Roller, motorised and solar insect screens: the complete guide

An insect screen is a simple product that is easy to get wrong. Almost every complaint we hear traces back to the same mistake: the wrong type for the opening. Get that decision right and the screen becomes invisible; get it wrong and you fight it every day of the summer.

Start from the opening, not the catalogue

The rule is close to arithmetic. Taller than wide, the mesh should travel vertically. Wider than tall, it should travel sideways. That single comparison eliminates most of the wrong answers.

• Standard windows — a roller screen. The mesh winds into a slim cassette at the head and drops in front of the opening.
• French doors and sliding bays — a side-sliding screen. The mesh crosses horizontally, so you are not winding two metres of mesh every time you step onto the terrace.
• Large spans and exposed terraces — a motorised screen, driven like a roller shutter.

What makes a roller screen last

Three components decide it, and none of them is the mesh.

The internal mechanism: the springs should be heavy-duty, silent, and the return speed adjustable with the screen already fitted — because a screen that snaps back is a screen that will be torn within two seasons.

The seals: one or two PVC seals at the roller close the gap above the mesh. Without them, flying and crawling insects simply come in over the top, which is the most common reason a screen “does not work”.

The side channels: telescopic and adjustable, to take up any out-of-plumb in the opening, with brushes closing the sides.

Motorised and solar: when they earn their place

Past a certain area a screen becomes uncomfortable to operate by hand, and the mesh copes badly with wind. A motorised screen solves both. The ZIP versions weld a bead along each edge of the mesh and run it inside a closed channel, so the mesh cannot pull out and stays taut instead of billowing — which is what allows the very large spans, and what makes screens viable on the open sides of a pergola.

Solar versions exist where bringing power to the opening would mean opening a wall. The same caveat applies as for shutters: the panel needs real exposure to work properly.

The mesh is a real choice, not a detail

• Standard grey — general purpose, and the most discreet from outside.
• High transparency — a finer thread and more open weave, for when the view is the reason you bought the house.
• High contrast — easier to see through against strong backlight.
• Fine weave — for the smallest insects.
• Anti-pollen — filters a large part of airborne pollen, for hay fever sufferers.

Made to measure, and why it matters here

Riviera openings are rarely square, particularly in older buildings. A screen built to the measurement taken at the opening seals at the perimeter; one bought to a nominal size leaves the gaps that let insects in. Everything we make is built to the measured dimension in our workshop at La Gaude.

See the full range of insect screens, or send your openings through the quote form.