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Spline of the Times

Do you know what spline is? Well, you're about to learn...

In the past, when I've needed to have a screen door "re-screened" I've taken the door off and brought it to a local hardware store for repair. It's usually cheap ($20/$25 or so) and only takes a few days before it's ready for pick up. But over the weekend, we had a mishap with our sliding screen door (someone walked into it) and it ripped the bottom and part of the side away from the edge. Given where our house is (edge of the woods), we like any barrier we can put up to keep out the insects.

So this time I decided I'd try to tackle the job myself. I measured the door (44" x 72") and went to Home Depot in search of a rescreening kit. That's where I learned that you not only need to buy the screen, but you also need "spline" and a spline applicator tool (a "spline roller"). Basically, spline is just a soft plastic line (get it?) that you smoosh into the groove of the door to hold the screen in place. What I didn't know was that it comes in about 4 different sizes/thicknesses. So I grabbed the smallest one and a middle-of-the-road one (about $8 total), a spline roller ($4), and a roll of screen that was just big enough to do my door ($7). This, of course, left no room for error. One small screw-up and I'd be back at Home Depot buying another roll.

Installation wasn't too bad, actually. I think it took me about 90 minutes, but that's because I was figuring it out as I went along and damn near came close to ripping it in a place that would leave no room to shift it over. But I was pretty confident in how to do it after finishing, so I decided to replace the screen on the sliding screen door at our Maple Shade house. That one almost needed it more than the other one did, and we've been showing the house to prospective buyers with a rip near the handle and tape covering it up! :-( It took me about 45 minutes to do that one (is was a bit narrower, but I think I just knew what to expect, which helped). Total cost = $10 (not including the tool since I'd already purchased that before).

I haven't told Don that I replaced it today, so I'm curious if he'll notice it or if he'll read this first. Or maybe he'll never even notice it...

Spline - your new word for the day.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sadly I knew what that was because of working in the Hardware section at Walmart lol

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