We design them, build them, and install them — one company, start to finish. No middlemen, no wholesalers. We warranty the motor and fabric for 20 years. Nobody else does that. Motorized, side-track guided, custom-built to your exact opening. Drop the screen and your patio goes from humid and buggy to shaded and private — a room you'll actually use from May through October.
Push a button. Your patio goes from a sticky, buggy afternoon to a usable outdoor room in under 20 seconds. Outdoor shades roll down from the top of the opening and cover the sides — blocking the sun, keeping insects out, and closing off the view from the neighbors' deck. Push it again and they disappear back into the housing overhead. No fussing with clips, no hauling anything out of the garage.
The motor is what separates outdoor shades people actually use from the ones they gave up on. Ours run on the Maverick — Apollo's own motor. Remote, wall switch, or your phone. Works from across the yard, from the fire pit, from inside the kitchen. Quiet, stops exactly where you tell it. And while everybody else warranties their motor for five to seven years, we warranty ours for twenty.
A shade that flaps in the wind isn't doing its job — it's just making noise. Lake County gets enough gusty afternoons, and enough line-of-sight wind off the lake, to turn a free-hanging patio shade into a problem inside a season. Side tracks lock both edges of the fabric into a channel so the shade holds flat, stays put, and keeps performing when the weather picks up.
The fabric runs inside vertical aluminum channels bolted to each side of the opening. Captured the full height. No slack. No edge for the wind to catch. The shade moves smoothly and stops flat — whether it's calm or gusting at 30 mph. When fully lowered it seals against the track frame on both sides. No gaps. No light leaking around the edges. Just a clean, flat wall of shade.
A Midwest July is its own kind of uncomfortable. High humidity makes the sun feel heavier, and a patio with no shade becomes a place you walk past on the way to the air conditioning. By two in the afternoon most Lake County backyards are too bright and too hot to sit in without something blocking the sun. A covered patio with open sides barely helps.
Outdoor shades close off the open sides and stop the sun before it reaches you. The solar mesh blocks UV and cuts glare while still letting air move through — you can see out, the heat stays out, and the humidity on the patio drops noticeably once the direct sun is blocked. Drop the shades on the west side and you'll feel the difference within ten minutes. And once the bugs are out of the equation, an October evening on the patio is something you actually look forward to.
The fabric is warrantied for 20 years. Not 5, not 7 — twenty. Because it's designed to live outdoors in the Chicago-area sun, not fade out and sag in three seasons.
Most shade companies warrant the motor for 5 years and the fabric for 7. We cover both for 20. That's not a marketing line — it's in writing, and we can stand behind it because we build the product ourselves.
Apollo's proprietary motor system. We designed it. We warrant it. For 20 years.
Premium exterior-grade solar mesh. Rated for exterior UV, heat, and wind. Warranted for 20 years because we stand behind what we build.
We build it. We ship it. We install it. No distributors, no middlemen, no franchise. What you order is what we make — for you, to your measurements.
Apollo manufactures its own screens in-house. We don't buy product from a wholesaler and resell it. We source our own components, build to your order after we take your measurements, and ship straight to our installation crew.
That's how we can offer 20 years. A company that doesn't control its own product can't make that promise. We can.
In most Illinois subdivisions a backyard fence maxes out at six feet. Half the lots in Lake County have a two-story next door with windows looking straight across the property line. Patio screens close that off without a permit, without a contractor, and without permanently blocking your view of the yard. Down when you want to be left alone, up when you want the open patio back. Takes about three seconds.
The fabric keeps people from seeing in but still lets the air through, so you're not trading privacy for a stuffy patio. Lower them when you want to be left alone, raise them when you want the open yard back. Takes about three seconds.
There are a few ways to shade a Chicagoland patio. Here's how motorized outdoor shades with side tracks stack up against the alternatives.
| Feature | Apollo Outdoor Shades | Fixed Screen Enclosure | Shade Sail | Manual Roll Shades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorized one-button operation | ✓ Standard | None | None | Manual only |
| Side-track guided system | ✓ Standard | ✓ Framed | No tracks | No tracks |
| Retracts completely out of sight | ✓ Fully | Permanent structure | Manual removal | Manual only |
| Custom-built to your opening | ✓ Every unit | ✓ Custom | Standard sizes | Standard sizes |
| Privacy + sun block in one | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | Overhead only | Partial |
| Local Chicago-area installation team | ✓ Chicago North Shore-based | Varies | Self-install | Self-install |
| 20-year motor & fabric warranty | ✓ Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A |
We handle everything from measurement to motor wiring. You don't coordinate a thing.
We come out to your home anywhere across Lake County and the northern Chicago suburbs — Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Lake Forest, Highland Park, Gurnee, Waukegan, Grayslake, Deerfield, and the surrounding communities. We measure every opening, show you fabric samples in person, and walk you through your options. Takes about 45 minutes. No obligation.
Your outdoor shades are built to your exact dimensions — width, height, fabric openness rating, frame color, motor type, and control preference. Nothing off the shelf.
Our Chicago North Shore-based crew handles mounting, track installation, motor wiring, and control setup. Most single-opening jobs take a few hours. We do a full walkthrough before we leave so you know exactly how everything works.
Powder-coated aluminum frames in white, bronze, black, and custom colors. Solar mesh fabric in multiple openness ratings and tones. We bring samples to your consultation so you can see them in your actual space before committing.
"Got outdoor shades on the back of the deck and it completely changed how we use it. We can actually sit outside in the afternoon now instead of retreating inside. The side tracks keep everything flat even on windy days, and the motor has been dead reliable. Tamarack was great to work with from start to finish."
"Finally pulled the trigger on motorized patio screens after years of thinking about it. The solar mesh blocks the sun but you can still see out from inside — and the bugs are totally gone. Motor is whisper quiet. Looks way better than I expected and the whole thing took maybe half a day to install."
"Called, had someone out that week for measurements, and the screens were installed about a week later. They showed up on time, worked clean, and answered every question I had. If you're looking for outdoor shades or patio screens on the North Shore, these are your people."
Free estimate, no obligation. We come out, measure your openings, show you samples, and give you a real number. Takes about 45 minutes.
Tell us about your project. We'll follow up within the hour with real numbers — not a ballpark. No runaround.
Not a voicemail, not a queue. When you call or text, you reach our Chicago North Shore team — the same people who will come to your home and do the install.
Prefer to start online? Fill out the form above and we'll get back to you fast with real numbers.
Serving Chicago's North Shore
Outdoor Shade & Motorized Patio Screen Installation — Areas We Serve
Algonquin · Antioch · Arlington Heights · Barrington · Barrington Hills · Buffalo Grove · Carpentersville · Crystal Lake · Deerfield · Des Plaines · Elgin · Elk Grove Village · Evanston · Fox Lake · Glencoe · Glenview · Grayslake · Gurnee · Highland Park · Hoffman Estates · Huntley · Kenilworth · Lake Bluff · Lake Forest · Lake in the Hills · Lake Villa · Lake Zurich · Libertyville · Lincolnshire · McHenry · Mount Prospect · Northbrook · Palatine · Schaumburg · Vernon Hills · Wauconda · Waukegan · Wheeling · Wilmette · Winnetka · Woodstock · Zion · and surrounding Lake County and Chicagoland communities
