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Screened In: How to Replace the Screens in Your Windows


In many parts of the world, window screens are an important necessity of comfortable living. While extremely helpful in keeping out unwanted intruders and letting fresh air flow in, screens are by nature delicate and often need repair or replacement. Particularly if you have a rambunctious dog and a sliding screen door, as my parents do. In their case, they have learned to keep a roll of fresh screening handy. In your case, hopefully this wont be quite as regular of a task!

On the do-it-yourself (DIY) scale, repairing or replacing screens is relatively easy and requires little elbow grease. The only materials required are:
new screening or screen patches
scissors
household cement
screen rolling tool
razor knife
square
1x2 and 1x4 stock to stretch the new screening
stapler
brads
wood putty

Screen Repairs
If you have noticed a small hole in your window screen, less than about 3" in diameter, you can simply repair the hole. Plastic screens are difficult to patch and should probably replaced. Fiberglass screens can go either way, while metal screens are easy to patch.
1. Measure the hole(s) and buy ready-made patches or cut them from new screening. For small holes, the patch should have a minimum diameter at least a half-inch larger than the hole. Larger holes require a full inch extra diameter of replacement screening.
2. To insert the patch into the screen, unravel quite a few strands around the patchs edges. Interweave these strands with the screening and bent until the patch is held tightly in place. The stands can usually be bent by hand, but if the screening is heavier you can use long-nosed pliers. Plastic patches also require some household cement on the strand ends after they have been woven into the screen.
3. Small holes (less than 3/8") with some household cement.

Screen Replacement
Replacing screens in metal and wooden frames can require different procedures. Because replacing screens in metal frames is easier, Ill discuss that process first and then move on to replacement of screens in wood frames.

Replace screening in a metal frame
1. Remove the screen from the window and lay on a hard, flat surface large enough to support the entire frame.
2. Remove rubber edging from the old screen. Set aside for reuse if it is in good shape. If not, discard it. Measure and cut new rubber edging.
3. Remove the old, damaged screening. The damaged screening and any scraps can be saved for future repairs.
4. Using the old screening as a pattern or measurements of the window, measure out the new screening from a replacement roll. Be certain to leave sufficient excess screening on all sidestypically enough to reach the outsides of the frame and a bit more.
5. With a screen rolling tool, start in a corner of the frame to tighten the screening into place. Press the rubber edging into the groove and secure the screening in the frame. Work your way slowly and with a steady hand around the screen. This helps avoid the errors of bending the screen frame, which is often made of thin aluminum, and ripping the screening with the screen rolling tool.
6. If you are finding the process difficult, try tacking the material to the frame first (recommended for fabric but not aluminum) or use a spreader to support long screens.
7. When the screening is pressed tightly into the frame, trim excess material with a razor knife.
8. Replace the screen in the window. Sit back and relax in your insect-free home!

Replace screening in a wood frame
Replacing the screening in a wood frame can be more challenging because of the care necessary in affixing the screening to the frame.
1. In the existing frame, start in the center of a strip of screen molding and work toward the ends, prying slowly along the way. Be careful not to break it.
2. For wood frames, the wedge method of stretching ensures tight screening for a quality finished product. For this method, have some 1x2 stock that is slightly wider than the frame handy. Also use 1x4 stocks to make the wedges.
3. Cut new screening from a replacement roll. Be certain to leave sufficient excess screening on all sidestypically enough to reach the outsides of the frame and a bit more.
4. Staple screening across top edge. Nail the bottom cleat to a bench or flat surface and install the 1x2 cleats. Roll the new screening over the cleats and nail to the top cleat.
5. Between the cleats and screen frame, insert the wedges. Tap wedges until the screen is pulled taut.
6. Every few inches, put a staple in the screening along the bottom and then the sides.
7. Trim excess screening. Countersink brads to refit screen moldings and fill holes with wood putty.
8. Finally, staple the entire screen tightly in place working from the center brace outward. Remove the wedges and the screen should stay taut. Use a screen rolling tool or putty knife to replace the screen moldings. As with the metal-framed screen, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet your hard work has afforded you!

An improperly written contract can cost you thousands of dollars.

Ten Critical Tools You Need to Stock Your Toolbox


Every time I hang a picture or measure a window, I carefully place my toolbox back in its place: an inconvenient corner in the back of the closet, next to the ironing board, underneath the winter coats, and behind a cabinet. Because I cant actually see in the closet, the next time I go to take out my toolbox, I have to squat down and reach blindly past the ironing board, beneath the coats, and around the cabinet to lug it out. When am I going to learn that I use my toolbox on an almost daily basis?

A well-stockedand easily accessibletoolbox can make anyones life a little, be she a homeowner, renter, or college student. The ten most basic tools listed below will put you in the right direction on the path toward complete tool sufficiency.

1. Toolbox
Not one to overlook the obvious, I would like to point out that the toolbox itself is an essential element of a well-equipped toolbox. My first toolbox was actually a plastic tackle box with a removable tray. It worked like a charm, holding my claw hammer, Phillips head screwdriver and a random assortment of nails and screws. Now Ive graduated to a fancy toolkit made of molded plastic where all the various tools and accessories snap into a particular place. If, like me, there are certain tools you use once a decade, the molded plastic option at least gives you a clue of whether the missing tool is long and skinny or short and square.

2. Home Repair Manual
Although technically not a tool, a good home-repair manual can open doorsliterally! Peruse the selection in your local bookstore or check out some online reviews of the most popular ones. All repair manuals will have the same basic information, so base your decision on the wording that makes the most sense to you and the pictures that you find the most helpful.

3. Hammer
Most often used for driving nails and breaking things apart, the hammer typically consists of a handle and a head. The most essential hammer to have in your toolbox is the claw hammer, which is useful in both driving in and removing nails. Other implements in the hammer category include: framing hammer, upholstery hammer, ball-peen hammer, rubber mallet, wooden mallet, and sledgehammer.

4. Screwdrivers
Screwdrivers tighten or loosen screws by applying torque. The typical hand-held screwdriver has a head that engages the screw, a shaft, and a handle. Screwdrivers vary in both size and head shape, and are identified by the screw heads they are used to tighten or loosen. The most basic screwdrivers are the slotted and Phillipsevery toolbox should have a couple of each in varying sizes. Additional screwdrivers include: PoziDriv, Robertson, crosspoint, Torx, and Hex.

5. Pliers
Pliers are used to increase gripping ability and leverage. However, within this category, pliers can perform slightly different functions. Cutting pliers sever or pinch off materials. Gripping pliers, as described above, are pretty self explanatory and include flat nose pliers, round nose pliers, and needle nose pliers. Gripping pliers are the most common variety, and are a tool no toolbox is complete without. Finally, crimping pliers are used in electrical work to crimp electrical terminals and connectors.

6. Tape Measure
Although tape measures can be made of cloth, ribbon, or metal, most toolbox tape measures consist of a stiff metallic ribbon, housed in a plastic case, which is self-retracting but can also be locked into place. Twenty-five feet is a good, all-purpose length.

7. Saw
A saw is used for cuttingthe type of material to be cut varies with the saw. A saw consists of a serrated blade, handle, and can be powered by hand, steam, water, or electricity. For your basic toolbox, a relatively small hand saw may be all that is required for minor projects around the home. In addition to the hand saw, back saws have a thinner blade that is reinforced by a steel or brass back. Frame saws stiffen the blade by placing it in a frame. For example, a hacksaw is a frame saw.

8. Putty Knife
A putty knife has a flat, flexible blade. Rather than being used for cutting, a putty knife is useful foryou guessed it!scraping and applying putty. Not too much to describe about this simple tool, but I can tell you that its handy in many different situations, and one of the most inexpensive tools on the list. Why not get it?

9. Wrenches
A wrench is used to create additional leverage in turning nuts, bolts, or other stubborn items. The most basic wrench is an open-end wrench, which is a solid piece of metal with a U-shaped opening at one end that grips the sides of a nut or bolt. More advanced wrenches include: a box-end wrench, which features an enclosed opening and is typically used with nuts or bolts that are hexagonal in shape; an adjustable end wrench or Crescent wrench (so called after the original patent holders brand name, Crescent Tool and Horseshoe Company); a socket wrench, and the Hex key or Allen wrench.

10. Awl
An awl is a woodworking tool, very useful for starting holes before drilling. Quite simply, the scratch awl is a steel spike with a sharpened tip at one end and a handle on the other. In actual woodworking, a scratch awl is used for scribing a line to be followed by a hand saw or chisel.