Patio Drop Shades

Patio drop shades are exterior roller shades that drop vertically down an outdoor opening, like a patio, porch, pergola, or balcony, to block sun, heat, glare, wind, and views. The fabric rolls onto a tube inside a housing at the top and lowers straight down the opening, then retracts back up out of sight when you don't need it. They're also called drop screens, roll-down shades, exterior solar shades, or patio roller shades.

Only how you raise and lower them. Motorized drop shades use a tubular motor hidden inside the roller tube, so the shade moves at the push of a button from a remote, wall switch, app, or voice command. Manual drop shades use a geared hand crank and cable guides, which costs less and needs no wiring or power. The fabric, colors, custom sizing, and weather performance are the same either way. Motorized is the better fit for wide spans and daily use; manual is the most affordable way into a real drop shade.

Nothing, they're three names for the same product. Motorized drop shades, automatic drop shades, and electric drop shades all describe a drop shade with a built-in motor that raises and lowers the fabric at the push of a button instead of a hand crank. The only real distinction is that people sometimes say automatic to mean a motorized shade that also runs on a schedule or a sun and wind sensor, which is an option we can add to any motorized drop shade.

Cable-guided drop shades use stainless steel cables down each side of the opening to hold the fabric straight as it lowers, instead of a full aluminum side track. It's a simpler, more affordable system and it's what most manual drop shades use. Because the cable leaves the sides slightly open, cable-guided shades are built for sun, glare, and privacy rather than a complete bug seal. If sealing out mosquitoes is the priority, we'd spec side tracks with insect mesh instead.

Yes. Retractable drop shades are the whole point of the system. The fabric rolls up into an extruded aluminum hood at the top of the opening, so when the shade is raised you get your full open view and airflow back, and the fabric is protected from sun and weather while it's stored. That's true of both motorized and manual drop shades.

Price depends on the size of the opening, the fabric you choose, whether you go motorized or manual, and whether you add side tracks, hurricane reinforcement, or sensors. A manual cable-guided shade is the most affordable entry point; motorized adds cost but is the one most homeowners actually use every day. Because every shade is custom engineered, we quote after we measure. We're one of the most affordable installers in the Houston market and we back it with a price match guarantee on equal products.

They can, if they're built for it. Paired with an insect mesh fabric and full side tracks, a drop shade seals the opening and keeps mosquitoes and flies out. If the shade uses open cable guides instead of tracks, the sides stay slightly open, so it's built for sun and privacy rather than a full bug seal. Tell us which matters most and we'll spec it accordingly.

Any way you like. Handheld remote, hard-wired wall switch, smartphone app, timer or schedule, or voice through Amazon Alexa and Google Home. You can run a single shade or group every shade on the patio to one button, and add sun or wind sensors so they lower and raise themselves.

The shade simply stays where it is until power returns, and nothing about the outage damages the system. If riding out outages with the shade still operable matters to you, tell us during the consultation and we'll go over the override options for your motor. Manual hand-crank drop shades are unaffected by outages entirely.

We engineer motorized drop shades up to 30 ft wide and 20 ft tall in a single unit. Manual crank systems work best on smaller and mid-size openings, since a very wide shade gets heavy to crank. Wider openings are handled by running two or more shades side by side, and on motorized systems we group them onto one control so they still operate as one.

Most jobs we install are complete in 3 to 5 weeks for those who qualify, one of the fastest lead times in the industry, where the standard is closer to 6 to 10 weeks. Contact us to see if you qualify.

Lifetime coverage on hardware, 15 years on fabric, and 10 years on motors, plus our price match guarantee on equal products. Same quality, same components, and the same warranties as the national brands, installed by our own dedicated teams.