Asked this question in a thread up yonder but it apparently got overlooked.

I need to re-screen a screen door. Will probably use fiberglass (the
aluminum screen has started disintegrating after only about 10 years).
Wooden door with wood screen mold (about 1/4" thick).

I'm thinking of lining up the factory edge of the screen with the edge
of the opening, stapling the screen to the door, getting it nice and
tight, tacking on the molding, then trimming the excess screen from the
other sides. Is this the best way to do this? I've never done this task
before.


--
The fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring,
with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags.

- Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com)

What I do is...


What I (emphasis on I) do, is get the channel, and then put the screen in
with the little strip of rubber bulb. I know that this is not a possibility
with all screens, but if you are handy, you can rout a groove for the
extrusion.

Do it once, do it right.

As suggested by some nameless faceless yet intelligent fellow, don't stretch
it too tight. And work from the middle outwards. Just like recovering a
pool table.

Exactly the same only different.

Steve

David Nebenzahl wrote the following:
Asked this question in a thread up yonder but it apparently got
overlooked.

I need to re-screen a screen door. Will probably use fiberglass (the
aluminum screen has started disintegrating after only about 10 years).
Wooden door with wood screen mold (about 1/4" thick).

I'm thinking of lining up the factory edge of the screen with the edge
of the opening, stapling the screen to the door, getting it nice and
tight, tacking on the molding, then trimming the excess screen from
the other sides. Is this the best way to do this? I've never done this
task before.



Have you taken off the wood screen mold yet? Is there a groove under the
molding that will take a spline to hold the screen, or will the screen
be held in place just with staples?
You might try this method.
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2workwithscreens

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On 9/10/2010 11:43 AM, willshak wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote the following:
Asked this question in a thread up yonder but it apparently got
overlooked.

I need to re-screen a screen door. Will probably use fiberglass (the
aluminum screen has started disintegrating after only about 10 years).
Wooden door with wood screen mold (about 1/4" thick).

I'm thinking of lining up the factory edge of the screen with the edge
of the opening, stapling the screen to the door, getting it nice and
tight, tacking on the molding, then trimming the excess screen from
the other sides. Is this the best way to do this? I've never done this
task before.



Have you taken off the wood screen mold yet? Is there a groove under the
molding that will take a spline to hold the screen, or will the screen
be held in place just with staples?
You might try this method.
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2workwithscreens


Last one of those I did, many years ago, the screen mold was the spline-
it was T-shaped, and pushed the screen into the groove. Good thing it
came off clean so I could reuse it. I think it was an oddball, though,
based on the flat screen mold I see in the rack at the borg. I've never
seen screen sticking past the screen mold though, on a factory door or
pro rescreen. There must be some trick to folding or rolling it to get a
clean edge. ISTR also seeing a few where the screen wrapped halfway
around an inner frame that sat in a rabbit, and the screen mold held the
whole mess in the door. That seems awful complex for a 'farmer' door,
though.

I never was very good at rescreening- can never seem to get it taught
and square. I'm not so hot at making beds, either.

--
aem sends...

In article ,
dadiOH wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
Asked this question in a thread up yonder but it apparently got
overlooked.
I need to re-screen a screen door. Will probably use fiberglass (the
aluminum screen has started disintegrating after only about 10 years).
Wooden door with wood screen mold (about 1/4" thick).

I'm thinking of lining up the factory edge of the screen with the edge
of the opening, stapling the screen to the door, getting it nice and
tight, tacking on the molding, then trimming the excess screen from
the other sides. Is this the best way to do this? I've never done
this task before.

That's about the only way you *can* do it given what you have. Don't try to
get the screen super tight though, just taut and smooth. What I do is...

Staple in center of one side, pull taut and staple in center of opposite
side. Then work alternately on each stapled side from center to one side,
repeat to other side; while doing so, you need to smooth and tighten in both
planes at the same time. And give yourself plenty (1" - 2") of screen
overlap on all edges, you are going to cut off the excess anyway. Once all
sides are satisfactorily stapled, put on the molding and trim excess.
_______________

The potential problem with this is that you wind up with many, many holes in
the wood and that's a PITA when you have to re-screen. A better way if the
door is thick enough is to cut a groove around all inside edges and insert
an aluminum channel made for screens. With the aluminum, you can use a
rubber spline to hold in the screen, makes it a snap to re-screen. The
channels I'm talking about are only about 1/2" thick and maybe 3/4" wide; I
held mine in with a bead of acrylic caulk in the groove.

--

I have had good results with just putting an 1/8" groove directly in the
wood and using a rubber screen spline like you find in commercially made
storm windows and doors.
--
When the game is over, the pawn and the king are returned to the same box.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org