Castle Rock, CO – September 23, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –
Castle Rock, Colorado. ALTA Outdoor Living has issued operating guidance for owners of MagnaTrack motorized screens ahead of Colorado’s fall wind season. The design-build company is advising owners to retract screens in sustained winds at or above 40 mph rather than relying on the higher gust figure published by the manufacturer.
Progressive Screens, which manufactures the MagnaTrack system, recommends raising screens when winds exceed approximately 35 to 40 mph. The same care and maintenance guidance states that a fully deployed screen may withstand gusts to 75 mph for short periods, with limitations. The installer reports that owners frequently recall the second figure and not the first.
“We get the same call every fall,” said Jon Potter, co-owner of ALTA Outdoor Living. “Someone leaves a screen down through an afternoon of wind because they saw a 75 mph number somewhere. That figure describes a brief gust nobody had time to react to. It was never an operating target.”
A gust rating and an operating recommendation address different conditions. The first describes how a system performs in a moment the owner cannot control. The second identifies the point at which the owner should act. Progressive Screens notes that damage from prolonged high wind, extreme wind pressure, or flying debris may fall outside warranty coverage.
The manufacturer states that the MagnaTrack sidetrack holds the screen edge magnetically, allowing the fabric to expand under wind pressure and re-tension when that pressure subsides. According to Potter, that tolerance does not remove the owner’s judgment from the decision.
“The track is forgiving. Flying debris is not,” Potter said. “A branch does the same damage at 30 mph as it does at 60.”
Potter said the timing of the decision matters more than the number itself. A screen retracted before conditions build carries no exposure, while a screen lowered after heavy gusts have started is already under load. The company advises owners to treat the manufacturer’s 40 mph recommendation as the point of action rather than the point of concern.
Configuration also affects the correct response. Progressive Screens builds the system with insect mesh, solar fabric, or clear and tinted vinyl, and publishes separate handling instructions for screen fabric and for vinyl panels, including temperature-related guidance for vinyl. Potter said owners should follow the instructions written for the material actually installed rather than applying guidance intended for a different build.
The company draws a further distinction between the standard system and the separate Defender hurricane configuration, which carries its own fabric and its own published limits. Specifications written for that configuration do not transfer to an insect, solar, or vinyl screen. The installed fabric and the full system specification determine which manufacturer instructions apply.
The guidance extends to commercial operators. Restaurants, breweries, and taprooms install motorized screens to keep patio seating in use later in the season, and those installations face the same conditions as residential ones with more at stake on a booked evening. Potter said operators should confirm which motor, remote, sensor, and automation settings their installation includes before relying on an automated response to changing wind.
Owners are advised to retract screens at 40 mph and above, to confirm that people, furniture, and loose objects are clear of the opening before lowering a screen, and to leave a screen in position and contact the dealer if it stops short or its bottom bar hangs unevenly. Forcing a partially deployed screen back up can extend the original damage.
“People read one number on a website and apply it to a system they do not have,” Potter said. “The right answer is on the paperwork that came with the screen.”
ALTA Outdoor Living is a family-owned design-build outdoor living company based in Castle Rock, Colorado. Brothers Jon and Jeff Potter founded the firm, which has more than 30 years of building experience and over 1,000 completed projects across custom decks, pergolas, porches, and screen systems. The company is a certified MagnaTrack installer serving residential and commercial clients across Colorado’s Front Range.
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For more information about Deck Builder Castle Rock – Alta Outdoor Living, contact the company here:
Deck Builder Castle Rock – Alta Outdoor Living
Jeff Alta
(719) 414-2900
jeff@alta-outdoorliving.com
121 S Wilcox St #B, Castle Rock, CO 80104
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