Tips for Dometic's A&E Patty
O'Room®
and Similar Awning-Supported Screen Rooms
Because of the labor involved in
setting up and taking down, screen rooms make most sense for extended stays
instead of weekends.
A&E's Patty O'Room is an add-on screen room for RV's.
It consists of a number of zip-together panels, support poles, and twist
fasteners. The fasteners will be permanently installed on the skin of the RV
and replacements, if needed, can be found in some boating supply stores. The
wall and door panels are made out of high-quality materials and include
built-in privacy shades which are rolled up and tied out of the way when in
screen room mode. The RV's existing awning serves as the roof for the Patty
O'Room.
Setting up and taking down the screen room are significant chores which
require practice.
- It helps a great deal
if you have a tent-camping background and know how to set up equipment
securely.
- Some of these rooms
are huge; they are 8 feet deep and come as wide as your awning.
- A person has to be
reasonably fit to maneuver the heavier panels and the side tension poles
into position.
- A reliable helper is a
big asset.
- Unless you are fairly
tall, a small step ladder is also a must.
An improperly set up Patty O'Room is at the mercy of the wind. There are
several steps that will make the screen room more secure in a stiff breeze, but
a good blow will always present a danger.
- Select your campsite
wisely. You need shelter from the prevailing wind; if possible, turn the
trailer so that the screen room will face downwind. Open sites on windy
mountainsides or beaches will be tricky, so always try to find one with
some sheltering trees (you will also need to be concerned with possible
hazard of falling branches). Look around the campground...if no one has
his awning out take it as a sign that the winds are unfriendly and that
it is not the right place for your screen room.
- Before setting up the
Patty O'Room, always tilt the trailer's awning for rainfall drainage. It
will make the Patty O'Room look cockeyed, but it is essential to
protecting the integrity of the Patty O'Room's side panel support poles
which would bend under the weight of accumulated water in the awning (I
know).
- Discard the little
wire-style holddown stakes that come with the Patty O'Room. Replace all
of them with 10" steel spikes that you can find readily in Walmart's
camping dept. Pack a claw hammer with you so you can drive and extract
the spikes properly.
- Buy two pairs
of awning
deflappers. Space them proportionately on the awning support arms.
When setting up the side panel support poles, push them tightly against
the underside of the awing thus blocking the wind from getting under the
awning and lifting it.
- Buy an awning hold-down strap...the kind that wraps over the
top of the awning just behind the awning roll-up tube. These straps
usually come with steel tent stakes that also need to be driven into the
ground. Screw-in anchors might work better in some soils; there are also
a variety of stakes available for soft sand. Search for these at camping
outfitters.
A few other tips and thoughts...
- The trailer's awning
must be rolled out to its extreme maximum position. You may even need to
grasp the awning roller tube in your two hands to unroll the last
1/2" or so. This is important if the original installer drilled the
holes for the side panel support poles in the correct locations.
- After the awning is
open, its pull-out strap must be removed to make way for the Patty O'Room's
front panel and door panel. The panels will occupy the groove in the
awning roller tube that the pull-out strap uses. Make sure you don't
misplace the awning strap for later use. It is a good idea to carry a
spare.
- Sliding the bead of
the long front panel into the awning tube groove can be very frustrating
for beginners. Liberally spray the groove and bead with silicone spray
(not WD-40). A helper can align the panel correctly as it is fed into the
groove. With practice, this step can proceed very smoothly.
- No ground cover is
included with the Patty O'Room, but one will greatly increase the
livability of the screen room area. A variety of ground mats are
available at RV stores.
- Many people like to
have the campsite's picnic table inside the Patty O'Room.
- If you set up over a
concrete pad where you cannot use anchoring spikes, you must weigh down
the edges of the Patty O'Room panels. A&E sells durable, water-fillable bags for this purpose. Some people
prefer two-by-fours or bricks instead.
- The Patty O'Room will
not give you a perfectly tight seal against insects. There will be some
gaps especially where the Patty O'Room skirt that attaches to the RV has
cut-outs for the RV steps. Some owners cleverly improvise with velcro
strips and weather proof tape in order to obtain more perfect seals. If
flying insects do enter, they tend to remain on the inside of the
screening looking for a way out. They become very easy targets for fly
swatters.
- The screen room panels
should be taken down and stored in a dry and clean condition, but this is
not always possible. If you need to set down during damp weather, develop
the habit of cleaning and drying the screen room at the first reasonable
opportunity.
A properly set up Patty O'Room will:
- extend your usable
living area
- reduce the number of
flying insects trying to get into your living area
- allow you to keep your
trailer doors (including screen doors) open most of the time
- corral your outdoor
gear
- invite a respect for
the privacy of your campsite
I know people on seasonal sites who have left their screen room up for
months at a time. Some owners claim that when the privacy wall panels are down
a screen room can effectively block a lot of wind and is thus more stable than
an awning alone in a wind storm (I don't have personal experience to verify
this.)
Awning-supported screen rooms are certainly not for everybody. If
you:
- already have a large
RV with an excess of living space
- if sitting outside at
night is not an essential part of your RV experience
- if maneuvering canvas
and setting tent stakes are unfamiliar or very difficult for you
- if you are constantly
on the move and rarely stay at a campsite for more than a couple of
days...
then owning a screen room will probably turn out to be a frustrating
experience.
But for others with a different camping style it can be a great advantage
and a treasured blessing.
Patty
O'Room parts
