Screen Doors

Unless you fancy the effect of living in a spaceship, you will want to expand your environment to include the outside air with the installation of screen doors to your home. As well as your screen door providing security to your home with a barrier across the open portal, a good screen door will protect your pet from wandering off unattended.

As with any home improvement project you begin, there is a multitude of options available for that perfect look. A rustic country setting will be enhanced by the inclusion of traditional wooden screen doors. Sliding screen doors leading out to your patio or porch deck give a sleek look and do not take up room when opened or shut. These sliding doors are also known as "retractable screen doors" because they slide sideways to overlap the solid glass or wood portion of the wall they are attached to.

In a more urban environment, you may wish to install a security screen door that has a wrought iron bar pattern. These security screen doors can be found in patterns ranging from basic "jail cell" style bars to an "art nouveau" pattern of leaves and vines which give a graceful appearance to your open portal without sacrificing the security of an inaccessible barrier to strangers.

Suburbanites may make do with the durable but inexpensive aluminum screen door. They come in many standard varieties from a single full panel of screen wire to a half screen, half glass configuration. Many of them include the feature of sliding screen panels that can be raised or lowered to completely fill the portal if you want added security and light but don't want the weather blowing in.

The hardware involved in installing or replacing screen doors is very simple and should require only a few basic tools and knowledge. Repairing the screen when it becomes damaged can be a bit trickier. Some screen doors allow you to install new screen but you have to be able to reinstall the weather seals on the frame. Other screen door repair options are complete replacement of the screen panel with a new-framed fixture to fit. You can temporarily repair a rip by weaving wire through the holes like stitching a wound but this results in a tacky "scar" and should be utilized only till a replacement can be fitted.

The best retractable screen doors should make replacement easy and the hardware simple to assemble. These features are most prevalent with aluminum screen doors, whether you opt for a swinging door or one of the fine sliding and retractable screen doors.