Made-to-measure insect screens, fitted by us

The mechanism changes, and everything follows from that. A vertical roller screen winds the mesh onto a roller with a return spring: it costs less, it takes up almost no space when closed and it is perfect on a window you open a few times a day. The spring, though, is the part that works, and on a constantly used doorway it tires sooner.

A side-sliding screen moves the mesh sideways inside a guide: it opens with one hand, it does not spring back at you as you walk through, and it holds up well on a French door crossed ten times a day. In practice: an ordinary window, roller; a doorway you walk through, side-sliding.

They are screens where the closure is handled by a row of magnets along the edge: you walk through pushing with your body and it closes itself behind you. The cheapest versions are a curtain fixed to the frame with hook-and-loop tape; there are also versions with an aluminium frame and a magnetic leaf.

The real advantage is getting through with your hands full. The limits are just as concrete: the curtain distorts, in wind the magnets open and the seal is never that of a made-to-measure profile. On a French door used every day, a made-to-measure side-sliding screen costs more at the start and lasts far longer.

First you decide where it goes, because that changes everything: inside the reveal, that is, within the opening, or outside it, applied to the window frame or to the wall. Then the width is measured at three points, top, middle and bottom, and the smallest is kept; the height is taken at both sides and in the middle, on the same basis.

Two checks are almost always forgotten: the room for the box above the opening and the projection of the window handle, because the mesh has to be able to run without touching it. An error of a few millimetres here cannot be recovered: either the screen does not go in, or it goes in and leaves a gap. At the site visit we take the measurements ourselves and the measurement is our responsibility.

There is no single price, but the order is always the same. The cheapest is the vertical roller screen for a normal-sized window. It goes up with the side-sliding one for a French door, and reaches the top with two-leaf versions for wide spans or with motorisation.

On top of that come the area of the opening, the colour, the type of mesh and how many you fit in the same visit. Anyone who fires a price at you over the phone without having seen the opening is giving you a bait number, which then grows. We come and measure free of charge and the price written on the quote is the final one.

Only when they work as solar shading, that is, when they stop the sun and not only the insects. Precise requirements apply: the shading has to be movable, CE marked to the product standard for external blinds, applied integrally to the building envelope, with a total solar transmittance factor gtot no greater than 0.35, and it cannot be on a north-facing facade.

An insect screen with the classic see-through mesh does not reach those values and therefore does not qualify. Models with a technical shading fabric in place of the mesh do. Where it does qualify, the cost has to be paid by dedicated bank transfer, the deduction is recovered in ten equal yearly instalments and the ENEA filing is required, which we prepare.

Yes. The profiles are aluminium and the mesh is coated fibreglass: water does no damage, they are made to live outdoors. The problem is not the rain, it is the wind: a tensioned mesh acts as a sail, and a strong gust can bend the profile or pull the mesh out of the guide.

So there is one practical rule: if a windy storm is coming, wind the mesh back into its box. On the coast, add a rinse with fresh water after days of south-westerly wind, because salt and sand together are what really wears the guides.

No, there is no need to take them down. A roller screen is left wound in its box and a side-sliding one wound back into its side housing: in that position the mesh is sheltered from sun and weather, and it is the right way to see them through the winter.

The only maintenance worth doing is at the end of the season: a pass with the vacuum cleaner in the guides to take out sand and dust, and a silicone spray lubricant on the running guides. That is why in May most screens start up again without any fuss and a few do not.

With the mesh extended, first the vacuum cleaner with a soft brush to take away dust and pollen, then a barely damp cloth with warm water and mild soap, wiped without pressing and with the mesh supported by your hand on the other side.

Absolutely avoid the pressure washer and abrasive pads: the mesh gets punched through and pressurised water ends up inside the roller and the carriages. The part that repays most is the bottom guide, where sand settles: that, far more than a dirty mesh, is what makes a screen stiff when it used to run well.

On fixed-frame screens yes, and it is a simple job: the mesh is held in a groove by a rubber bead, you pull the bead out, remove the torn mesh, tension the new one and put the bead back starting from a corner.

On roller and side-sliding screens the mesh is integral with the mechanism, so it is not a do-it-yourself job: you replace the mesh-and-roller assembly, or the handle bar if that is where the damage is. The good news is that as long as the mechanism is sound there is no reason to throw the whole screen away.

For the view the dark one wins, which is why the standard fibreglass mesh is anthracite grey. A light mesh reflects the light coming from outside and puts a veil in front of your eyes, while a dark one absorbs that light and from inside you almost forget it: you look at the garden, not at the mesh.

A light mesh is less noticeable from outside, on the facade, and on some white windows it is an aesthetic choice. Bear in mind that the colour of the mesh is independent of that of the profiles: you can have white or ivory profiles paired with an anthracite mesh, and that is the combination we choose most often.