Hello AT,
Even though it's hard to believe that spring is actually coming, I was hoping to get some advice with respect to window screens. I am lucky (or unlucky) enough to have very large windows - 76" inches wide (and double that in height). I am on the parlor floor of my building, so I can't leave the window open without a screen for bug reasons (and also because I have a very fresh-air-loving pooch)...
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But I'm not crazy about getting full screens installed, since they obscure the view, are very expensive at that size, and I don't have anywhere to store them in the winter. I have seen adjustable window screens (like in the picture attached), but they don't seem to come in sizes wide enough for my windows. Help!
Many thanks, Sara
Dear Sara,
We have small windows with small adjustable screens which you already know about, however, we have seen larger ones at the hardware store. Are they big enough for your window? Probably not.
We did find these guys, Metro Sceenworks, who offer custom sizes as well as lots of standard sizes. What you could do it buy two for each window and fashion the connection between the two yourself. This way you'd be able to imitate the retractable part and the smaller screens would store more easily.
You could also do vinyl screen "fabric" which attaches to the window and sill with velcro. This would be cheap, super simple to store and not bad looking either.
Anyone else?
how come the emails that i send to you always get returned to me?
i think the sara in the first comment is a different sara... but thanks, maxwell. i think your idea for velcro and screen fabric is a great idea. i recently used that stuff inside a picture frame to make an earring holder/display, and it worked terrifically. thanks!
different sara. i wanted to ask a question and can't send it to the email. even after adding the correct symbols and such
what's this screen fabric? I've never heard of it ... also, how do you attach the velcro to the window frame?
diana - some hardware stores have these really big rolls of screen fabric (that is, what's inside a regular, framed screen). i think people use it to make repairs on ripped screen windows, etc. but you can buy it by the foot, and it's inexpensive. it comes in different metallics, and with different sized holes, and some is even kind of stretchy.
as for the velcro, i've seen it sold with some kind of adhesive on the back... i'd have to fool around with it a little, but i think you'd stick one side of it to the inside of the window frame (and the other half would attach to the screen fabric).
I've just recently heard of mosquito curtains (try Google). People are using them to screen in porches but I've wondered if the fabric couldn't be installed inside of windows or outside of doors. My house doesn't have screens and the curtains look like a more attractive and less expensive solution to actual screens. I guess it wouldn't do much to keep a dog in though.
You could use the two smaller screens and screw a small hinge to connect them and they would still retract/slide and fold in half for storage. Or get some 1x1 wood and some corner brackets and build your own frame and staple the screening material to the frame you've built to fit. I have also used the screen and self adhesive Velcro system and it will work fairly well, but only if you are not removing and replacing it on a regular basis. Note that the paint on the window may come if if you remove the Velcro.
You could use the two smaller screens and screw a small hinge to connect them and they would still retract/slide and fold in half for storage. Or get some 1x1 wood and some corner brackets and build your own frame and staple the screening material to the frame you've built to fit. I have also used the screen and self adhesive Velcro system and it will work fairly well, but only if you are not removing and replacing it on a regular basis. Note that the paint on the window may come off if you remove the Velcro.
You'd need double-sticky-sided velcro (i.e. each half of the velcro has adhesive backing) to adhere the screen mesh to the sill, but I'm not sure how this would work without a lot of fussing with it. It's hard to get it perfectly taut, not to mention squared. It would drive me Crazy to look at crooked screens all summer long. :)
I really like the idea of putting two together with a small hinge. I've got an unscreened, odd-size window that I might try this for.
Our windows have these roll-up type screens installed. You just pull them down when you need them like one of those classroom maps, and when you don't they roll back up into a little tube. They are installed about half away down our windows, and since they are pained, the tube blends right in, and is hardly noticeable.
They came with our condo (which is very old) so I'm not sure where you could buy them, but I imaging a little googling would come up with something. Also you might be able to DIY something with a rool of screening from the hardware store, a stick, and some kind of turning handle.