DIY Screen Door – Part 2
DIY Screen Door – Part 2

DIY Screen Door – Part 2

Progress with the screen door has been slow.  I kept messing up and having to backtrack to fix my mistakes, but that’s the beauty of learning.  2 weekends ago I painted the frame.  The outside is black like our other outer doors – I used the same exterior semi-gloss black that I bought for the front door.  It took 3 coats of black to completely cover the primer:

265a        265b

265c        265d

I decided [I have no idea why] to attach the screen mesh to the frame BEFORE painting the inside white.  The white you see on the frame is the primer.  Darwin made sure the screen was positioned correctly before I stapled it to the frame:

265e        265f

265g        265h

NOTE TO SELF #1:  DON’T ATTACH THE SCREEN UNTIL THE ENTIRE FRAME IS PAINTED!

After the screen was attached, I trimmed around the edges enough so the molding would cover it.  Then I nailed the primed molding pieces to the frame:

265i        265j

NOTE TO SELF #2:  DON’T ATTACH THE MOLDING UNTIL THE FRAME & MOLDING ARE PAINTED!

I didn’t do a great job trimming the screen – it was peeking through all over the place:

265k        265l

NOTE TO SELF #3:  TRIM SCREEN BETTER!!!

I decided to use a kitchen knife to gently pry up the molding pieces, then trim the screen better:

265m        265n

While the molding was off, I decided to tape the frame & paint it and the molding:

265o        265p

Then I taped the black side so I could paint the inner edges white, which was a bitch.  Because of the screen:

265q        265r

Once everything was painted, I attached the molding again, this time using my staple gun as a nailer.  So cool!  The DeWalt staple gun I have can be used as a stapler or a nailer [#affiliate], so I went to Home Depot and bought some nails for it.  It did a great job, although I had to use a hammer to knock most of them in deeper:

265s        265t

I used wood filler to fill in the old nail holes, as well as the corners where the molding didn’t quite line up.  I employed a kitchen brush to get rid of the excess:

265v        265u

Today Darwin made sure the screens were as loose as possible [oy] and once he was done, I painted the wood filler white:

265w        265x

All that’s left is to hang it!  Hopefully the weather will clear enough soon for me to do that.

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2 Comments

  1. Anne

    A lot of aggravation, but that’s how people learn – and I was really glad Darwin was there to help you. Such a curious and interesting cat!
    And your screen door is beautiful!

    1. Nine Dark Moons

      If there is anything new on the floor, he claims it as HIS. He’s very funny 🙂 I can’t wait to get it hung and start using it! It’s biggest benefit will be to allow cross-ventilation through the bedroom all summer.

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