Are there window screens that CAN'T pop out?

August 2, 2015 9:25 PM

Our windows have pretty standard screens on them. We'd like to open our bedroom windows at night in the summer, but we worry about our indoor cat accidentally popping them out and escaping. Are there screens that are extremely hard to remove from inside?

Yes, we are probably being over-paranoid, but our cat is our baby, and we aren't willing to accept any risk of him seeing a bug or something, pouncing against the screen, and ending up outside (in our semi-rural area with lots of coyotes, etc.). Just for our bedroom, we'd like screens that are impossible to remove from inside with just pressure against them. Does this exist?

I realize that in some situations, irremovable screens could be a hazard (fire escape, etc.). But our bedroom has big French doors right by the windows that can easily be opened for escape. And I'm ok with screens that can be removed from inside, as long as there's some kind of secure locking mechanism that needs more than just pressure against the screen to pop it out.

Does something like this exist, and if so, what do I need to search/ask for?

posted by primethyme to Home & Garden (20 answers total)

Could you perhaps post a picture of your window frame? There certainly are some types of screen that won't pop out with pressure from the inside (the kind with a flange that rests on the inside of the frame, for instance), but it at all depends on how they might fit into your window frames. After all, the issue here is the interface between the screen frames and the window frames.
posted by ssg at 9:32 PM on August 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

In a similar situation I have stapled screen directly over the outside of the window frame. It looks tacky but it is very secure.
posted by irisclara at 9:35 PM on August 2, 2015

Could you rig up some kind of metal plate that screws into the frame and swivels into place? Sort of a [_0__) placed at 4 equidistant points that holds it in place regardless of feline effort (also get claw proof screens)
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 9:36 PM on August 2, 2015

Just find a random metal grate, a piece of metal pattern, to set in place, something you like and keeps the cat in. There are a lot of metal CNC's anymore. Go to a place that has one and pick up a pattern you like in quarter inch steel.
posted by Oyéah at 9:46 PM on August 2, 2015

Remember though that screens should be able to be removed easily from the inside for fire escape. Making them hard to remove prevents means of egress and is a building code violation.
posted by chevyvan at 9:46 PM on August 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

I have extremely ugly blue painter's tape along outside of one of my screens, with diagonal reinforcing tape sections at each corner of the screen, because the cats got bored when I was out and pushed that screen loose. They haven't done so since it's been taped, though I certainly can't certify that's because of the tape rather than because they're cats and have moved on to different levels of mischief. It's been about a year, though, and no escapes through the windows. (And you could presumably try some color other than blue tape. It's just what I had on hand.)
posted by jaguar at 9:57 PM on August 2, 2015

Heavy duty velcro, attaching the inside face of the screen frame to the windowsill. In the corners and in a few spots along the sides depending upon dimensions.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:15 PM on August 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

You could also, depending on the size of your cat, open the windows just enough that the cat can't actually fit through. That's what my girlfriend and I do, though our cat is unusually large so we can actually get a decent amount of open window that way.
posted by Itaxpica at 10:15 PM on August 2, 2015

The problem, should you turn out to have a very determined cat or meet with a very determined outside critter wanting to get at your cat, is actually the screen itself. If yours isn't made of cut-proof screening, it actually doesn't take much to cut it.

I ended up getting a mesh reptile aquarium cover at the pet store, like this, that I put in the gap and closed the window on (I used a bit of weatherstripping on all the contact points to give it a firmer fit) to take the brunt of any weight/pressure instead of the screen. That reptile-proof mesh is really sturdy.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:51 PM on August 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Just put one of those wooden lattice baby gates over the window. Screw it right to the wall. Easy to open or remove if you need to.

If you secure a screen super well the weakest point becomes the screen itself. Even a small cat is heavy enough and has sharp enough claws to just destroy the screen. You need an extra reinforced cat-proof layer.

A well secured screen will quickly become a screen with a hole in it.
posted by emptythought at 10:51 PM on August 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

In the Netherlands, we have kits that consist of a frame with a screen that you can raise and lower. The screen can't pop out of the frame because its sides sit in "channels" within the frame. It looks like this kind of kit is also available in the US.
posted by neushoorn at 12:55 AM on August 3, 2015

My childhood bedroom had screens that had these little tabs that rotated into slots in the widow frame itself. You can see something similar in this product.
posted by Metasyntactic at 2:20 AM on August 3, 2015

Oh! I also now remember a house that had screens mounted on a wooden frame, hinged at top, and with a little latch at the bottom. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't a mass-produced design, but it'd be easy enough to build, and with the right screen material, more than a match for any cat.
posted by Metasyntactic at 2:22 AM on August 3, 2015

You can get a "baby gate" sort of thing that is made especially for the window. I'm on my phone and can't link but Target, Home Depot, etc. carry them as "window guards" or something like that. Will also stop your cat from clawing the screen!
posted by mskyle at 4:23 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Here's a window guard from Target like mskyle described.
posted by that's how you get ants at 6:25 AM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

I ended up getting a mesh reptile aquarium cover at the pet store, like this, that I put in the gap and closed the window on (I used a bit of weatherstripping on all the contact points to give it a firmer fit) to take the brunt of any weight/pressure instead of the screen. That reptile-proof mesh is really sturdy.

Brilliant! I've been looking for a solution for The Bean who likes to sit in the window and look down at the people 6 floors down in the parking lot. Until now we have had to let her have closely supervised 'window time' where we are right there and watching and disciplining. She has still seriously damaged the screen with her claws and pulled it out from the bottom of the screen frame.

This solution has the advantage that it doesn't take away too much of that ability to get in the window frame away because you can put the top in so it is sort of concave. I'm pretty excited!
posted by srboisvert at 6:37 AM on August 3, 2015

For my windows (casement) I've built a frame out of 1x2 boards, with a wide side that sits securely in the hinge side of the window, and some plastic latches on the other side to keep it in, and then screen stapled across it. It's pretty secure(at least as good as a baby gate) against cats from my testing, and fairly easy to get in and out when I wish.
posted by wotsac at 6:40 AM on August 3, 2015

If you secure a screen super well the weakest point becomes the screen itself.

Heavy duty pet screen to the rescue. You'd have to have a screen made specifically for your window though. This is what we did with our screen door to keep the dogs from ripping it apart.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:41 AM on August 3, 2015

One extra measure of safety: you can easily teach most cats to come when called.
posted by amtho at 6:46 AM on August 3, 2015

A narrow baby gate or window guard may also do the trick.
posted by tilde at 9:10 AM on August 3, 2015