How to repair a window screen
A torn or saggy window screen is one of the most fixable things in your house. Here is how to patch a small hole, rescreen a frame yourself step by step, and tell when it is worth letting us do it for a flat price.
Quick version: a tiny hole can be patched. Torn, baggy, or popped-out mesh on a good frame means re-meshing it (a "rescreen"). A bent or cracked frame is the only time you actually need a whole new screen. Start by figuring out which one you have.
What kind of damage do you have?
A pinhole or a short tear can be patched with clear screen-repair glue or a stick-on patch. It is visible up close, but it keeps the bugs out as a stopgap.
Once the mesh is ripped, stretched loose, or has pulled out of the frame groove, patches will not re-tension it. The real fix is re-meshing the frame — a rescreen.
If the aluminum frame is bent, split at a corner, or the plastic corner keys are broken, the frame itself needs straightening or replacing — new mesh alone will not hold square.
How to rescreen a window screen, step by step
Re-meshing an existing frame is the most common repair — and the most satisfying. Here is the whole process.
Pop the screen out
Remove the screen from the window — most slide out or release with small tabs or springs on one edge. Lay it flat on a table or the floor.
Pull out the old spline
Find the thin rubber cord (the "spline") pressed into the groove around the frame. Lift one end with a flat screwdriver and pull it out all the way around. The old mesh lifts free.
Lay down fresh mesh
Roll new fiberglass screen mesh over the frame with a couple of inches of overhang on every side. Keep the weave running straight so it sits square, not skewed.
Roll in new spline
With a spline roller, press new spline into the groove over the mesh — start on one side and work around. The wheel tucks mesh and spline into the channel together and tensions the screen as you go.
Trim the excess
Run a utility knife along the outer edge of the spline to trim the overhang, cutting away from the spline so you do not nick it. Pop the screen back in the window and you are done.
The one specialty tool is a spline roller — a little two-wheeled tool that costs about $8. Everything else (mesh, spline, a utility knife, a flat screwdriver) you may already have or can grab cheaply.
Pick the right fix for what you have
A tiny hole and you want a fast stopgap. Screen glue or a stick-on patch. Quickest and cheapest, but it shows and will not last forever.
Torn or saggy mesh on a good frame — by far the most common fix. Re-mesh it yourself, or we do it on-site at a flat price.
The frame is bent, cracked, or the corners are shot. The frame is the durable part, so this is the rarest case — we build a new screen to fit.
When it is worth just calling us
DIY makes sense for one screen and a free afternoon. But if you have a whole house of screens, a bent frame, want pet-resistant mesh, or just would rather not buy a roller and fight the tension, a mobile rescreen is quick and cheap.
We come to you all across the Wasatch Front, re-mesh on-site, and the price is flat: $50 for one screen, $35 each for two or more. Text a photo and we will confirm the exact number the same day.
Window screen repair, answered
The questions we hear most from people fixing their own screens.