About Us
Boat House Shades was formed by two boaters with many years of on-the-water experience who wanted to protect their boats from the harsh Florida environment including weather, sun, and birds.
Just like many other small business enterprises they started drawing pictures on napkins and discussing different ways to protect their boating investment. The challenge was to devise a system that would protect their boats from the devastating effects of the Florida sun, provide protection from afternoon thunder storms and provide protection from the many different species of wildlife while maintaining a low cost solution with low maintenance and added convenience.
The Concept
Many options were discussed, drawn and revised but the main objectives were always to:
- Protect from the UV rays, wildlife and storms
- Lower boathouse temperature
- Ease of operation
- Low maintenance
- Enhance the boating experience
Our Process
Many challenges were encountered along the way including locating a supplier that could provide a high quality screening fabric, labor to fabricate the screens and locating suppliers of high quality marine grade hardware. A well-known screen company, Twitchell Corporation, was located in Dothan, Alabama. They fabricate heavy duty screening that has a type of PVC woven into the screen to make it stronger. Their screen also reduces UV rays by up to 90%. They then partnered with a professional, well-known seamstress to sew the fabric in such a fashion that every screen is custom tailored to fit each unique boat house. Local suppliers provided the stainless steel accessories to securely fasten the screens to the boathouse. They then put their ideas to the test by installing the first boat house screens on their very own boathouses. Thus, Boat House Shades was born.
Benefits
The benefits of the shades became quickly evident. Not only were the original objectives met, additional benefits were realized:
- The marine grade fasteners and pulley system made the shades easy to open or retract with very little effort.
- Only the shades actually needed to get your boat out of the boat house needs to be raised.
- With the boat shades installed an additional boat cover is not needed, thereby eliminating the burden of covering and uncovering the boat.
- Air flows through the screens naturally, thus reducing mildew and air temperature inside the boat house allowing the boat to dry on its own.
Contact Us
For more information about our products along with details on how you can order a screen, we encourage you to contact us via our web form. After you send us an inquiry, someone will be in touch with you within 24 hours.