
Opening dimensions
When the openings are still on paper they can be sized to the system rather than the system squeezed into them. That is the one chance to avoid an awkward span.
Trade sequencing
Screens land somewhere between framing, electrical, exterior finish and final trim. Agreeing when we come to site keeps a specialist install from becoming a program problem.
Who is coordinating
Architect, builder, designer, homeowner — someone has to own the screen detail. We are happy for it to be us, but it should be explicit.
Pocket dimensions, clearances and structural requirements are product-specific and come from the manufacturer's current installation documentation. We supply those to your architect or builder for the specified product rather than publishing generic figures that may not match what you end up with.
The Useful Conversation Happens at Framing, Not at Punch List
A common way a new-build screen project goes wrong is that screens get assumed to be a finish item. They are not — they are a rough-in item with a finish appearance.
By the time a house is at punch list, the opportunity to pocket a housing is gone and the choice is between a surface-mounted system and no system. Neither is a disaster, but the first is a compromise the client did not know they were making.
If you are an architect, builder or designer working in The Woodlands or across Montgomery and Harris counties and you want the screen detail resolved on the drawings, we will do that work with you — including supplying manufacturer details for the specified product.
What Gets Decided at Design Stage
Questions From Builders and Homeowners
When should screens come into a new-build conversation?
Before framing, ideally at the same time as the electrical layout. Pocket dimensions affect framing and ceiling build-up, so the product needs to be chosen before those are finalized.
Can you work with our architect or builder directly?
Yes, and it often produces a better result. We can supply the manufacturer's installation details for the specified product so the pocket, tracks and power are on the drawings rather than resolved on site.
What if the house is already framed?
Then some options narrow, but not all. Depending on the ceiling detail, a partially concealed housing may still be possible. It is worth a conversation before the drywall goes up rather than after.
Does a recessed installation cost more?
The screen itself is not the variable — the coordination and the builder's work are. Done early, the incremental cost tends to be small. Done as a retrofit into a finished ceiling, it can be significant. See the cost guide.
Can we rough in now and install screens later?
Often yes, and it is a sensible way to protect the option without spending on it now. It has to be planned against a specific product so the pocket and power actually suit what gets installed.
Send Us the Elevations
If there are drawings, those are more useful than photographs. Tell us the stage the project is at and who is coordinating.