Why Southborough
Low Sun Off The Water
Glare off water comes from below. A porch roof that shades you perfectly at noon does nothing about light bouncing up off the reservoir at six, and the same is true of a deck that looks across open lawn. On the streets around the water and near the causeway, that is the complaint we hear: the porch is fine until dinner, and then it is not.
An exterior mesh shade on the water side of the porch stops the bounce outside the screen or the glass. On a porch that faces the water we spec a slightly tighter weave than we would elsewhere, because it handles the low angle better, and it still keeps the view. Up to 90 percent of the solar heat stops at the mesh, so the porch cools down along with the glare.
The rest of Southborough has the more familiar problem. Off Route 85 and out toward the 495 end of town, the big colonials built on former farmland have kitchens and decks across the back, and whichever way the builder pointed them is the way they face. The older homes in the center near Fay School and St. Mark's, and the houses in Fayville, have porches that were built for sitting on. A shade on the sun end brings that back.
We use the same exterior roller shades everywhere: marine grade fabric, aluminum housings, and wind rated side tracks so they can stay out all season. Kevin, the owner, does his own measuring and his own installing, and he has been on enough west facing porches at the wrong hour to know where the shade needs to go.
