It can be more than difficult to stretch screening evenly across a frame without bags, sags and zigzags. But I’ve found that with the help of a stretcher board, I can get professional results every time. As shown in the drawing, I run the screening a few inches long in both directions. After stapling the screen to one of the short sides of the frame, I staple the other edge of the screen to a stretcher board. After stapling the screen to it, I hang the end of the frame that I’m working on over the end of a table and press down on the stretcher board. This tensions the screen, and with my free hand I staple the screen to the frame. After removing the staples from the stretcher board, I repeat the process on the unstapled sides of the frame. The screen comes out straight and taut.
—David Tousain, Coon Rapids, IA
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #58
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I'll try to adapt it for rescreening my modern aluminum patio door frame. ...but who staples screening to a wooden screen frame? Was this tip submitted in the 1950's?
Our cabin has a five year old large screened porch that consists of 30 inch wooden screen doors set between 4x4 posts. Can't imagine doing this with aluminum doors. I think wooden screens may still have a bit of life in front of them...
And, as is too often the case, it looks like a a drawing was omitted.
Suburbanguy, how a bout the thousands of people who have wooden screen doors and /or wooden screen frames for their windows? Not everyone lives in a house just like yours.
Having just done an aluminum patio door, I was echoing some of the thoughts about aluminum frames- they're more flexible than wood and you have to be careful not to bow them by overtensioning the screen. It hasn't been a huge problem for me, but i It occurred to me the stretcher board could help by applying an even stretch along the length of the frame.