Screen Door

[chnlisle]

Have any of you tried to adapt the ODL or Wizard retractable screen doors to fit a camper. It looks like it would be a great solution. It fits on the inside it retracts out of the way and it looks cool to boot.
Jay

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Jay,

Do you have any contact info for either of those products??
My wife was just recomending sometjing like that for the Ranger..

Tom

 

[pvstoy]

A few years back there was a company at a home show that offered a custom fit screen door for houses. I looked into that company and found with the Ranger back closet door it would not be able to open all the way with the unit mounted on that side. It was a unit that had tracks at the bottom and top. The screen would pull out of a round tube at the end and attach the other end with a magnet.

At times a screen door would be nice, just did not spring for it at the time. I would also be interested on a aftermarket solution without replacing the whole door.

 

[pvstoy]

Have any of you tried to adapt the ODL or Wizard retractable screen doors to fit a camper. It looks like it would be a great solution. It fits on the inside it retracts out of the way and it looks cool to boot.
Jay


Here is the like to Wizard: http://www.wizardindustries.com/index.html Looks like thier windows can pull from the top down. That might be ok if there is enough room.

Here is ODL: http://www.odl.com/screens/retractable/faq.php

 

[craig333]

Are these cheaper than what Ben or FWC does? Or work better?

 

[chnlisle]

Tom, Pat & Craig,
Mounting space would be an issue. The screen door is the one thing I really would have loved in all my campers. I just never got around to putting one in and from what Ben said its a bit harder to retro fit but totaly do-able. And from what I've seen of all of your guys work it would be a piece of cake.

Mosquitos world wide have a alert system when Jay rolls into town so in hot climates with the door open I really need a screen or lots of brain numbing bug juice. I get eaten alive and my wife never gets one bite. My next camper will have some sort of screen door.
Jay

 

[benburnett]

To put a screen door in is really not a problem. The only real issue is price. With FWC or our campers, you can't just add a screen to your existing door. The Screen Door for the campers is a complete unit. It has a deeper frame and the Screen is part of the entire unit. They are nice, just a bit pricey. A new screen door runs 215.00.

 

[Coop]

Home Made Bug Screen Curtain

Here is a suggestion for a "home made" bug screen for the rear camper door.
It has worked well for me over a good number of years. It won't stop 100% of those pesky flyin' critters,
but...it's been effective enough that, day or night, we really haven't given bugs much thought at all.
Like I said though, not 100% like a screen door, but...pretty darn effective.
Basically it's nothing more than a "harem curtain" made out of heavy(1/8" is good, hangs straighter)
clear flexible vinyl plastic sheet (curtain).
Cut the sheet wide and long enough to cover the entire door opening or whatever suits your needs.
Leave a couple of inches to start with at the top uncut (you can adjust[reduce] this depending on
how you decide to mount the curtain above the door). Cut (from top to bottom) the sheet into strips
of any width you want.
In my case I made them 1 inch. Be sure and punch clean round holes across the top and start your
downward cut from center of the hole. This will prevent the cut(slit) from continuing to tear at the top.
Secure the slit sheet with sheet metal screws into the aluminum frame tube above the door, and use
as big a diameter flat washer for the screw size you can get. I think I put about six across the top,
starting about an inch or so in from the edge.
Adjust the mounting height of the curtain or trim the length of the strips so that they hang just
slightly "above" the bottom door sill. This is so they don't drop down in front of the sill and
prevent the door from closing. And... you've got your bug curtain.
The photos aren't the best, but...I think they pretty much clarify my description.
The nice thing about the curtain, especially when it's new and clean (mine is pretty grungy now),
is that you can see out through it great, and it's lets all the light in. It's almost glass clear.
That's another reason I didn't make the strips too narrow. The more strips might tend to make it
less... see-through! But...on the other hand it could actually make the curtain even more effective
because the strips may hang tighter? I didn't experiment with that!
When it gets grungy and won't clean up nicely any more, simply make a new one!
One other benefit is that, if you've got your hands full with a coffee and a plate of food,
you don't have to reach down and open anything, you just push your head through, and out, or in,
you go! And...my hound dog likes it too, just like his doggie door at home! Comes and goes at will...!!

No worries with bugs...Coop.

 

[Coop]

Follow Up To Home Made Bug Screen Curtain.

For some reason don't seem to have the option to "edit" my previous post about making the bug curtain.
So I'll add this additional post.
Just wanted to add this note (tip). If/when you purchase the flexible vinyl sheet it will probably come off a roll.
So it will have a nasty "curl" in it.
This will eventually come out as my photo shows. But it makes it a real pain to work with!
To start with, what I suggest is, cut the curly sheet to the width you want, then cut it plenty longer
than the the finished length.
Put several holes across the top and then hang the sheet, preferably in direct sunlight for a day or
two or three, whatever? Until it hangs nice and flat and straight. If need be, to speed things up a bit,
attach (clamp) some even weight across the bottom as well. Not so much though that you end up distorting the sheet.
Then, go ahead and finish up the job!

Coop

 

[EdoHart]

Good Job

That's a nice looking setup! The round holes at the top of the slits are something it probably would have taken me a couple of iterations to figure out. Thanks for the details.

 

[pvstoy]

Hi Coop,

Just like at a walk-in freezer that got those hanging to keep the cold in. Interesting idea.

 

[pvstoy]

I’m going to try to make one with an idea in my head. Basically I have an opening that is about 25” wide X 42” tall. If I can find one of those windshield sun shades that size or make a frame with round radius at the corners. What I would do is wrap the frame with nylon window screen and sew around the edges. To attach I was thinking of magnets.

When the screen is not needed it could be folded up like the windshield sun deflectors. If the door closed, then the door handle would just release the magnet hold and close. If I wanted to get fancy, then I could have two small hinges on one side with the magnets holding them. That would allow the screen to open and close without pulling the whole thing off. So there would be two magnets on one side (hinges) and one magnet on the other.

Any thoughts?

 

[chnlisle]

Pat, I thought of doing that as well. When I bought my camper the roof vent screen was removed. I got a screen kit from Home Despot and built a little "press fit" screen that I could remove to crank the vent and replace when needed. I used foam insulation on the vent side. The screen had no crank hole in it so the bugs couldn't get in. I wanted to do the same thing on a larger scale for the entry door. The problem I see with my idea or the magnet screen door idea is the inconvience of putting it on and taking it off. I'll be interested in seeing how it works. Be sure to take a few pix when you get it done.
Jay

 

[pvstoy]

Hi Jay,

I was thinking of mounting the two small hinges to the door frame and so the magnets on the screen would just touch. That would make it easy to get in and out. This would be something that I can fold up and store and then pop open and attach. Still thinking...................

 

[Tomas Tierra]

intetresting factoid on the doors..

when I had my early 80's fleet model the door took a crap..cracked frame , didn't want to close and such.. A nieghbor had a 2000 eagle model and backed into a pole, anyways his wife wanted a new door so I got the old one...

after a small cosmetic repair..Surprise surprise...the newer one (with screen door) fit right inside the frame of the old one.. Like it was made to!

a little shimming on the interior and it was like I had a new door..cool. took some photos before I sold it the other day...

 

[benburnett]

door

Thanks for that post. That will answer the other question that we couldn't remember on the fleet door size. I know Jeff will remember the Eagle size. At least now I know it was either 42 or 44" high.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

my pleasure Ben..

 

[chnlisle]

Hi Ben,
Do You guys use the same screen door unit as FWC? Would it retro fit into the Hawk?

 

[benburnett]

Jay,

There should be no problem with putting in a screen door. What year is your camper?

Would also need to know the hole opening size to make sure we order the correct door for you.

 

[chnlisle]

Hi Ben,
I'll Call you tomorrow (7/5/07) in the A.M. with the info. I was hoping to have the door by the 18th. Is that possible? I'll be in Ventura for some other stuff so we could ship it there. A friend and I are installing the aux. batt then so it would be good time to put the door in also.