Keeping the bugs out: your screen options

Sunset, July, 1993 by Bill Crosby

You can do the work yourself, or hire a pro

THIS SPRING HAS SEEN the return of lots of insects you may not have had the pleasure of dealing with since drought dried up bug-breeding ponds throughout much of the West. As the little critters zing through unbarricaded door and window openings to annoy, infest, and start you itching, you may be spurred to consider replacing your screens or attempting to screen a problem opening.

Luckily, screening a standard-size window is a pretty simple job. A 2- by 3-foot rectangular screen costs about $20, whether you install it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. If you do it, it'll take an hour; if a professional screen installer does it, it will take anywhere from an hour to a month, depending on how busy the installer is. To screen an unusual door or window--for example, one that isn't rectangular--you'll probably want to turn to a pro. Look for fabricators and installers in the yellow pages under Screens.

All residential window manufacturers build in stops, lips, and the like to accommodate screens. Even outward-opening windows accept screens with little doors (called wickets) built in that allow you to open or close the windows from inside.

CHOOSING THE SCREENING

Screening materials are basically either metal or fabric. Aluminum dominates the metal market, though there are some pricey alternatives for marine locations (where aluminum deteriorates more quickly) that are made of stainless steel, bronze, or copper. Aluminum screening is available in natural (bright silver), black, charcoal, and a variety of custom-ordered colors. Woven aluminum screens are strictly for bug protection, while stamped aluminum screens also provide sun control.

Fabric screens are typically woven from PVC-coated fiberglass yarn. (Contrary to what you might hear, bugs don't eat fiberglass.) They're usually gray or black, but a range of colors is available. Basic fabric screening costs about the same as aluminum screening.

You can also get fabric weaves that have varied thread gauge and spacing to provide solar control as well. The tightest conventional weave, known as 20-by-30 mesh (favored in areas where tiny no-see-ums are tops on the pest parade), provides some solar control; some specialty weaves provide even more. Sun screening runs two to three times the cost of conventional bug screening, but some utilities will help underwrite the additional cost. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District, for example, will pay a rebate of 30 cents per square foot for up to 500 square feet of approved solar screening on existing houses with central air-conditioning ($2 per square foot for new houses).

Metal or fabric: which is better? Frankly, it really boils down to what you think looks best. Either way, keep in mind that dark screens are more transparent to the eye from inside.

SELECTING A FRAME

Almost all window screen frames are aluminum. They come in either bright raw aluminum (which eventually oxidizes) or in satin-sheen anodized (which either darkens the gray of the aluminum or gives it a bronze color). Frames also come painted white and other colors. Conventional frames for screen doors are made of either metal or wood.

Heavier metal frames are made from extruded (rather than rolled) stock and are more rigid and more durable. Good frames have camber, meaning they bow out slightly before the screen is added. The frames straighten when screening is set in place; the screening is then held taut by the natural outward pressure of the frames.

Most screens are held in place by a vinyl bead pushed into a slot in the frame with a spline tool (sold in hardware stores), which looks like a pizza cutter. If you've ever wrestled with a screen and wondered whether professionals use some trick to install the screen square and taut, the answer is no. The pros simply set the top bead, the bottom bead, one side, then the other. The bead is forgiving, so if you set the screen wrong the first time, simply remove the bead and try again.

SOME SPECIALTY OPTIONS

Before buying new windows (or screens for windows not currently screened), check the manufacturer's options on screening. Some offer self-closing sliders, retractables, and other options.

Retractable screens can be fit to most windows and doors and are sold by many screen shops. The window shade--like units usually slide up and down from a top-mounted housing. The side-to-side unit shown on page 96 (which costs about $200) is a nice solution to the problem of how to screen French doors; it's a challenging but possible installation for the do-it-yourselfer. The retractable screen works best where it won't be in constant use. For more information about this retractable, call (800) 377-3160.