Retractable screens in Tampa Bay start around $899 per opening for a manual garage screen and about $2,299 for a motorized one, with large motorized lanai screens running $3,000 to $6,000 installed in Central Florida pricing. A retractable screen rolls up into a housing, or slides aside, when you don't need it, so a lanai, garage or doorway stays open to the view and closes against bugs at dusk. This page covers retractable screens Tampa homeowners ask about: cost, manual or motorized, where they fit, and the Florida rules that apply.
It applies in Tampa, FL and across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota and Hernando counties.
What a retractable screen is
A retractable screen is insect mesh that rolls into a cassette or folds aside along side tracks, instead of being fixed in a panel. There are three common kinds:
| Type | Where it goes | How it operates |
|---|---|---|
| Door screens | Front doors, French doors, sliding patio doors | Manual, pulls across and retracts to the side |
| Large-opening screens | Lanai openings, porches, pool cage bays | Usually motorized, rolls down from a housing |
| Garage door screens | The garage door opening | Manual or motorized, rolls down inside the opening |
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Product categories as sold by Florida retractable screen dealers.
What retractable screens cost
Motorized screens cost about twice what manual ones do, and size sets the rest. Published prices:
| Screen | Published price | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Manual garage screen | $899 to $1,499 per opening | Pinellas and Pasco price list, 2026 |
| Motorized garage screen | From $2,299 per opening | Pinellas and Pasco price list, 2026 |
| Top-quality motorized screen, installed | $3,000 to $6,000 | Central Florida installer |
| Motorized screens, general | $20 to $75 per sq ft | Florida retailer, Nov 2024 |
| Premium motorized brand | $1,000 to $3,000 per opening | Florida retailer, Nov 2024 |
| Manual vs motorized per sq ft | Manual from $25; motorized from $55 | Orlando company, Jan 2024 |
| Per screen | Manual $400 to $600; motorized $600 to $900 | Orlando company, Jan 2024 |
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Compiled from published dealer and contractor pages fetched 2026-10-13. Premium manufacturers do not publish prices, and no Tampa dealer page with a price for a specific brand was found. Ranges overlap because sources size and count openings differently.
Are retractable screens expensive?
Per square foot, yes: roughly 6 to 50 times the price of fixed screen. Rescreening a fixed pool cage panel costs about $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot in Florida; motorized retractables run $20 to $75. The money buys the cassette, the side tracks, the motor and controls, and the option to have no screen at all when you want the view. For an opening you would leave screened all year, a fixed panel is the better value.
What moves the price
- Opening width and height: the bigger the span, the heavier the housing and tracks.
- Motor: motorized operation roughly doubles the per-square-foot price.
- Power: a hardwired motor needs a circuit at the opening; a plug-in motor needs an outlet.
- Mounting: a flat, square opening is simpler than a pool cage bay or an out-of-square garage frame.
- Number of openings: each opening is its own unit with its own housing.
Manual or motorized?
Manual suits doorways; motorized suits anything you can't comfortably reach across.
| Manual | Motorized | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Front, French and sliding doors; small openings | Lanai openings, garage doors, wide spans |
| Published starting price | From about $25 per sq ft (Orlando) | From about $55 per sq ft (Orlando) |
| Garage opening, Tampa Bay | $899 to $1,499 | From $2,299 |
| Power | None | Electrical supply at the opening |
| Permit angle | Screen-only work | Electrical work is excluded from the HB 803 exemption |
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Prices from an Orlando retractable screen company (Jan 2024) and a Pinellas and Pasco price list (2026). HB 803 exclusion from Florida Statute 553.79(1)(g).
Where retractable screens fit in Tampa Bay homes
The best openings are ones you want open most days and closed some evenings.
- Lanai openings that face a lake, canal or golf course, where a fixed screen dulls the view.
- Garage doors, so the garage can be a shaded workshop or gym without mosquitoes.
- Front and French doors, to let the breeze through without a permanent screen door.
- Sliding patio doors onto a lanai that is not already screened.
Bug pressure is the reason most people want them. UF/IFAS counts more than 80 mosquito species in Florida, and Tampa gets 7 to 9 inches of rain a month from June through August, the rainy season, when mosquito numbers run highest. A screen that drops in the evening closes the opening only when you want it closed.
Retractable screens and hurricanes
A retractable insect screen is not storm protection; it is mesh, and wind and rain pass through it. Retract it and secure it before a storm the way you would bring in patio furniture.
Florida code does give retractable panels a role in pool cage design. Under FBC Section 2002.7, based on Rule 61G20-1.002, an enclosure frame may be engineered on the basis that designated screen panels are retracted, removed or cut when winds are forecast above 75 mph. That design requires signed and sealed site-specific engineering, highly visible permanent labels on the retractable panels, and panels that can be retracted without ladders or scaffolding. If your cage was not designed that way, adding a retractable screen does not change its wind rating.
Retractable screens on a pool cage
If your pool cage is the pool's safety barrier, an open retractable screen can be a gap in it. Florida Statute 515.29 requires a barrier at least 4 feet high with no openings a young child could get through, and FBC 2002.7 says that on cut or retract designs, the required barrier height must be kept when panels are retracted or open.
Permits and HOA rules
Retractable screens raise fewer permit questions than new framing, but electrical and HOA rules still apply.
- Florida's HB 803 lets single-family owners request in writing to skip a permit for work under $7,500, but the exemption excludes electrical, structural, plumbing, mechanical and gas work, and flood-zone properties. So a hardwired motor will likely need a permit. A plug-in motor may be treated differently; ask the building department.
- Twin Lakes of Brandon's recorded rules prohibit garage door screen enclosures, and all screen enclosures there need written approval from the Architectural Committee first.
- Most of the HOA rules we found that regulate screen color require charcoal or gray, so ask whether the retractable mesh color is approved before ordering.
The Tampa Bay permit guide covers each county.
Living with retractable screens
- Keep the side tracks clear of leaves, sand and lovebug debris so the screen runs smoothly.
- Retract the screen before a storm and before pressure washing nearby.
- Check that the screen color and frame color match your HOA's approved list.
- Decide where the motor control goes before the electrical work is done.
- Keep fixed screen where you never need the opening: it costs far less to maintain and replace.
Retractable screens across Tampa Bay
Waterfront and golf course homes, where the view is the point, are a natural fit, in places like Tarpon Springs, Apollo Beach, Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota. Every town is on the service area page. For fixed screen, see patio screen enclosures or pool cage rescreening, or request a free quote.
