Fly screen solution ...

Hi All,

My daughters room is in the rear 'additrion' of our 1897 solid-9"-brick-walled 3 bed semi-terraced cottage (therefore it gets very cold in the winter and hot in the summer).

Her room has a single, largish, opening, dg window (east facing mostly shaded by the house and next door, top hinged for fire escape) but won't open it, even on vent because of 'creatures' getting in.

I have thought of making up a frame with some caravan type 'fly netting' over it but using it with the roller blind that is within the window reveal atm would be a bit akward to fit / use (and you can't fit anything directly to the inner frame (as would secondary dg) or it fouls the window handle).

So, I wondered if anone could think of a way of providing some sort of fine mesh across, or inside the window reveal that would not get in the way of the window opener handle at the bottom or restrict egress in the event of a fire?

I don't think she could have hinged frame on the inner wall as there would be no room to hinge it left or right because of the unit partly in front of (under) the window. It can't slide up very far because the room is partly (by a foot or so) in the rear addition roof (a sort of

45 deg corner on one side of the ceiling).

So maybe an internal mesh (on the inner wall) 'blind' that ran in vertical guides or something (so creatures can't get past), could be lifted up enough to open / close the window and be opened (ripped off) completely to get out quickly if need be ..?

Any ideas please folks?

====< fully opening dg window >===== | ++++ existing blind ++++ | wall | | ==== =====

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m
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On 29 Aug 2005, T i m wrote

Could you fit a fixed, netted frame to the exterior -- with sufficiently light fixings to allow it to be punched off if emergency access was needed?

Going external would solve the blind/handle problems; just a thought.

Reply to
Harvey Van Sickle

See, I knew someone would come up with something (but not that fast) ;-)

Her window faces my neighbours PC room (and he chaperones her to rock concerts so they are mates etc) and it wouldn't been seen by anyone else so I can't see a problem there ..

Re the fastening .. if this box / frame was only attached at the top and was allowed to swing it would simply kick up if the window was opened more than usual ;-)

And internal solution would be 'easier / neater' but not as functional as your solution (creatures can't even get into the window area anytime!) ;-)

All the best .. and thanks again .. ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Almost anything short of weldmesh will be cuttable by the fire brigade - she isn't (hopefully) going to be trying to jump out of the window before they put a ladder up.

I think something like net curtain mesh, hemmed with tape and velcro dots, and corresponding velcro dots on the frame, would fit snugly enough to keep out beasties, but be easy enough to remove for manipulating the window latch. It wouldn't need to be rigid, so could be baggy enough to accommodate the latch handle etc.

Alternatively, put a rail over the bed and suspend a mozzie net curtain, could look quite feminine if done with appropriate frills and flounces, and she can draw the curtains round the bed during daytime and make a hidey-hole. Fire-retardent spray on the fabric might be sensible. (This is also a task that can be reverted to the Officer i/c Domestic Harmony in many cases.)

(Depending on age of the daughter, you have established that the 'creatures' she is afraid of are corporeal, and not imaginary? It's a lot easier to banish the imaginary ones with a 'magic spell' than it is to get the carpentry tool-box out...)

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Something in here?

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I have seen roller blinds that run in vertical tracks and which are typically used as blackout blinds in a room where a projector etc. is to be used. I wonder if one of these could be used with fly screen material.

Reply to
Andy Hall

Just my tuppence worth. Think simple. A decently made screen edged with velcro might do the job. If you have steel framed windows the magnetic strip stuff might be better. Either should be suitable as they are both easily removed. Use your ingenuity, it's amazing where a few rubber bands and some sticky tape can lead you! Good luck

NP

Reply to
NickP

I used velcro and the fine netting sold in outdoor/camping shops for tent windows - it even keeps out Highland midges!

Sheila

Reply to
S Viemeister

On 29 Aug 2005, T i m wrote

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Glad it didn't sound like a stupid idea!

Reply to
Harvey Van Sickle

Hi Owain .. and thanks for the input. As it happens her window open over our little polycarbonate roofed 'lean-to' so it would be a pretty safe exit as-is. ;-)

Of course .. 'baggy' .. baggy and maybe hemmed all round with a sew-in light velcro and self adhesive equiv on the plastic dg frame ... ?

Actually, that might be quite easy to do but not as you imagine. Being a box room it's pretty small, so I built the bed across the end of the room but up in the ceiling (for her older sister). There's about enough room for her to sit up in bed and enough room underneath for a

750mm deep worktop that is also the full width of the room (taking her TV, fishtank, PC and *sometimes* homework ;-). The silhouette of the bed (a full single) looks like a bit like a fighter jet (Hawk?) with a tailplane going up to the ceiling taking a bookshelf across the bed head end. Anyway, It could be quite easy to attach a batten over the bed and have a simple fly net type curtian dropping down level with the bed side. Although 15 and a 'RockGoth' she's not particularly 'girly' (so flounces are out ) and with her Tiequando and motorbike riding you would think she wouldn't be botherd by (mainly) small flying creatures? A while back she spent an afternoon putting out aphid packs in my mates tomato greenhouse surrounded by his bees .. after a while she forgot about them but still has a 'wobbler' when one comes in her room (but won't generally hurt them). Re the 'hidy hole' ..As she got older we offered her the bigger middle bedroom with a conventional bed but she won't budge ;-)

Understood ..

(This

'Domestic Harmony' .. She who will obey is only bothered if I don't keep her XV750 Virago on tune and clean! ;-)

Well, in most cases the actual *theat* to her is imaginary (unlike that from Chavs and she's not 'bothered' by them...?) but she is silll unwilling to go to sleep knowing something is loose in her room (inc moths and spiders but not the visiting mouse we had the other day ..?). If she protests enough 'Mum' normally goes in and grabs whatever and puts them out the window (I'm all for the more caring 'go to sleep it can't hurt you' solution!).

It's a

Yeah, and I'd love to take a picture of her face when I tried that one!

All the best and thanks for all your thoughts / ideas Owain. I'm going to put all the ideas to her and she what she thinks (I think she's a bit of a designer herself) ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Hmm, that was one of my first thoughts ..

Thanks for the link Andy .. there might be something there as is or an idea to get me rolling .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Please .. ;-)

Ok, I often start that way but often ends up 'complicated' ;-(

Plastic d/g stuff but I'm sure I could sort something ..

Either

Understood ..

Oh indeed. With her room being often getting so hot (and the bed being near the ceiling) she asked if she could have a fan in there somewhere. We started with one of the small clip-on types up on the beadhead and that worked do a degree (sorry) ;-)

I envisiged one of those bigger desk fans (that can also be wall mounted) fitted on one of the built-in cupboards that faced her bed (side) and up at the same level (so abouve her head when shes moving about in the room). I found one but when I testes it in that position it 'resonated' slightly via the cupboard. I was thinking of rubber mounting the fan somehow (as a form of isolation) and was thinking up all sorts of plates and contraptions to do so.

After a week or so I refined it down to fitting 4 soft rubber feet uder the fan that would rest on the cupboard. I then drilled 2 10mm diameter holes through the cupboard (aligning with the fans mounting keyholes) and pushed some soft rubber tubing into the holes. I then fitted a couple of 50mm long 4mm machine screws into the fans keyholes, through the rubber 'inserts' in the cupboard and through a couple more rubber feet, penny washers and wingnuts on the inside. The fan can be moved about a bit on it's rubber mount, runs pretty quietly and cures the creatures problem but not the actual heat (just moves the hot air about) ;-(

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Hi Shela ;-)

Keeps out midges eh .. that's gotta be the ultimate test! ;-)

Hmmmm I was 'worried' about any form of screen 'inside' the open window because as you have to remove it to access the window handle, any creatures on it could get in at that moment, attracted by the light in her room. If the fabric was attached to the window firmly enough (good velcro) and 'baggy' / strong enough, she might be able to open / close the window *through* the fabric (like I sometimes do with our net curtains .. much to 'her' dismay .. ) ;-)

All the best and thanks for the qualification (midgeproofedness) ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Ideas to get you started, really. It was difficult for me to visualise the room and window setup, so I wasn't sure what might work and what wouldn't

Reply to
Andy Hall

Not at all, and ignoring the extra construction work needed to make / fit something and the look of the thing from the outside it is the least intrusive solution whilst keeping creatures where they belong,

*outside* the house ;-)

Following on from your suggestion last night I've been trying different designs in my head.

The windown opens pretty well from the top (it's side hinged but near the top) so the window forms a wedge shape when opened sufficiently for regular ventilation.

So my (your) first fly screen box was just that, a retangular frame covered in fabric mesh and top slung over the window on the outside (with a soft foam rubber gasket fitted to the frame side to seal it to the wall).

Then it went wedge shaped, following the contours of the window.

Then it went into clear polycarbonate with just a mesh 'bottom' (

Reply to
T i m

Indeed .. and a picture would speak 1000 words (damn you text only newsgroups!) ;-)

There really isn't a lot of space around the window on the inside .. to the right there is a tall wall mounted mirror, the internal sill is just below the level of her small draw units and to the left is the wall mounted bed ;-) Above the window there is little flat wall before the wall changes through 45 deg for a foot or so to become the ceiling.

The window is a reasonable size for a small room (it was a sliding sash when I bought the house but was rotten beyond repair), inside the reveal is 1.2m high by .9 wide. It became a wooden single glazed jobby (no spare cash, buying the house on my own) for a while then went PVCu with the rest of the house.

Trying to keep it practical, there is a chance that anything that has to be opened to access the window is likely to allow anything that may have got as far as said screen into the room, especially at night after being open all day?

So, the perfect solution (from stopping creatures point of view) would either have to be on the outside and accommodating the open window or on the inside but not moved to open / close the window (so a very baggy net / mesh might work).

While I was quickly reading the replies to the missus this morning she suggested our daughter just wears a bee keepers type net all the time .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

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I don't know if you have some specific problem that really warrants all this effort. Everyone gets the odd creepy crawly through the window and big spider in the house. I'd be more concerned as to why this has become such a big issue. Our two kids (now teenagers) always had a small window open and on odd ocassions met with a bee/big beetle/daddy longlegs/moth etc which might cause a small stir, but we never felt the need to prevent them (rarely) getting in. If you child is very scared of creepy crawlies then perhaps going to a place where some staff can introduce her to some friendly ones and show her that they are harmless would be a better solution.

Paul

Reply to
Paul Andrews

Simple - use black netting. Make it a fashion statement!

BTW - how does a 'RockGoth' differ from a 'normal' Goth (or Goff)?

Does she look bothered? Is her face bothered?

Dave

Reply to
david lang

I was thinking she was about five...

At 15 she's more into the candle-burning age than a five-year-old.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

LOL having read that she's 15, I'd probably not bother to do anything!

Paul

Reply to
Paul Andrews

Wicked (I can hear her saying to that one ..) ;-)

Erm .. not that sure really .. She started going for the Goth look (6 complete outfits from a charity shop for £10) black nails / makeup etc then sorta swayed more straight rock with Rammstein, Megadeth etc with some Green Day (concerted those 3 so far) and System of the Damned thrown in? But walk past her room and she's playing bass along to some Marley or a classical number on her Oboe .. ?

That's the attitude yep .. but she does have a sense of loyalty. Confronted by some (mild) chavs one of her (male) mates ran away and she stood with the rest (her b/f and his mate and her girly Tiequando partner) ;-)

The chavs were easily confused and wandered off .. ;-)

All the best .. ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

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