Function

• Keeping things out, or keeping them in, while still offering a view are the primary functions of any screen. Patio and fence screens are typically focused on maintaining privacy or hiding unwanted views beyond the property. You might require a patio screen to provide optimum privacy, while a fence screen only minimal privacy. When you do not want to see anything on the other side of your fence, then you need a solid fence, not a screen. On patios it helps the living environment to still have some air flow and light filtering through the screen.
  
  

Features

• Consider durability and suitability as the main features of screening materials. Durable materials will last a long time and ideally will require little maintenance. A suitable material fits the space to be screened without adding too much weight or requiring more construction than minimally necessary. These two features must be tempered by cost.
  
  

Types

• Patio and fence screens are only limited by your imagination and means. There are some materials designed to be screens, like wooden or vinyl lattice, or chain link fence with privacy slats. Lumber is widely used for screening in both fences and patios. Its dimensional consistency makes it a good choice for repetitive patterns like a row of upright 2 x 4s spaced just an inch or two apart. Small-diameter pipe spaced slightly apart in a horizontal or vertical pattern creates a corduroy screen. Using salvaged materials keeps them out of landfills. These might be pieces of lumber left over from other projects, or materials saved when dismantling other structures.
  
  

Size

• Screens might span an entire patio or fence surface, or be confined to just one area. Their height is limited by the uprights that support them but they could still stretch above them if they are made from rigid material like lumber. The bigger they get the more they cost in time or money, or both. The optimal size for a screen is the one that meets your needs and no more. So you might screen only one side of your patio, or only so many feet of your fence.
  
  

Time Frame

• Lightweight materials like lattice install easily and quickly and do not require substantial construction. It takes longer to build a screen as it becomes more complex, or when you mix different types of materials.