A screen with a view
BY PETE SKIBA Florida Weekly Correspondent
The waves roll in past waving palms and the white sand beaches stretch for miles without another person in sight. It's simply paradise.

Scenic Screens offers more than 400 scenes to have installed as privacy screens on pool enclosures. COURTESY PHOTO

Instead of the view of the neighbor's screened-in pool or lanai, that beach scene could be in anyone's backyard thanks to technology and a company called Scenic Screens.

The Fort Myers-based company offers more than 400 scenes to have installed as privacy screens on pool enclosures.

"Mine is so fantastic," said Derik Goldman, a Fort Myers resident. "I look out over my pool and I've got an ocean view with a beach. It makes the pool more private."

Operating under the Scenic Screen brand, Michelle Hoffmann and her husband Steve Gollmer intend to bring whatever vision of paradise homeowners want to backyards.

"We have beach scenes, wilderness scenes, practically anything anyone wants as the scene in their backyard," Hoffmann said. "Clients can even use their own high resolution photos for the screens."

PHOTO PETE SKIBA FLORIDA WEEKLY Owners Michelle Hoffmann and her husband Steve Gollmer also let homeowners use their own high-resolution photos to create privacy screens.

The patented technology allows a high resolution digitally printed photo to be printed on the screen surrounding their pool. That image, beach or whatever the client chooses, is what the client sees not their next door neighbor's yard.

Neighbors see an ordinary gray surface. "This printing method is revolutionary," said Jim Ramsay the screen company's general manager. "It has the ability to allow anyone to have world-class images for use on their enclosures, literally at the click of a button."

Homeowners can also choose the level of privacy from a partial, 40 percent, privacy screen to a 100 percent screen. The material is a durable composite that cannot be ripped by hand as regular screening can.

So with a beautiful scene the screens keep the bugs out, provide privacy and allow air to flow.

The ultraviolet-protected ink printing design allows the screen to last for several years. There is a two-year warranty against fading and workmanship with another year extension available.

The couple wouldn't elaborate on the costs, but would say that Scenic Screens do naturally cost more than the regular see-through screens.

"It is less expensive than landscaping for privacy and privacy fencing," Gollmer said. "We have experienced crews ready to install in a couple weeks."

The company offers a Web site gallery at scenicscreens.net. On the Web site the various scenes can be viewed and once ordered, the client can check the status of his order.

Hoffmann and Gollmer have a trailer with sample screens and other materials to help clients make decisions. And according to at least one satisfied customer there are no high pressure sales tactics.

"They are such a nice couple," Goldman said. "It was a real pleasure dealing with them."

For additional information or a no obligation assessment of the screening, call 239-362-3999.