Replacing a screen is easy. This is gonna take you a few minutes and cost around $10.
When I first moved into my house and looked into doing a few window screen repairs, I very distinctly remember thinking ... a spline roller?? What is a spline roller and why would ANYONE just happen to own one?
It seemed like a mystical & expensive tool only owned by the very handiest of DIYers. I needed to buy one immediately of course and it's now on my list of tools that any homeowner should have.
As it turns out, a spline roller looks like a glorified pizza cutter and costs about $5. BUT if you want to replace your screens, that little specialty tool is going to save you a lot of heartache.
With it, a utility knife, some spline and some screen mesh I started replacing all the ripped screens in my 1840 brick cottage.
It takes a total of about 10 minutes and 5 tools to replace one window screen.
BASIC STEPS: Remove the old screen & spline, lay new screen over the window, stick one end of the spline in the channel and then run the spline around the whole channel using the spline roller, locking the screening into place.
Done. That's it.
Here we go.
How to Replace a Window Screen
Materials you'll need
Spline (the rubbery rope used to hold the screen in place)
Scissors
STEP 1. Remove the old screen by pulling out the old spline and then the screen. If it's in good shape you can reuse your old spline.
TIP: MAKE SURE YOU BUY SCREENING THAT'S WIDE ENOUGH TO COVER THE WINDOW YOU'RE WORKING ON.
STEP 2. Unroll your screen to estimate how much you need. Cut it off so you have a couple of extra inches all around the window.
STEP 3. Grab your new spline and cut it a few inches longer than the spline you removed. The spline will be pushed into the channel when you push it in place with the spline roller.
STEP 4. Hold your screen up to the window and stick the end of your spline into the corner of a channel at the edge of the frame. Push it in tight with the tool. Holding your screen tight WITHOUT stretching and then roll the spline roller's grooved side along the spline, pushing it into the channel.
Here I've started with the upper right corner of the window.
Continue to push the spline in with the roller all around the window until you end where you started. Trim the spline.
Be careful when using the tool. It is sharp and if you aren't careful with it you'll cut your screen and have to start all over again.
TIP: Make sure you're always holding the screen tightly so your finished product will be tight. Not loosey goosey. This is a window screen, not a caftan. You want it tight.
STEP 5. Using the box cutter, trim the excess screening away.
YOU'RE DONE.
The Materials
Screening
Window screening is either aluminum or fibreglass.
Aluminum screen is visually more noticeable and stronger however it's a little harder to work with and you only get one shot at installing it because once you push the spline in, it bends the screen which can't be flattened again.
Fibreglass screening is black, almost invisible but cuts and tears more easily. You can redo and replace the screen as many times as you like until it's perfect.
Spline
Spline is the ribbed, rubber rope that holds the screen in the window. It's about $5 for enough to do 2 windows. It comes in different sizes, but I've honestly never paid attention to the size. It squishes so there's very little chance if you got the wrong width that you won't be able to make it work.
The spline roller
The spline roller is just a gadget with one grooved end and one smooth end that's used for pushing the spline into the window frame. You can get it any hardware store. You roll it like a pizza cutter.
Do yourself a favour and get one of these because even though you may have never heard of it and therefore it kind of scares you, it's a lot easier to do any job if you have the right tools. They're $5.
Why do I need a box cutter?
The box cutter is used to cut the excess screen away from the window when you're done. You can try to use scissors but you won't get a nice close cut.
Scissors
If you don't know what scissors are it's probably because you're a danger to yourself or others. It's best you keep away from them and windows in general.
The same principal works for all window screens, old or new. This is also the method you would use to fix a ripped screen door.
Technically you're supposed to take the screen out and lay it on the floor to do this job, but my screens don't come out and frankly, it's just as easy to do it while it's up.
How to Replace a Window Screen.
What you need and how to replace a window screen.
Materials
- Window screening
- Spline
- Spline roller
- Scissors
- Box cutter
Instructions
- Pull the old spline (rubber string basically) out of your window then remove the old screen.
- Cut your window screening so that it's a couple of inches larger than the opening you need to cover.
- Lay the screen over the window making sure it's straight then push a couple of inches of the spline into the channel starting at a corner.
- Holding the screen tight, run the spline roller across the spline to push it into the channel and lock the screen in place.
- When you get back to your original corner, cut the spline and push the last bit in.
- Using a box cutter, cut the excess screen off. You're done.
Now that you're feeling pretty good about your DIY self, I'd like to direct you to this post that explains how to use a plunger and how to identify the difference between a sink plunger and a toilet one.
This is the perfect example of a job that's really easy to do but only if you have the proper tools. You NEED to get the spline tool. You only need to buy it once and you'll use it over and over again.
My cat for instance lays in a window and is constantly pushing the screen out at the bottom with her enormous cat feet. Every once in a while I just go outside with my spline tool and push the spline back in.
All without needing to call anyone, wait for anyone or pay anyone. And you can do the same.
Unless you live in a high rise.
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Does it count if I use "spline" to mean a curve defined by a polynomial? Cause I do that every day at work. My geekery knows no bounds.
Bri - Um. I've given it some thought and ... yes. Yes, it counts. ~ karen
When we had a house like this, my parents just left the window a/c units in all year. Of course, that was until my dad found out that in the winter my sister would crank the unit in her room up to freezing cold and the electric blanket up to ultra hot! He swore he would heat her room or cool the room but he be darned if he would do both at the same time! (but he did teach us how to use the spline tool, too!)
I learned how to do this when I had a 1920's era house in Iowa. However, my husband and I just used an old pizza cutter. (We'd consolidated stuff and we had two.) It wasn't perfect but we were in our early 20s and had bought a house that needed more work than we knew. Which should be a lesson; when buying a house that needs work you should always assume it needs at least twice as much work as you think.
Man, thanks for that! Some years ago, I paid a fat, greasy dude $50 to rescreen our screen door, the kind of dude whose pants hung too low and you could see his coin slot in the back...Gaaah, I still have nightmares about it, so much so that I would rather live with a hole in my screens, but now I don't have to!
Thanks for the info but off topic....I love your haircut!
Brilliant! I would have never known how to do this. I'm so excited to replace the screens at my house so we can use our attic fan! (We are old fashioned too!)
I used the word 'nuthouse' - as in I am going to end up in one - two summers ago when we took over an old cottage and nearly every screen in the place had a hole in it. I became very intimate with spline and its tool. I mean blisters-on-my-fingers intimate. But worth the effort - no black flies, mosquitoes or larger creatures in the cottage. But one warning - if you are replacing a screen in an aluminum frame, be careful with your tension 'cos you can end up with an hour glass instead of a rectangle. I found a sort of jig could help the frame keep its shape.
This screen concept is weird to me. We just push the whole screen out and pop the whole thing back in, there's no cutting or trimming and all that.
On another note, I can't read your log at my house- it says I've been blocked becomes I'm a spammer. Strange, huh?
Rachel - That is odd. I have a feeling it has something to do with my server, which I am working on. People have been having weird problems with not being about to view it etc. etc. so you're not the only one! Hopefully it'll be fixed within the next week. ~ karen
I think I love you... we can't even open some of our windows because I couldn't find the old alum screens that fit! I am going to try this right away! Also, working on my abs still. Thanks for the motivation.
I can easily use the word "nuthouse" in my conversation today...i.e., "my husband's ex-wife should be committed to the nuthouse." See? I've already met your demands and it's only 7:49am CST. Go me! Thanks for the great tutorial!
Hahahah oh my goodness, my mother has had that spline tool in her sewing goodies box for soooo long and none of us knew what it was and where it came from! Now I know, and now I can go steal it because I need to replace the screen in my sliding door...
And I know this MUST be easy to do because you didn't swear once!!
Britt-Make sure it's really a spline tool -- if it's in her sewing box it could be a Marker's Wheel for use with dressmaker's carbon. Or it could be a rotary cutting tool for quiltmaking.
Thanks SamiJ! I checked... it's definitely a spline... unless they do double duty...? lol
How did you know that this is a job that I need to do and that I am reminded of every time I go in my screen door??? Its a little scary! Does this mean you know ALL my thoughts? If you do, its the nut house for both of us.
"Spline, spline, spline" - it fairly rolls off the tongue. I will get my tool today. Thanks, Karen
Karen,
Once again perfect timing. My screen door was torn up by a dog that I was sitting. I was just going to buy a whole new screen. Thanks for the tutorial.
Hi,
i am putting in new screens in that are wooden... that will fit right in the window frame and I want to secure them with a ???? a little butterfly like clip that will allow me to secure the screen in and yet be able to remove it when I swerve it around. My question is what are this butterfly like clips called. i live in South American and need to order them from my native canada.
Thank you so much
Margie
ps. they do not exist in Uruguay...[people screw their screen in right on the frames.
Margie - I think you're looking for a "turn button". I'm not sure if everyone/every store calls it that though. See here .... http://tinyurl.com/5sjvwzz ~ karen!
You can find screen clips (it's always the most obvious name when you can't think of it - wink) here: http://prime-line-products.com/home4.wcs?nMenuid=3210&cProd=PL&cSProd=027&cAtt1=0065&cAv1=007&cAtt2=0011&cAv2=004&nAc=2
There are others on this site that are called casement clips too.
Lucy, you got some splining to do!
I haven't done this in a few years since we replaced all of our windows (the cost of which would make you think that I live in a house made entirely of windows). I miss using that little tool! Replacing the screens (after cat/raccoon shredding) was fun!
At this time of the year my screens come out of most of my windows. I love how the outdoors looks a lot brighter without them, makes the darker months feel more joyous!
Well....it's official. I'm going to have to get my husband to start reading your blog. I'm positive he would learn a thing or two. You're one talented chick. Who has chicks. ;)
I teach in a junior high and there's a full moon. I will definitely use the word "nuthouse" today.
that's it? omg. my dogs have turned a sliding screen door into a doggie door at my dude's place. that he rents. we had no idea how to put it back in so this is fantastic.
Thank you so much for this information. My patio screen door needs new screen and I thought I was going to have to hire someone to do it. This is invaluable to me!