Posted By: Shawn White -
verified customer Location: Florida
How often do you shop at Comfort House: first time
I'm a handyman by trade with 14 years of experience who was called out to repair a tarped roof on a screened patio area. I've done lots of re-screenings, and even a few repairs on some leaky aluminum patio roofs, but never a tarp roof. While this was a first for me, my experience in replacing garage door bottom seals actually helped because there is a convenient aluminum track that mounts to the side of the house that keeps this tarp roof in place to provide a good weather seal. As for the corners, and far outside edge of this tarp roof, there are reinforced grommets located at each roof rib that allow for secure tie downs to each roof rib or screen wall section such that the tie downs and grommets are hidden from view by the decorative wavy design of the tarp roof's edge.
It just so happens that the owner had prior hired another handyman to attach a generic tarp over top of this original fitted tarp after the original tarp suffered damage at the seems and small pinholes throughout the middle areas simply due to age and weathering. The generic tarp was definitely a cheaper alternative as an attempt for repair, but much less effective as the wind kept blowing it around and quite frankly took away from the beauty of the entire patio area. Why Settle for an Ugly Generic Tarp When You Can Have the Beautiful Fitted Original? You may as well try to put a large square peg through a small round hole! Take a step back, scratch your head, and then ask a woman what they think of your attempt at a cheap fix. No Bueno!
Stick with the Fitted Original in this case! You won't be disappointed! For installation: it did not come with any instructions, so if you're not handy then you need to hire this out. It's a hard job for 1 person (which is me), but easier for 2 people because one person can pull the beaded edge through the lubricated track while one person helps feed the beaded edge into the track. As a 1-man job, you'll be "inchworming" that beaded edge through the track - which will take a while. Here's my advise: make sure when replacing the tarp roof that the track itself is not damaged. If it is, then replace that too. Make sure that the old track is clean of debris like tree foliage and dead bugs, try lubricating the track with something noncorrosive like dish soap and water to assist the new tarped roof as it slides into place. And make sure that the tracks are securely fastened to the house wall before tying down the corners and outside edge to the ribs. The final step is to grab a piece of the cardboard from the shipping package and cut a 2" wide by 6" long piece for each corner rib - Use these pieces of cardboard as a "shoehorn" of sorts to assist in rolling the corners of the fitted tarp over the corner ribs. This is a tight fit so you don't want to rip a hole in the corner of the new Fitted Roof upon installation.
Additional note: It is an absolute necessity to have the model number of the patio screen room before you make your purchase. I did not know where this was located, and Customer Service was very helpful in assisting me with identifying the model number and part number that I needed for the size of the screen room. Comfort House was also significantly less expensive than the original manufacturer's website and they had exactly the correct original part I needed. My customers were very pleased with the result and that made me look good too. I'd definitely recommend Comfort House and sticking with the Original Fitted product for this type of screen room.
Why settle ... when you can have the Fitted Original?, July 23, 2023