We regularly make Mosquito Curtains for under deck spaces, however, several clients have inquired, "What do I do if I have a deck, but I don't have a roof?" This is a common question we receive. The alternatives are to purchase an awning, buy a pergola kit from stores like Costco and Target, or make your own solution using painted pipe.
The advantage of making a pipe frame is that it can be made to precisely fit any dimension you choose. In addition, a mosquito ceiling panel allows sunlight to pass freely to the interior of the house. When the season is over, the pipe frame disassembles easily and can be stored during the winter months.
In this example, we started with a 23' x 8' deck. Because the mosquito curtain is made from 123" rolls, we decided to make the ceiling 10' tall. Fortunately, 10' piping is sold at any large hardware store such as Lowe's, Ace, or The Home Depot. These stores will cut piping to your desired lengths and rethread them for you. |
$575 for this 21' x 8' curtain and $143 for the materials to create a custom pipe frame. |
T-Connector, 90-degree male/female connector, and flange |
Straight pipe cut and threaded to length should be cleaned thoroughly to remove an oil-based protective coating.
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Use a pipe wrench to secure threaded connectors. |
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Rustoleum paints |
Flange |
Flange screws to deck and house. |
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Ordering Please call us and we will help you with this order. However, to give you a preview here is how we will configure your curtain. Top Panel
Your top panel will attach using a combination of Velcro and marine snaps. Because there is practically no consequence if the panel is a few inches large, and every consequence if it is too short, we will make the ceiling panel a few inches longer and wider than your actual frame dimension. During the hanging process, the amount of tension you apply to the curtain will change how the ceiling curtain panel aligns with the frame and we don't want you worrying about getting the tension just so. Instead, we have designed a hanging method that forgives as much as a 4" size variance.
The ceiling panel will adhere to 2 sides of the top frame using Velcro. To prevent the ceiling panel from sagging, two elastic chords will be stretched lengthwise, one between the flanges that connect to the house (along the house side) and one in the center (lengthwise).
Viewing the diagram, the curtain will be aligned by starting from your most visible corner. The curtain will be attached to the metal frame along the entrance side and the front side using Velcro. The ceiling panel will have loop-sided Velcro double stitched to the entrance side and front side bindings and Adhesive backed hook-sided Velcro will adhere to the pipe. The side binding along the house side will pass over the elastic chord and snap to the house using marine snaps every 5ft. The few inches of excess width width will help the snaps lay flat. The excess length along the least visible side will simply overlap (in this case about 6") and hang freely, unattached. Side Panels
Along the entrance side and front side the top panel is already Velro-ed to the pipe frame and there isn't much room to apply another adhesive Velcro strip to the pipe for attaching the side panels. Instead, we will velcro the side panels directly to the ceiling panel. To do so, we will pre-stitch your curtains with the Velcro pairings for you.
From the least visible side, recall that the ceiling panel merely overlaps the frame and is not actually attached to the frame. To attach the final leg of the wall panel (nearest hot tub in this photo), apply adhesive-backed Velcro to the least visible side of the pipe frame and fasten the side wall panel by tucking it underneath the overlapping ceiling panel and sealing it directly to the pipe frame. |
Along the house side, the curtain drapes over
an elastic chord and attaches to the house
using marine snaps. 
Here you can see the 6" overlap of the top panel along the least visible side that hangs freely, unattached. Beneath the overlap, the side panel is Velcro-ed to the frame. Also, notice the elastic chord along the center that prevents the ceiling panel from sagging. |
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$143 for materials to build 8ft. x 21ft. pipe frame
$575 for Mosquito curtain 10ft. tall x 8ft. wide x 21ft. long three-sided exposure and ceiling panel.
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