Can I make my own fly screens?

[Jan165]

I have some, but not all, windows on my house that have no fly screens.

Can I make them myself ?

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Jan165. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building flyscreens.

You can certainly give this a go yourself.

Step 1

Measure both the height and width of the interior of your window frame where the screen will fit. If all your window frames are the same size, you can take the measurements from one of the other flyscreens. Make sure the window is square before taking measurements. It would be best to make an allowance of up to 3mm, so the frame fits the window. If there is a top track, you also need to allow for the screen slotting up into it and dropping back down into the bottom track.

Step 2

The materials you will need:

• Flyscreen frame
• Frame corners 
• Flyscreen material
• Flyscreen mitre box 
• Spline 5mm x 13m 
• Spline roller 
• Hacksaw 

Step 3

Measure the frame piece along the longest side tip to tip, as this will be the outside of the frame. Make sure the frame is channel side up in the mitre box and the channel in on the inside of the 45° cut. Use the mitre box to cut a 45° angle. You can screw the mitre box down to some timber to aid accuracy. Proceed to cut the other three sides of the frame.

Step 4

Take your four sides and insert the frame corners into them. They should be a snug fit. Ensure the 45° cuts line up and meet each other. Test fit the frame in the window to see if any slight size adjustments are needed.

Installing the flyscreen is covered thoroughly in Tara's instructions on How to replace a flyscreen.

Please let me know if you need further assistance or have questions.

Mitchell

[Jan165]

Thanks Mitchell

i think that I can do do this myself now by following your fabulous instructions 

cheers. Jan 

[MitchellMc]

No problems, @Jan165. If you get stuck just give us a shout. We're here to assist.

Mitchell

[lindsayms]

Is it possible to construct flyscreens with 2 corners that are not square?

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @lindsayms. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about creating a flyscreen.

Perhaps you might like to share an image of the window so our knowledgeable members can better understand what you're working with.

How off square are these corners? Are we talking a few degrees, or are the windows not rectangles? The issue is that the frame corners only come in a right angle, and there are no alternatives that I am aware of. You could likely custom-make a flyscreen to suit, but you'd need to construct your own corner pieces.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell