Protecting the Porch and Pool From Insects


Landscaping is the general act of improving upon or adding features to a home’s front and back yards, and this can involve gardening, such as a fruit tree, shrubs, or flower gardens, or planting new grass to fill in patches in the yard. Other times, landscaping means adding items and features to the front or back yard such as a swimming pool, a hot tub, a porch, patio, or deck, or even outdoor furniture on those decks and porches such as chairs, tables, and a grill. Even an entire outdoor kitchen can be assembled with the right materials and can make for a great place for friends and family to gather, but there are some hazards that outdoor picnic guests may want to watch out for. Unwanted insects such as mosquitoes, flies, and wasps may arrive, and even dead leaves can be a problem for an outdoor pool, among other hazards. For these reasons and more, a homeowner can invest in such items as a pool cage screen, and a pool cage screen may also be used commercially by public pools on a larger scale. A pool cage screen, a bug screen, mesh screen fabric, and more can keep hazards away from items and people alike.

The Hazards

For any deck, patio, or porch, insects can be a major concern. At the very least, they will be unsanitary and annoying, such as flies landing on food or drink, and this can upset those attending a backyard lunch or dinner. Even worse may be wasps, who may sting guests and quickly scare everyone off, and a serious health hazard may present itself in the form of mosquitoes. Although not large, and they do not have painful stingers like wasps and hornets, mosquitoes are a major health hazard around the world due to the illnesses and parasites that they can transmit from bites, most infamously malaria. For this reason, any American home in the right season and location for mosquitoes must have a screen mesh set up around any outdoor area so that these harmful insects cannot get close enough to people or pets to bite them and transmit dangerous diseases. A patio bug screen can get the job done.

Swimming pools may face issues of their own. If exposed to hot sunlight for too long, a lot of a pool’s water may evaporate, and this can be an expensive hassle to deal with, adding a lot more water back into the pool to replace what is lost. Pools may have a tarp stretched over them to prevent sunlight from evaporating all the water, and items such as a pool cage screen can also keep a lot of dead leaves, twigs, tree nuts, and other items from falling into the water and getting it dirty and unsightly to look at. Otherwise, the pool owner may have to spend the time and effort to keep clearing out all these items, and this mess can be prevented with a good pool cage screen or tarp. What is more, these items may keep out wildlife such as raccoons or squirrels, and uninvited human guests can be kept out as well, especially if those people might pollute the water somehow or vandalize the pool.

For keeping insects away from the porch, a good bug screen or mesh net should have fine enough holes in it so that insects like mosquitoes, flies, and wasps cannot get through, and the tops and bottoms of these screens should be sealed tight so that these insects do not have any ingress there, either. Such screens can be put up or taken down as needed, and should be folded and stored carefully so that they do not get any rips or tears in them, or any weak spots that could split under pressure. After all, if any holes or rips appear in a mesh screen, insects can get in, so owners are urged to always check the net for such damage and repair it right away, or risk having hornets or flies join a picnic. Such nets may be bought at local retailers or online, and different models will have different size holes and various square footage. The patio’s size may dictate which model is purchased and installed.


Leave a Reply