Screen Tent enclosures

The screen tent is or pop up screen room is a collapsible enclosure that comes in a bag, just like a tent. It is erected just like a tent with poles and guy wires. The screen tent is practical for the cottage, for campers and for people just having fun in the park, who don’t want to be bothered by bugs. The tent remains a safe refuge where you can get respite from the mosquitoes and even shade from the hot sun.

Screened tents can be quite large but most will cover an area sufficient to surround a picnic table or park bench. That’s usually enough for a family outing. Larger screened tents can cover several picnic tables but then the screened tent becomes more difficult to set up and pack away.

They are also wonderful play houses for children, they can set up their toys inside the screen tent and you can be at ease knowing that your children are protected from mosquitoes and the threat of west nile virus and also sheltered from the direct ultraviolet radiation of the sun.

Some things to watch out for in purchasing a mesh tent :

Fire Resistance - Cloth made in North America has to meet fire code requirements. While not fireproof, it has to be able to retard the spread of fire. So many of the tents brought in from China and other countries, use cloth that does not meet this standard. If you are concerned about using a tent close to a campfire, seek out those tents that are made in North America or have documented fire resistance.

Service - If the tent gets ripped, can you get it repaired by the store or do you just have to go out and buy another one.If its a big tent, throwing it away can be an expensive proposition. Look for models that have seperate screened panels less than 4 feet wide. That way you might be able to find a local tailor who can patch in new material if a panel gets ripped.

Durability - Does the tent make use of a lot of vinyl plastic parts. If it's all plastic bear in mind that plastic can harden and become discolored and brittle in the sun.Plastic hinges and joints can crack in half as you try to assemble your screened house. Aluminum framing would be better, even if it does make the tent a little heavier.

Cost - Some of the tents made offshore nowadays are so cheap you might not be concerned if it only lasts one or two seasons. If thats the case maybe its worth going back to the store and buying 2 or 3 more so you have a back up in case it breaks.

The Alvantor pop up screen room pictured at the top of this page has good reviews on Amazon.

It's available in the USA and they will ship to Canada. (Im in Burlington, Ontario, Canada and there are many Amazon product suppliers that only ship to US Addresses)

It is self supporting and does not need guy wires or stakes if you have heavy objects like chairs and coolers inside it. It is self erecting and easily collapses for packing

If there is a bit of wind you can use the supplied guy wires and stakes to hold the screen house down but if its a windy you wouldn't need the screen room much because all the mosquitoes would be blown away.

A lot of people use these screen rooms in their backyard and just collapse them and bring them inside in case of high winds.

You may also have a screened porch on your home. The older styles involve screens held on with wooden cleats while the newer ones have aluminum framed screens that either slide in place or are held in with fastener

If you have a gazebo style repairing the torn screens may be as easy as driving the broken panels to the glass store but sometimes the panels dont want to come apart, or will bring the whole structure down if you take them apart ! In these cases you may need to fix the screens in place, which can be done. The instructions are the same as my instructions for fixing storm door screens in-place when you cant get those out. Click on the navigation bar link at the left of the page that says "Storm Door Screens"