With a small amount of effort and money you can easily repair your own door and window screens or give them a full tune-up. The Home Depot's Scott Krueger and Joe Autry say this is a really simple process that most anyone can do. It's also a great option for people who live in older homes where it's often hard to find replacements that work well with older doors and windows.

Handiness Skill Level: Beginner

Materials: Damaged Screen, Replacement Screen Material, Replacement Spline, Knife, Spline Roller or Paint Stick, Scissors

Optional Materials: Replacement Rollers, Replacement Hardware, Pet Resistant Screen, Window Screen Frame Kit

The Repair

If you did not remove the spline previously, use a screwdriver or knife to pull up the end of the old spline and then just pull it out and remove the old screen material.

Lay out the replacement screen over the frame extending on all edges at least an inch and cut to size. When you seat the spline in the groove it will pull more screen material into the slot so it's good to have extra space. You can easily cut the screen material with scissors or a sharp knife. An Xacto knife with a straight edge works great.

Pick a corner and start pushing in the new spline in the slot. To get it started it is easiest to use something like a putty knife or paint stick sized for the slot to seat the spline in place.

Use the spline roller to work your way around the frame and seat the new screen in the slot. Take your time and keep the screen aligned correctly as you work around. You'll want to use the same method you used to seat the spline in step 3 on the corners as the spline roller won't be able to get in there all the way. Don't worry too much about pulling the screen tight on the opposite side as the spline roller will suck in the excess screen and make it nice and taught. You can always pull it back out and try again until you get it just the way you want it.

When you reach the end just cut the spline to the proper length and seat it right into the corner.

Now just carefully trim the excess screen material right next to the spline with your sharp knife and you have a finished window or door screen. Reassemble any hardware you may have removed and put it back into place and marvel at all the money you saved.

To watch a Home Depot video on how to fix screens, click here.