Remeshing Your Old Doors and Screens

19 Feb 2017

In most places of Australia insect screens are a necessity. Insects are present in the daytime and the nighttime and need to be restricted in their access to your home. Mosquitoes are a blood-sucking insect that will enter through any open space in your home in the summer months and can cause great distress, particularly if they are carrying some of the diseases that they are capable of carrying such as Dengue Fever, Q fever and many other unwanted diseases.

The best way to minimise or avoid contact with both dangerous and non-dangerous types of insects within your home is to have adequate  fly screens or insect screens installed. Summer is almost upon us and now is a very good time to be doing some sort of audit on your screens and security needs before the summer months are here and the need for fresh air and ventilation is paramount.

A quick inspection will take very little time. The best time to do this is perhaps in the middle of the day when the light is at its peak so as to extenuate any damage to the fly mesh. An inspection both internally and externally is recommended. Fibreglass mesh is a very durable product; however, UV rays from the sun and the cyclical heat and cold of both winter and summer will eventually diminish the strength of the mesh and causes it to break down which may allow insects  and spiders to enter. When you are undergoing your inspections take particular note of the corners of the mesh where additional pressure may be applied in the initial fabrication.

In most cases, hopefully, you will not find too many holes or problems; however, if in fact you do then provided the frame of the screen or screen door is in good order that it would be perhaps prudent to remesh rather than replace the entire application. In the case of aluminium screens and screen doors it will always be the case that they given adequate tension with a rubber or foam spline and it would be advisable to replace not only the mesh but to replace the spline as well. For timber screens or Western Red Cedar screens they will generally be stapled onto the initial outer frame and then a cover strip will be added to hide the staples. Usually this cover strip is put on with small nails which are in most cases easily removed. It is not absolutely necessary to removal staples; however, it is possibly prudent to gain a better job

At Seconline purchase replacement fibreglass mesh in a kit form; this will come with both the mesh and a replacement spline roller as well. These are also available at most hardware stores. The best method of mesh and spline replacement is to use a flat surface such as a large table or elevated surface so as to make the operation as easy as possible. Firstly remove the outer spline, then remove the fly mesh and dispose of both. Now lay your new mesh over the outer frame minimising the overlap of the first width and the first length. Using your spline roller roll the spline  with the fly mesh into the spline channel of the fly screen or fly door, being careful only on the first width and length to roll straight. Once you have completed the first two sides then you can concentrate on applying tension to the fly mesh of the second half of the operation. If it is a door then it will obviously have a greater degree of strength and robustness and you will be able to apply a greater degree of tension. In the case of a fly screen where it will be in a static, non-moving situation then it is not necessary or advisable to apply too much tension as it may have a non-desirable effect of bowing in the sides of the screen and creating a gap where an insect or a spider may gain entry. A couple of books laid on the fly mesh while you are re-meshing is a small tip to de-tension the fly mesh.

Sometimes in the case of fly screens which are fitted to the face with turnbuckles, you may have to replace these as well as they are PVC and will over time succumb to UV rays and become brittle. Again these are available at the Seconline website in the extras section of the navigation bar as well as the re-mesh kits. Good luck with your re-meshing and if you would like some additional tips please feel free to email us at info@seconline.com.au