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Porches & Decks

anyone installed retractable screens???

17 years ago

I would like to install a retractable screen on a door leading onto my patio.

These retractable screens seem to be an ideal solution to many situations where a screen door would present problems, but I have not seen any at the box stores or info about them on the DIY forums.

Has anyone bought and installed this type of screen for a door.

Any hands on experience or advice would be appreciated!

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Comments (6)

kjkrum
17 years ago
Yes, we had two of the Phantom screens installed. We love them so much we will be adding a third sometime this summer. We bought them thru Lowe's.
We have a child that always seems to be walking thru screen doors. The Phantoms are able to retract and repair themselves.
edselpdx
17 years ago
I've had a Phantom Screen on my front door for several years. The cost included professional installation. I bought it through a local Phantom dealer. It has held up very well. They gave me a can of silicone lube to use on the tracks every so often and that has kept it operating smoothly and quietly for 3 years.

The dog went running through it once when it was brand new, but that only happened once (no damage to the screen or mechanism). The screen is held open by a magnet so when you bang into it, the magnet releases and it retracts with quite a bang. The dog has been much more careful now that she knows it's there. I do have one cat who has learned to go under the edge of the screen without releasing the catch. I put up a kiddie gate for a few weeks and she seems to have forgotten that she knew how to do that once.

Here is a link that might be useful: Phantom Screens
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We bought ours at Home Depot, but had to pay to install them as it wasn't as easy as the brochure made it look. Of course, once installed, it took about 10 min for our cats to figure out they could escape through the bottom, so we pretty much never get to use them unless we lock up the cats. :( As far as "snapping", we could fix the one side to be stationary and then just open the other side. We really like them when we can use them. I called the manufacturer, and they said they were never intended to be used as pet screen.
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I'm interested in re-opening this thread as we just put a parlor floor deck on the rear of our house last fall, and put a custom OUTSWING door to the deck since the kitchen right inside is small (we're in NYC), knowing we would want a retractable screen this spring. Well, it's nice out and I want to leave the door open but really can't without a screen so it's time to get one ASAP. Our door isn't that wide (31.5") so I'm concerned about a frame making the width too narrow. I don't want something so "framed out" that we lose too much width. Also, we have cats one of whom always wants to go outside and might push against the screen, so I'd want something sturdy once it's closed so he only goes outside when we open the door to let him. (Once the cat learns it won't give way he won't try much more but at the beginning we need sturdy) we also have kids some of whom may push against it without realizing it's there. I've been researching this and have learned that Mirage (based in Canada) and Screenmobile (based in CA) use dealers that won't work in New York City (although the Screenmobile dealer in West Caldwell New Jersey was really nice and helpful and knowledgeable today), and Phantom is a floating mesh system and might not be pet-resistant (and including installation will cost around $500, which sounds high to me). Lowe's carries the Larson 39x81 for $160 or $200 including delivery, but it's either possibly overly framed out or has no bottom frame so my cat could render it relatively useless. And Home Depot has the ODL which is $120 or so but a dealer warned me that it's a relatively cheap product and "you get what you pay for" and suggested I go with the Phantom dealer in Brooklyn. I plan to go to his showroom but also wanted to ask others' opinions. ODL doesnÃ¢ÂÂt seem that bad and itÃ¢ÂÂs still on my list. Has anyone heard of Window Fix Inc? Any suggestions generally? Is $500 reasonable vs. $120-$200 from a Home Depot or LoweÃ¢ÂÂs thus returnable if we donÃ¢ÂÂt customize it and it just doesnÃ¢ÂÂt work? IÃ¢ÂÂm tempted to go the big box route this year and upgrade in a year or two if we need to. Thoughts?
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I am always a fan of less working parts. Given the availability of high visibility screening these days, seems like a less important option to me to be perfectly honest. That being said, we have installed the retractable screen equip windows in a couple of applications and have not yet had a service issue on them. They don't amount to much of our product, but those that we have installed have been fine. A quick tap of the screen would probably clear out any bugs that are still viable before you close up the screen and window.
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Comments (3)
I should have put phantom on my list- while their website and brochure say they make horizontal screens up to 177" no one in my area will do it. They insist on two screens. Same thing with ZigZag. Thank you for your input though! @bsds71 Its currently all just framed out right now, so I'm not sure how helpful that would be... its a multislide eurowall door. 4 pannels.
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kelpmermaid
17 years ago
We had one installed on the French door leading out to the deck; there was nothing there when I bought the house. I have a pet bird don't want anything flying in or out of the house. It has worked well, but check what type of closure it has; mine is magnetic, but I would prefer something more visibly secure. We had ours installed by the same guy who made us new screens -- several were missing.
elizabnar
17 years ago
I've installed two of these invisible screen doors. I purchased from the big box stores;-). Make sure you get the ODL brand as it is more sturdy than the Larson (that's right, I have one of each).
Katy
16 years ago
I wanted to use the retractable screen doors for a patio also. Is there some place that has a comparison of the various brands? Are there any brands other than those listed below that I should check out? We have indoor cats and one feature I am looking for is one that doesn't pull out from the bottom rack too easily if it is poked.

The brands I have heard of are:

Phantom (only sold with installation www.phantomscreens.com)

EntryAir (www.retractaway.com)

Roll-Away (www.rollaway.com)

ODL (www.odl.com)

The EntryAir screen seems to be the only one that doesn't use magenets to hold the door in place.

Katy
willowtiki
13 years ago
We have a Bella Retractable Screen Door and are very pleased with its performance. http://www.screen-time.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Retractable Screens

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