Talius solar mesh density guide: 55 vs 90 vs 95 vs 99

If you're spec'ing a Talius Habitat solar screen for your patio, the one question that holds up the order is which weave to pick. The 55, the 90, the 95, or the 99. This solar mesh density guide answers it for Ontario homeowners. Each tier gives you a different trade between view-through, glare, heat, and privacy. Pick wrong and you either feel shut in or squint at your outdoor TV at 5 PM.

By the end of this guide, you'll know which density fits your facing direction, your view, and your outdoor TV setup.

What's new in solar screen density for 2026

Talius now sells four production solar weaves on the Habitat retractable line. The 55, the 90, the 95, and the 99.

The 99 weave is the one with the biggest demand jump this year. It's almost always going on west-facing decks where the homeowner just bought an outdoor TV. The 95 used to be the default outdoor TV pairing. Now buyers are pushing one tier higher because the 4K outdoor TV market got brighter and homeowners want full glare cut.

The 55 is still a popular pick on east-facing patios in older Toronto neighbourhoods where keeping the view of the yard matters more than blockage. None of these tiers cost a lot more than the next. The upcharge between tiers is modest, so most homeowners spend two minutes picking the right one for the orientation rather than picking on price.

The four Talius solar mesh density guide tiers, side by side

Every Talius solar weave is built on the same vinyl-coated polyester yarn. What changes between the 55 and the 99 is how tight the weave is. Tighter weave, more blockage, less view-through. That's the whole story.

The numbers (55, 90, 95, 99) refer to the percent of light blocked by the fabric. So the 55 blocks just over half. The 99 blocks nearly all of it.

Here's how each tier behaves in real Ontario conditions.

The 55 weave

The 55 is the openest fabric Talius offers on Habitat. View-through is excellent. You see your yard, your kids on the trampoline, the lake. Glare reduction is light. Heat reduction is light.

Privacy is low in either direction. This is the weave you pick when the screen's job is mostly bug-block plus a soft tint, not real sun fighting. Common pick for east-facing decks, lakefront homes, and any deck where the owner cares more about keeping the view than killing the sun.

The 90 weave

The 90 is the most popular tier we install on Habitat in Southern Ontario. View-through is still good. You can see who's pulling into the driveway.

Glare reduction is solid. Heat reduction is solid. Daytime privacy from the outside is moderate. This is the safe pick for most west-facing decks in Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, and Vaughan because it knocks down the 4 PM to 8 PM sun without making the deck feel dark. Our west-facing deck guide walks through why this tier is the default.

The 95 weave

The 95 is one tier tighter than the 90. View-through is reduced but still usable. The big jump is glare cut.

This is where outdoor TVs become readable at 5 PM on a hot July afternoon. Heat reduction is stronger than the 90. Daytime privacy from the street side gets noticeably better. The 95 is the most common pick for west-facing decks with an outdoor TV mounted on the back wall.

The 99 weave

The 99 is the tightest weave Talius offers on Habitat. View-through drops to near-zero in bright daylight. From the outside, the screen reads almost solid.

Glare cut is maximum. Heat reduction is maximum. Daytime privacy is the highest of any tier. This is the weave to pick when the deck faces dead west, the neighbours are close, and the homeowner wants the patio to feel like a private room from 4 PM onward. The privacy vs sun vs bug screens decision tree covers when the 99 doubles as a privacy panel.

West-facing vs east-facing decisions

The single biggest factor in picking a Talius density is which direction the deck faces. West-facing decks eat the worst sun. East-facing decks barely fight it.

A west-facing deck in Burlington or Oakville gets four to five hours of low, hard sun every summer evening. The sun sits at eye level. It bakes the deck. It glares off any glass surface.

The 55 weave gives almost no help against this. The 90 cuts it down enough that most homeowners are happy. The 95 makes a clear extra step. The 99 turns the deck into shade.

An east-facing deck only fights a short morning window. By 11 AM the sun is overhead, so any vertical screen is mostly out of the line of fire. The 55 is usually enough. The 90 is overkill on most east-facing patios. We rarely spec a 95 or 99 on an east-facing deck unless privacy is the real driver.

South-facing decks sit in between. They get sun from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, but the sun is high overhead, so a vertical screen catches less of it than on a west-facing deck. The 90 is the typical pick. North-facing decks need almost no shade, so the 55 wins by default if the homeowner only wants the bug-block side of the screen.

Pairing solar mesh density with an outdoor TV

If your deck has an outdoor TV, the density question gets simple. The 95 weave is the most common spec, and it's the right answer for most setups.

Here's why. The 90 cuts glare enough that you can watch the TV at 6 PM, but at 5 PM on a hot July day the late afternoon sun still washes the screen. The 95 closes that gap. You can read the TV at 5 PM with the screen down.

The 99 goes one step further, but most homeowners find the 99 makes the deck too dim during the day for casual watching when the TV is off. So if the TV is the priority, the 95 is the spot. If the TV is on a covered overhang or under a pergola that already blocks half the sun, you can step down to the 90 and save the upcharge. If the TV is in direct line with a dead-west exposure with no overhang, the 99 is the right pick.

Suburban patios vs lakefront properties

Lakefront homeowners and suburban homeowners want opposite things from a solar screen. The mesh density that works for one is wrong for the other.

A lakefront property in Oakville or Burlington has a million-dollar view of the water. The whole reason the deck exists is to look at the lake. The 99 weave, which reads almost solid from inside, defeats the purpose. Lakefront installs almost always go 55 or 90. The 90 cuts the late sun off the water without blacking out the view.

Suburban Ontario is the opposite. A typical Vaughan or Mississauga backyard has neighbours 20 feet away on either side. There's no view to protect. There's a privacy problem to solve.

The 95 and the 99 both deliver real daytime privacy from outside. From a neighbour's deck looking over the fence, the 99 reads as a near-solid panel during daylight hours. Suburban townhouse patios in Toronto, where the back neighbour's window looks straight onto the patio, almost always go 99 for the same reason.

Daytime privacy vs night privacy

This is the single most misunderstood thing about solar screens. The privacy story flips between day and night, and it has nothing to do with which density you pick.

In daylight, the side with more light is the side that can be seen. So at noon, with the sun outside and the patio shaded behind the screen, the screen looks like a solid panel from the yard. Anyone outside cannot see in. People inside can see out, faintly. Daytime privacy at the 95 and 99 tiers is strong.

At night, the lighting flips. The patio lights are on. The yard is dark. So the bright side is now inside, and the dim side is outside.

From the yard, the patio is suddenly visible right through any solar screen, including the 99. From inside, you can't see anything past the screen. Night privacy on a solar screen alone is poor at every density. If night privacy matters, the answer is to pair the solar screen with a Talius blackout option or an interior curtain. Picking the 99 weave alone won't fix night privacy.

Common mistakes when picking a solar mesh density

Most density mistakes fall into the same handful of patterns. Here are the ones we see most often on Habitat orders.

• Mistake 1: Going 99 on an east-facing deck. The east-facing patio only fights a short morning sun window. A 99 weave makes the deck feel shut in for the rest of the day with no payoff.

• Mistake 2: Going 55 on a west-facing deck with an outdoor TV. The 55 lets the late afternoon sun through. The TV is unreadable at 5 PM. The right pick is 95.

• Mistake 3: Picking 99 for night privacy. Solar screens at every density are see-through from outside at night when interior lights are on. If night privacy is the goal, pair the solar weave with a blackout layer.

• Mistake 4: Spec'ing the same density on every elevation of the house. The west deck and the east deck rarely want the same weave. Most homes have at least two different tiers across all retractable openings.

• Mistake 5: Buying on price between tiers. The upcharge between Talius density tiers is modest, so picking the 90 over the 95 to save a small amount usually backfires within the first summer.

Verdict on solar screen density guide picks

Pick the right Talius density once and you'll forget the screen is even there. Pick wrong and you'll think about it every summer.

Here's the density-by-use-case map for any solar mesh density guide buyer in Ontario.

• The 55: East-facing decks. Lakefront homes where the view comes first. Owners who want a soft tint and a bug block.
• The 90: Most west-facing decks in Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, and Vaughan. The safe default for the average Ontario patio.
• The 95: West-facing decks with an outdoor TV. Suburban patios where daytime privacy from neighbours matters but you still want some view-through.
• The 99: Dead-west exposures with no overhang. Townhouse patios in Toronto where the neighbour's window looks straight onto the deck. Buyers who want the patio to read like a private room from 4 PM on.

If you can match those four lines to your own deck, you have your answer. If you're still not sure, the 90 is the safe default, the 95 is the upgrade for outdoor TV, and the 99 is the daytime-privacy pick. Book a free site visit and we'll bring four density swatches to your deck and you can see the view through each one before you commit.