Small Screen Repairs After A Hurricane

There are up to 19 states in the U.S. that potentially face the frightening aspects and effects of hurricane season. Homes and apartments with porches, backyard patios, and windows almost always feature window screens to keep insects at bay.

Hurricanes often damage screens from mild to severe. While we recommend an expert window screen installer to fix any major repairs, there are a few ways in which you can DIY, saving yourself extra costs, and fixing this minor issue relatively quickly and easily. We share our expert tips for small screen repairs right after a hurricane. Common Tools There are a few tools that will make repair or replacement of a screen in a frame much easier and faster for you. Here is a list of what we recommend having on hand before starting any repair.

• Clamps
• Utility knife
• Measuring tape or ruler
• Self-tapping metal screws
• Extra external or internal corners
• Slide-in leaf-springs
• Lift tabs
• Spline roller tool
• Screen patch kit for very small or minuscule tears and holes if necessary
• Staple gun
• Carpenter's square

What You Should Know Before Repairing To make sure your repair goes smoothly, there should be a few important things you should know before starting. Other than the right tools, you will want to have some information on hand.

What material – What material are your screens made of? For both visual appeal and to make sure the replacement screen or patch works well and matches the screens you have. Some common and unusual screen materials are:

• Fiberglass
• Aluminum
• Polyester
• PVC coated polyester
• Bronze
• Plastic
• Textilene
• Pet Screen
• Solar Screen
• No-See-Um
• Florida Glass

Patching Small Holes or Tears Very Small Holes For very small holes in a screen small enough to allow a fly or mosquito through, a few drops of instant glue that is waterproof is probably all you need to seal it. Metal screens with very minuscule holes can be filled and repaired easily with a bit of epoxy. Patch kits A quality patch kit should have everything you need to help patch small damages to a screen. Anything large, such as a hole or tear that takes up a large amount of the window screen or is torn out of the frame completely should be replaced instead of repaired. Most patch kits will have excellent instructions to follow, but we will go over some of the basic and important steps.

• 1. Always cut your patch to 1 and ½ inches larger than the tear or hole you are about to repair.
• 2. Thoroughly clean all dirt, dust, and debris from the area around the screen to ensure the adhesive has a proper and strong grip.
• 3. If your patch does not come with adhesive, use a heavy-duty, clear, weatherproof glue to secure the cut patch.
• 4. To keep glue from getting on your fingers or not adhering well, use painter's tape to secure a glued patch and screen together as the adhesive dries.

All patches should be completely replaced, though we understand waiting until the end of the hurricane season to do this when you are certain that you will not be replacing the screen again in a month. We hope our expert tips and small screen repairs for right after a hurricane will assist you this hurricane season. Keep your patio, windows, pool, porch, and door screens looking fantastic after small hurricane damage and save yourself your hard-earned money.