How to Patch a Window Screen - Do It Yourself

Window screens are necessary for keeping insects like pesky mosquitoes out of your home. Bugs can enter even the tiniest of gaps in a screen. Repairing the holes and tears in your window screens does not take long or cost much. The directions for how to patch a window screen vary according to hole size and screen material. Your screens will be made from vinyl, fiberglass, or metal. Softer, fabric-like screens are vinyl or fiberglass. A metal screen is stiffer, and the edges of broken threads will feel sharp.

How to Patch a Window Screen Steps

For small holes or tears in vinyl or fiberglass window screens:

1. Obtain some clear nail polish.
2. Dab the polish over small holes or tears in fiberglass or vinyl window screens.
3. Reapply as necessary until you effectively glue the hole shut.

For small holes or tears in metal window screens:

1. For small holes on metal window screens, you should use clear silicone adhesive.
2. Squirt the silicone over the hole until you have completely closed the tear.
3. If a hole or tear is too large to seal shut with glue, you will need:
   1. Sewing needle
   2. Piece of scrap screen or screen patch from a store-bought repair kit.
4. Unravel some metal strands from the screen scrap.
5. Thread the needle with a metal strand.
6. Sew the tear shut with one or two strands.

For large metal window screen holes:

1. Trim the damaged screen area with tin snips so that no edges are unraveling.
2. Cut a screen patch with dimensions 1 inch larger than the screen hole.
3. Carefully unravel strands around all edges of the patch.
4. Weave the unraveled strands of the patch into the edges of the hole.
5. Bend the ends of the strands over so that they remain securely attached to the window screen.

For large fiberglass window screen holes:

1. Obtain a fiberglass window screen patch or cut one from scrap material.
2. Make the patch 1 inch larger in all directions than the screen hole.
3. Glue the patch to the existing screen with transparent silicone.