Window Screen Mesh and Frame Options for Richmond Homes
The mesh does the work and the frame holds it square. Pick the mesh by what you're keeping out and how much view you're willing to give up.
Fiberglass Mesh
Fiberglass is the light, cheap choice. It's soft, so it flexes instead of denting, and charcoal mesh is easy to see through. HomeGuide's national guide puts installed fiberglass screens at $50 to $250 per window. The trade-off is life span: fiberglass stretches over time and needs replacing more often than aluminum. If the frame is straight and the corners are tight, the shop can roll new mesh and spline into the old frame (rescreening) instead of building a new one.
Aluminum Mesh
Aluminum wire mesh is stiffer and holds its tension longer than fiberglass, and neither one rusts, according to HomeGuide. In our view it suits older houses, where a crisp metal screen looks right against painted wood sash. It dents if a ladder or a ball hits it, and a crease stays. Installed, HomeGuide lists aluminum at $65 to $350 per window.
Pet-Resistant Screen
Cats climb screens and dogs push through them. Pet-resistant screen is a PVC-coated polyester mesh, a heavier weave than standard fiberglass, built to take claws. It costs more ($100 to $500 per window installed, per HomeGuide) and the heavier strands mean a dimmer view, so most owners put it only on the low windows and the door the pets actually use.
Solar and Fine (No-See-Um) Mesh
Two specialty meshes solve two Richmond summer problems. Exterior solar screens are a dense fabric that, per HomeGuide, blocks 65% to 90% of the sun's heat before it reaches the glass, at $50 to $150 per window installed. They also darken the room, so they belong on west and south windows rather than the whole house. Fine mesh goes the other way: biting midges can pass through a standard 18-by-16 screen, so a 20-by-20 mesh is used to keep them out. Expect a little less air and view, since a tighter weave has less open area.
Half vs Full Screens and New Frames
A half screen covers only the bottom sash of a double-hung or single-hung, which is all you need if you only ever open the bottom. A full screen covers the whole window and is the one to order if you open the top sash to let hot air out. When a frame is bent, faded or missing its corners, a new made-to-measure frame costs a bit more than rescreening but fits better; HomeGuide prices custom screens at $150 to $500 per window. Casements and awnings are the exception to both: the sash swings out, so their screens mount on the room side of the frame and are sized to the inside opening. Ask for the frame color to match the window, and for the hardware (tension springs, plunger pins or turn clips) to match what the window was built for.
Sliding Screen Doors and Rollers
A sliding screen door that drags or jumps its track usually has worn rollers, a bent bottom rail or a track full of grit. New rollers and a straightened or rebuilt frame often fix it; a frame that's kinked or racked out of square is better replaced. HomeGuide puts a replacement screen door at $170 to $350 installed. Measure the slider opening top and bottom, since old door frames are rarely square.
Why Richmond homeowners call Richmond Expert Windows
- A single independent window contractor gets your request, never a lead auction
- Every opening is measured on site before a number is put on paper
- Ask for the quote in writing: unit series, glass package, install method
- Homeowners pay nothing for the referral or the visit
Window Screen Repair or Replacement: Cost and What to Ask
No source publishes a Richmond-only price. HomeGuide's national figures, last updated in 2023: standard screens replaced at $100 to $350 per window installed, custom screens at $150 to $500, and repairs at $10 to $120 per window.
On the quote, ask for:
Mesh type for each window
Fiberglass, aluminum, pet, solar or fine mesh, so you're not paying solar prices on a north window.Rescreen or new frame
Which screens are being rescreened and which get new frames, and why.Half or full
Matched to how you open each window.Measurements taken at the house
Every opening, not sizes off the old screens, which may already be the wrong size.Hardware and color
Springs, pins, clips and the frame color.Pickup and drop-off
Whether the screens are made in a shop and brought back, and how long that takes.
Window Screens and Richmond Summers
Summer here brings about 45 days of 90°F-plus heat, and July dew points sit close to 68°F. Those are the months the windows are open at night, and the months mosquitoes are out. The CDC's first piece of advice for keeping them out of the house is to use screens on windows and doors and repair the holes in them. A torn screen is a small job that matters more here than in a drier place.
Screens wear out on a schedule of their own. HomeGuide puts their life at about 10 to 15 years, depending on the climate and mesh, and lists the signs: holes, faded or discolored mesh, a bent frame that binds in the window, and loose spline that lets the mesh sag. HomeGuide's cleaning routine is simple: take the screens out, wash them with warm water, dish soap and a soft brush, and let them dry fully before they go back.
Houses with triple-track exterior storm windows have a second set of screens: the screen panel rides in the storm's own track and is sized to the storm, not the window behind it. Those panels can be rescreened the same way as any other.
One code point: a screen or grille over a basement or bedroom escape opening has to come off from inside without tools. The rules are on our egress windows page.
See Sliding Glass Doors in Richmond, VA if the door itself, not just its screen, needs replacing, and Window Repair in Richmond, VA for sashes, balances and locks.