Is a torn screen worth rescreening, or should I buy a new one?

Rescreen it if the frame is true and the corners haven't split. New mesh in a sound frame is usually the least expensive fix, and it fits because the frame already does. Build new when the frame is kinked or split. A store-bought screen only works on a standard-size window.

Will a pet-resistant screen stop a cat that climbs?

It helps a lot. Pet mesh is thicker and coated, so it stands up to claws and pushing far better than standard fibreglass. It isn't armour, though: a determined climber can still pop a loose screen out, so pair it with snug clips on the windows your pets favour.

Our house has windows with no screens at all. Can some be made?

Yes. A pro measures each opening and builds screens to fit, with the right clips or hangers for the window type. It's a common request in older homes where screens were lost or never made. Measure one of each window if you'd like a rough quote first.

What's the least expensive way to fix a window screen in Windsor?

Rescreen the frames you have, and do them together. Standard fibreglass in an existing frame is the simplest job there is, and a batch saves a pro repeat trips. Dropping screens off can cost less than a house call, where that's offered. Ask for a written quote broken out per screen, or see every service we cover.

Can a solar screen help a hot west-facing bedroom?

It can take the edge off. Solar mesh is woven tighter and blocks part of the sun's heat and glare before it reaches the glass, which helps a room that bakes in the late afternoon. The view is darker. For heat with the window shut, window film does more.

Window screens · Windsor-Essex

Rescreening torn and bent window screens across Windsor-Essex

Screens earn their keep here. Windows go up in April, plenty stay up until Halloween, and a torn corner gets a long season to let things in. Screen work is small, and it's welcome: one screen, every screen, or the set that went missing before you moved in. We connect you with a local pro who does rescreening and makes new screens, and we make sure the request gets an answer.

One screen or the whole house
Rescreening and new frames
Pet, solar and privacy mesh

Get a free quote 519-916-0599

Mesh pulling away at a corner is usually a rescreen in the same frame.

Screen season

A longer screen season than anywhere else in Ontario

Frost usually lets go of Windsor by mid-April and stays away until about the end of October. That's a long stretch of open windows, and screens wear to match.

Torn or pulled-out mesh

Claws, kids, a stray ball, or mesh gone brittle in the sun. New mesh is rolled into the old frame.

Bent or racked frames

Bent taking it out, or twisted so it won't sit square. Light bends straighten; kinked frames get rebuilt.

Screens that pop out

Missing spring clips, worn pull tabs or a frame a touch small. New hardware or a new frame fixes it.

Screens that aren't there

Lost in a move, tossed years ago or never made. New ones are built to measure.

Fix or rebuild

Rescreen or rebuild the frame?

If the frame is true and its corners are solid, rescreening is the fix: old mesh and spline out, new mesh rolled in with fresh spline. It's usually the least expensive way to get a screen back.

If the frame is kinked, the corners have split or it never fit, a new frame is made to measure.

Diagram of a window screen with width and height lines, beside a cut-away of its frame showing the spline that holds the mesh and a spring plunger that holds the screen in the window — What a pro checks: the size, the spline holding the mesh, and the spring hardware that keeps the screen in the window.

Window types

Casement, slider and double-hung screens

Where the screen sits depends on how the window opens.

Casements and awnings
On these the screen lives on the room side, because the sash cranks out. Clips hold it.
Sliders
A half screen rides in the outer track, and it's the one a gust pulls loose. New spring clips usually cure it.
Double- and single-hungs
Half or full screens outside, sometimes in wood frames that rescreen just as well.
Missing screens and odd sizes in older homes
Windsor has some of Ontario's oldest housing, and older windows come in sizes no store stocks. Their screens are built to measure, including ones made to suit a storm window.

Mesh choices

Mesh choices: fibreglass, aluminium, pet-resistant, solar and privacy

Fibreglass

The standard. Flexible, won't dent or corrode, and easy to roll in. Charcoal is easier to see through than grey.

Aluminium

Stiffer and a bit brighter. Holds its shape but creases if something hits it.

Pet-resistant

Thicker, vinyl-coated mesh built to take claws. You see a little less through it.

Solar

A dense mesh that cuts heat and glare before they reach the glass. Useful on west-facing windows in July.

Privacy

Hard to see in through by day while you still see out. At night, with lights on inside, that reverses.

What affects the quote

What the price depends on

Rescreening sits at the small end of glass work. What makes it cost less or more:

How many screens, since a batch usually costs less per screen
Rescreening the old frame versus building a new one
Mesh type: pet and solar mesh cost more than standard
Odd sizes, arches or wood frames
New clips, corners, pull tabs or spline
Whether you drop the screens off or the pro comes to you

Batch them before bug season: count the screens, note which are torn, bent or missing, and measure one of each size.

Get a screen repair quote

One screen or twenty, asking is free.

Keep them working

Haze, pollen and storm season: keeping screens clean and on

Hazy days are common in Windsor, and dust and pollen turn mesh grey. Rinse screens with a hose and mild soap and dry them flat; a pressure washer can push mesh out of the spline.

Thunderstorms are more frequent here than in Toronto, and a strong gust will pull a loose screen out of its track. Fix the rattlers before storm season, not after one lands in the yard.

Other screens

Porches, patio and screen doors

A torn porch or screen room is rescreened panel by panel. A patio screen that won't stay on its track is covered under screen door repair, and a retractable screen suits doors that never had a good one. Landlords with a building's worth of screens can start with help for property managers, and every other screen and door job is on the doors and screens page.

Questions

Window screen questions

Explore your options

Local pros rescreen and build screens across the city and the County, including Walkerville, Riverside, South Windsor, LaSalle and Essex.

Count the screens, then tell us which are torn

List which windows, whether the mesh is torn or the frame is bent, and any that are missing. We send the list to a local screen pro, and follow up if the call hasn't come.