Screens
Window Screen Repair
Torn mesh, frames out of square, and the combination unit whose screen half has not been down in years. In a state with this mosquito season, a screen is not a trim item.
- Usually
- Finished on the visit
- Custom sizes
- Built to your opening
- Best month
- April
- Small jobs
- One screen is fine
Rule these out first
Four things a torn screen is not
Screens are the cheapest work we do and the most often quoted as something larger.
Not this
It is not a reason to buy new screens
New mesh and spline in the frame you already own costs a fraction and takes under an hour. Rescreening is the default answer, not the exception.
Not this
It is not a mesh problem if it keeps falling out
That is a frame or a clip problem. A corner key has let go and the frame is racking, and new mesh in it will sag again within a season.
Not this
It is not unsolvable because nothing at the store fits
Minnesota housing largely predates standard sizing. We build to the opening you actually have, and it costs very little more.
Not this
It is not a reason to replace a window
We mention it because it happens. A screen is a separate, cheap, repairable item, and it is sometimes used to open a much larger conversation.
How it actually works
Three parts, and the mesh is only one
Knowing which component failed is the whole diagnosis.
The frame holds square
Aluminium held by corner keys, or timber held by glued and pinned joints. If the corners have let go, nothing else you do will hold tension.
The spline holds the mesh
A rubber cord pressed into a channel. It hardens with age and lets go, usually well before the mesh itself has worn out, and it should be replaced every time.
The mesh does the work
Standard fibreglass, finer mesh for the smallest biting insects, or heavier pet-resistant mesh. The choice costs almost nothing when the mesh is coming out anyway.
Tension is the skill
Mesh fitted slack bows in the first windy week and pulls out of the spline. Fitted correctly it stays flat for years, and that is most of what separates a good rescreen from a bad one.
By temperature
The screen year in Minnesota
A short, intense season with a very clear booking window.
40°F
Book them
March and early April. Before the season, before the schedule fills, and before you need them.
60°F
Mosquitoes arrive
Minnesota's insect season starts fast and does not negotiate. A torn screen is noticed on the first warm evening, which is three weeks too late to be booking.
80°F
Peak use
Windows open, screens working hard, and any weakness in mesh or frame showing itself.
30°F
Take them down
October. Ice, snow load and freeze-thaw on frames left up is what corrodes corner keys and splits spline channels.
On the visit
What we check on a screen
Four quick things that decide whether rescreening will actually hold.
Press a corner
If the frame flexes diagonally, a corner key has gone. That gets rebuilt before any new mesh goes in.
Feel the spline
Hard, cracked or sitting proud of its channel means the grip has failed rather than the mesh. Cheaper to fix and easy to miss.
Check the fit in the opening
Clips, tabs and channel depth. A screen that keeps dropping out is a fit problem and rescreening will not help it.
Count them
All of them, including the ones you have been ignoring. Most of the cost is the visit, so the second and third cost far less than the first.
Minnesota conditions
What Minnesota does to screens
A fierce short season, long winters and a lot of original timber frames.
The insect season is short and serious
Minnesota's mosquito season arrives quickly, particularly near lakes and wetland, and it does not tolerate a torn screen. That is why April booking matters more here than almost anywhere.
Original wooden screens everywhere
Minneapolis and St Paul's early-century housing still carries a great many original timber screen frames. Humidity opens the joints over decades, and they can be re-glued and pinned rather than thrown away.
Combination storm-screen units
Across the state, triple-track units with interchangeable glass and screen inserts are the norm on older houses. The screen half fails like any other screen and almost nobody will service it.
Winter on screens left in place
Ice, snow load and months of freeze-thaw corrode corner keys and split spline channels. Taking screens down in October roughly doubles how long the next rescreen lasts.
Questions
Screen questions
Can you rescreen the frames I already have?
Yes, if the frame is square and the corners are sound. It is the cheapest option and most of what we do.
Do you repair wooden screen frames?
Yes, and Minnesota has a great many of them. Joints opened by age can be re-glued and pinned rather than binned.
Do you do the screen half of a storm window?
Yes. Combination triple-track units are everywhere here and very few companies will service them.
Nothing at the store fits my windows.
Entirely normal in older Minnesota housing. We build to the opening you actually have.
When should I book?
April. By the time you notice a torn screen on the first warm evening, you are already in the season.
Should I take screens down for winter?
It roughly doubles their life if you have somewhere to store them. If not, we will tell you which frames are getting tired.
Coverage
Window screen repair across Minnesota
A mobile service covering the whole state, metro to the Iron Range. Pick your town below, or call and we will come to you.
Related
Other repairs we handle
Windows and doors are the whole business, so whatever has failed, it is on this list.
Next step
Book the screens for April
Free estimates across Minnesota, and we are glad to take the small jobs.