We Need a Privacy Screen For the Spa

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voyager

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I have finally finished rebuilding the Pergola over the spa.
The spa is now back in service, and has been for a few weeks.
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NOTE:
I call it a spa instead of a hot tub because we use it for cooling down on hot days, not for warming up on cold days like we always did in the northern tier.
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We have a very private back yard, except for one small area open to viewing from 1 window in the neighbor's home.
We skinny dip in the spa, ... always have, always will.
We have hung a shower curtain to block the view of the spa.
It does the job.
I do not care what they know.
All I care about is what they see.
It appears to be OK with them, been doing it for 4 years now.
We're still on friendly, if not distant terms.

The distance between the posts is 125".
The shower curtain is 65" wide.
We could hang a second curtain from the other side.
But, the curtain do not work well with breezes and winds.
Not going to sew weights into the bottoms.

We have double retractable screen doors on the 3 exterior french doors of the house.
Something similar but with a fabric screen really appeals to me.
But, I have looked into replacing the retractable french door screens, screens and/or complete units.
The complete units are not cheap!
But, I am.

I've looked online for DIY privacy screen ideas.
I've found some of interest, but nothing that really makes me say: YEAH!
I'm thinking of a one sided, 4 to 6' high fabric screen, hung from a rope, wire or rod, and attached to a wood or metal end piece that pulls across the opening and fastens to the opposite post top and bottom to stabilize the screen during breezes.

I have problems with how to get it to be a roll up retractable.
I only see how to make it a sliding retractable that simply gathers up on one end.
That may be what I will have to do if I can't figure the other out.

Any thoughts, or suggestions?

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Have you thought about those roll up ones they sell at the box stores? they are fairly heavy so they stand still in breezes but not wind. We put them up at my grandfathers house years ago and work pretty well.
 
We have tried the heavy high quality shower curtains and they work pretty good. We have used the roll up plastic ones and they last a year or two and the sun wind and cold break them down around here. The heavy curtains hold up well but get blown around.

Two places I built a solid wood screen that lets air pass thru by staggering the upright boards on each side of the frame and slightly overlapping them. I used 5/4 decking wood but the thinner fence boards would work fine. That’s the way I would make yours I think. I have also seen them done like a basket weave with the boards going horizontal.

If you want to put us up for a week or two or fifteen, we will come over and help you design and build it. I’m retiring at the end of the month and have all the time in the world. HaHa.
 
I put small casters on a folding room divider for a customer.It's a little bulky when collapsed but there was only a single anchor point, unlike yours.
 
@ Chris
I've seen and considered those. If you mean those that retract by rolling up at the top whether by a crank or an electric motor:
too complicated and/or expensive.
If you mean the ones that attach at the top and roll up from the bottom. They come in very usable lengths, 96" & 120". The 96" width looks to be the best option as it would have about a 1'+ opening on both ends or a 2' opening on one end for access when lowered.
It would need to be easily raised and lowered by M'Lady when I wasn't around.
The biggest problems are the materials. We live in an area that is rated at 150"/yr of precipitation. Although, we are actually in a drought period right now. We also get a lot of intense sun, between the rains, and humidity goes up to 96 to 100% every night. Even though we don't have the cold, snow and winter weather, the wood, bamboo, cotton, canvas, or plastic types would still be very prone to weathering from the sun, rain and humidity and alge growth. Note the black alge growing on the concrete.
But then, the bamboo screens are cheap enough that they could be considered to be expendable and simply replaced every 2 or 3 years.
I'm still wishy-washing around on this one.

@ bud16415 & Snoonyb
I am trying to get away from using shower curtains due to their inherent problems.

From the pics you can see that there is very little extra space on the slab. Solid, folding, roll around or other similar installs just take up too much room without adding more slab area. Which could be done, but I'm not going to.

Ha, Ha, bud. Take a number.
Friends and relatives, that never visited, or even asked to visit in the almost 35 years I lived in Alaska, are now lined up to come visit us here. I've been thinking about building a small ohana in the back of out lot and renting it out to them as a vacation rental. It would definitely slow down the inquiries and provide income as my SocSec looses value through time.
M'Lady refused to consider a B&B in any way.
 
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@ Chris
I've seen and considered those. If you mean those that retract by rolling up at the top whether by a crank or an electric motor:
too complicated and/or expensive.
If you mean the ones that attach at the top and roll up from the bottom. They come in very usable lengths, 96" & 120". The 96" width looks to be the best option as it would have about a 1'+ opening on both ends or a 2' opening on one end for access when lowered.
It would need to be easily raised and lowered by M'Lady when I wasn't around.
The biggest problems are the materials. We live in an area that is rated at 150"/yr of precipitation. Although, we are actually in a drought period right now. We also get a lot of intense sun, between the rains, and humidity goes up to 96 to 100% every night. Even though we don't have the cold, snow and winter weather, the wood, bamboo, cotton, canvas, or plastic types would still be very prone to weathering from the sun, rain and humidity and alge growth. Note the black alge growing on the concrete.
But then, the bamboo screens are cheap enough that they could be considered to be expendable and simply replaced every 2 or 3 years.
I'm still wishy-washing around on this one.

@ bud16415 & Snoonyb
I am trying to get away from using shower curtains due to their inherent problems.

From the pics you can see that there is very little extra space on the slab. Solid, folding, roll around or other similar installs just take up too much room without adding more slab area. Which could be done, but I'm not going to.

Ha, Ha, bud. Take a number.
Friends and relatives, that never visited, or even asked to visit in the almost 35 years I lived in Alaska, are now lined up to come visit us here. I've been thinking about building a small ohana in the back of out lot and renting it out to them as a vacation rental. It would definitely slow down the inquiries and provide income as my SocSec looses value through time.
M'Lady refused to consider a B&B in any way.

Those are the ones I was talking about, cheap and hand roll from the bottom.
 
Had to go into town today.
Stopped by HD and looked at their shades.

I'm kinda liking this one in 120" length X 96" height.
It does go the full width of the opening, but it has tie down bungees that need to be fairly close to the upright.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Coolaroo...ler-Shade-120-in-W-x-96-in-L-460082/203304084

Looking through the questions, the mfgr. says that it takes up to 6 turns of the crank to move the shade 1 foot up or down.
By everything right and proper, that would at full extent with the number of cranks getting less as the roll dia. gets larger.

I would need to add a cross member at the height it was to be mounted.
That's why an 8' height would be better than a 6' height. I will need to make some measurements tomorrow after daylight to confirm.
Then, I'll need to run it by M' Lady after she gets back from her France trip in 2 to 3 weeks.
That Walnut coloring is the only one in the size needed to do the job.
In the end, she had to OK it.
I'm not dumb enough to cross her on this type of thing.
 
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Those are nice enough and do most as advertised. Couple things with them. They can be a bear to roll up in a wind as you have to release the hold downs. They only stay in place with the friction of the crank mechanism so in a big wind it will unwind some more and un-tether the hold downs or just roll out when it is up. So you would want find a way to lock the crank so it won't move.
 
@ nealtw

That is a beautiful solution to the problem.
I like it.
I've copied the video to my desktop to study further.

My initial reaction is that for practical use it would require increasing the size of the slab.
Accessing the spa would require leaving the slab and walking on the lawn, coming out, in my mind, much like a poorly thought out addition to a house.
To my thinking, for a well laid out installation, the slab would need to be enlarged to allow easy access around the louver panels. I'm very reluctant to do that.

I admit that I'm arguing against it. But, I will ponder on ways to make it work. Because, I like it.
I will drag it by M' Lady when she gets home and I put the roller shade to her.

We have a very mild climate here compared to what was normal in Alaska. Wind storms of 90 to 130 mph with gusts to 175mph were not all that uncommon in the areas of Alaska I spent a lot of time in.

Here in Hawaii, rarely do the winds go over 35mph. And the soil is thin over the lava rock. They create a bundle of problems in themselves. The fast growing, weak tropical trees start breaking up and are uprooted when the winds go to 45mph or more. Our first summer here was the first hurricane to hit Big Island since the late 1800's. Then a few months later we had a storm/hurricane force Kona Wind. But, here on a clearing in the jungle, the trees may be whipping around madly, but the ground level wind isn't all that bad. The old, brittle, plastic roofing panels on the pergola and the lanai held up very well. Although several trees blown down did threaten the house. That's another story in itself.

What I'm getting at here is that the roll up blinds do not have all that many bad features, except for weathering and mold/alge growth. We would probably use it like we do the shower curtain, extend it when we're using it and retract it when we're not. We will probably go with a roll-up for now. Then, after I finish rebuilding the lanai roof, I might be able to look seriously at the louver panels. I have this vision of the panels being made out of a curly koa wood, a ridiculously expensive, but beautiful wood, with a polyurethane finish. That could lead to a redesigning and building of a new pergola with all the enhancements I would like it to have, not very likely.
 
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I like the louvers Neal. My roll down is about shot after 3 winters. I think I will build the blinds next time around.
 
The door or sliding panels sound pretty good.
I like the sliding panel idea best.
It could have the least space requirements, no door to swing open.

But, I do see a potential problem with it.
The sliding panel would need tracks overhead and on the slab.
Overhead shouldn't be any problem.
Tracks on the slab could present a trip hazard and a place for garbage to accumulate, corrosion, and maybe more things I haven't thought of.

Methods for dealing with the problems, other than hosing the tracks out every once in a while?
 
The door or sliding panels sound pretty good.
I like the sliding panel idea best.
It could have the least space requirements, no door to swing open.

But, I do see a potential problem with it.
The sliding panel would need tracks overhead and on the slab.
Overhead shouldn't be any problem.
Tracks on the slab could present a trip hazard and a place for garbage to accumulate, corrosion, and maybe more things I haven't thought of.

Methods for dealing with the problems, other than hosing the tracks out every once in a while?

A shop vac would take care of the debris in the bottom.

Another concern is that all the louvers need to be closed because of their width when open would prevent them being bypass.
 
@ Snoonyb
I had thought about open louvers interfering with the sliding panel. But, had relegated it to "everything being put away when not using the spa".
But, on further reflection we don't really need louvers. Just a couple of privacy panels is all that is needed on that one side. With one able to slide along side the other to give access to the spa then sliding back into place for the privacy effect once we're behind it. There are a multitude of potential design ideas that could make the panels a very nice addition to the spa.

Hosing or vacuuming the track out may be the way it needs to be dealt with. Hosing the track out will probably be the easier and preferred method.
But, I still have concerns with the trip factor and the effect the track could have on bare feet. A plastic track will not do. An aluminum or SS track could stand up to the climate and traffic, but could be very hard on bare feet unless there was a fairing on both sides of the track. I'm gonna go look for ways to deal with that right now. You folks are helping a lot in getting this thought out. Thanks. I'll be back.
 
As much as the design of the track is critical, you may want to decide on the kind and amount of privacy shade you want first: fully opaque or light filtering, screen or solid? Do you like a breeze when you're in the spa? Are insects a problem? This may affect the the track that you choose.
For instance, for the last few years we had a patio "tent" from Cabelas which was 12'x12'. it had fabric and screen walls that ran on a metal rod on rings very much like shower curtain rings. Each side was divided into two parts which met in the middle and could be zipped together. When we wanted open space, we just slid either end back to the vertical post and tied them back. I'm sure you have seen the same design on most of the patio houses that they sell in the big boxes.
 

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