Apply the Right Type of Garage Screen

Your garage is for your cars, right? Most of us treat the garage as that huge storage place attached to the house, where your junk goes until you need it, but you never need it. But savvy people know better. Families around the country use the garage for any variety of reasons.

They may convert it into a living space, a large bedroom, or an entertainment center. It may double as a workshop for those so inclined toward do-it-yourself projects. It has been a traditional place to create a “man cave,” where the man of the house can go to indulge his hobbies. It may be the spot where your aspiring rock band meets to practice and play.

The garage is a versatile and large space in your house and can be used in a variety of fashions. And if it is being used as a living space, there are some challenges that come with converting it to that use. You have huge doors and, usually, no windows. So you are stuck with ventilation problems. If you open up what is essentially an entire wall to let a little air in the place, what’s to keep everything else in the outside from following that air right inside your garage?

Installing Garage Door Screens

Where there is a need, often there comes a product to fill it. With so many garages being used as living and working spaces, several companies have started offering screens to cover the opening when your garage door is up. There are several varieties to choose from.

Hanging Screens

In this type of situation, the garage door screen is a sectioned curtain essentially with a weighted bottom. This is the easiest and most versatile method to covering a garage door opening with a screen. A hanging rod is installed above the top level of the garage door, and the special screens are hung like curtains with the weighted bottoms holding them tight to the floor. There are openings every several feet for easy entrance and exit.

In using these, you have to be careful to remember to adjust the screens each time, to avoid leaving gaps and allowing insects in.

Built-In Screens

In this solution, screens are put on lightweight frames in sections in order to fit exactly into the space left open by the garage door. In this system, the space is entirely filled, but does not allow for entering or exiting the space without dismantling the screens. If the garage is being used in such a way that cars or people do not need to come in and out the doors, the screens may be left in on a semi-permanent basis, allowing the garage door to rise and fall freely.

Custom Built Rising Screens

This solution is probably the most expensive, but it also the most versatile. There are companies that can install a sliding screen door that will work with your automatic garage door. In this case, the screen is permanent and can be raised and lowered by hand when needed, without causing any lack of function to the garage door.