Screen Door Repair: Everything You Should Know
Perhaps the cat chose to sharpen her claws, or the dog needed to go outside. Perhaps you were distracted and didn’t notice the sliding patio door until you entered. Whatever the source, you now have a broken screen door that allows large birds to fly in and out at whim instead of keeping insects out. You could take the door to a nearby hardware store and have done screen door repair, but why not enjoy the satisfaction of doing it yourself? This is how it is done.
The majority of windows and doors have a very simple replacement screen. You only need a few simple tools, a large work area, and this complete instruction manual. Even though we’ll present quick fixes for patching and mending torn screens, you’ll probably decide to replace the screen rather than repair it once you see how simple it is.
What You’ll Need to Do a screen door repair
When you go to the hardware store or home center, you may obtain a selection of screening materials from 24- to 96-inch widths. You can also match the design of the screen to the ones currently in your home. Do you have any fiberglass? Black? Which is better, silver or charcoal? A fine weave that allows for good visibility while keeping fruit flies at bay? What about a strong pet screen that can survive lion, tiger, and bear attacks? Aluminum is another potent and long-lasting substance. Make sure the roll you choose is wide enough to cover the door.
Choose the materials for your replacement screen and then gather the necessary tools.
The next stop was the hardware store, where we found a somewhat bewildering range of supplies and materials. The two major types of replacement screen material are wire and fiberglass. Both come in rolls and are available in charcoal, white, or black.
Clean the door well and remove the existing spline.
By placing the screwdriver’s tip into one corner of the door frame, we carefully pull away the old spline material with the pliers while keeping the metal edges of the groove from being twisted. After removing the old spline and the torn screen, we washed the door frame thoroughly.
Insert the new spline and screen into the door groove using a spline roller.
Using the open end of the spline roller, we carefully pushed the spline and screen into the metal groove, beginning at one corner. However, before we got too far, we saw that the mesh wasn’t going in evenly. After carefully reseating the screen on the frame after removing the spleen and screen, we tried again. This time, we used thin clamps on the corners to fix the screen and to keep the mesh from moving, we firmly pressed my free palm on the frame.
Trim any excess screen material before reinstalling the door in the frame.
After installing the spline and screen on all four sides, we removed the excess screen material with a utility knife and firmly pressed everything into place using the convex end of the spline roller. We replaced the screen door on the frame and sat down with a nice iced tea to enjoy the beautiful spring air.
Wrapping Up
Even though you can purchase a pre-framed screen that is specifically made to fit your specific patio door, you can save money by changing the mesh yourself. Screen door repair ranges from $0.25 to $7.50 per square foot.
Meanwhile, standard mesh will be closer to the lower end of this range, especially if made of fiberglass or aluminum. By measuring the height and breadth of your screen door, you may order extra mesh to cover all of your bases. If you develop another hole, you can always fix the mesh later.