How to Fix a Screened Porch

For living in a city, we have a lot of wildlife in our backyard. Squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, voles, hawks, and more… a virtual wonderland for a labrador retriever! Needless to say, Elvis Parsley Dog often gets a little excited when he sees a squirrel, chipmunk, or rabbit.

Elvis Parsley, pondering wildlife from our screened porch.

In fact, the other day, he got so excited that he ran right through that side panel on our screened porch!

I half-expected to see an Elvis-shaped hole in the screen – kind of like in cartoons when someone busts through a wall, running from a monster. But, thankfully, the screen just tore away from the side of the porch.

Because necessity is the mother of invention, I learned how to fix the screen when it’s torn away from the side of the porch. So, I thought I’d share this for today’s Friday Five: how to fix a screened porch!

Here’s what you’ll need:

putty knife

hammer

pneumatic stapler

brad nailer (optional)

How to fix a screened porch:

(1) Inspect the screen.

First, inspect the screen. You want to make sure the screen isn’t torn in the middle. This tutorial only explains how to put the screen back in place when the screen has been torn away from the side of the porch, like this:

If the screen is torn in the center or ripped (or has a dog-shaped hole in it), then you’ll probably need a new screen.

(2) Remove the trim from the side panel.

The screens on a screened porch are usually stapled or nailed to the frame of the porch, and then trim covers those fasteners along the edge of each panel.

So, to reattach the screen to the porch, you first have to remove the trim pieces. Carefully pry them off with a putty knife and hammer. You don’t want to pull so hard that the trim piece breaks. Just slide the putty knife under the trim and hit the end of the putty knife with the hammer to wedge it under the trim. Then carefully lift it off.

(3) Reattach the screen.

Once you have the trim removed, you can reattach the screen to the frame of the porch. To do this, you might want to grab a friend to help. It’s easier with two people (although one person could definitely do the job).

Pull the screen taut. Then use an electric or battery-powered stapler to reattach it. I used my RYOBI 18-Volt One+ AirStrike 18-Gauge Cordless Narrow Crown Stapler.

My favorite contractor, Craig, is stapling the screen back to the frame here so I can photograph it.

Staple the screen all the way around the frame of the porch until it’s securely reattached.

Make sure that the screen is pulled taut – without tearing it – before stapling it. On our porch, the screens had started sagging a bit from age; reattaching them gave us a chance to tighten them up again.

(4) Reattach the trim.

Once you’ve reattached the screen, you can reattach the trim back over the screen edges.

To reattach the trim, you can use the stapler or use a nailer. I used my RYOBI brad nailer and it worked perfectly.

(5) Sit back with a beverage and admire your work!

And hope that your crazy animal doesn’t run through it again!

(P.S. He did – right after we fixed the screen, he tore through the one next to it. Oh well. At least now I know how to fix it!)

Need to clean your screened porch? Here’s the best way to clean a screened-in porch in five easy steps!!