DIY help asked for old custom aluminum frame plastic screen frame corners

I never dealt with screen frame corners before. o So I ask your help & advice.

Every time I touch a screen, the plastic corners are so brittle they break. o

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The only thing Home Depot had was this: o ScreenTight Build-a-Screen Screen Frame Corners 5/16th Brown o For use with 5/16th x 3/4" Aluminum Screen Frame o I called their tech support, which sucked: 800-768-7325

But they don't seem to fit although the width seems very close. o I think mine are 7/16ths (but only realized that just now).

They're cheap enough, but they're plastic. o They probably lasted fewer than 15 years in the California sun.

Any suggestions? o Particularly do I have to disassemble the whole screen to put them on?

Reply to
Arlen Holder
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Why not just buy the aluminum too. Then you know you get the right part. There is no guarantee that corners from one brand will fit another. Ace will make it up for you for a few bucks more than the parts so I stopped screwing with them.

Reply to
gfretwell

I've never had those kind of screens - but a quick amazon ca search reveals quite a few - 7/16 x 3/4 seems a common size :

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John T.

Reply to
hubops

Ace was my first stop before I did it myself.

They looked at it and just shook their head. They fix windows but won't touch those aluminum ones.

Reply to
TimR

Must be a local thing. They do here.

Reply to
gfretwell

Thanks for the advice as I've never repaired these screen corners before. o I have tons of these screens; I just want to know how to _fix_ them.

It turns out mine are 7/16th in height, whereas the ones I bought were only

5/16th in height (the rest of the dimensions are apparently similar).
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It's strange that the _only_ dimension that matters is the thickness; but that apparently is the case (according to a few calls today to suppliers). o 5/16ths

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o 7/16ths
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The key question now is do I buy the aluminum corners or the plastic ones. o

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And can I replace them _without_ having to take the entire screen apart.

Reply to
Arlen Holder

If you find a way to do that - post the video for us all !

You'd need to detach the screen on each side of the corner to provide slack to install the new corner insert. X 4. You might-as-well remove the screen completely ; install new corners ; install new screen with new spline. John T.

Reply to
hubops

After you do all that you might as well just buy the aluminum and make new screen frames. Just don't go nuts tightening the screen or it will bow the frame in.

Reply to
gfretwell

Yup. Unless you were fond of the old frames for some reason ? ... faded & matching the window frames ? .. stronger than the modern replacements ? ... dunno. John T.

Reply to
hubops

I suppose you could just sand down the replacement corners to fit the frame metal.

Reply to
gfretwell

Amen!!!

For me it's usually a storm window that's cracked. Yes they have to be disassembled, at least take the top section out, and that's where the corner pieces go.

Having done it a couple of times, I advise: don't even think about going back with glass. You WILL break it forcing in. Get a piece of Lexan.

The corner pieces hold it together and they're going to break anyway. So don't even try to save them. Use a Dremel cutoff disk and just slice them along the corner miter.

Reply to
TimR

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