Safe removal and cleaning of your window and door screens explained.
Click here to order your screen repair materials!
Removing your window screens:
It’s not an uncommon occurrence for us to see customers coming into our store with a batch of screens to re-screen, along with a damaged one or two that have a frame member bent, kinked and/or snapped in two. Nor is it rare for a customer to come in with caked dirt layering their screens.
A permanent window screen that is not removable is very rare, although it may seem sometimes that there is no way to remove them without bending the frame and risking damage to it. Nearly all screens are sized to fit inside a channel or an indentation in the window casing that contains and holds them in place.
This channel is oftentimes oversized so that the screen can be pushed to one side, exposing the edge of the other side where it can be lifted from its’ position and removed. Other screens fit into a mitered joint or stepped down area of the frame made to accept the screen and is held into place with spring tensioned plungers that fit into permanent holes in the window when they are released.
If you’re stumped, try pushing the screen all the way to the top and look to see if by doing this you expose an edge of the screen at the bottom. If that doesn’t expose an edge, try pushing down, to the left, to the right and see which direction allows the most movement. Many screens have tabs or finger pulls on the bottom or sides made to allow a better grip on the screen to move it around. These should help prevent you from denting the screen wire or ripping the fiberglass screen material in the process. If you see round plungers on the sides, all you should need to do is pull on them to release the screen from the frame and then either push or pull the screen up and out from its’ framed position.
If you have a movable half-screen, you may need to raise the screen to the top and look for the channel containing the screen to taper and get smaller as you go up. We’ve observed that lots of the most challenging screens to remove belong to windows covered by an exterior storm window. You may need to remove the sashes and screen of your storm window first in order to provide enough space to remove your screen from the primary window.
Patio screens and other door screens operate a little differently. Patio door screens need to be lifted out from the bottom track and tilted inward or pushed down into the lower track and tilted inward to remove. Storm door screens are usually held into place with spring loaded pins that should relaease the screen when you pull the pin out and lift the screen. Some doors and storm windows have turn-buttons or holders of similar design, held tightly with a single screw. Loosen the screw and turn the tabs away from the screen to release them.
Most of the time there is a way to remove the screen without damaging it as long as you’re patient and careful. Once you get the first one, the rest will be a breeze.
Continue >> Removing and cleaning your screens Page 2
