Completed Project — Matthews, NC • Mecklenburg County • May 2025
A screened-in porch in the Livery Stable neighborhood was holding its homeowner back every spring. Pollen, rain, and bugs made it nearly unusable. Valverax replaced the old aluminum screen system with Craft-Bilt vinyl-film stacking windows, transoms, and a custom door, giving this Matthews teacher a private retreat she can enjoy every single day.
This homeowner, a local teacher in the Livery Stable neighborhood just outside downtown Matthews, had a screened-in porch she truly wanted to love. The original setup featured an aluminum screen system with integrated railing and a screen door. It looked decent enough, but every spring the porch became unusable. The thick yellow pollen that blankets Mecklenburg County each season coated every surface inside, settling on furniture, tables, and anything left out. Bugs found their way through the screens and the open gaps in the system. Rain would blow in on gusty days. The porch she had imagined using every morning before school and every evening to unwind was sitting empty most of the year.
Her goal was simple and specific. She wanted a porch she could actually use every day, through pollen season, through summer showers, and on into the cooler months. She wanted to grade papers out there. She wanted a comfortable, private space to decompress after long days in the classroom. The existing screen system was never going to get her there.
The Valverax team removed the entire aluminum screen system, including the railings, pickets, and screen door, and installed a full vinyl-film wall system using Craft-Bilt vinyl-film stacking panels. The homeowner had a clear preference for narrower windows rather than wide panels, and we honored that completely. The result is a clean, evenly spaced look that runs around the whole porch with transoms mounted at the top of each bay, including directly above the door, so the sightlines stay consistent all the way around.
The door itself got a custom touch: a solid lower panel with a built-in pet door so the homeowner's dog can move freely between the porch and yard without her needing to get up. On the sides where wider windows might have been used, we matched the narrower configuration to keep the design uniform. One important technical detail worth noting is that the concrete slab slopes away from the house, as most do. Our wall system accounts for that slope so every vinyl-film panel is installed perfectly plumb and square. That matters because vinyl-film windows that are installed crooked will not open and close properly. Ours do, every time.
When we filmed this project near the tail end of spring pollen season, the outside of the vinyl-film panels was coated in yellow. The inside of the porch had zero pollen on any surface. That is the difference a properly sealed vinyl-film system makes compared to a screen. Rain, bugs, and wind-blown debris stay outside where they belong, while the room stays clean and comfortable.
The Craft-Bilt stacking vinyl-film panels slide open fully, so on mild days the homeowner can roll the panels up, open the entire wall, and enjoy a completely open-air porch. The system gives her full control over her environment without sacrificing the breezy, outdoor feel she loves. It is the best of both worlds in one flexible setup.
The transoms above each window panel are a functional and visual upgrade. In this project the homeowner chose to keep all panels clear with no tint, which is ideal for a porch that gets balanced light. For homeowners who deal with strong afternoon sun, the transoms can be ordered with a light tint while the lower panels remain clear, or any combination can be arranged to fit the specific sun exposure of the porch.
The concrete slab got a complete upgrade with 12x24 Divinity Dawn tile installed throughout the porch. Tile is one of the best choices for an enclosed concrete porch because it is easy to clean, it handles humidity and moisture without issue, and it makes the space feel far more like a finished indoor room. Combined with the vinyl-film walls, the porch now feels like a true extension of the home rather than a utility space.
This homeowner teaches every day and puts a lot of herself into her work. When she came home she wanted a place that felt restorative, not just a pass-through. Her old screened porch should have been that place, but pollen season in Mecklenburg County turned it into a cleaning burden every spring. After the enclosure was complete, that changed completely. She now sits out there in the mornings with coffee before school and uses the space in the evenings to grade papers and decompress. The vinyl-film panels keep the porch clean without making the space feel closed off or stuffy. On nice days she opens the panels and gets the breeze. On rainy spring afternoons she keeps them closed and the room stays perfectly dry. That flexibility is exactly what she asked for and exactly what we delivered.
This was not the first project Valverax completed in the Livery Stable neighborhood. In fact, this was our seventh or eighth enclosure right in this community. We watched this neighborhood develop from its early days and we have been proud to be the contractor of choice here for homeowners who want their porches to work as hard as they do. If you live near downtown Matthews or anywhere else in Mecklenburg County and your porch is not living up to its potential, we would love to talk with you.
We have been serving Matthews, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County since our earliest days. We know the neighborhoods, we know the concrete slopes, and we know how the Carolina seasons affect your porch. That experience shows up in the details of every install we complete.
Our vinyl-film wall systems are built to account for real-world conditions like sloping slabs. Every panel is installed plumb and square so your windows open, close, and seal the way they are supposed to. There are no shortcuts in a Valverax installation.
This homeowner wanted narrower windows and that is what she got. Whether you want wider panels, a specific tint configuration, or a pet door, we build each enclosure around your preferences, not a one-size-fits-all template.
Stop losing your porch to pollen, rain, and bugs every season. Valverax will give you a free estimate and show you exactly how a 3-season vinyl film enclosure can turn your porch into the most-used room in your home.