How to Install a Retractable Screen Door

By: Joseph Truini

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8

7: Test the screen door

4 to 6 hours
$200 to $500, depending on width of doorway

Difficulty: Easy to moderate Doesn’t require any special skill or tools, but you must work carefully to avoid damaging the screen door

Instead of presenting a home improvement that takes two or three days to complete, here's a simpler project you can finish in a single day. And all you need are a few basic hand tools, a cordless drill/driver and a free afternoon. This is an easy-to-operate screen door that's unlike any you've probably ever seen. It doesn't swing on hinges or roll on wheels, but instead pulls down like a window shade.

Here, we're installing a Screenex Hideaway Roller Screen Door, which glides up and down as smoothly as a window shade. It consists of a fiberglass screen rolled up inside a 2-in. sq. aluminum case, or storage cassette. The cassette is installed horizontally over the doorway. Aluminum side tracks are mounted vertically to the doorjambs to support the edges of the screen. And because there's no track along the sill, there's no place for dirt and debris to collect and interfere with the screen. We installed the Screenex Model PD7283 in front of a 6-ft.-wide pair of French doors. Other models are available for doors ranging in width from 3 to 8 ft. There's even a way to use Screenex doors to enclose a two-car garage or open-air porch. Doors are available in white, almond and brown.

TIP: Before purchasing a door, measure the inside width of the doorway at the top and bottom of the opening. If the door frame is out of square by 1/4 in. or less, you can go ahead and order the screen door. If it's out by more than 1/4 in., you'll have to adjust the jambs to square up the frame.