Friday, April 2, 2010

Aluminum Screen Enclosure Colors

When considering a screen enclosure, the color of the aluminum is a decision that needs to be made, and the screen enclosure industry has a WIDE array of colors to choose from. Here's a list of all of them in the order of popularity:

Bronze
White

Yep, that's it. Bronze and white are the only choices in color. The primary reason for this is because that's how the market has shaped the choices in colors. There have been times in the past where the suppliers would provide for additional colors, but the aluminum that had the more specialized colors (i.e. beige, blue, etc.) usually sat on the shelves for a much longer period of time and, in some cases, never got sold.

Of course, you can always order a custom color of your own, but that would significantly increase the cost of your enclosure because the aluminum extrusions would have to be specifically set aside at the mill to be painted your custom color, and the color itself would have to be mixed from scratch, which is an expensive process.


As for any cost difference, there is none. The only time I've ever seen a cost difference is when there is a signficantly higher supply of one color over the other and contractors and/or suppliers are making deals to move it off their shelves. In my experience, that has only happened with the color white, and it's a very rare occurence.

As shown in the *extensive* list above, Bronze is the most popular color. There's a couple of reasons for this. One is that bronze doesn't show the dirt nearly as much as the white does and depending on the type and amount of trees in your yard, mold and dirt can accumulate quite rapidly on your enclosure. With white, this becomes glaringly obvious, but the dirt and mold on the bronze doesn't really "show up" until there is a heavy dose of it on the aluminum. The other reason that bronze is the more popular of the two colors is that it tends to blend in with the elements much better. With white, the framing just stands out much more and in many cases, that isn't what is desired.

Here is a picture of a (clean) white screen enclosure:

















And here is a picture of a bronze screen enclosure:

















Of course, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", so what is considered to be "blending in" is subjective depending on the individual.

I sincerely hope you found this informative. Let us know and leave a comment on here or head on over to our website at http://www.armstrongaluminum.com/ and check out what we have to offer.

~Brian Hall~