Screens
Window Screen Repair
Torn mesh, frames out of square, wooden screens with joints that have opened, and the combination unit whose screen half has not been down in years.
- Usually
- Finished on the visit
- Custom sizes
- Built to your opening
- Best month
- April
- Small jobs
- One screen is fine
Start here
The five questions people call us with
Screens are the cheapest work we do and the most often quoted as something larger.
Do I need new screens?
Usually not. New mesh and spline in the frame you own costs a fraction and takes under an hour.
Mine keeps falling out.
Not a mesh problem. A corner key has let go and the frame has racked, or the clips have worn.
Nothing at the store fits.
Normal in Michigan housing. We build to the opening you actually have.
Can wooden screens be saved?
Yes. Joints opened by age can be re-glued and pinned, and almost nobody will tell you that.
When should I book?
April. The bug season here is short and it arrives fast.
The detail
Three parts, and the mesh is only one
A screen is a frame, a spline gripping the mesh into a channel, and the mesh itself. All three are consumable and all three are replaceable, which is why this is the cheapest work we do.
The spline usually fails before the mesh does. It hardens with age, lifts out of its channel and lets the mesh go slack, which then bows and tears. And if a corner key has corroded or pulled out, the frame racks and no amount of new mesh will hold tension in it.
Michigan adds two categories. A great deal of the older housing still carries original wooden screen frames, and a great deal more has combination triple-track units where the screen is one insert among three. Both are repairable and very few companies will take either on.
Two peninsulas
Screens north and south
Different insects, different seasons, different storage habits.
North & the snow belt
North and lake country
- A short, intense blackfly and mosquito season
- Screens on seasonal properties stored or left up all winter
- Lakefront porches where screens are the main enclosure
- Snow load and ice on frames left in place
- Fine mesh worth considering where the smaller biters are the problem
Southern Lower Peninsula
Metro Detroit and the south
- A longer warm season and more screen use overall
- Combination storm-screen units on older urban housing
- Dozens of screens per house in the suburban stock
- Pollen and city grit loading the mesh
- Easier to batch a whole house in one visit
Wherever you are, the saving is in doing them all at once. Most of the cost is the visit rather than the screen.
The Michigan year
The screen year in Michigan
This is the most timing-sensitive service we offer, and the window is narrow.
| When | What to do | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| March | Count them and book | Before everybody else does. By late April the schedule is full and the bugs have arrived. |
| April | Rescreen and refit | The right month. Done now, they are ready for the first warm evening rather than three weeks after it. |
| May–June | Combination units swapped to screen inserts | And any seized tracks dealt with while the panels are out. |
| July–August | Repairs as damage happens | Pets, storms and ordinary use. Quick turnaround in the middle of the season. |
| September–October | Take them down and store them | The single thing that most extends screen life in this climate. Ice and snow load are hard on frames left up. |
| November–March | Workshop repairs | If you can get them to us or we can collect, winter is a sensible time for frame rebuilds. |
Seasonal properties
Screens at a cottage
On a Michigan lake property the screens are doing more work than the windows.
The porch is the room you use
On most cottages the screened porch is the point of the place. Torn mesh there is not a cosmetic issue, it is the difference between using the space in July and not.
Left up all winter
Most seasonal screens stay in place through snow, ice and months of freeze-thaw. Corner keys corrode, spline channels split, and it is all discovered in May.
Do them at the opening visit
Book it before you arrive. A torn screen found on the first warm weekend is three weeks of waiting; one booked for April is ready when you are.
Mesh choice matters near water
The smaller biting insects near lakes and rivers go straight through standard fibreglass. Fine mesh is worth the marginal cost if that is your problem.
Michigan conditions
What Michigan does to screens
A short fierce insect season, long winters and a lot of original timber frames.
The bug season is short and serious
Michigan's blackfly and mosquito season arrives quickly, particularly near water and in the north. A torn screen is noticed within a day of the first warm evening, which is why April booking matters so much.
Original wooden screens everywhere
Michigan's housing is old enough that enormous numbers of houses still have their 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 Michigan 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 Michigan housing. We build to the opening you actually have.
Will you come up to a cottage?
Yes, and the sensible plan is to book it for April so the place is ready when you are.
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 Michigan
A mobile service covering both peninsulas. Pick your town below, or call and we will come to you.
Window Screen Repair Across Michigan
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 Michigan, and we are glad to take the small jobs.