Board-and-batten screen for an outdoor AC unit, Marysville

The problem

New houses put the outdoor AC unit where the HVAC contractor wants it, which is usually the first thing you see when you walk around the house. This one sat on a concrete pad beside the side door, in full view from the driveway.

The screen

A three-sided board-and-batten enclosure with a hinged door on the fourth side, built in September 2025 and painted the same sage green as the siding, with white trim to match the house. From the driveway it reads as part of the house. From inside, as the last photo shows, the unit sits on its pad with open space on every side.

The rules for screening an AC unit

An air conditioner is a fan that moves a lot of air. Box it in and it works harder, costs more to run and dies young. We build screens to these rules:

• Two feet of clear space on every side of the unit, minimum. The manufacturer's spec sheet gives the exact number; we check it.
• Nothing above it. The fan blows up. A screen with a roof or a shelf over the unit is the worst thing you can do to it.
• Gaps in the panels. Board-and-batten with spacing lets air through while blocking the view. A solid panel does not.
• A service door. The technician needs to get at the unit from the front with a gauge set and a coil brush. Our door is full height and swings clear.
• Keep it off the ground. The frame sits on the pad and on treated blocking, not on soil, so the bottom does not rot.

Materials

• Pressure-treated frame.
• Board-and-batten panels in exterior-grade boards, primed on all sides before assembly so the end grain is sealed.
• Exterior paint color-matched to the siding. Two coats, after primer.
• Stainless or coated fasteners, because this stays wet.

Why we take jobs this size

A screen like this is a day of carpentry. It is the kind of job big remodelers do not return calls for. We do, because the same homeowner calls us when the kitchen comes up, and because a house is made of small things done right as much as big ones.

Marysville is across the river from Harrisburg, a little outside our usual forty minutes. We took this one because the owner asked and the job was quick. If you are nearer Lebanon, Hershey or Lititz, we are already in your area most weeks.