DIY Solar Screen Tutorial

Our house faces the North and we have two giant trees out front, which means its nice and shady in the front of the house all year round. What that means for us in the back of the house is, during the summer and fall, it's a fiery inferno. We dealt with it last year after just moving in at the end of August, but this year Chris adopted solar screens as his personal summer project. He researched the cost to hire it out vs doing it himself and did a pilot study to make sure he could do it. After a lot of research and a pilot study, he perfected the process and it looks super swanky!

This weekend, we bought the supplies to do the whole back of our house and he's been working hard to get them assembled and installed. 

He's been sweet enough to walk me through the steps and let me take photos of the process so that I can give you a tutorial. It's a lot of steps and quite a few supplies - if you have any questions, please contact me and I'll have my resident engineer answer them for you. :)

Hiring this out would've cost between $25-$35 dollars per window. Our way cost us $15 per window.

To assemble and install a screen, you'll need:

Aluminum Frame Pieces - You need enough for the perimeter of your window plus a crossbar, if you're doing a large window like ours.

Screen Frame Corners

Solar Screen - 36" or 48" width depending on your window size.

Screen Spline - .125" diameter

Crossbar clips (for a large window) - Apparently these are hard to find in some states - you can click on the link to see if they're available in your area. If not, it seems you can buy them online but they're a bit expensive.

Spline roller - this one has a handy knife on the end for trimming the screen after you've rolled the spline. Chris says it's worth the extra few dollars to buy this tool, especially if you're doing a lot of screens.

Screen clips - these hold your screen in place on your window. You may need this kind instead if your windows don't hold the screen flush to the window like ours.

Hack Saw

Measuring Tape

*I've included the link to each of these items so you can price compare and make sure your local store has what you need in stock. Home Depot has some things, Lowe's has others.

To assemble your screen:

Step 1: Measure your window

Step 2: Using a hack saw, cut the frame pieces according to your measurements and check for accuracy. Adjust if necessary.

Step 3: Put the frame pieces together using corner pieces. Check again to ensure the frame fits snugly into the window.

Step 4: Add the crossbar for larger windows - the rule of thumb is any window larger than 36" in width or length needs one. Cut another horizontal piece of aluminum frame and add to the middle of the screen frame using crossbar clips.

Step 5: Roll your screen out over the aluminum frame - you should have some overlap and will have to trim it down after adding the spline.

Step 6: Using your spline tool, begin pressing the spline and your screen into the frame. 

It's easier to adjust and make tighter corners if you cut the spline into length and width pieces instead of using one continuous piece around the frame.

Ideally, you want the screen to be tight and without wrinkles but not so tight that it bends the frame.

Another huge side note - roll your spline on a hard surface. If you do it on carpet, it will warp the aluminum frame.

Step 7: Put your new solar screen up and install two screen clips to either side, in the middle of the screen. This attaches your screen securely to the window frame.

Step 8: Sit back and start reaping the rewards of a cooler house and a cheaper energy bill. Plus, it looks nice and you can leave those blinds open more often!

   

Please excuse our backyard - we'll be repainting our siding and doing some landscaping when it's not 100+ degrees every day. Just look at those solar screens though!