Fibreglass is softer, cheaper and does not dent: press it and it springs back. Aluminium is stiffer and holds its shape but keeps a crease for good. In the Emirates each has its own weakness, and the choice depends on what is attacking your screen.
01FIBREGLASS FORGIVES KNOCKS, ALUMINIUM DOES NOT
Fibreglass gives and springs back; a dent in aluminium stays for good. On a door people brush past, that settles it.
02SUN ATTACKS FIBREGLASS, SALT ATTACKS ALUMINIUM
UV dries out the polymer coating and the strand crumbles along the edge. Metal does not mind UV, but near the sea it oxidises faster.
03BY THE SEA THE HONEST ANSWER IS STAINLESS STEEL
It minds neither sun nor salt, which is exactly why it goes into security screens with a reinforced frame.
04THE SHORT VERSION BY CONDITIONS
- Shade or a north face inland: fibreglass is enough
- South and west in year-round sun: aluminium
- Coastline: stainless steel as the compromise
- Pets in the house: a reinforced mesh, not a standard one
How they differ physically
A fibreglass thread is glass in a polymer coating. The mesh is elastic: press it and it deflects and returns.
An aluminium thread is metal. The mesh is rigid and holds its own tension, but a dent from an impact stays forever.
Hence the first practical difference: on a door people walk past and bump into, fibreglass forgives more.
What the sun does to them
Ultraviolet is the main enemy of fibreglass here. The polymer coating degrades over time, the thread loses elasticity and starts crumbling at the edge. On a south or west elevation that happens noticeably sooner.
Aluminium is untroubled by ultraviolet. It oxidises and the mesh dulls, but it does not lose strength.
So on permanently sunlit openings, where a screen stands all year, metal lasts longer.
What salt and humidity do
By the sea the picture reverses. Fibreglass is indifferent to salt, because glass does not corrode.
Aluminium oxidises faster near water, and on the coast that is visible.
If the job is right on the sea and the screen has to last, the sensible direction is stainless steel: it fears neither ultraviolet nor salt, and that is exactly why it goes into security screens.
What to choose in which conditions
An ordinary window inland, in shade or facing north: fibreglass. It is cheaper and it is enough.
A south or west elevation in direct sun all year: aluminium, or a willingness to change the mesh more often.
The coast: fibreglass survives the salt better than aluminium but the sun will finish it. The compromise is stainless.
A door people walk through, children, animals: fibreglass forgives contact, but for animals you want reinforced fabric rather than ordinary mesh.
The mesh is not the whole price of a screen: the gap between mesh types is usually smaller than the gap between mechanisms.
About the price
Standard fibreglass mesh is the most affordable, and most screens in Dubai use it.
Aluminium costs more, stainless more again and it comes as part of a security construction with a reinforced frame.
What is worth understanding is that the mesh is not the whole price of a screen. The difference between fabrics is usually smaller than the difference between mechanisms, and choosing mesh to save money almost never makes sense.
