A torn fly screen is a small job until the first hot night in the Riverland, when the mozzies come up off the river and straight through the hole. Most damaged screens don't need replacing. If the frame is straight and the corners are sound, the old mesh can come out and new mesh can go in. Lindsay does window and fly screen repairs from his two bases, Waikerie and Gawler, so spring is a good time to get them sorted before the weather turns.
Repair or replace: how to tell
The frame decides it. The mesh is the cheap, easy part to change.
- Re-mesh it when the mesh is torn, holed, sagging or pulled out of its rubber spline, but the aluminium frame is still square and the corners are tight.
- Replace it when the frame is bent, a corner has cracked or come apart, the screen is missing, or it never fitted the window properly in the first place.
- Fix the fittingswhen the mesh is fine but the screen keeps falling out. Often it's a broken clip, a missing spring or a worn runner, not the screen itself.
One bent screen in a set of eight is common. It makes sense to get them all looked at in one visit, re-mesh the ones that only need mesh, and replace only the ones that are past it.
Signs your screens need attention before summer
- Holes or tears, even small ones. Mosquitoes don't need much of a gap.
- Mesh bulging, loose or coming away from the edge of the frame.
- Light showing around the edges of the screen when it's in the window.
- Screens that rattle in the wind or drop out when the window opens.
- A sliding fly screen door that jumps off its track or won't close all the way.
- Mesh that has gone brittle and cracks when you press it, which happens to old screens on sunny walls.
A walk around the house with the windows open on a bright day shows most of these in a few minutes. Make a note of which rooms and which windows, and take a photo of each problem screen.
Why it matters more in the Riverland
River towns like Waikerie, Barmera, Berri, Loxton and Renmark get plenty of mosquitoes in the warmer months. SA Health's advice on protecting yourself from mosquitoes at homeincludes putting mosquito-proof mesh on doors, windows, vents and chimneys, along with getting rid of water lying around the yard. Good screens let you open the house up on a cool evening without letting the bugs in, which matters when you're trying to get the heat out after a 40-degree day.
Wind and dust are the other Riverland problem. Fine dust settles in the mesh and in the bottom track of sliding screen doors, and a screen that is a little loose in its frame takes a beating on a windy afternoon. If a screen door has started dragging, our guide to sliding doors that are hard to open covers the track and roller side of things.
Gawler homes: odd sizes and old windows
Around Gawler, Willaston and Evanston there are plenty of older homes with timber windows and screens that were made to measure decades ago. Off-the-shelf screens rarely fit those, so a repair to the original frame is often the better option, or a new frame made to suit the opening. Newer homes in Gawler East and Hewett usually have standard aluminium windows, where screens are simpler to re-mesh or replace.
Choosing the mesh
- Standard fibreglass mesh.The usual choice for windows. It's soft, doesn't dent, and is easy to re-mesh again later.
- Aluminium mesh. Stiffer and holds its shape, but it can dent and crease if it gets knocked.
- Pet-resistant mesh. A heavier woven mesh that stands up better to claws and noses. Worth it on the back door and any low window the dog likes to look out of.
- Security screens. These are a different product from fly screens. A screen sold as a security screen in Australia should be made to the Australian Standard for security screens (AS 5039), so ask the supplier for that rather than expecting a fly screen to do the same job.
What to send for a quote
Lindsay can usually price fly screen work from a few details and photos:
- Your town or suburb.
- How many screens, and which are windows and which are doors.
- A photo of each damaged screen, plus one showing the whole window.
- Rough sizes (width and height) if you can measure them.
- Whether you have pets, so the right mesh gets quoted.
Broken glass is a glazier's job, and if the window frame itself is rotten or damaged, mention it so Lindsay can tell you what it needs. Other small jobs can go on the same visit, like a sticking door or a loose gate, which saves a second call-out.
Send the photos through the quote form or call Lindsay on 0481 195 152 for a free quote. He covers the Riverland, Gawler, the Barossa and further afield.