How do I fix a screen door that no longer closes?

Check the closer first. If the door swings wide and slams, or stays open, the closer has lost pressure or its bracket has pulled out. If the door catches before it shuts, look at the hinges and the jamb instead. Either can be fixed without changing the door.

Can the mesh on a sliding screen door be replaced?

Yes. The screen lifts out of its track, the old mesh and spline come out, and new ones go in. Worn rollers or a bent frame are dealt with at the same visit. If the frame has twisted, a new one is made to fit the track.

Can a screen door be made for an old doorway that isn't a standard size?

Usually, yes. Older plex openings are often out of square or an odd width, and screen doors can be made to measure. The pro measures at several points, notes the swing and handle side, and confirms before ordering. A photo and rough sizes are enough for a first quote.

Would a magnetic screen curtain work on a gallery door?

It can, where a hinged screen door won't fit or gets in the way. Two mesh panels meet in the middle and close behind you with magnets. Wind can part them, though, so on a busy gallery a hinged door with a good closer usually lasts longer.

My screen door handle broke. Can it be replaced on its own?

In most cases, yes. Handles and latches are sold as separate parts, and the pro matches the new one to the existing holes where possible. If the holes have worn oversize, a slightly different handle or a small plate may be needed. A close-up photo of the handle helps.

Screen doors · Montreal

Fixing or replacing a hinged or sliding screen door

In a Montreal plex, the troublesome screen door is usually the one onto the back gallery. What fails first is hardware: the closer, the hinges, the latch. Each can be replaced on its own, so a new door is seldom the first answer. We connect you with an independent local pro who repairs hinged and sliding screen doors, and fits a new one when the frame has had enough.

Closers, hinges and handles replaced on their own
Gallery doors and sliding screens
New doors sized to older openings

Get a free quote 514-312-6772

Dropped on its hinges and dragging: usually a hinge and closer job.

Hinged doors

Hinged screen doors: closer, hinges, mesh

Match the symptom to the part.

It slams, or won't close by itself

The closer, the small cylinder near the top, has lost pressure or pulled loose. A new one is set so the door neither bangs nor hangs open.

It drags or sags

Loose screws in a soft wooden jamb, or worn hinges. Longer screws, new hinges or a shim often square it up.

Torn mesh

The door's mesh is replaced in the same frame, much as a window screen is rescreened.

Sliding doors

Sliding screen doors: rollers and track

A sliding screen rides on small rollers and is held in its rail by springs. When it grinds or jumps out, worn rollers are the usual cause, and they're replaced as a set. Those screens belong to a porte-patio, so they're covered in depth on the patio door screens page. If the glass door itself sticks, see sliding door repair.

Plex galleries

Back galleries and lanes: why plex screen doors wear out

Duplexes and triplexes here are known for their outside staircases, back lanes and sheds. The gallery door takes laundry, bins and bikes all summer, then winters outdoors with snow against its bottom rail. It sags long before the frame fails, so the pro checks the jamb too: a screen door hangs only as straight as the wood it's screwed into.

Repair or replace

Repair the frame or replace the door

Worth repairing

A straight frame with worn hardware or torn mesh. New parts and mesh bring it back.

Time for a new door

A twisted frame, split corners, or a door that no longer fits an opening that has shifted. The pro fits a new door and takes the old one away.

Measuring

Measuring for a replacement screen door

Measure the opening, not the old door: width at the top, middle and bottom, height on both sides. In older buildings the numbers rarely match. Note the swing and handle side, add a photo from the gallery, and the pro confirms on site before ordering. The same habits apply to window screens made to measure.

What affects the quote

What shapes a screen door quote

Repair or replacement, and which parts
A stock size or a door made to measure
The condition of the wooden jamb
Which floor, and how the gallery is reached

A photo of the door, its frame and the hardware is usually enough to start a soumission, the written quote.

Get a screen door quote

Free quotes from independent local pros.

Two different doors

Screen door or contre-porte?

A screen door is mostly mesh, for summer air. A contre-porte, the storm door in English, has glass panels, sometimes with a sliding screen behind them, and adds a layer against winter. Plex galleries often have the first, front entrances the second.

Questions

Screen door questions

Explore your options

Independent pros repair screen doors on plexes and houses across the city, including Villeray, Rosemont, Verdun, Le Sud-Ouest and Ahuntsic-Cartierville.

Send a photo of the door and its frame

Show us the doorway and a close-up of the hinges or closer. A local pro who works on screen doors will quote the repair, or a new door if the frame is done.