How to Repair Window Screens

There are few things as unsightly on the exterior of a home as a torn and sagging screen in a prominent window. The good news is that screen repair is simple, requires very few tools and can be accomplished fairly quickly.

If you have a small hole or puncture in your screen such as from a child forcing a pencil through the screen follow these steps. Use a small pointed object such as a sewing needle and use the tip to pus the wires back into the original position. If you have a fine metal screen or synthetic screen the wires may not want to stay in this position. If so apply a few coats of shellac (or even clear finger nail polish) to the area until the wires are rigid enough to stand on their own.

If your screen is ripped follow these directions. Using a pointed instrument or pull the tiny screen wires back into place. Then literally sex the rip together with fine wire or nylon thread. If you are just using what you have around the house you can certain use thread or fine fishing line to repair the screen. It may be a bit unsightly but it will work. If you use plain thread cover the thread with shellac or nail polish to help it resist the weather.

If you have a hole that needs to be patched follow these steps. Cut the edges of the hole so that they are even. Acquire a patch from an unused piece of screen or buy screen from a hardware or home improvement store. Cut the patch about an inch wide than the hole to be repaired. Apply caulking gently around the edges of the hole. Lay the screen on something to support it such as a table. Firmly push the patch onto the area over the hole. Allow the caulking to dry for a few moments and then wipe off the excess and pick the screen up so that the caulking doesn’t adhere to the table and let dry for a day or so.

If the spline (the rubber strip holding the screen to the frame) has come lose follow these steps. Stretch the screen back to it original position and use a spline tool or a credit card and push the screen into the groove on the frame. Then use the spline tool or other item to force the spline back into place. If the screen is too short to work back into place just got buy new screen, spline (take the old with you to match it up), and a spline tool. Replacing the entire screen is not a difficult task.

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