It’s a pattern we see often enough to call out directly: a homeowner had storm damage repaired by another company, the screens went back up, and everything looked fine, until months later, when a support bar gives way, a panel starts sagging on its own, or a corner of the frame is visibly pulling apart.
The screening itself is only part of a pool cage or lanai enclosure. Underneath it is an aluminum frame and support structure that takes the real force during high winds. When a storm is severe enough to tear screens, it’s also putting stress on that frame, bending support bars, loosening fasteners, sometimes cracking the seal where the structure meets your home or pool deck. None of that is visible just by looking at torn screening from a distance.
The problem is that a fast, screens-only repair can look complete without addressing what’s underneath. We’ve been called out to fix “recently repaired” pool cages more than once, only to find the actual issue was never the screens the previous company patched. It was a structural problem they never checked for.
What we check on every storm-related repair, not just the screen material:
- Support bar alignment and integrity, not just visible bends
- Fastener condition, especially in areas that were previously repaired or are near ground level where corrosion is common
- Frame connections at the roofline and where the structure meets your home
- Whether the enclosure’s overall structure is still square, or has shifted
If your pool cage was repaired after a previous storm and something has felt “off” since (a panel that won’t stay taut, a section that flexes more than it should), it’s worth having someone look at the structure itself, not just patch the screen again. We offer free estimates and will tell you plainly whether what you’re seeing is cosmetic or structural.
One more thing worth knowing: in Florida, working on the structural aluminum frame of a screen enclosure isn’t something just any handyman or business with an LLC filing is legally qualified to do. It requires a licensed specialty contractor. If a previous repair on your enclosure’s frame wasn’t done by someone properly licensed for that specific type of work, that alone could explain why the fix didn’t hold. Before hiring anyone to touch the frame of your enclosure, ask for their license number and confirm both their license type and proof of insurance. Don’t just take their word for it.
See also: My Pool Cage Was Damaged in a Storm: What Should I Do First?
Related: Screen Enclosure Repair