This is the question I get on every call, and most cost articles dodge it with a wide range and a "it depends." I run the shop, so here are the numbers. More useful than a range: I will show you how to price your own job before you call, and what pushes the number up or down. Grab a tape measure and you can figure most of this out in ten minutes.
Every quote is two numbers
Keep these separate in your head and the math gets simple. Every price I give has a flat service fee and the per-window-screen work.
The mobile service fee is $150, and it applies once per visit. It covers the drive and bringing a full workshop to your driveway so you skip the hauling. One window screen or twenty, the fee is the same $150. That is why a single screen on its own is a hard sell and a batch is where the value shows up. More on that in the examples.
The per-window-screen work is the part that moves with the job: a standard rescreen, a bent frame, an arched custom, a sliding door. Each has its own range below. The phone quote I give you adds the fee and the work into one all-in number, so nothing new shows up at the door. You can build your own estimate on the pricing page too.
Window screen rescreening, by size
Most window screen repair is a rescreen: out with the old mesh and spline, in with fresh mesh set to the right tension. Price runs by the size of the frame.
- Small, up to 24 by 24 inches: $65 to $85
- Medium, 24 by 36 up to 36 by 48 inches: $85 to $115
- Large, over 36 by 48 inches: $115 to $150
Where you land in each range comes down to three things:
- Mesh type. Standard fiberglass sits at the low end. Upgrades add to it (below).
- Frame condition. A clean frame is quick. A corroded one needs prep first.
- Spline. A brittle old spline that fights you takes longer than one that pops out clean.
For a standard fiberglass rescreen on a frame in good shape, plan on the low-to-middle of each range.
Four worked examples, fee included
Ranges take you so far. Here is what four common jobs land at, all-in.
One torn window screen
$150 fee plus one medium rescreen at $95. Call it $245. This is the job where people balk, and I get it: you are paying $150 to move one $95 screen. If it is a single flat screen and you are handy, a $20 rescreen kit from the hardware store is the smarter buy (I cover when it is not, below). One more thing: if you have one torn screen today, you have three more heading that way. Batch them.
A three-bedroom home: ten medium window screens and one sliding door
$150 fee, ten rescreens at about $100 each, one sliding window screen door at $155. That is about $1,300, and it is a same-day job. Per screen, the fee spreads thin: around $15 a screen across the batch instead of $150 for one. This is the shape of most of my jobs, and where mobile earns its keep.
An older home: six double-hungs and two arched customs
$150 fee, six double-hung rescreens at $100, two arched custom window screens at $225 each. Around $1,200. The customs carry the cost because each one gets measured and built to that exact opening, not pulled off a shelf.
A screened porch: eight panels
$150 fee plus eight porch panels at about $130 each. Near $1,200. Porches use larger panels and more mesh than a window, so they price per panel, not per window screen.
Window screen doors
Doors have moving parts, so they run above a flat window screen.
- Hinged window screen doors: $95 to $145
- Sliding patio window screen doors: $125 to $185
- Retractable window screen doors: $150 to $225
A sliding door that drags or jumps the track is most days a roller set and a track cleaning, which sits at the low end. A door that needs new mesh, rollers, and a handle climbs toward the top. Retractables cost more because the housing and spring are part of the repair, not the mesh alone. Details are on the window screen door repair page.
Custom and arched window screens
Berks County has a lot of homes with windows that came in no standard size: arched tops, round gable windows, tall narrow openings by a door.
- Standard custom rectangles: $125 to $175
- Arched or shaped window screens: $175 to $275
The cost is in the build. I measure the opening at your house, cut and join the frame to match, and fit the mesh to a shape no machine made. An arch or a circle takes a bent frame and slow splining, which is why it sits above a rectangle. See custom window screens.
Frame repair or frame replacement
New mesh on a bad frame is a waste, so I check the frame first. Two outcomes:
- Straightening a bent frame: $35 to $75
- Replacing a frame: $65 to $125
You can tell which you need before I get there. Lay the window screen on a flat counter. If it rocks or the corners lift, the frame is bent, and straightening might bring it back. If the aluminum is chalky white and pits under your thumbnail, or a corner key is cracked, straightening will not hold and it needs a new frame. Wood frames on old storm windows are their own case, and those I look at in person.
Which mesh, and when the upgrade pays for itself
Standard fiberglass is right for most windows and sits in the base price. The upgrades earn their cost in specific spots, not on the whole house. Here is the math on each.
Pet-resistant, add $45 to $75
If a dog has pushed through a window screen door once, it will do it again. A standard rescreen on that door is $95 to $145, and you will pay it twice a year. Pet-resistant mesh is about seven times stronger and takes the claws. One upgrade beats two rescreens inside a year. Put it on the doors and low windows a pet reaches. Skip it on the second floor. See pet-resistant window screens.
Solar, add $35 to $55
Solar mesh blocks a chunk of heat and glare. It earns its keep on west and south-facing rooms that cook in the afternoon, and on rooms with floors or furniture fading in the sun. On a shaded north window it does little. Put it where the sun is the problem, not on every opening.
No-see-um fine mesh, add $25 to $40
Standard mesh stops mosquitoes. It does not stop gnats and the tiny biters near water. If you sit near the creek or a pond and get bitten with the screens closed, this is the fix. Skip it if standard mesh already keeps your evenings clear.
Aluminum, add $15 to $30
Aluminum will not sag or melt, and it outlasts fiberglass in the sun. It costs less than the other upgrades and suits large windows and doors that take abuse. The trade is that it dents where fiberglass flexes back.
The $150 fee, next to your other options
The fee is the honest sticking point, so here is a straight comparison.
A hardware-store rescreen kit, $15 to $40
For one or two flat window screens, if you are handy, this wins on price. You buy mesh, spline, and a roller tool, and you spend an afternoon learning the tension by feel. It does not cover a bent frame, an arched custom, or a sliding door, and a screen set too loose tears by August. Right call for a single flat screen and a free Saturday.
A shop you drop off at
Some hardware stores and glass shops rescreen. You pull every window screen, load the car, drop off, wait a few days, and pick up. Per screen it can beat my rate. You pay in two trips and a week of open windows, and most shops turn away doors and custom shapes.
Mobile, my $150 fee plus the work
One visit. No pulling, hauling, or waiting. I handle windows, doors, porches, customs, and frames in the same stop, and set the mesh tension so it holds. The fee earns out on a batch and on anything past a flat rectangle. It does not earn out on one small screen you could rescreen yourself, and I will tell you so on the phone.
Price your own job in ten minutes
You can get within a hair of my quote before you call:
- Count your window screens by size. Small (about 2 by 2 feet), medium (up to 3 by 4), large (bigger).
- Count window screen doors by type. Hinged, sliding, retractable.
- Note anything odd. Arched or round windows, porch panels, a frame that rocks on the counter.
- Add it up. $150, plus the work from the ranges above.
Call with that list and I confirm the number in a minute. For most homes, the figure you build and the figure I quote match.
Ways the number comes down
Whole-house and multi-screen jobs spread the fee and earn a volume rate. Seniors 65 and up and veterans get a discount. Ask on the call.
Keep reading
Built your number? Let me confirm it.
Call with your window count and sizes and I give you an all-in price for free. Serving Reading, Wyomissing, Kutztown, Hamburg, and all of Berks County.
Written by the owner of Window Screen Repair PA. I handle window screen work from single-screen patches to full-house rescreens across Berks County.