The complete guide
Buying PVC flyscreen frame by the metre
What this is
The flexible PVC profile that a magnetic window screen is built on.
A finished screen is four things: this frame, a set of corner pieces, a sheet of mesh, and magnetic strip. All four are sold separately here, which means any window in the country can be screened whether or not a stock size happens to fit it.
Why the frame is PVC
Because the alternative is aluminium, and aluminium is the reason traditional fly screens look the way they do: rigid, bulky, standing proud of the window and obvious from the street.
This profile is flexible. It sits flat against the window, it follows a frame that is not quite true, and at any distance the finished screen more or less disappears. That is not a cosmetic detail, it is most of the reason people choose these over a framed screen in the first place.
It will not rust and it will not corrode, which is the other thing it has over metal.
Working out how much
Measure around the perimeter of the window. Add a little for cutting waste, and a little more for the corners, which eat more than people expect.
Order that many metres. An offcut in a drawer beats a shortfall with the old screen already off the window and the light going.
Order the corner pieces at the same time. One screen needs four, and a set is four corners plus two wind clips.
Cutting and joining
A cutting blade or a strong pair of scissors. No tradesman tools, no mitre saw, no workshop.
Cut each side to its own measurement, which is the reason this suits older houses. A window that is out of square is no harder than one that is not, because you are working to the opening rather than hoping a rectangle fits it.
The corner pieces do the joining. The wind clips in the set are what stop a larger panel flexing in a gust, so use them on the bigger screens rather than leaving them in the packet.
Colour
Black, brown or white, all the same price.
The frame is the part anybody sees; the mesh is not. Match it to the window frame you already have, and the screen stops being a thing on the window and becomes part of it.
Building versus buying
If a stock size fits your window, buy the finished screen. It is cheaper and quicker.
Build when the window is an odd size or an odd shape, when you want to turn one large screen into several small ones, or when you are repairing a screen where one side has been damaged and the rest is perfectly good.