Graphical Construction Glossary >> Doors. >> Door types >> Screen Doors

Screen Doors

A lightweight external door that allows the passage of air though it while excluding insects with a woven screen material. It may also incorporate security mesh. Also called a flyscreen door

The doors shown on this page are made out of aluminium extrusions. Many wooden doors have been made in the past, just a simple timber frame with a ply panel at the bottom and an opening at the top simply covered with screen mesh to keep the insects out and to let the breeze in. I would have to look long and hard to find one today though as they just can not compete for price and durability with the modern ones available today.

Note! All the photos on this page are of combination flyscreen and security screen doors. The advantage of this system is that the main doors can be left open during the day when there is no-one in the home to provide ventilation. Reasonable security is provided by the locked securiy screen-flyscreen doors. It helps of course if the doors are in a sheltered location with protection from rain.

Above is a typical low cost aluminium sliding window-door frame. The sliding door takes up half of the area and when open it parks alongside the fixed glass panel. So here is one in the middle of the day with only the security screen locked. At night times the both of them may bee locked.

Here is a standard flush entry door, again it is ajar with an aluminium screen-security door locked.

A close-up of a common screen door layout. The inner edge of the frame extrusion has a "u" shaped channel that accepts the aluminium security mesh which is about 8mm thick. The mesh is cut on a guillotine to the exact size and the door frame is then assembled around it.

The screen material is laid over the finished frame and a round rubber (neoprene?) bead is rolled into a groove in the frame extrusion pushing down and trapping the mesh deep in the groove. This is a very fast and secure method of fixing the mesh in position. The excess mesh is then trimmed off.

At a guess this aluminium mesh is over 15 years old as it is showing a lot of corrosion. (The white dust like effect.) This type of mesh is still used, as it is easy to work with, but now there are fibreglass and synthetic screen meshes available.

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