If the frame is sound only the mesh is replaced, and that costs far less than a new screen. You can check the frame yourself in a minute: lay the screen on a flat floor. If it rests on all four corners without rocking, it can be re-stretched.
01LAY THE SCREEN ON A FLAT FLOOR
If it rests on all four corners without rocking, the geometry is sound and the frame can be re-meshed. If it twists on the diagonal, it has gone out of true.
02CHECK THE GROOVE ALONG THE FRAME EDGE
The spline that holds the mesh sits in it. If the groove is broken or has widened, the spline will not hold and re-meshing will not last.
03WE DO NOT PATCH
A hole of any size means the mesh is replaced. A patch does not hold for long, and a month later you are calling the fitter again.
04WHEN A NEW SCREEN IS THE HONEST ANSWER
- The frame is out of true — new mesh will sag within a season
- The profile has started to crack
- The groove is destroyed along its length
- Hardware for that old profile is no longer available
How to tell whether the frame is still good
Lay the screen on a hard, flat floor, not on a carpet. Press each corner in turn.
If the frame sits tight and does not rock, the geometry is fine. If one corner lifts or the frame twists along the diagonal, it has gone out of true, and new mesh on it will sag again within a season.
The second thing to check is the groove around the edge of the frame. That is where the rubber cord holds the fabric. If the groove is broken, split or has opened up, the cord has nothing to grip and re-stretching will not help.
Third, look at the profile against the light. Cracks at the corners mean the aluminium has gone brittle in the sun. That is the end of the frame's life.
When the mesh gets replaced
A hole or a cut of any size. We do not patch: patches let go and a month later you are calling somebody back.
The mesh has sagged. Usually the culprit is not the fabric but the cord in the groove, which has stretched. Both get replaced.
The mesh has clogged beyond washing. Sometimes soapy water is enough, and we will say so honestly if that is the case.
The mesh crumbles in your fingers. Ultraviolet has dried the fibre and that cannot be repaired.
The aperture turned out too large and midges pass through. Not a fault, but the fabric is replaced by the same procedure.
When a new screen is the honest answer
The frame has twisted. Re-stretching a twisted frame is pointless: the fabric will sag again.
The profile has cracked. New mesh buys a screen like that a few months and then it repeats.
The groove has failed along its length. There is nothing to hold the cord.
The screen is very old and no hardware exists for its profile. Then a repair turns into a search, and it is more honest to say so at the start.
The frame is checked in a minute on a flat floor — and that minute is enough to tell a repair from a new screen.
How mesh replacement works
Usually a technician comes, lifts the screen off and takes it to the workshop. The frame is re-stretched there and the screen comes back and goes up in place.
We re-stretch on site when the screen cannot be removed: it sits in a fixed opening or is anchored.
If there are several screens we take them all at once, which costs less than calling somebody to each in turn.
You can change the mesh type during the work. If midges were passing through the standard aperture, a finer weave goes in instead.
