Building better boundaries for bugs

April 24, 2009 1:49 PM

DIY screen porch: now that it's heading into summer in Georgia, what should I know before I make a huge mess on my back deck?

Although I'm on the first floor, the house is on a slope so my back deck is on the second story over a concrete patio, and the upstairs deck forms a roof. It's all wood with widely spaced uprights and a railing; . I'd like to enclose the portion that opens out from my bedroom (about half of the total deck), and I'd like the result to be secure enough that I can let my cats out there without worrying they'll slip through somewhere, or without building a giant catio that looks like a holding tank made of hardware cloth.

The easiest solution seems to be rolls of vinyl screen and a staplegun, but I think it would end up looking saggy and sort of bootleg. The guy at Lowe's told me about the Screen Tight system, which is a set of tracks screwed into the wood, into which the screening is attached with a spline tool. It sounds good, but I haven't seen it installed. Other ideas? Resources?

Please assume two people with basic spatial skills, and no power equipment other than a cordless drill. Also, I rent, but the landlord thinks this is a cool idea and says to do whatever I want. Thanks!

posted by catlet to home & garden (4 comments total)

Don't know much about buildin' stuff, but if you want to keep your screen porch mosquito-free, don't forget to screen off under the deck as well, or you'll get bugs flying up between the boards.
posted by dersins at 2:02 PM on April 24

I rescreened our patio screen door last night with a spline tool. It ended up looking really good, the screen is even and tight. It was easy to get the hang of, my advice would be to get a better spline tool than the $3 plastic one at Lowe's since you may be installing a lot of screens.
posted by TungstenChef at 2:06 PM on April 24

A cat with claws can slice through regular fiberglass screen in seconds. I'm planning something similar, and I'm going to use metal screen (I haven't decided whether to use stainless steel or aluminum). I had the stainless steel kind it on a security door before, and the cats will climb it and make a few holes, enough to let a few bugs in but not enough to let the cats out.

The spline system looks nice if you get it right, but it takes a lot of patience to learn. I'm just going to staple around the edges, then put wood trim over the edges to hide the staples. Drill holes in the wood trim before screwing it on, to prevent splitting.

If you end up working with hardware cloth, wear thick, long sleeves, gloves, etc. It comes on a roll and it wants to stay rolled when you're trying to staple it to the frame. The end of each strand of wire is sharp, it's like wrestling 10 cats at once.
posted by one at 3:28 PM on April 24

Since you already have a railing, here's something to consider. For our screened in porch we screened in the top 2/3 of a wall, and used plywood siding on the bottom third. So the siding would go up to the level of your handrail (on the outside of course), then your hand rail. Run 2x4's up from there to the next deck or whatever structure is above you. Tack the screen to the outside of the 2x4's from top to bottom and nail or staple lattice strips over the screen seams on the 2x4's. You've maintained the rail (handy for holding drinks, candles etc.) and kept yourself from accidentally kicking a hole in the screen around foot level by using the plywood. Also give some privacy from below.

Second using metal screen. Cats will shred anything else.

Cheers
posted by dukes909 at 7:46 AM on May 26