A screen door is a nice addition to your home since it lets a breeze in on a cool day while keeping bugs out. Screens last a long time unless a pet scratches on them constantly, but some damage is likely as a screen ages due to daily wear and tear as your family uses the door. The screen might develop small or large holes or even rips.

Repairs need to be done or you won't be able to use the door without the risk of mosquitoes, flies, and other bugs getting inside. Here's a look at repairing and replacing door screens.

Use Patches For Holes And Tears

The repair route you choose will depend on how you want your door to look. If you don't mind the repaired area being obvious, then you can use patches. Patches might be acceptable on a back door that guests won't see, but you may prefer a front screen door to have a new screen put on instead.

Patches can be applied with a peel-and-stick adhesive backing. You might also buy patches that are magnets that stick together through the screen to plug the hole. These can be cute magnets like flowers or ladybugs, so they're not as unattractive as a plain mesh patch that's more obvious. Some mesh patches need to be sewn on. If you take your time and use invisible thread, these can be nearly invisible.

Put On A New Door Screen

Sometimes the best solution is to have a new door screen put on. That ensures there will be no imperfections that affect the appearance of your door. You may want to hire someone to put on the screen since putting a new screen in can be difficult. The door may or may not need to be taken off the hinges, and if it does, that complicates the job too.

Whether the door is off the hinges or not, the process of putting on a new screen is the same. The old screen and spline are removed and discarded. The new screen is then cut so it's larger than the screen opening and overlaps on all sides. The tricky part is pushing the spine into the groove that holds the screen in place.

If this process isn't done properly, the new screen will look crooked or have a big wrinkle in it. Plus, if you're not careful, you can cut or puncture the new screen after you've been working on it for a while and have to start all over.

Putting a new door screen on looks like a simple procedure, but actually getting the screen and spline on right can be frustrating if you don't have experience doing it. If you put the door screen on yourself, work slowly and carefully so the screen is straight and tight when you get finished.

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