Wondering where the mosquitoes are coming from? Suddenly
they’re hanging around the lit up indoor light fixtures and buzzing in your ear
when the lights go out. After some investigating you find the culprit is a small
hole in a window screen; the perfect place for the annoying pests to enter. No
problem; small window screen holes occur but they are easily repairable.
Here are some helpful tips to do it yourself and enjoy a
full night’s sleep without out the uninvited company.
Supplies: a screen patch (see below), wire cutting pliers, a
hard object like a wood block with at least a six inch width, a ruler.
Steps:
Depending
on how picky you are you could either purchase a patch of the same material
and color or use any existing piece of screen you may have lying around. Some
screens are made of nylon, others plastic, fiberglass or aluminum.
Once
you’ve decided which patching to use, remove the screen from the window,
as it will be easier to make the repair.
Clean
up the tear realigning any wire that is bent out of shape. You could cut
out the torn area or, leave it in place and patch directly over it.
Measure
the area of the hole and cut a patch extending it at least a half an inch
all around.
Remove
up to three strands of the patch on all sides so you have strand-like
threads in the other direction pointing outward.
Bend the
outward threads 90 degrees so they are facing upward as the patch rests on
the table.
Place
the patch underneath the screen aligning it with the tear. The upward
pointing strands should poke through the area of screen around the tear.
Use
the wood block or something else hard with a long enough edge to bend down
the upward strands onto the original screen. Start on one side bending
inward and do the others.
Test
the patch. Does it move around? If it does you probably have to tighten
the bent strands. If you want you could also use the strands initially removed
from the patch and weave them across the edges for more strength.
