Zip screens for a deck that stays usable in the wind

The zip difference

Why ordinary drop screens fail on this coast

An ordinary drop-roller outdoor blind hangs loose at both edges, which is fine in a still garden and hopeless the moment real wind gets under it — it flaps, it escapes its guides, and eventually it tears. A zip screen welds the fabric edge into a zipper that runs captive inside aluminium side channels, so the whole panel holds genuine tension in wind that would defeat a standard screen. On an exposed Plett deck — beachfront, Robberg-side or anywhere catching the coast's standing onshore wind — that's the entire argument for choosing this product over a cheaper drop blind.

Fabric choices

Mesh for the view, clear PVC for winter

Sunscreen mesh is the default: it holds the ocean or fynbos view, cuts glare and UV, keeps insects out, and gives daytime privacy without walling the deck off visually. Clear PVC or crystal panels go further — a genuinely wind-and-rain-proof enclosure that still keeps the view, which is what turns a summer entertaining deck into a usable winter braai room as well. For a home cinema set-up or a west-facing deck that needs a full sun kill, blockout fabric is available too.

Where they earn their keep in Plett

The outdoor room, made usable in the wind

This is the product we get asked for most on entertaining decks and braai rooms across the beachfront at Keurboomstrand and at Goose Valley, where owners want the deck usable on a windy evening rather than only on the two calm days a week Plett actually delivers. Estate homes that want enclosure without permanent building work — no council plans, no structural change — get the same result with a zip screen and a lot less admin.

Motorisation and colour-matching

Practical details

Motorisation is close to standard on wide spans — these are heavy panels once you're past a few metres, and a motor makes daily use realistic rather than a two-person job. Wind-sensor retract is available for genuinely exposed positions, and channels are colour-matched to the structure so the system reads as part of the house rather than an add-on. Spans run into the 4m-plus class per screen, and a full patio enclosure usually means several screens working together.