For anyone who hasn’t experienced a screen room park model add-on, you’re missing out on one of the best and easiest upgrades that you can give your trailer. A screen room is a simple extension to your home that doesn’t require any additional building work if you already have a deck or a patio to act as the base. While it’s a permanent addition to your park model, it’s incredibly easy to construct as it’s a post and beam structure with a solid roof. The windows are made from mesh or screens (hence the name!) and they can either stretch from the floor to the ceiling, or you can opt to have some solid wall and the rest mesh depending on your preference and budget.
The Benefits Of A Park Model Screen Room
As you can imagine, a screen room is a great addition to your trailer during the hot Calgary summer months as the mesh windows offer a very different experience to traditional glass. They are also inexpensive compared to a full room extension or even a sunroom add-on as the lack of solid walls helps to keep the price low. You’ll find you’ll save energy as well as you’ll spend more time outside and less time trying to run your air conditioning all summer long.
In addition to the cost effectiveness and extra space, some of the most noticeable benefits of a park model screen room include:
- Summer breezes – while Calgary is known as the windy city, there’s something very peaceful about the way that mesh screens take the sting out of the strongest summer winds and leave you with a cooling breeze in your screen room. If you’re worried about rain coming in, you can install solid plexiglass screens that can be removed to give you extra protection during the usual Calgary summer storms. These can also be simple rolled sheets of plastic that you pull down like shades when the bad weather rolls in.
- Protection from the bugs – as every Calgary resident knows, the main drawback of summer in the city is the bugs that seem to multiply every day and evenings can be impossible due to the incessant biting. This is where a park model screen room gives you the ultimate summer sanctuary. You get all the benefits of being outside into the evenings with the warm winds and the sunset views while the mesh screens do their job of keeping the pesky bugs out of your trailer.
- A quiet space – not only does a screen room give you a sizeable percentage increase on your property’s footprint, but you also gain a whole new room in your home to make into a quiet summer oasis. Your park model screen room will attach to either your front or back door, meaning that you always have a means to close the door on your noisy family and enjoy some peace and quiet.
Using Your Park Model Screen Room
A park model screen room is a quick and easy install, especially if you have an existing deck or patio to use as the foundations. You can modify it in a variety of different ways, from having a half wall, half mesh system to provide some privacy, to adding a couple of glass skylights to let even more natural sunlight into your space. No matter how you choose to customize your trailer screen room, you’ll quickly find a variety of uses for your new space.
Morning Oasis
Part of the magic of owning a trailer is that you’ve got your own parcel of land to enjoy, and there’s no better place to watch the sunrise with a cup of tea or coffee than in your screen room. You get all the perks of being an early bird, such as the bird song and watching the sun bring the world to life without having to worry about the morning bugs. To make the most of your screen room as a place to get your morning zen, choose soft rugs or carpet for the floor to keep things cosy, and add some soft furnishings and blankets to keep the vibe going. Invest in a cushioned armchair and sofa set that you face away from your trailer towards the screens so you feel like you’re sitting in the landscape while enjoying a hot drink.
Storage And Seating Combo
You can easily make your new trailer screen room run the whole length of your trailer which can almost double the footprint of your whole property. This in turn means that you can section off your screen room for a couple of different uses. A good combination is to have one part function as an outdoor living room with seating for your and your family and tables for drinks and snacks. The other part of your screen room can then be used for storage for all your outdoor gear that you don’t want cluttering up your trailer, such as your gardening tools or any camping gear that you want easy access to. If this is how you want to set up your park model screen room, consider having either a door at either end of the space so you don’t cause traffic flow problems, or put the external door directly across from the main door to your trailer to make a clear split between the two spaces.
A Space For Guests
Finally, the additional space means that your trailer becomes somewhere that people can come visit easily without feeling like sardines in a can. You can easily turn your screen room into a guest bedroom with some black out blinds for night time and a pull out sofa bed so you can use it as a living room during the day. Make sure you have enough lighting for evening time hang outs, and you’ll want to consider having a half wall structure to keep the breezes away from the bed overnight. Your guests will love the feeling of sleeping outside and being able to spend more time with you and your family.
