Screen replacement

It’s actually not that complicated. I had never done this before last fall when one screen got “punched” and had a large hole, but now I’m within 4 screens of replacing the screen wire in all 17 windows. Had to buy the screen material, a $10 tool, and “spline.” But this was a new experience.

“Spline” is the rubbery, vinyl elastic that is used to push the screen material into a channel the runs all the way around the frame and helps make the screen taut. Through 13 replacements, I was able to re-use the spline that was in the frame. But the spline in this screen was brittle and had to be dug out of the channel with an awl. What. A. Mess. Fifteen feet of 1/8" disintegrated spline filled a ½-cup measuring cup. The mate to this one did the same thing, but these were the only two out of the seventeen. I was able to re-use the spline on all the others.

$10 tool.
$60 for 82 feet of screen.
$11 for spline.
$16 for screen I couldn’t use.
I spent less than $100 — plus hours of time, of course — but taking it to the local shop would have cost about $350, so $250 saved. 👍

An obvious question: Would the local window and screen shop have done as-good, or a better job? Unsure of that. As my brother-in-law says, “Professional means they get paid to do it. It doesn’t guarantee that they do it well.” I was probably more conscientious about my own screens than the local guy would have been…

[ PXL_20240321_201220701_12x8tm :: cell phone ]

March 21 posts
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[Mags]

You are the champ with DIY!

[Thom Mitchell]

@marlboromaam All because [almost] *everything* you could ever imagine doing has a YouTube video on how to do it!

[Mags]

@rhoing ROFLOL! If I only had the patience and stamina I used to have...

[Thom Mitchell]

@marlboromaam Saving $250 and knowing how to do it yourself in the future is a nice motivation, and you'll notice this happened over the course of several months! That's at least partially a stamina thing, for sure!