How to Choose the Right Screen Mesh

Most screens come with plain gray fiberglass, but it is one of four meshes we put in windows and doors. Each one is built for a different job: everyday use, pets, heat or the view. Picking the right one for each opening makes a real difference in how long the screen lasts, how much you see through it and how a sunny room feels. Here is how they compare, what each costs, and where each one belongs.

Standard fiberglass

The mesh most screens ship with: woven fiberglass with a vinyl coating. It keeps bugs out, lets air through and is easy to see through. It is included in our base prices: $45 for a standard window rescreen, $55 for a new standard window screen and $95 for a sliding door rescreen.

The trade-off is strength. Fiberglass tears fairly easily: a dog, a wind-blown branch or a child leaning on it can put a hole in it. For bedrooms, upstairs windows and any screen that doesn't get much contact, it is all you need.

Pet-resistant mesh

Pet screen is vinyl-coated polyester instead of fiberglass. The strands are thicker, and its maker rates it about seven times stronger than standard fiberglass. Dogs can push against it and cats can climb it, and it holds up far longer than fiberglass would. It adds +$20 per window screen and +$40 per door screen.

Put it where pets meet the screen: sliding screen doors (the most common pet-damage spot), low windows a dog can reach, and any screen you have already replaced because of a pet. The trade-off is visibility. Thicker strands make it a little darker and easier to see than fiberglass. Most people don't mind, but on a window with a view you care about, UltraVue on that window and pet mesh on the doors is a common split.

Resistant isn't proof. A determined dog can still get through, and pet damage is a normal repair at our posted prices. If your dog uses the door, a pet door built into the screen door saves the mesh altogether; see pet screens and pet doors.

Solar mesh

Solar mesh is a denser weave that blocks up to 90% of the sun's heat on sun-facing windows (manufacturer rating), before it reaches the glass. It is the one to use on south- and west-facing windows, and on rooms that bake in the afternoon, which is common in inland areas such as East County and North County inland. It also cuts glare.

The trade-off: it is darker. Looking out through solar mesh is a little like wearing sunglasses, and the room is dimmer. For a room where heat is the problem, that is usually a good trade. It adds +$20 per window screen and +$40 per door screen. More detail is in how solar screens cut heat.

UltraVue mesh

UltraVue is the mesh for the view. It uses thinner strands than standard fiberglass, so it nearly disappears when you look through it and lets more light into the room. It still keeps insects out and lets air through, and it goes in the same way as any other mesh, rolled into the frame with spline, so we can use it on a rescreen of your existing frames or on new window screens. It adds +$20 per window screen and +$40 per door screen.

Where UltraVue makes sense

• Living rooms and kitchens with big windows or a sliding screen door that frames the yard.
• Homes with an ocean, canyon or city view, where the screen is the one thing between you and it.
• Upstairs windows pets can't reach.
• Rooms that feel dark behind standard screens.

When to skip it

UltraVue is not pet-resistant. The finer strands are more delicate than standard fiberglass, so skip it on screens dogs and cats touch, and on busy ground-floor doors where strength matters more than the view.

Side by side

Mixing meshes room by room

Most of our customers use more than one mesh. A typical San Diego house ends up like this:

• Sliding door to the yard: pet-resistant mesh if you have a dog or cat, otherwise UltraVue or fiberglass.
• The main view window: UltraVue.
• West- and south-facing bedrooms or offices: solar.
• Everything else: standard fiberglass.

Not sure? Your tech brings samples on every visit, so you can hold each one up to the window and see the difference before you choose.

Common questions