每日家庭整修技巧

In Part 1 we outlined the cause for the lack of air ventilation in our home, namely the front and back doors lacked a screen door to be used to keep bugs and insects out while our family pet dog, Sandy, in if we left either open for any length of time. This lack of sufficient air ventilation results in the need for our air conditioner to run longer and more often than other wise. As well, the reason we do not have screen doors on either the front or back doors is that we really like how they look and do not want to hide them.

So, the solution we have come up with is a type of product which has appeared with increasing frequency over the past few years, namely a retractable screen. Notice I did not say a retractable screen door.

What are they? Well, think of the screen part of a screen door. The screen remains out of site all rolled up off to the side in it’s container until you want to use it. When you want to use a screen to cover the width of the door entrance you simply pull the screen across and it locked into position creating a screen door. When you want it out of the way you simply have the screen retract back into it’s container, allowing once again the full view of the door.

What types of doors can use a retractable screen? Well, I cannot speak for all manufacturers. I can only speak for retractable screens from DreamScreens Canada as that is the manufacturer whose products we have decided to use in our home. DreamScreens can be used on:

• single doors (as is the case for our front door),
• double doors (as is the case for the French Doors in our kitchen),
• in-swing doors (the type that open into the house as is the case with our front door), and 
• out-swing doors (the type that open away from the house as is the case with our French Doors in the kitchen).

Are these doors? Well when they are in use they are. When they are not in use they are not.

The retractable screen product from at least most manufacturers has another advantage over traditional screen doors; when they are in use they provide full ventilation across the door opening. Because retractable screens provide a screen the full width and height of the door opening, there is no glass blocking the air from fully venting in or out of the home or cottage. They really are a simple in concept yet incredibly functional and so much more aesthetically pleasing than traditional screen doors.

I know. You have lots of questions. So did we when we started to learn about this type of product. Questions like the following:

• how does it work?
• how does it look when not in use?
• how is it installed?
• can an average home owner install a retractable screen themselves?
• how does it stay closed?
• how does it work with different types of doors (single, double, in-swing, out-swing)?
• can they be used in other applications in the home?
• why DreamScreens Canada and not one of it’s competitors?

Over the next several weeks we will review the retractable screens in our home, the installation, their appearance, their use in the two different types of doors in our home and the advantages that the retractable product from this manufacturer has over the competitors we investigated.

To continue with the next article in this series, simply select this link to Part 3.