Has anyone here rescreened the roof of a pool enclosure? I cannot find any sights that can provide info on how it's done, every site jumps you into a 'search for a contractor' site. The screening is standard Nylon, the process is the same as with any window screen, but the extruded metal frame is only 2" wide. When you lay a ladder or scaffolding across the frame, it sits right on the screen material itself. The frame is a dome shape, so while scaffolding lays okay on the top sections, it has the tendency to want to slide off on the angled sections. I'm alot more comfortable reshingling a roof than I am with playing around on this stuff, but my wife is unwilling to pay 2 grand so I can watch a pro do it...especially when the materials come out to about 200 bucks. Thanks for advice, mike PS- No comments on being *whipped*, I have my revenge planned...
I have the same problem. i've seen them do it though. the scurry around on the aluminum girders, no scaffolding involved. i'd rather pay someone to do it myself. Chip
I did, over 1000 sq ft of it, some of it 16 ft above grade. It came out better than the usual "pro" job, because they don't care about getting the screens tight. All the jobs I see flap in the breeze, mine are all still tight as a drum years later.
The technique is to get yourself on a sturdy footing so at least your shoulders and chest reach through the panel being screened. Then you work from above, while standing underneath. You can start anywhere, but you have to finish a run of panels where you can reach above from outside the enclosure, kind of like not tiling yourself into a corner. This takes some careful planning.
Most structures can't support your weight to do with work. It also takes a long time to do a good job, such that I wouldn't possibly trust myself climbing and perching like that. One false move and you have a broken neck.
Scaffolding is the key. Doing it with only ladders is possible, but is quite an athletic performance. What I did was buy two 16 ft articulating ladders, and a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, which made a very sturdy yet easily moved scaffold, with the ladders side-by-side like upside-down U's and the plywood flat on top. This gave me a 5-foot platform for the 8-foot part of the ceiling. For the 16-ft high areas, I put a sturdy stepladder on top of that. Stacking ladders like this can be unsteady, so you need good quality ones. Once you're in position, you can steady yourself against the enclosure framing. You can C-clamp the ladder to the framing if need be. This work is many hours long, and you will really appreciate having a flat and solid scaffold to stand on instead of a wobbly ladder rung. The only real expense was a 2nd articulating ladder (I already owned one for general tasks) and the lumber, these ladders are less than $200.
I also made a bridge across the 18-foot-wide filled pool consisting of
2x10-12's lapped to 20-foot lengths, as 3 joists with a plywood floor. This held up the scaffold/ladder/me to reach above the pool. A regular extension ladder was used to reach the outside edges (terminations of panel runs). This was too heavy to lift and move down the length of the pool, but it was easily nudged from spot to spot via cleats with 2x4's as levers. At one point I had to lift it across a pool ladder, and I used a come-along hung from the (open, no screens) enclosure frame. I would have preferred a lighter aluminum scaffolding platform to bridge the pool, but the size that reaches across the 18-foot "pond" would have been very expensive, not to mention shaky.
This was a big job, and took a long time standing outdoors. Make sure you have the stamina to get through it. Try an easy panel or two and estimate how long the whole job will take.
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