Can a Handyman or Roofer Build Your Screen Enclosure?

Ask Jerrold what the biggest lie in this industry is and he will not hesitate: any roofer or handyman can build a screen enclosure.

It sounds reasonable. It is aluminum and screen — how hard can it be? That reasoning is exactly why we spend so much time tearing out work that is three years old.

The honest answer

Can a handyman physically assemble something that looks like a screen enclosure? Yes. Plenty do.

Will it hold up in a Jacksonville summer, pass inspection, and still be standing after the next named storm? That is a different question, and the answer usually shows up two or three years later — right after whoever built it has stopped answering the phone.

Why an enclosure isn't a framing job

A screen enclosure is a structure. It is not a fence and it is not a deck. A few things make it its own trade:

• It is engineered for wind. A screen cage is essentially a sail bolted to your house. Post spacing, beam sizing, and anchoring are all calculated against wind load requirements in the Florida Building Code. Get the span wrong and it works fine until the day it does not.
• It is permitted work. Building an enclosure in Duval or Clay County means pulling a permit and passing inspection. Work done without one becomes your problem when you sell the house.
• The anchoring is the whole job. Most failures we see are not the screen or even the frame — it is how the thing was attached to the slab or the house. That is the part nobody looks at and everybody gets wrong.
• Mesh selection is not one-size. Standard fiberglass, no-see-um, pet-resistant, and solar mesh all behave differently. Someone who installs screen twice a year is guessing.

We do this and only this. Fifteen years in the trade, 300-plus enclosures across Northeast Florida, and every one of them backed by a 10-year workmanship warranty. You can read the whole story on our founder page.

Two more lies you'll hear

“We're the cheapest.”

They might be. Cheap is easy — you get there by thinning the frame, widening the post spacing, skipping the permit, and using the lightest mesh on the shelf. Every one of those saves money today and costs you the whole structure later.

We are not the cheapest bid you will get, and we will tell you that on the phone. If price is the only thing you are shopping, we are the wrong company — that is genuinely fine, and we would rather say it up front than take the job and cut corners to hit your number.

“Our warranty covers everything.”

No warranty covers everything, and anyone saying so is either not reading their own paperwork or counting on you not to read it.

Ours is a 10-year workmanship warranty. That means what we built and how we built it. It does not mean a tree limb through your cage in September, and it does not mean screen that has lived a full life in Florida sun. Ask any contractor to tell you what their warranty excludes — the good ones will answer immediately.

What to ask before you sign anything

• “Who is pulling the permit?” If the answer is “you don't need one,” stop.
• “What does your warranty not cover?” A straight answer here tells you almost everything.
• “How many of these did you build last year?” Not “how long have you been in business” — how many enclosures.
• “What screen are you specifying, and why that one?” If there is no “why,” they are using whatever the supplier had.
• “Can I see one you built three years ago?” New work always looks good. Three-year-old work tells the truth.

If the answers are good, hire them — it does not have to be us. If they are vague, you already know. And if you have inherited somebody else's bad enclosure, we do tear-outs and rebuilds and can price both as one job.

FAQ

Is it legal for a handyman to build a screen enclosure in Florida?

Enclosure work is permitted structural work, and permitted work has requirements about who can perform it. Rather than take anyone's word for it, ask who is pulling the permit and whose name is on it.

Do I really need a permit for a screen enclosure?

For a new enclosure or a rebuild, yes, in Duval and Clay County. We pull it as part of the job. Rescreening an existing structure generally does not require one — see our screen repair page.

What usually fails on a badly built enclosure?

The anchoring, almost every time. Then undersized framing and over-wide post spacing. The screen itself is rarely the real problem — see rescreen or replace.

My enclosure was built without a permit. What now?

Get it looked at before it becomes a closing issue. Depending on what we find, it may be fixable, or it may need to come out. We will tell you which — call (904) 862-8688.

Are you the cheapest option in Jacksonville?

No, and we do not try to be. We are a fair price for work that carries a 10-year workmanship warranty. If you want the cheapest bid, someone will always beat us.