Do tell more about those solar screens you built- please. I was reading about bungalows this week and had not realized that it was Frank Lloyd Wright who had turned architecture on its head by using open space design instead of separate rooms and lots of hallways. The abundance of natural light in your new home sounds delightful.
Hi, forthetrees
I didn't realize FLW started that. I like this house because while the living areas are visually connected, there are still delineations so I don't feel like I'm living in a warehouse.
The natural light is awesome, but the sun is too direct in the summer mornings. It was hot in the main areas by 8:30 in the morning, and I was also worried about UV fading everything. Some of the windows had blinds, but the doors had nothing on them so I started by tinting the door glass. (Plus I tinted the whole bar room, which faces the sun in the morning.) Even though it was the lightest tint film and designed to block mostly UV and IR, it still changes the color of the light. Plus, I didn't want to hinder the light in the winter when the sun will be off to the side, so I wanted something removable for the other windows.
Somehow I found solar screens on the internet, like this place:
https://www.solarscreenfactory.com/I found a place here that builds screens, but they never responded to my request for a material sample. I then found bulk rolls on the Home Depot website. The close up pictures make it look like an odd weave, but it's really just fiberglass window screen with an extra thick coating to block more light. I wound up purchasing a roll of Phifer Sun Tex 80 in grey because it matched the house better, and I didn't want to go to 90% blockage so I could still see clouds and thunderstorms.
https://www.phifer.com/product/suntex-80-90/I bought some DIY window screen frames and started cutting.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Screen-Tight-5-16-in-x-48-in-White-Window-Screen-Accessory-Frame-Kit-WSKIT51648/100042901(They come in other colors, I managed to find plain aluminum before.) The square-ish windows were easy, but most of my windows have angled tops to match the roofline, so I had to cut the plastic corner brackets, set up the frame, and then epoxy the brackets back together. I also had to make some retaining clips for my upper bar windows since they used quarter-round moulding on those and the springs that come with the frames wouldn't have kept them in. Even without a bottom retaining channel like window screens usually have, mine have stayed on fine in the occasional heavy wind gusts we get here.
Overall, there's still pretty good visibility through the screens, and they don't change the color of the light. I can stand in the sun and not start to sweat. Plus, they're on the outside, so they do a better job of keeping the heat out vs. the tint, which still gets warm on the inside surface. Once the sunrise moves past the back corner of the house, I can take them off and have the full view again. Before I found these my plan was to get pieces of glass cut and then tint those and put them behind the main glass, but the screens will be much easier to deal with and store.
JB
Everything has a beginning and an end. Life is just a cycle of starts and stops. They're ends we don't desire, but they're inevitable and we have to face them. That's what being human is all about. -Jet Black, Cowboy Bebop
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J to the B part 3