Screens · Ketchum & Sun Valley
How to tell whether a torn window screen needs new mesh or a whole new screen, and how to measure it before you call.
A screen is two things: a frame and a sheet of mesh. If the frame is straight and the corners are tight, you only need new mesh. That is rescreening, and it is the cheaper job by a long way. If the frame is bent, cracked or corroded, you need a new screen built to fit the window.
Most torn screens we see only need the mesh. The frame is usually fine; it is the mesh that takes the dog, the hail and years of sun.
A hole, a tear, or mesh that has gone slack or brittle, in a frame that is still square and sits properly in the window. We pull the old mesh and spline, stretch new mesh into the same frame and trim it.
A frame that is bent, a corner that has let go, corrosion, or a screen that is simply missing. We build a new frame to the size of the opening with new mesh and new hardware.
If it keeps jumping the track, it is usually worn rollers or a frame out of square. Bring it in and we will tell you which. A new frame is the answer when the old one has gone.
Lay the screen flat on the floor. If a corner lifts or the frame rocks, it is bent. Look along each long side from one end; a straight frame looks straight.
Then check the corners. If one is loose or split, or the frame flexes there when you press it, the corner has let go. Check the metal itself too: white crust or pitting on an aluminum frame is corrosion.
If all of that checks out, you need mesh, not a new screen.
For a rescreen, measure the frame. Width first, then height, in inches, across the outside edges of the frame. Measure each direction in two places and use the larger number.
For a new screen, measure the opening it fits into. If the old screen is missing or too bent to trust, measure the space in the window where the screen sits, width then height.
Write down anything unusual: a pull tab, springs on one side, a sliding door screen with rollers. A photo of the screen and the window it came from helps more than any measurement.
With those numbers, the Instant Estimate gives you a ballpark for a rescreen or a new screen in about a minute.
Yes, and for most screens that is the fastest way to get it done. The shop is at 118 Lewis Street in Ketchum, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. No appointment needed to drop off.
Yes. The clips, springs, pull tabs and rollers on the old screen can often be reused, which saves a little. Bring them in with the screen.
For a houseful of screens, a big sliding door screen, or a screen you cannot get off the window, yes. We come out and measure.
Ask when you bring the screen in and we will tell you what we have on hand.
A standard screen is the wrong tool for a door that opens a whole wall. We are a Centor dealer, and their retractable screens are built for openings that size. See the screens page.
Screens come out of storage in spring and everyone finds the tears at once. Fixing a torn screen over the winter means it is ready, and back in the window, long before the bugs are. Bring it by the shop whenever you are in town.
Torn screen?
Measure it, pick rescreen or new, and the estimator gives you a range. Then bring it to the shop, or call and we will come out.
Where we work
Our shop is on Lewis Street in Ketchum. We cover the Wood River Valley from the top to the bottom, and the Sawtooth Valley over Galena Summit.
Sawtooth ValleyStanley, Sawtooth City & Smiley Creek, over Galena SummitRepair or replacement? Get a ballpark price in about a minute. Bigger custom project? Request a quote and we'll take it from measurement to final polish.
