i30 Builders · Residential
Screened Porches and Retractable Screens in Rockwall and DFW
Screen walls on the patio cover you have, or a new porch built for them, with fixed panels, motorized screens that roll down at the touch of a button, or a mix.
Written scope and locked price before any deposit. One-year workmanship warranty.
Get a written estimate
Four fields. We call back within one business day to set up the site visit.
- GL + umbrella coverage
- $1M + $1M
- Workmanship warranty
- 1-yr
- Cities served
- 33
Who builds screened porches in Dallas-Fort Worth?
i30 Builders, a general contractor based in Royse City, TX, builds screened porches and installs motorized retractable screens across Rockwall and DFW for homeowners across Dallas-Fort Worth, centered on Rockwall, Collin, Hunt and Kaufman counties. An existing patio cover screened in, or a new porch and roof built for screens, with fixed panels or motorized screens, a door, fans and lights, permitted where required and priced in writing after a site walk. Every job is measured and designed for the house, then priced in writing after a site walk, before any deposit, with permits handled.
- Pricing
- Written price after a site walk, before any deposit
- Permits
- Handled by us
- Warranty
- One-year workmanship warranty, in writing
- Where
- Dallas-Fort Worth, centered on Rockwall, Collin, Hunt and Kaufman counties
Updated
Start Here
A screened porch is decided by the openings, not the screen.
The screen is the cheap part. What makes a porch last is the frame it hangs in: posts that stand plumb, a beam that does not sag, openings framed square so panels and tracks fit, a door that shuts and latches on its own, and a floor that sheds rain out instead of in. In North Texas, mosquitoes from spring through fall are why people build one. Wind, pollen and the odd hailstorm are what test it.
There are two ways to screen an opening. Fixed panels are framed into the opening, often over a short knee wall, and never move. Motorized retractable screens roll up into a housing at the top of the opening and run down side tracks, so the porch is open when you want air and closed when the bugs come out at dusk. They need power at each opening, straight and square framing, and room for the housing in or under the beam. Most porches use both: fixed panels on the short sides, retractable screens across the wide view to the yard.
We screen existing covers that are sound, and we build the porch and its roof new where there is nothing to screen. We do not sell screen kits to install yourself, and we do not hang screens on a cover that is already racking. If glass may come later, we frame the openings for it now.
How the planning works
Measured, drawn and picked before anything comes out.
Step 1
Check the cover, or design the roof
We look at the posts, the beam, the roof framing and how the cover ties to the house. If there is no cover, the porch roof gets designed and engineered first, because the screens can only be as straight as what they hang in.
Step 2
Pick the system, opening by opening
Fixed panels where you never need the opening, motorized screens where you want it open. We measure each opening and size it to the system, and pick insect mesh or a sun-and-privacy mesh for the west side.
Step 3
Door, knee wall and floor
Where the door goes and which way it swings, whether a knee wall runs under the panels, and whether the floor falls away from the house so blown-in rain runs out.
Step 4
Power, fan and written scope
A circuit for the fan, the lights and each motorized screen, with switches or a remote. Then one price in writing, the permit where your city wants one, and the build.
Finish levels
Mid-grade or high-end, named by what goes in.
Most rooms mix the two. Tell us where you want to spend and where you do not, and the written scope names every material either way.
Mid-grade
- Fixed screen panels framed into each opening, in stained wood or aluminum
- A knee wall in wood or matched siding under the panels
- A screen door with a closer and a kick plate
- Ceiling fan and light on a GFCI-protected circuit
- The existing slab cleaned and sealed
High-end
- Motorized retractable screens on the wide openings, with the housings built into the beam
- Remote, wall switch or app control, and a bottom bar that seals to the floor
- Sun-and-privacy mesh on the west side, insect mesh elsewhere
- Tongue-and-groove ceiling, recessed lights and outdoor-rated fans
- A stone knee wall and a travertine or stone floor
Retractable screens need square openings and power at each one. Both are easier to build in than to add after.
Code and permits
The rules that apply to this room.
- Rockwall requires a permit for any arbor, pergola or patio cover, attached or detached. An attached cover must meet the house's build line, and a detached one must sit at least 6 ft from the house and 3 ft from the property lines. City of Rockwall, Permit Requirements for Arbors, Pergolas and Patio Covers
- Rockwall's patio cover submittal includes site plans, a foundation or pier plan, a roof framing plan, elevations and a typical cross section. City of Rockwall, Permit Requirements for Arbors, Pergolas and Patio Covers
- Sachse does not allow an attached patio cover to be anchored or attached to brick or siding veneer, and wants a roof framing plan showing how the new roof ties into the old one. City of Sachse, Residential Building Permit Procedures for Attached Patio Covers
- Sachse wants ceiling fans, lighting, outlets and switches on the electrical plan, and inspects at foundation or piers, framing, electrical rough-in where there is wiring, and final. City of Sachse, Residential Building Permit Procedures for Attached Patio Covers
- In Sachse, metal patio structures need plans stamped by a Texas-licensed engineer, and a detached patio cover is permitted as an accessory building. City of Sachse, Residential Building Permit Procedures for Attached Patio Covers
Read from the model codes on the dates linked. Each city adopts its own edition with its own amendments, so we confirm the rules for your address before we pull the permit.
Ready to get yours planned?
A free site walk, then a written scope and one price within five business days.
In every job
- The existing cover checked, or a new porch and roof designed and engineered
- Openings framed square for the screen system you picked
- Screen panels or motorized screens set in their tracks, with a door that closes and latches
- A GFCI-protected circuit for the fan, the lights and any motorized screens
- Permit and inspections where the structure or electrical is new
- The punch list before final payment, and a one-year workmanship warranty
How we quote it
We do not publish prices or ranges. Every job is measured and built for your house, so a number off a website would be a guess.
A site walk, then a written scope back within five business days. The scope names the work, the materials and the price, and the price does not move unless the scope does.
Anything found behind a wall or under a slab that changes the work gets priced and approved before we touch it. That is a change of work, in writing, not a surprise on the final invoice.
Payment is by ACH, card, check or cash, on the schedule written into the contract.
What Moves the Number
Up and down, before you ask for a quote.
Pushes price up
- Motorized screens, which are priced by the opening
- Wide openings that need a heavier screen and track
- Building the porch and roof new
- A stone knee wall or masonry columns
- Power to every motorized opening and a new ceiling with fans
- A floor that has to be leveled or replaced
Keeps price down
- Screening a cover that is already sound
- Fixed panels on the side walls, motorized only where you want open air
- Openings at standard heights
- A wood knee wall, or none at all
- Power already run to the porch
Common Questions
Screened Porches questions, answered
Can you screen in my existing patio cover?
Most of the time, yes. We check that the posts are plumb, the beam is not sagging and the roof is tied to the house properly. Screens hung on a frame that moves will gap and tear. If the cover needs work first, that goes in the written scope before any screen does.
Are motorized retractable screens worth it?
If you want the porch open on a nice afternoon and closed when the mosquitoes come out, yes. They roll up out of sight into a housing and come down on side tracks at a switch or a remote. They cost more than fixed panels and need power at each opening, so most people put them on the wide opening to the yard and use fixed panels on the sides.
Do I need a permit for a screened porch?
For a new porch roof, yes, in every city we work in. Rockwall requires a permit for any patio cover, attached or detached, with a site plan, pier plan, roof framing plan, elevations and a cross section. Sachse also wants the tie-in to the house roof drawn and will not let a cover anchor to brick or siding veneer. Screening an existing cover is a lighter review in many cities, and new wiring needs an electrical permit. We confirm the path for your address.
Screened porch or sunroom: which one should I build?
Decide by the hour you want to use it. A screened porch is shade, moving air and no bugs, and it stays outside the house, so it is at its best before noon and after six. A sunroom is closed in, insulated and cooled as part of the house, so it works at three in the afternoon in August. The porch is the smaller job, and it can be framed so glass goes in later.
Will screens hold up to Texas wind and storms?
Fixed panels set in a solid frame stay put. Retractable screens with their edges locked into the side tracks handle ordinary wind. Raise them when a storm comes through, which takes seconds with a switch. Openings framed square and tracks set plumb are what keep either system from pulling loose.
Can you add a ceiling fan and lights?
Yes, and it is the best time to do it, because the circuit for the motorized screens runs to the same place. A fan rated for damp or wet locations, lights in the ceiling and an outlet or two go on a GFCI-protected circuit. On a new porch, the ceiling is built with the fan box and the light locations already framed in.
Can I close the porch in with glass later?
Yes, if we frame it for that now. That means wall framing that can take windows and insulation, openings sized for standard windows, and a circuit run with a future mini-split in mind. Tell us on the walk, because it changes how the openings are built.
How do you price a screened porch?
We walk the porch, then put the number in writing. Whether the roof is new or already there, how many openings are motorized, the knee wall and the floor move it most. We build in Rowlett, Mesquite, Rockwall and across DFW, and the price does not move unless the scope does.
Prefer to give us the details now?
Tell us what you want built and roughly how big. We walk it, then price the scope in writing, and the price does not move unless the scope does.
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