Congratulations on getting brand new window screens installed by a professional. Now that you've got your windows looking great, you'll need to do something with the old window screens you replaced. If you don’t want to simply throw them away, there are a number of different ways to can re-use those old window screens. Here are a just a few ideas that you can use to make something new from your old window screens:
Whether or not you fancy yourself a great artist, you can still use an old window screen as a lovely canvas to create a work of art. Even if you’re not very artistically inclined, the mesh canvas is a great way to practice your painting skills. For ease of use and fast drying, acrylic paint is a great choice. You can get acrylic paint at any local art supply store. Many exterior house paints will also do in a pinch. To make the project easier, print out a design and tape it to the back of the window screen. That turns your blank canvas into an easy paint-by-number project.
If you don’t want to use paint, you can use pieces of felt, foam, or other materials, and glue them to the mesh. The mesh in windows screens is usually small enough to hold enough glue to hold the material to the mesh screen. This is also a great way to hide any holes in the window screen. Once you have added your materials, you can accent the materials with paint. You can add glitter paint for an extra sparkle as well.
The mesh in an old window screen or patio screen makes a great holder and organizer for all of your jewelry. It is better to use a window screen with the mesh still intact. Simply hang it up on the wall and use hooks stuck in the mesh to hold your jewelry. If you don’t have any small hooks on hand, you can fashion some from paper clips or other long, thin, sturdy wiring. You can use smaller paper clips to hold rings or pairs of earrings together, or use a larger clip to hold a necklace. This usually works best for lighter jewelry, as heavier jewelry may pull too hard on the hook and cause it to fall out or damage the mesh itself.
You can use an old window screen to hold a small photo gallery on the wall for everyone to see. Hang your old window screen on the wall, and add wooden clothespins by sticking the metal wires through the mesh. You can organize the pins in any pattern you wish. Then simply add your favorite small pictures to the clothespins, and marvel at your new gallery display.
You can even keep a few extra photos on hand to swap with other pictures to keep the display fresh. You can also add more to the clothespins, instead of pictures. Use it to hold all your business cards, notes, phone messages, and easily create a bulletin board style message center that will always keep you up to date on the latest happenings for your business.
If the frame or mesh aren’t worthy of placing on the wall, you can use the mesh itself for lots of handy applications. For example, you can stuff the mesh into narrow crevices like pipe entries to keep insects out of your home. You can also use the mesh to help stop debris from falling down a sink drain. Place a piece of mesh in the drain before you put in the regular sink strainer. It catches more debris, but still lets water pass right through.
In the greater Los Angeles area, call the professionals at Peninsula Mobile Screen when it's time to repair or replace your window screens. Their screen repair service is highly rated, and they come to you and perform the job at your own home. It's the easy, fast, convenient, and affordable way to keep your window screens looking like new!
How often do you think about your window screens? Not many people think of a window screen as a high priority maintenance job, but your screens do a lot for your home. Keeping your window screens in good repair not only saves you money, but it also keeps your home more secure. Here are five great reasons why you should check your windows regularly to see if you need any window screen repair or replacement:
Window screens help keep wind-blown debris from dirtying up your home. Especially on windy days, your window screens help to keep your home clean and tidy.
A window screen is also good at keeping flies, bees, and other unwanted pests outside where they belong, instead of inside, bugging you. Window screens are also a good deterrent for larger problems like squirrels, birds, and other animals. Open windows without screens, or that need a window screen repair, are an open invitation to critters of all kinds to enter your home.
A window screen in good repair not only keeps unwanted pests out, it also helps keep your beloved pets in. With a good secure screen in place, you don’t have to worry about your pets going outside when they shouldn’t. A strong screen on your window makes a great deterrent if your pet has any sneaky ideas of getting out when you don’t want them to!
Most people do not think of their window screens as a theft deterrent.  But a window screen is another obstacle that a potential burglar needs to get through to get into your home. If you make sure to keep your  window screens well maintained and firmly attached, you add an extra deterrent to a would-be thief.
If you have security in mind for your window screens, ask about tougher and more secure screens when planning window screens replacement. You can ask your professional window screen repair technician for advice on a more secure screen for your windows.
A window screen in good repair always makes a house look better. Worn looking or torn screens on a home have a negative effect on the overall curb appeal of homes. With a good window screen repair job around your home, you can restore the natural curb appeal and beauty your home deserves. And since your window screens replacement repair is inexpensive when done by a professional technician, you can help beautify your home for not a lot of money.
A window screen in good repair lets in natural sunlight and air. Why turn on expensive air conditioning and waste energy? Â Window screens give you the peace of mind to simply open the window and let the fresh breeze flow through your house.
If too much light and heat is an issue, you can ask your window screen technician about special solar screens. These solar screens help keep out the sun’s light and heat, while still allowing a fresh breeze to enter your home.
There are a lot of good reasons to take a second look at your window screens around your home, and make sure they are in good repair. If you want a quality window screen repair done right, you should always call a professional. The expert technicians at Peninsula Mobile Screens know how to get the job done quickly and reliably. They can also recommend the best options for screen mesh and frame material for your windows. They know the best materials to make sure your window screens last longer and bring more lasting curb appeal.
Just as summer calls us to lemonade on the porch, open screen doors and windows, and the smells of a cookout, it also calls hundreds of nasty insects. Insects can be a real pain to deal with, buzzing and crawling into your house and onto your food, your pets, and your family. Thankfully, a good window screens or door screens can be an effective method to keep those nasty bugs out. In fact, window screening has been credited in the eradication of parasitic diseases in the 1950s. Even more, a well designed retractable screen door can add in not only fresh air and sunlight, but also a touch of elegance and beauty to any room.
Door screen materials have definitely been much improved from a century or so ago, where horse hair was used to create barriers from invading bugs. Starting in the 1920s, textile looms were modified to weave strands of metal, and galvanized steel screens became much more common in homesteads. Galvanized steel worked well as window and door screens for several years, but since steel tends to rust over time, a new metal eventually took over for galvanized steel -- aluminum.
Today's aluminum screening is a very rugged, metal mesh of aluminum wire. To make this aluminum “fabric”, a large aluminum rod, 3/8-inch in diameter, is drawn out to create a long, extremely thin wire, around 0.011 millimeters thick. The manufacturer then carefully winds this wire onto specialized bobbin. They then load this bobbin of aluminum wire into a loom modified for metal wire, and gets the machine started to weave aluminum fabric. Once the machine is done weaving the aluminum fabric, it is given a clear coat finish for protection and added shine.
You can also get window and door screens made from bronze wire that is composed of 90 percent copper and 10 percent zinc. this option is usually more expensive than aluminum, but is does not corrode as easily as aluminum does. This is very useful in coastal areas, where the sea air tends to wear out aluminum screening more quickly. When newly installed, bronze screening will have a bright golden shine. The bronze will eventually take on a beautiful turquoise verdigris patina, further enhancing the beauty of the screen door or screen window
Vinyl-coated fiberglass, the newest and most popular screen fabric material, will not rust, corrode, or stain, and can even stretch, but it does tear more easily than aluminum screens will. A spokesperson at Phifer Wire Products, one of the country’s largest screen manufacturers, explains the fabrication process: “We start with raw spun-glass filament and apply a vinyl (PVC) coating, producing remarkably strong single strands that are typically 0.011 mil for window screening and 0.013 mil for pool enclosures, patio rooms, and some door screening.” This type of screening is available in a multitude of colors, and can be easily made for projects such as retractable door screens, porch screens and coverings, or any unusually shaped openings that require a window screen.
One of the newest developments in the past decade in fiberglass and vinyl screens are Solar or “sun” screens. This screen material is also made from fiberglass coated in vinyl. The tightly woven solar screening material can help save a house a lot of energy when installed, because it works to help block heat buildup inside a house, which in turn helps to lower your air conditioning needs, and your energy bill. Due to the thick material, you may lose some of the light that a screen can afford -- some can reduce lighting by up to 30 percent. This also helps to keep your carpets and furniture from looking faded and old, due to sunlight exposure. In fact, you can even get window and door screens that block a staggering 90 percent of sunlight, if desired. During the day, solar screens look nearly opaque when looking from the outside in, but still offer good visibility when looking from the inside out.
If you have pets who have a knack for destroying you window or door screens, you may consider looking into special screens designed specifically with your pet in mind. Pet-resistant screens are made from a heavy duty polyester, which is coated in vinyl. This screen material is heavier and much stronger than normal screening, which is perfect to help keep your door and window screens safe from pet's claws.
Whether made from aluminum, bronze, or plastic, a good door screen, patio screen covering, or retractable screen door will help keep you and your family cool in the summertime, add natural sunlight to a room (or block it to keep heat out), and will protect you from those nasty buzzing baddies and crawling creepers that always seem to put a damper on your day. For those in the Los Angeles area, Peninsula Mobile Screens can show you the perfect options for your screen door, screen window to complement any room in your house for a very competitive price.
