by Scott T
(El Dorado Hills California, USA)
I have Phantom Screens on multiple french doors in my home. They work great and I have only had the screen replaced once in 14 years. Now the price of having that done is getting much to rich for my blood.
I have the skills to do it myself. But before I do I was wondering if you have found a product I could add to the bottom (and potentially the top) of the mesh to stiffen it and make it more durable. I have two Standard Poodles who love to humker down at the screen and watch for the enemies.
Rabbits, squirrels, voles, rattlesnakes and an occasional rogue leaf sliding by. Their paws seem to need to be just under the mesh so they can test the temperature on the other side of the screen.
After several thousand hours of doing this the screens edge starts to fray. Have you ever seen a self stick material I can apply or even one I can stitch to the bottom of the mesh to every so slightly stiffen it.
Perhaps there is a product or some other liquid which when sprayed on the mesh will stiffen it every so slightly so it will not impede it's ability to retract but keep it in the track and make it more durable.
Also where is the best place to purchase mesh equivelant to OEM Phantom mesh so I can fix all of them myself. Thanks in advance.
Hi Scott;
I have not seen any products that you could spray on to reinforce the screen, but that does not mean that they dont exist. I'm thinking that it might be possible to stitch a strip of screen cloth as a hem using a sewing machine to strengthen the bottom edge.
A better solution would be to make a retractable screen using thicker petscreen which would certainly make it more durable. Unfortunately the extra thickness would mean you would need a larger diameter cassette to hold it. Perhaps Phantom screens are thinking about this.