Aluminum screened enclosures

[Dorot29701]

My neighbor has a screened back porch on her house and around the bottom there are aluminum panels, about 15 " high.....I suppose to keep the dirt from washing in from the yard.

I have a pool with an enclosure and when we have heavy rains, some dirt does get on the concrete decking. The lot behind us is a little higher.

I would like to buy some of these panels for one side of the enclosure. Does anyone know know where I would go to get them? My husband thinks he can put them on. They look like they just screw on a cross piece that runs between the post. Thanks.

[gfretwell]

That is just a roll of aluminum, similar to flashing they sell at Home Depot but thicker. You can probably buy it at a supply house but you may have some left over. (you need to buy a roll) The bad news is it won't stop the dirt. I have a kick around my cage and the dirt still gets in if the water flows that way. You are going to have to grade your neighbor's dirt away from your pool. If this is a fancy community the HOA should do it.

[Rudy]

Its called "coil" & comes in rolls (hence 'coil') from the aluminum manufacturer..usually in 24" or 36" wide. You can pick it up from any aluminum distributor that sells material for screened porches. Look in the Yellow pages under aluminum of screens and call around. Its usually sold by the square foot. Just figure out what length you need and have them cut it to length for you. Note, it may be cheaper (less waste) if you get the 36" wide and cut it in half lengthwise and get 2 -18" wide pieces for example, rather than buying

24" and cutting off 6".

The way to cut this is with a SHARP utility knife and a straight edge. The knife will score the thin aluminum and then it can be bent back anf forth and snapped off along the scored line. Trust me, it works. Careful with the sharp edges. You probably should also buy a strip of edge bead to cover the top exposed edge. Use an electric drill with a magnetic 1/4" nut setter "bit" to screw it down. You can get the screws and "bit" at the same place.

R