Buzz: that’s the sound of a million (sometimes it sounds more like a trillion) cicadas dive-bombing your patio on what should be a warm, relaxing summer day. Is there no alternative? Is there no solution to the ever-reoccurring problem of the pesky biblical swarm of cicadas?

As it turns out, there is one solution for really ingenuitive backyard builders- but it requires a little bit of work and a lot of can-do attitude. If you’re really dedicated to the idea of a peaceful patio- free from intrusions by meddling cicadas- then you’re going to want a covered porch. 

How Does a Covered Porch Stop Cicadas?

The key to the covered porch is a mesh screen. Without the mesh screen, you’re just building another room, a greenhouse, or a little breeding area for adventurous cicadas. For a good covered porch, you’ll want to buy rolls upon rolls of mesh screen and get that staple gun good and ready. 

We recommend you not start building a covered porch during a year when cicadas are active. The constant bombardment from pesky cicadas will get in the way of the building process and possibly even cause accidents. 

When you’ve picked a good time to start your project, you’ll be at an advantage to buy lots of mesh screen. 

You see, when building a covered porch, homeowners face a dilemma- if they use plastic or another see-through material, they’ll likely create a greenhouse effect that will make their porch unbearable at best during warm summer months. 

When you consider opaque materials- like particleboard or plywood- what you get is a porch that completely defeats the purpose of having a porch in the first place. It’s hot, you can’t see your yard, and you’ll be lounging in damp darkness all day.

Mesh screens combine the best of both worlds- letting light in while giving you ventilation and protection from intruders- like cicadas. 

While a mesh screen and a frame porch wall isn’t likely to keep out people or larger animals, it will likely be able to keep out small pests like stray dogs and cats, raccoons, and squirrels. 

So, feel free to store your bird seed, cooling apple pies, and other edible materials on your porch. With a covered porch, you’ll be protected from pests both large and small- from cicadas to dogs to raccoons. 

Other Advantages to a Covered Porch

In the summer, you’ll likely find that mosquitos can become an almost intractable problem. Unlike cicadas, you probably won’t see a mosquito until it’s right up in your face. Unseen mosquitos can cause bug bites, rashes, and even diseases in tropical climates.

A mesh-covered porch can fix this- preventing mosquitos from entering your porch and giving you a great place to relax in peace, without any insect intruders. 

So, what are you waiting for? If you want a way to escape from the buzzing hordes of cicadas and mosquitos while shutting out larger pests, try building a beautiful, homey covered porch.