Retractable screens · Windsor-Essex
Retractable screens for patio, French and front doors
Screen season here starts around mid-April and lasts until the first frost, usually near the end of October. That's a long time to live with a door you can't leave open. A retractable screen lives in a narrow cassette on the door frame. Pull it across for air without mosquitoes; let it wind back and it's out of sight. It suits French and garden doors with nowhere to hang a regular screen. We're a referral service: describe the door and we'll look for an independent pro near you who fits these.
- Screens for doors that swing
- Out of sight when not in use
- Measured and quoted by local pros
The parts
How retractable screens work
Knowing the parts makes quotes easier to compare.
The housing
A narrow cassette on one side of the frame. A brake stops the mesh snapping back.
The guide rails
Keep the mesh straight. A low-profile bottom rail is easier on bare feet and wheelchairs.
The latch
A magnet or catch holds the handle bar at the far side.
Pleated mesh
Folds like an accordion instead of rolling. Suits wide openings, with no spring tension.
French and garden doors
French and garden doors: screening without a track
A hinged door swings through the space a sliding screen would need, which is why French and garden doors often go without one. A retractable mounts on the side away from the swing, so the door works as usual and the screen pulls across behind it.
In-swinging doors usually get the screen outside; out-swinging ones get it inside. Front doors work the same way, if you'd rather not add a storm door.
Sliding doors
Replacing or upgrading a sliding patio screen
If your slider's screen is torn or jumping its track, repair is usually simplest: new rollers, mesh or a frame made to size. See screen door repair, or window screens for windows.
A retractable makes sense when the sliding screen keeps getting knocked off or blocks half the opening. If a new patio door is coming, ask about screens at the same time; it's all part of our door and screen work.
Wide openings
Wide openings and walkouts: pleated and double screens
Walkouts, multi-panel sliders and folding patio doors can be wider than one roll-up screen handles well. Two screens meeting in the middle, or a pleated screen, cover the span without sagging. If the space off the kitchen is already roofed, porch screens may be the better fit.
Day to day
Living with them: wind, pets and cleaning
Wind
Windsor's prevailing wind is from the southwest, and summer thunderstorms bring strong gusts. Pull the screen in before a storm, and tell the pro which way the door faces.
Pets
Standard mesh won't stop a dog that means it. Pet-resistant mesh is tougher, and mesh that pops out of the rail and pushes back in beats mesh that tears.
Cleaning
Wipe the bottom rail now and then; grit is what makes a screen stick. Keep it retracted over winter.
Pricing
What changes a retractable screen quote
These are what a quote depends on:
- Width and height of the opening
- Single, double or pleated screen
- Mesh type: standard, pet-resistant or solar
- Frame colour to match the door
- Mounting on brick or trim, or an out-of-square frame
- Removing an old screen or storm door first
Measure the opening inside the frame, width and height, in two or three places. Note the door type and which way it swings, and add a photo.
Questions
Retractable screen questions
Explore your options
Other door and screen jobs
We pass retractable screen requests to local pros across Windsor-Essex, including Belle River & Lakeshore, LaSalle, Tecumseh & St. Clair Beach, Forest Glade and Riverside.
Measure the doorway and tell us the door
Width, height, door type and a photo is all it takes. We send it on and nudge it along if it goes quiet.