Why Westborough
Home At Six, Sun Still On The Porch
The problem with a west facing deck in Westborough is timing. Nobody is home when the sun is highest and hottest. By the time the train pulls in or Route 9 clears, the sun has dropped low enough to get under the porch roof and across the patio table, and it stays there until it goes behind the trees around eight. That is your whole evening.
Exterior mesh mounted on the porch structure changes it. With the sun stopped outside the glass, up to 90 percent of the solar heat is gone, and the glare goes with it. An open weave works like sunglasses, so you still see the yard. If the neighbor's deck is close, which happens in the newer developments off Route 30 and out toward the 495 side, a tighter weave gives you the privacy and still lets the air through.
The houses around the rotary downtown and along Route 135 are older, capes and colonials with real porches, and a shade on the sun end of the porch is a cleaner fix than closing the whole thing in. Out at Lake Chauncy the glare comes off the water and up under the roof, which is a different angle than the sun itself. We size the shade for the opening and pick the weave for what the opening actually faces.
Our exterior roller shades are built to stay outside: marine grade fabric, aluminum housings, and wind rated side tracks. Kevin, who owns Sunset Shade Solutions, measures every opening himself and installs the finished shades himself. Westborough is a short run for us, straight out Route 9 past the office campuses.
