Service

Sliding Screen Door Repair & Installation

Screen doors get treated as an afterthought until the evening you want the door open and the mosquitoes disagree. They are also the cheapest thing on the opening to put right.

Call 619-923-0271

Rescreening

If the frame is straight and the rollers still turn, a torn screen is a quick fix. The old mesh and spline come out, the new mesh goes in under even tension, and a fresh spline locks it in. Done properly the mesh should be drum-flat with no ripples.

Mesh choice matters more than people expect. Standard fibreglass is fine for a door nobody touches. Pet-resistant mesh is roughly seven times stronger and is the right call on any door a dog or cat pushes against. Solar mesh cuts glare and heat on west-facing openings, at the cost of some visibility.

Rollers and frames

Screen door rollers are smaller and lighter than patio door rollers, and they wear out faster because nobody ever cleans the upper channel they run in. Replacing them is inexpensive and transforms how the door feels.

Bent frames are common because screen frames are thin aluminium and take the brunt of being pushed at the wrong corner. Mild bends we straighten. Anything worse is better rebuilt, because a racked screen frame will never seal against the jamb.

Custom-built replacements

Off-the-shelf screen doors from a home centre are made to nominal sizes, and almost no real opening is a nominal size. The result is a door that binds at one end or lets light through at the other.

We measure the opening and build the screen to it, in a heavier extrusion than the big-box units, with the mesh and roller type you choose. On older openings this is usually the difference between a screen that works and one that gets left open permanently.

Cost

Rescreening an existing frame typically runs $95 to $185 depending on mesh type and size. New rollers add a modest amount. A custom-built replacement screen door generally falls between $260 and $480 fitted.

If we are already on site for patio door work, screen repairs done in the same visit cost less because there is no second call-out.

A screened patio enclosure with one glass panel removed and leaning against the frame, surrounded by trees. — A screen enclosure panel out for reframing. Thin aluminium frames rack easily when they are forced.

From the van

Screen doors — from real jobs

Photographs from work we have carried out across San Diego County.

A sliding door and screen opening with the panel removed and a shop vacuum on the floor. — The upper channel gets cleared at the same time. Screen rollers fail because nobody ever cleans the track they run in.

Questions

Screen doors — common questions

Can you rescreen my existing screen door frame?

Yes, provided the frame is straight and the corners are sound. Rescreening is far cheaper than replacement and takes well under an hour. If the frame is racked or the corner keys have failed, a rebuild is the better value.

What is the best screen mesh for dogs and cats?

Pet-resistant mesh, which is a heavy vinyl-coated polyester roughly seven times the tear strength of standard fibreglass. It is slightly more visible than standard mesh, which most owners consider a fair trade against replacing the screen twice a year.

Do you make screen doors to fit unusual openings?

Yes. We measure the actual opening and build to it, which is the point — stock sizes rarely match a real door, particularly on homes built before 1990.

My screen door keeps falling out of the top track. Why?

Either the adjustment screws at the top have backed out, or the upper channel is packed with debris so the wheels cannot sit properly. Both are quick fixes, and both are worth doing before the frame gets bent by being forced back in.