Your covered patio took real money and real time to build. Here's how to make sure one bad storm doesn't undo all of it.
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You put real money into that covered patio. Maybe it’s an outdoor kitchen in Mansfield, a screened pergola in Keller, or a full lanai-style living area in Southlake. Whatever it looks like, it’s part of your home — and it’s sitting completely exposed every time a storm rolls through.
North Texas doesn’t get traditional hurricanes very often, but it absolutely gets the kind of weather that destroys unprotected outdoor spaces: hail the size of golf balls, straight-line winds pushing 80 mph, and tornado warnings that give you 20 minutes to act. This page covers what actually works, what doesn’t, and how to think through the decision before something forces your hand.
“Lanai” is mostly a Florida word, but the concept translates directly to what Tarrant County homeowners have been building for years — covered back patios, outdoor living rooms, screen enclosures, pergolas with ceiling fans and string lights. These spaces cost real money. A modest covered patio addition runs $15,000–$40,000. A full outdoor kitchen with a pergola and screen system can push well past $80,000.
One severe hail event can shred screen panels, destroy outdoor furniture, and crack stone countertops in under five minutes. One derecho — the kind that swept through DFW in 2019 and again in 2022 — can pull an unsecured pergola apart entirely. The question isn’t whether North Texas weather is dangerous enough to warrant protection. It clearly is. The question is what kind of protection actually makes sense for your space.
Roll down fabric hurricane shutters are exactly what they sound like — a heavy-duty fabric screen that rolls up into a compact housing box mounted above your opening and deploys downward when you need it. The fabric itself isn’t ordinary shade cloth. In quality systems, it’s engineered with high-tensile fibers designed to absorb and deflect wind pressure and debris impact. Premium-grade systems are rated to withstand winds exceeding 150 mph, and some carry Miami-Dade product approval — the strictest hurricane code standard in the industry.
What makes them practical for covered patios specifically is the combination of span capability and deployment speed. A roll down system can cover an opening up to 30 feet wide in a single installation — something accordion shutters or rigid panels simply can’t match for large patio spans. When a storm warning hits, the system deploys fully in under a minute. Manual crank versions are straightforward and reliable. Motorized versions with battery backup mean you can close everything even if the power goes out, which is often the first thing that happens before a major storm.
When not deployed, the system disappears. The fabric retracts into a slim housing box that sits above the opening and blends into the structure. This matters a lot to homeowners in places like Southlake or Colleyville who’ve spent considerable money making their outdoor spaces look a specific way — they don’t want a permanent accordion shutter frame changing the aesthetic year-round.
The other thing worth knowing: roll down fabric shutters don’t just protect during storms. They block up to 95% of UV rays, reduce the surface temperature of your outdoor space significantly on a 105-degree July afternoon, and add a layer of privacy when you want it. That year-round utility is part of why we’ve found them to be the go-to choice for serious outdoor living spaces across Tarrant County.
The two main categories you’ll encounter are fabric-based systems (roll down screens and hurricane fabric panels) and rigid systems (aluminum roll down shutters, accordion shutters, and polycarbonate panels). Both can provide meaningful storm protection. The right choice depends on your opening size, your priorities, and honestly, your budget.
Rigid aluminum roll down shutters offer the highest level of protection for smaller openings — windows, doors, and tight patio spans. They’re essentially a solid wall when deployed, and they’re extremely difficult to breach. The tradeoff is weight, noise in wind, and aesthetics. Aluminum shutters are visually prominent even when retracted, and on a large patio opening, they can be expensive and mechanically complex.
Accordion shutters are another rigid option. They fold to the sides of the opening rather than rolling up, which means they’re always visible — there’s no housing box to hide them. For a carefully designed outdoor living space, that’s often a dealbreaker. They also have practical span limitations that make them less ideal for wide patio openings.
Fabric-based roll down systems occupy a middle ground that works well for most covered patio applications. They’re lighter than aluminum, capable of spanning large openings, aesthetically unobtrusive when stored, and fast to deploy. The protection level is genuinely high — not a compromise. For North Texas conditions specifically, where the primary threats are high-speed wind, hail, and debris rather than sustained hurricane-force winds over many hours, a properly rated fabric system handles the job well.
What tips the decision most often is the installation itself. A fabric system installed with properly anchored side tracks, a sealed bottom bar, and correct structural mounting will outperform a rigid system installed carelessly. The product matters, but the installation is what determines whether it actually holds when you need it to.
This is where a lot of homeowners get caught off guard. They find a product they like, get a quote, and assume the installation is straightforward. It usually isn’t — especially for outdoor openings, which vary far more than standard windows in terms of structure, drainage, and mounting conditions.
A proper installation starts with a structural assessment of the opening: the header beam above, the side columns or posts, and the floor or slab below. These anchor points determine whether the system will hold under load. Getting this wrong doesn’t just mean the shutter fails — it can mean the mounting hardware pulls out of the structure and causes additional damage.
Most homeowners don’t think about drainage when they’re shopping for patio shutters. But when a roll down screen is deployed during a heavy rain event — which is exactly when you’d have it closed — water has to go somewhere. A quality installation accounts for how the bottom bar sits on the floor, whether there’s a channel or slope to direct water away from the structure, and whether the fabric itself sheds water cleanly without pooling or creating pressure on the housing box.
Track alignment is another one. The side tracks that guide the fabric as it deploys need to run perfectly plumb — straight up and down — and be anchored at multiple points along their length. If the tracks aren’t true, the fabric won’t seal at the edges, and that gap is exactly where wind and debris enter. On older homes or structures with columns that have shifted slightly over time, getting the tracks right requires more than just drilling a few screws.
The bottom bar matters too. A quality bottom bar self-levels on uneven surfaces and includes a brush seal along its lower edge. That seal is what keeps insects, water intrusion, and wind infiltration from coming under the fabric when it’s deployed. It’s a small detail that makes a meaningful difference in performance.
We come from a construction background — A Plus Shutters & Shades is a branch of A Plus Home Remodel, with over a decade of experience in residential construction. That means when we assess a patio opening in Fort Worth or Arlington, we’re thinking about structural anchoring, drainage, and load the same way a contractor would — not just measuring for fabric width. It’s the difference between a shutter that holds and one that gives you a false sense of security.
**Do I really need hurricane protection if I’m not on the Gulf Coast?**
Tarrant County sits well inland, but that doesn’t mean your outdoor space is safe from storm damage. The DFW Metroplex is in Tornado Alley — one of the most tornado-active metro areas in the country. Beyond tornadoes, the region regularly experiences derechos (fast-moving windstorms that produce hurricane-force gusts), severe hail events, and the inland remnants of Gulf Coast tropical systems. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 tracked far enough inland to impact North Texas with heavy rain and high winds. The threat profile here is different from coastal Florida, but the damage potential to an unprotected covered patio is just as real.
**How long does it take to get a system installed?**
Custom hurricane protection systems aren’t off-the-shelf products. From the time you place an order, expect roughly six to eight weeks before installation is complete — that includes fabrication, any required permits, and scheduling. This is why spring installation matters. If you wait until a storm is in the forecast, you’ve waited too long. Most Tarrant County homeowners who reach out to us in April or May are protected well before the peak of storm season.
**Will this work on my non-standard patio opening?**
Probably yes — and this is one area where our construction background genuinely helps. We regularly work with openings that aren’t perfectly square, columns that have settled, or headers that weren’t built with a shutter system in mind. Every system we install is custom-fabricated to your exact dimensions. If there’s a structural challenge, we identify it during the in-home consultation before it becomes a problem during installation.
**Does it look bad when it’s not deployed?**
The housing box for a roll down system is compact and can be finished to blend with your structure. When the fabric is retracted, most people barely notice it’s there. It’s a significant visual improvement over accordion shutters, which are always visible, and it doesn’t require any permanent changes to the look of your outdoor space.
**What about HOA approval in Tarrant County communities?**
Some communities in Southlake, Keller, and other areas across Tarrant County have HOA guidelines that govern exterior modifications. We can walk you through what’s typically required and help you understand what documentation the installation may need. It’s worth asking your HOA before you order — but it’s rarely a dealbreaker.
The outdoor spaces people build in North Texas are genuinely worth protecting. Whether it’s a covered patio in Arlington, an outdoor kitchen in Mansfield, or a full pergola setup in Keller, these spaces represent real investment — and real vulnerability when the weather turns.
Roll down fabric hurricane shutters are the most practical solution for most covered patio applications: fast to deploy, unobtrusive when stored, capable of spanning large openings, and genuinely useful year-round beyond storm season alone. The key is making sure the installation is done right — with proper structural anchoring, aligned tracks, and drainage accounted for from the start.
If you’re thinking through your options, we offer free in-home consultations across Tarrant County. There’s no pressure and no guesswork — just a straightforward conversation about your space, your priorities, and what actually makes sense for your situation.
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