HERON LAKES ESTATES OWNERS ASSOCIATION

ARCHITECTURAL GUIDELINES

Solar Screens
These guidelines apply to solar screens that are installed mounted on the exterior walls of the house over the glass surfaces areas of the windows and doors of the house.(1)(2) The objective of these guidelines is to preserve architectural integrity and minimize the visual impact that solar screens have on the exterior appearance and aesthetics of the homes in Heron Lakes Estates.
Size Solar screen size shall be limited to basically cover the area of the existing glass panels of the windows or doors that are being screened plus no more than an additional one (1) inch beyond the outer boundary of the frame of the glass panel. Solar screens shall be located in a way that does not introduce non-uniformity of appearance. If exterior solar screens are installed, the preferred application is to have all of the main windows of the house covered with screens to create uniformity of appearance. (3)(4) If solar screens are not located on all windows, for each exterior wall that has solar screens installed, all windows that are prominent in size and location on that side of the house and that are similarly framed are required to be covered.(5)(6) For each side of the house that has any solar screens applied, solar screen panels shall be located in a way that does not introduce non-uniformity of appearance.(4)(5) Standard solar screen fabric, frame, and hardware colors of white, brown, stucco, gray, brown, or black are acceptable as long as they are in harmony with the primary and trim colors of the house brick, siding, stucco, and roof shingles. Any other screen color shall be in submitted for approval prior to purchasing or installing. The color of grids on the front side of the house shall be contrasting to the screen color. Standard solar screen grid colors of white, beige, tan, bronze, almond, brown, or black are acceptable. (57) Overall shapes of solar screens shall match the shapes of the glass panels being screened. Exterior solar screens that are installed on windows larger than 10 square feet in area on the front side of the house shall have frames with grids that match or are similar to the window pane grid pattern of the windows that they cover. Solar screens installed on windows on the other sides of the house may also have grids, but this is optional. (68) Solar screens shall be made of high-quality, weather-resistant, industryaccepted, non-reflective standard materials that are commercially manufactured. Frames, grids, and hardware shall be made of aluminum or other corrosion-resistant materials. Solar screen frames shall be integral with the window or door framing to which they are applied. Solar screen hardware shall be in harmony with the architectural character of the door or window. To ensure proper application, solar screens shall be professionally installed.
October 16December 28, 2010 Page 1

Location

Uniformity

Color

Shape Grids

Materials

Hardware

Installation

Solar Screens HLEOA Architectural Guideline #AG12-D1D2

Appearance

Solar screens in public view shall be maintained in good condition. Poorly maintained solar screens that the Association considers to be an eyesore must be replaced or restored to good condition.(79) For solar screens that require ACC approval, the submittal shall include a manufacturers data sheet and a sample of the screen fabric material.(810) ACC approval must be obtained for any solar screen applications that do not include all primary windows. Any of the SunScreen or SunTex fixed panel solar screens manufactured by Phifer Incorporated that are shown on their website are pre-approved by the ACC provided that all of these guidelines are met.(911)

Samples ACC Approval Preapproved Screens

Notes: (1) Solar screens, also called solar shades or sun screens, are removable screen panels that are typically consist made of heavyduty woven vinyl-coated polyester fabric material, which that are installed over the glass surface of exterior windows and doors of the house. Their whose function is to reduce the amount of sunlight entering the house in order to reduce solar heat gain, to reduce interior color fading from ultraviolet (UV) rays, and to cut down or eliminate sun glare. Solar screens can also add privacy from unwanted viewers peering into the home without the homeowners losing their view of the outdoors. (2) Solar shades, sun shades, solar blinds, and Iinternal retractable solar screens that are mounted on the interior windows walls of the house at the glass surfaces of the windows and doors are considered to be categorized as window coverings. For guidelines pertaining to window coverings, including shutters, blinds, and curtains, refer to ACC Guideline #AG13. For guidelines pertaining to solar films, window tints, and other types of window films, refer to ACC Guideline #AG14. (2)(3) The main windows of the house are defined as those that are prominent in size, have the same architectural style, are similarly framed, are made of the same materials, and that occur on each side of the house, (4) Generally, although the primary function of solar screens dictates that they be placed on the windows facing the sun (east, south, and west sides of the house), is to preferred for appearance sake to have all windows covered if exterior solar screens are used. This also offers the benefit of obtaining privacy on all sides of the house. However, some exceptions to this general rule are allowed. For example, the windows panes on exterior doors or the sidelights located immediately at either side of the doors may be omitted. Accent Wwindows that are specially unique from all of the other windows on the house may also be omitted (e.g. decorative garden windows that require sunlight, tall narrow windows at the side of an entry door, windows within a narrow recessed shaded main entryway, and arched windows above the main entry door having a decorative chandelier behind it that is exposed to view). (3)(5) However, fFor each side of the house that has any solar screens applied, all windows that are prominent in size and location on that side of the house and that are similarly framed are generally required to be covered; and exception may be a single or pair of unscreened windows that provides focus to a particular part of the house (e.g. like a front entryway), but in this case a sense of balance to the overall appearance shall be maintained when locating these windows. The final judgment of whether windows are considered to be prominent or not shall rest solely with the ACC. Accent Wwindows or doors with decorative glass (e.g. beveled glass on front entry doors and their sidelights, decorative glass block bathroom windows) are generally not required to be covered, even if they are prominent. The judgment of whether it is acceptable to omit a window or door from being covered or not will be made on a case-by-case basis for each house and the final judgment shall rest solely with the ACC. Generally, the appearance of those sides of the house exposed to public view will be most scrutinized by the ACC, and houses having prominent locations in the neighborhood that are exposed to heavy street traffic will be more scrutinized by the ACC than others. (4)(6) The glass panels in primary Eexterior front entry doors shall not be covered with solar screens. (5)(7) Dark gray, brown, or black screens are acceptable on the front side of the house as long as the solar screens also have white or other light-colored grids and the dark color is considered to be in harmony with the primary and trim colors on the house. Dark colored solar screens are generally not considered to be in harmony on houses having light primary and trim colors with many large windows. Solar screen colors that closely match the primary color of the house are discouraged, particularly those having no grids, in order to avoid the monotony in appearance of a large single colored wall. (6)(8) Grids are decorative partition bars that span both vertically and horizontally across the window, and that are arranged in a uniformly spaced gridwork within the exterior perimeter frame of the solar screen, and that have custom notch and pop rivet connections at each bar intersection. The grid bars are also sometimes called mullions or muntins, and the gridwork is sometimes called colonial grids. Grids are required on solar screens covering large windows to help prevent sagging of the screen material, to avoid the appearance of large solid monotone-colored screens, to help obscure the solar screens and make them appear more like standard windows, and to be in harmony with the underlying window framing. Grids may be made to exactly match the spacing of the existing grids in the windows, or alternate similar grid patterns can be created. Tall vertical screens on double windows typically require at least one crossbar for support of the screen, which is typically located at the top of the bottom functioning window. (7)(9) Good condition means that the solar screens shall hang straight, have no holes large enough to be seen from the street or golf course, have no frayed or torn edges, no missing pieces, no missing bars from the grid, and color not significantly faded. The final judgment of whether the solar screens are in good condition or are an eyesore shall rest solely with the ACC. (8)(10) Refer to ACC Guideline #AGSR for ACC submittal requirements. (9)(11) Phifer Incorporated is the largest manufacturer of solar screen materials that are offered by many local suppliers and installers. Their website address is www.phifer.com. Any exterior fixed solar screens not meeting these guidelines must have ACC approval prior to installing. All types of motorized exterior-mounted retractable solar shades must have ACC approval prior to installing. Solar Screens HLEOA Architectural Guideline #AG12-D1D2 October 16December 28, 2010 Page 2