Our 1976 vintage CHB trawler has a teak sliding entrance door to the main cabin, but unlike our RV, there isn’t a screen door. Since there isn’t any obvious way to install a screen door, the next best thing was one of those, as seen on TV magnetic auto-closing mesh screens.
The mesh gets attached to the door frame with velcro tape, and magnets sewn into the middle seams keep it closed. Pretty ingenious! For our application, a few mods needed to be done due to the odd door size of our boat’s door. It’s much shorter, narrower than a house door, and slightly off-square.
First, I cut off the bottom of the mesh to shorten it, then folded the sides to narrow. Rather than use the supplied Velcro tape to hang the screen, we installed metal snaps. The snap method leaves a few small gaps here and there, but we can live with that. Most bugs are blocked, and the screen is quick and easy to attach and remove. Overall, we are pleased with the results.
Magic Mesh Screen Door Install Video
