How To Repair Bug Screens
Living in central Florida, while sometimes downright pleasant, can be somewhat insect-ridden. To combat this frequent condition, bug screens are usually installed over all windows and sometimes doors.
These bug screens, being quite fragile since they are made of aluminum and fiberglass, from time to time, need repair. Though a screen making service is available through my least favorite construction materials store, I find it to be easier and cheaper to build or repair your own.
The screen above has a severely damaged frame and torn material. We will need to replace the damaged piece of aluminum frame and replace the fiberglass screen material.
Materials & tools needed: Aluminum frame, fiberglass material, screen spline, screen tool & utility knife.
Remove the old screen material and spline.
Measure and mark the new piece of frame using the old one. I’ve found that doing this by measurement only mostly results in disassembling the newly repaired screen so that you can trim off about 1/8″ from the frame because it won’t fit in the window frame. Not fun and a big time waster.
Cut the new frame piece to size using a fine-toothed hacksaw blade. Be careful as the frame is quite fragile and prone to bending. Install the new frame piece into the frame.
Next, lay the new screen material over the frame and using the screen tool, push the fiberglass material into the slot in the aluminum frame. This will prepare the screen material for spline installation. The spline is a ribbed plastic tube which holds the screen material to the frame. (see picture below)
Once the spline (above) is installed on all edges of the frame…
…trim the excess screen material from the frame using a sharp utility knife. Be careful not to damage the newly installed screen material within the frame and voila…
…a repaired bug screen. The tools above are pliers (to fix bent pieces of the frame), screening tool, utility knife & fine toothed hacksaw.
I recommend doing screen repair (or building) on-site because fitting them to the window frame is so much easier.
