How to Cover Porch Screens With Plastic

A screen porch provides you with a place to enjoy the temperate weather while avoiding insects. In addition to that, a screened-in porch provides the homeowner with a breezy, protected outdoor area to relax in in the summertime, but the same characteristics that make screened-in porch so desirable in hot weather cause them to suffer in the winter time. The open spaces in the mesh screens allow cold wind, snow, sleet and freezing rain onto the porch. People who want to use their porch in the winter or who simply don’t want to have to shovel their outdoor haven can cover the screens with thick sheets of plastic to deny access to severe weather. Plastic sheets allow enjoying a screened-in porch year round. Herewith steps to cover porch using plastic as the screen.

1. Measure the height of the screen porch openings. Cut the plastic sheet 2 inches longer than the height of the window. Make sure the sheet is 2 inches wider than the window if one sheet to cover an entire opening is used.
2. Hold a cut plastic sheet up against the screen outside the porch. Position the sheet in the corner of a framed opening, leaving approximately 1 inch of plastic over the frame on the top and side of the window.
3. Staple the corner of the plastic sheet to the frame in the corner of the opening. After the first staple is in place, stretch the length of plastic along the frame at the top of the opening as tightly as possible. Staple the top of the plastic to the frame every 2 to 3 inches, keeping the seal as tight as possible.
4. Pull the free-hanging plastic down to the bottom of the opening after the top is secured. An inch of plastic should overlap the frame at the bottom of the opening. Hold the plastic tight against the frame and staple the sheet to the bottom of the opening every 2 to 3 inches
5. Staple the side or sides of the plastic to the frame after the top and bottom are secure.
6. Repeat the process until all the screens on the porch are covered. Depending on the layout of the porch, some sheets may have to overlap rather than be stapled to a side frame. Overlap the plastic sheets by 3 inches where they meet.

Cover Porch Screens With Plastic

Another option to installing clear vinyl sheeting is to cut the sheeting to cover the screen and the frame. Bind the edges with the waterproof cloth. Secure marine dome snaps to through the wrapped edges with a snap set. Secure the opposite side of the snap to the wood frame with a small screw. Snap the clear vinyl sheeting in place. This process is time intensive to prepare but makes removal and re-attachment the following year much easier.

For this material, next step is staple or nail strips of lath over the edges of each piece of clear vinyl sheeting or plastic to help hold it in place.To remove the screen coverings and staples in the spring, pull the staples from the screen frames with needle-nose pliers.

An alternative to stapling vinyl or plastic to the screen frames is to build frames that fit inside the framework on the inside of the screen porch. Stretch vinyl or plastic material over the frames and staple in place. Hold the screen covers in place with bent nails, full-turn or half-turn button latches.