Do this now
Take the screen out of the window and lay it flat on a table. Then look at the groove around the edge: torn mesh and a spline that has simply come out are different jobs, and one of them is free.
Window screen repair: rescreening it yourself costs $10 to $20
Updated
Almost every window screen is the same object: an aluminium frame with a groove around the inside edge, mesh laid over it, and a rubber cord called a spline rolled into the groove to trap the mesh. Nothing is glued and nothing is stitched. That is why this is a ten minute job rather than a trade: if the mesh is intact and the spline has lifted out of the channel, you press it back and you are done. If the mesh is torn, you pull the spline out, lay new mesh on, and roll the same spline back in. HomeGuide put the kit that does all of that at $10 to $20, against $100 to $350 per window to have a screen replaced for you.
- 01
Get the screen out and onto a flat surface
Most screens sit in a channel and come out by pushing up and pulling the bottom toward you, or by squeezing two small tabs. Work on a table or the floor rather than in the window. Every step below needs the frame flat and supported.
- 02
Look at the groove before you buy anything. This is the test
Follow the spline all the way round with a finger. If it has lifted out anywhere and the mesh itself is sound, that is the whole fault, and pressing the spline back into the channel with a screen roller or even a thumb fixes it for nothing. Only if the mesh is actually holed or torn do you need to rescreen.
- 03
For a small hole, patch it rather than rescreen it
HomeGuide are direct about this: minor holes and tears are easily fixed with screen repair tape or a patch kit from most home improvement stores. It is not elegant and it is nearly invisible from a few feet away. Large or severe damage is genuinely harder and is where rescreening wins.
- 04
To rescreen, pull the old spline out first
Start at a corner and lift it with the hook that comes in the kit, or a small screwdriver. It usually comes out in one continuous piece. Keep it: if it is still soft and round it can go straight back in, and it is already the right diameter for your frame, which the new one in the kit may not be.
- 05
Lay the new mesh over the frame, oversized, and do not pull it tight
Leave a couple of inches hanging over every edge to hold on to. Resist stretching it drum-tight before you start: the spline does the tensioning as it goes in, and mesh pre-stretched by hand ends up bowing the frame inward once it relaxes.
- 06
Roll the spline into the groove with the convex wheel
The roller in the kit has two wheels: a concave one to seat the mesh into the channel and a convex one to push the spline down after it. Work one side at a time, doing the two long sides first, and keep the mesh square as you go. Firm steady pressure rather than force.
If the frame starts to bow inward, the mesh is too tight. Back the spline out on that side and go again with less tension.
- 07
Trim the excess with the blade angled into the channel
Run a sharp utility blade along the outside of the spline with the blade leaning into the groove rather than flat against the frame. Held flat it catches the mesh you have just fitted and you start over.
- 08
Refit it and check it sits square
Back into the channel the way it came out. A screen that will not sit properly afterwards is usually a frame that has been pulled out of square by over-tight mesh rather than a fitting problem.
What it costs
| Cost | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| DIY window screen repair kit, mesh and roller and spline included | $10 to $20 | |
| Screen repair generally, patch through to rescreen | $10 to $120 per window | |
| Fibreglass mesh, the usual material | $35 to $200 materials, $50 to $250 installed | |
| A replacement screen, standard window, fitted | $100 to $350 | |
| Handyman labour, doing several in the hour | $50 to $80 per hour | |
| Professional labour, per window on top of materials | $15 to $50 | |
| A screen door, fitted | $170 to $350 | |
| Rescreening a porch, a different job entirely | $600 to $3,500 |
Every figure here is published by the source named beside it. We do not average them into a number of our own.
Where to stop, and one case where paying is simply the better call
Rescreening is about as safe as home repair gets. The limits here are mostly about whether the thing in your hands is still a screen, plus one honest arithmetic point.
- You have six screens down after a storm
- HomeGuide put handyman labour at $50 to $80 an hour and note a skilled handyman replaces multiple screens in an hour. At that rate, doing all of them yourself is a hobby rather than a saving, and there is no shame in the call.
- The frame is bent, or the corners have pulled apart
- The corner keys can be replaced, but a frame that will not sit square will not hold tension either. At that point a new screen at $100 to $350 fitted is buying a straight frame rather than mesh.
- The window frame is rotted, or the glass is broken
- That is not a screen problem at all. HomeGuide put window replacement at $400 to $2,000 depending on material, and a new screen in a rotting opening is money spent twice.
- It is a porch or patio enclosure rather than a window
- Same principle, completely different scale. HomeGuide put rescreening a porch at $600 to $3,500, and the panels are large enough that tension and squareness stop being forgiving.
- It is a security screen or a pet-resistant screen
- Different mesh, different tension, and on a security screen the mesh is the point of the product. HomeGuide price those at $120 to $1,000 and $100 to $500 respectively, which is not a spline-roller job.
Why it happened
Screen mesh is a consumable and it fails from sunlight rather than from use. Ultraviolet light makes fibreglass brittle over years, so the mesh that tears when a cat leans on it in year twelve would have shrugged that off in year two. The spline ages the same way: the rubber hardens, shrinks slightly and stops gripping the channel, which is why screens on the sunniest elevation of the house are always the ones that go first and why they often pop out rather than tear. Nothing was installed badly. The south side simply got more sun than the north side.
What stops it happening again
The single most effective thing is taking them out over winter, if you have somewhere flat to keep them. Screens left up all year get the full UV load and the full weather, and stored ones outlast them comfortably. Beyond that, rinse them when you clean the windows rather than scrubbing them, and if you are rescreening on a sun-facing elevation anyway, the heavier pet-resistant mesh is worth the difference.
- The part
- A screen repair kit, which HomeGuide put at $10 to $20 and which contains the mesh, the rolling tool, the spline hook and new spline. One kit does several windows.
- How often
- Look along the spline groove once a year when the screens come out or go back in. A spline lifting at a corner is a two minute fix and a torn screen is not.
Want the rest of the house covered?
One email a month, timed to the systems you actually have. The same kind of thing as the tablet: small, cheap, and it stops the call.
Also asked
- How much does it cost to fix a window screen?
- HomeGuide put screen repairs at $10 to $120 per window, with the lowest end being a DIY repair kit for small holes and tears. A kit itself is $10 to $20 and contains mesh, a rolling tool, a spline hook and new spline. A replacement screen fitted is $100 to $350 per standard window.
- What is the spline on a window screen?
- The flexible rubber cord that runs in a groove around the inside of the frame. It is what holds the mesh in and what tensions it. Nothing is glued: the spline is the entire fixing, which is why the job is reversible and quick.
- Can I fix a small hole without rescreening?
- Yes. HomeGuide note that minor holes and tears are easily fixed with screen repair tape or a patch kit from most home improvement stores. Rescreening is for large holes or severe damage, where a patch will not hold.
- Why does my window screen keep popping out?
- Usually an aged spline rather than a fault with the screen. The rubber hardens and shrinks with UV exposure until it no longer grips the channel. Replacing just the spline, with the existing mesh, fixes it and is part of the same $10 to $20 kit.
- How tight should window screen mesh be?
- Not tight by hand before you start. Lay it over the frame with a couple of inches spare and let the spline do the tensioning as it goes in. Mesh pulled drum-tight first bows the frame inward once it relaxes, and then the screen will not sit square in the window.
- Should I repair the screen or replace the whole thing?
- Repair while the frame is straight and the corners are sound, since that is a $10 to $20 job. Replace when the frame is bent or the corners have pulled apart, because a frame that will not sit square will not hold tension either.
- Is it worth paying someone to replace window screens?
- Sometimes, and this is the honest answer. HomeGuide put handyman labour at $50 to $80 an hour with a skilled handyman doing several screens in that hour. For one screen, do it yourself. For six after a storm, paying is a reasonable call.