Window Screen Repair & Replacement
Window screen repair is the residential service that rescreens windows on-site with new fiberglass, aluminum, pet-resistant, or solar mesh, straightens or fabricates aluminum frames, and patches small tears — same-day, no shop drop-off — from $65 for a single mesh patch up to $599 for a whole-house rescreen of 11 to 20 screens. One tear at eye level on the master-bedroom window means mosquitoes find their way in every summer evening. The screen in the dining room is sagging away from the frame. The cat went through the kitchen-window mesh again last week — for the third time. Sliding and hinged screen doors are a different trade — see [Screen Door Repair](/services/handyman-and-home-repairs/door-repairs-and-adjustments/screen-door-repair-and-replacement).
Service
What Does a Window Screen Repair Visit Include?
A Handis window screen visit is an on-site residential service with four common scopes — a mesh patch on a small tear under 3 inches, a full rescreen with new mesh in the existing frame, a frame repair or custom fabrication for non-standard openings, and bulk whole-house rescreening — using fiberglass, aluminum, Phifer PetScreen pet-resistant, or Phifer SunTex solar mesh, from $65 per patch up to $599 for 11 to 20 screens in one day. Door screens (sliding and hinged) are a different trade and live under Door Repairs.
Mesh Patch — Small Tears Under 3 Inches
A small tear or pinhole under 3 inches in otherwise intact mesh does not require a full rescreen. We splice in a matching mesh patch with a thin bead of clear silicone caulk and a hidden adhesive backer behind the patch. The repair is visible up close but invisible from across the room; it lasts as long as the surrounding mesh. Tears longer than 3 inches, mesh that has become brittle from UV exposure (typical after 8 to 12 years on a south-facing window), or mesh that has separated from the spline at multiple corners is past the patch threshold and rescreens instead.
Full Window Rescreen — New Mesh in Existing Frame
The standard repair when the mesh has torn, sagged, become brittle, or pulled away from the spline groove. We remove the screen from the window, pop the old spline out of the groove with a spline-removal tool, peel the old mesh off the frame, clean the spline groove, lay fresh mesh across the frame with a few inches of overhang, roll the spline in with a spline-roller tool to lock the mesh tight, trim the excess mesh with a utility blade, and reinstall the screen in the window. A standard window takes 15 to 20 minutes per screen on-site.
Frame Repair, Corner Key Replacement & Custom Fabrication
A bent or warped aluminum frame holds the mesh loosely and lets bugs in around the perimeter. Most minor bends can be straightened with a rubber mallet and a backer block; corner keys (the plastic L-shaped piece holding the corner joint) often crack and replace easily. For frames that are cracked through, severely bent, or corroded past straightening, we fabricate a new frame on-site from stock aluminum extrusion and matching corner keys — cut to the exact opening, no two windows on an older home need to be the same size. Arched transoms and odd-sized older-home windows are not a problem.
Mesh Types — Fiberglass, Aluminum, Pet-Resistant, Solar
The truck carries four mesh families. Standard fiberglass (the most common; black or charcoal; affordable; 8 to 12 year service life on shaded windows, 5 to 8 years on direct sun). Aluminum mesh (slightly more durable; gunmetal or matte finish; better against impact and dog claws but not pet-proof). Pet-resistant screen (Phifer PetScreen, vinyl-coated polyester; heavier gauge; survives most cats and dogs; 30% more expensive than fiberglass). Solar screen (Phifer SunTex, dense weave; reduces UV and solar heat gain through south- and west-facing windows by up to 70%; the right choice for hot-climate sun exposure).
Sliding Screen Door — Routes to Screen Door Page
Sliding and hinged screen doors live under door repairs, not this page. The mesh and spline work is identical, but the hardware (rollers, tracks, closers, weatherstripping, latches) is a door trade. If you have both window screens and a sliding screen door to fix, list both on the booking call and we will quote them as one visit.
How Window Screen Repair Works
Five sequential steps from the on-site mesh selection through the reinstall — the actual sequence we follow on every Handis window screen visit.
Screen Pull & Frame Inspection
We remove each screen from the window without damaging the track, inspect the aluminum frame for bends, cracked corner keys, or corrosion, and tell you which screens patch, which rescreen in the existing frame, and which need a new frame fabricated on-site.
Mesh Type Matched to the Window
Standard fiberglass for shaded windows on bug exclusion alone. Phifer SunTex solar mesh for south- and west-facing windows that drive AC load in summer. Phifer PetScreen vinyl-coated polyester for the bedroom and kitchen windows the cat or dog uses. Aluminum mesh for impact-prone windows.
Old Spline Out, Frame Cleaned
We pop the old spline out of the groove with a spline-removal tool, peel the old mesh off the frame, and clean the spline groove so the new spline seats flush. Brittle UV-damaged mesh comes off in pieces — the cleanup makes the next eight to twelve years possible.
New Mesh Rolled In With Spline
Fresh mesh lays across the frame with a few inches of overhang, the spline rolls into the groove with a spline-roller tool to lock the mesh tight, and a utility blade trims the excess flush with the spline edge. A standard window takes 15 to 20 minutes per screen at the workbench.
Reinstall & Walkthrough
Each rescreened panel goes back into the window track, the operation is verified (the screen sits flush and the window closes against it cleanly), and we walk the homeowner through the work — including a heads-up on any other screen on the house that looks close to its UV-life ceiling.
Window Screen Repair Pricing
Final pricing depends on the number of screens, the mesh type, the frame condition, and whether any custom frame fabrication is needed. Volume pricing applies for 5 or more screens in a single visit. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us how many screens, the window sizes, and any pet or sun exposure — we will quote it.
Why Handis for Window Screen Repair
Most window screen calls we get are for the second or third torn screen in a year — the cat went through the kitchen window, the south-facing bedroom mesh has gone brittle from UV, and the master-bedroom screen got punched out during a window-cleaning visit two years ago and was never properly repaired. Each tear alone is a 20-minute fix; together they are a 90-minute visit. We carry the mesh, the spline, the spline-roller tool, the stock aluminum frame extrusion, and the corner keys — same-day, on-site, no shop drop-off. After a few hundred rescreens across vintage tilt-out sash windows, modern aluminum-frame double-hungs, sliding casements, and arched transoms, every screen scope has a fix on the truck.
On-site work, same-day, no shop drop-off
We bring the mesh, the spline rolls (multiple gauges — 0.125, 0.140, 0.160 — to match the frame groove), the spline-roller tool, stock aluminum extrusion, corner keys, and the utility blades to your home. Most rescreens take 15 to 20 minutes per screen on-site. No removing screens from your home, no week of waiting for the hardware store to ship them back, no missing screens during the warmest weeks of summer.
Mesh matched to the window's job, not one roll for everything
Standard fiberglass works for most shaded windows on bug exclusion alone. South-facing and west-facing windows benefit from solar mesh (Phifer SunTex) — denser weave, reduces UV transmission and solar heat gain by up to 70%, which drops AC load in summer. Pets in the house earn pet-resistant mesh (Phifer PetScreen) on the windows the pet uses — vinyl-coated polyester, heavier gauge, survives most cats and most dogs. Aluminum mesh for the impact-prone window where kids run past. We recommend the right material per window, not the same roll across the house.
Frame repair before frame replacement
A bent frame does not always need replacement. If the aluminum is still structurally sound, we straighten the corner with a rubber mallet and a backer block, replace the cracked plastic corner key with a fresh one, and re-spline the mesh into the existing frame. Replacement is only needed when the frame is cracked through, severely bent at multiple corners, or corroded through (typical on 30+ year-old screens). The repair-first approach saves the cost of a new frame on most older screens.
Volume pricing for whole-house jobs
Rescreening five or more windows in one visit brings the per-screen cost down significantly because the setup is done once and the work is parallel — pull a screen, rescreen at the workbench, install the next one. A 6 to 10 screen whole-house job lands at $349 fiberglass; 11 to 20 screens at $599. Solar or pet-mesh upgrades are quoted per screen against which windows actually need them — the south-facing bedrooms get solar, the kitchen with the cat gets pet-resistant, the rest get standard fiberglass.
30-day workmanship guarantee
If a screen we patched or rescreened pulls at the spline, the mesh sags away from the frame, the patch lifts, or the frame corner separates within 30 days because of our workmanship, we come back and redo it at no extra charge. Pet damage (a cat goes through the mesh again), physical impact (a baseball hits the screen), UV degradation on existing-not-replaced sections, and screens that get bent during window-cleaning by a third-party service are not workmanship issues and are outside the guarantee. We will tell you on arrival if we see anything on the rest of the screens that looks like a future failure.
Estimate
Tell us the number of screens, the window sizes (or rough dimensions if you know them), the sun exposure (north, south, east, west), and whether you have pets — we will quote it.
Customer Reviews
Recent window screen repair reviews from verified customers.
Six windows in the back of the house all had torn or sagging mesh from years of sun. Tech rescreened all six in about two and a half hours, on-site at the kitchen workbench. He recommended solar mesh on the two south-facing windows because they were the worst and standard fiberglass on the rest. All six look brand new and the bug situation in the back bedrooms is finally fixed.
Cat tore through the master-bedroom screen for the third time. Tech installed Phifer PetScreen on all five bedroom windows — heavier gauge, much tougher. The cat has tried twice and given up. Tech also explained pet mesh is not pet-proof but it survives most situations and would be cheaper than constantly replacing fiberglass.
One screen had a small tear (maybe an inch and a half) right at eye level that was letting bugs in every night. Tech patched it in about ten minutes — bonded a small piece of matching mesh across the tear with a thin bead of clear caulk. Invisible from a step back. He also walked the rest of the screens and pointed out two that were starting to pull away from the spline at the corners. Scheduled those for next visit.
1920s Craftsman with arched transom windows over the front room. The shop downtown told us they could not make screens for those because they were not standard. The Handis tech measured the openings, cut stock aluminum extrusion to the arc, mitered the corners, and built two custom frames on-site. Took maybe 45 minutes per frame plus the rescreen. Looks like the originals.
South-facing dining room got blistering hot every summer afternoon. Tech rescreened those three windows with Phifer SunTex solar mesh — said it would knock 70 percent of the solar heat gain. The room is noticeably cooler now in the afternoon, and the AC runs less than last summer. Worth every dollar of the upgrade over standard fiberglass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about residential window screen repair and replacement.