Reference · A working vocabulary

Glossary.

Terms used in this magazine, defined the way we use them. Some entries are anchors for redirected pages; others are entries unto themselves.

Mesh, aluminum: A woven aluminum cloth that interrupts roughly 80% of incoming radiation while remaining permeable to wind. The argument of this magazine. See also: solar screen.
Solar screen: A frame-mounted aluminum or polyester mesh installed on the outside of a window, intercepting heat before it touches the glass. Typically blocks 80–90% of incoming solar radiation. The single highest-leverage retrofit in a Mojave house.
Drop shade: A retractable vertical screen, typically housed in an aluminum cassette and deployed against late-afternoon sun. Defeats the western horizon — sometimes. Pairs well with a fixed mesh roof above it.
Combo system: Mesh + drop shade in series. The serious answer for west-facing exposures, where one cover alone cannot manage both the high-angle noon sun and the low-angle four-o'clock blast.
Screen room: A patio space enclosed on all four sides with mesh screening, typically over an aluminum frame. Extends the usable patio season from roughly four months to nine or ten in this valley. See "What a screen room actually costs in Las Vegas."
Patio cover: A fixed roof structure over a patio. The substrate everything else — mesh, drop shades, ceiling fans — gets attached to. Mediocre at cooling on its own; useful as the bones of a more serious system.
Sun screen: A casual synonym for solar screen. Sometimes used to specifically indicate the lighter (80%) mesh density rather than the denser (95%) variant. Ask which one you are being quoted.
Caliche: Calcium-cemented desert subsoil. Hard as concrete, breaks pickaxes, holds posts forever once you get them in. The reason every footing quote in the valley has a contingency line for "unexpected substrate."
Wash: A dry desert drainage channel. Runs a few times a year. The reason your contractor wants to know where your downspouts go before he sets a footing.