Screen Rooms

[puppie96]

I'm thinking about buying a Christmas present for us. We need a screen room & I've been looking at them online for a while. Most seem to have significant drawbacks mentioned by reviewers: too lightweight and not durable enough, slanted sides allow too much rain to come in, too small for comfort over a campground picnic table, bulky and/or very heavy for transporting. Naturally the one I found that looks the best to me is one of the priciest. (Isn't it always that way?) It's sold by LLBean and is called the Woodlands Screen House. Unfortunately, the outlay for it is higher because the rain fly is sold separately and appears to be a must. On the positive side, the rain fly adds additional features including the ability to set up a side flap as an awning. (Note: support poles for this application are NOT included.) I've searched this forum and can't find anything recent or helpful concerning screen rooms. I recall reading a post in which the author mentioned that they moved most of their cooking and clean up outdoors while camped. I'd love to know what type of shelter they have.

Thanks!

[markopolo]

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/58395?pa ... reen-house

Wow! the reviews on that one are great. Nothing less than 4 stars and most are 5 stars.

We used to use a screen room http://www.classbforum.com/phpBB2/vi...php?f=10&t=144 when we stayed in one place for a few days but we seem to move around more now. I never had it up in the rain. This year we took it out of the van and left it home.

Figure out if you have space for it in you van and also is it big enough at 10'x10' to fit over a picnic table if you'd use it like that. If a picnic table is 5' wide then that leave 2.5' on each side of the table. If a table is 6' long then that leaves 2' at either end.

[puppie96]

Thank you. I remember reading about this in another thread -- wasn't there a problem with finding the product online? It looks nice and the extra size sounds good. How heavy/bulky is it?

I, too, wonder about whether a 10X10 might be a bit tight over a picnic table, but the reviewers didn't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe the nearly vertical sides help?

[booster]

Ours is specifically designed to fit over a picnic table, it is rectangular and fits pretty well on almost all campground tables. It rolls up to about 36" long by 10" diameter. Durability in wind is an issue. Ours came without guy lines and was very weak in the wind, so we bought some stakes and lines and made our own. Now it is fine in "normal" winds, not severe stuff. We only take it along and use it if we are going to be in one place more than about 5 days, otherwise it is more hassle than it is worth.

[markopolo]

The Roots screen house packs into a bag 2' long x 7" high x 6" wide.

I think a square or rectangle screen room would give more usable space though if put over a picnic table. And, as you noted, almost vertical sides would help keep rain out better than sloped side like mine.

[puppie96]

Thanks for the input. Booster, do you know what make/manufacturer yours is?

We need one that isn't a hassle to put up, because I hope we will use it most of the time. We got really lucky by buying ours early in the season this year, with the early spring and all, but really also because of the drought -- no bugs all summer. I really wish the van had a screen door, but no luck with finding one that can be retrofitted or anything else.

[booster]

Originally Posted by puppie96

Thanks for the input. Booster, do you know what make/manufacturer yours is?

We need one that isn't a hassle to put up, because I hope we will use it most of the time. We got really lucky by buying ours early in the season this year, with the early spring and all, but really also because of the drought -- no bugs all summer. I really wish the van had a screen door, but no luck with finding one that can be retrofitted or anything else.

http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-2624520-Sc ... B000EQCW8I

[puppie96]

Thank you!

[Rick]

We use a screen room by 1st up. It is easy to put up. It came with the screens but we purchased the solid sides for rain and wind, again easy to put on and off. They range between $80 to $100 in wallmart. Ours is a 10 by 10, we turn the table sideways near the back sometimes, this leaves a bench to sit at, but leaves the other half for sitting. When it is raining we will move the shelter close to the van awning, with the table pushed to the back, we can sit two lawn chairs under the shelter and two lawn chairs under the awning when we are with another couple.
We lower the shelter at night, put the bikes under it etc. We like having it so we can store bikes, chairs etc. when we take the van to town. makes the campsite look like someone is staying there. i will see if I can post a few pics. Never done that before but I will try tomorrow.

[puppie96]

Thanks, Rick. I haven't looked at this forum recently. I'm wondering how you are managing the storage for transporting the screen room, bikes, and folding chairs? We got a swingaway storage box but haven't used it yet. Manufacturer information limits the amount of weight you can place on top of the box, which seems to rule out putting bikes on top of it. I was looking into foldable bikes, but it appears that they are too big to fit in the storage box.

Thanks.

[Rick]

Sorry I ahve been busy and did not get to reply right away. We have a bike rack that fits into the hitch but still allows us to pull a trailer. I now have a small 4x6 enclosed trailer we put most stuff in. It is light enough to move by hand. When we don't take the trailer the screen room fits infront of the couch nicely. Not much space for other storage under the couch as the spare is there. We have a couple of thin bins under there for the hose and a few other things. The colman stove fits under the couch. We pack other stuff like the chairs on the floor and move it when needed