Marc LaBossiere / Winnipeg Free Press
The entire retractable door mechanism consists of the spring-loaded dowel compartment, the screen and handle edge, and an upper and lower u-channel to guide the screen back and forth during operation.
Photos by Marc LaBossiere / Winnipeg Free Press
The chocolate colour option of the retractable door is a near perfect match with the existing exterior trim colour of the house. The retractable screen door is virtually impossible to detect when the screen is left fully opened.
The leaves have started to turn and the inevitible changing of the seasons is underway.
Time to bring in the patio furniture cushions, partially drain the above-ground pool and mow the lawn one final time. With the searing heat and humidity of July behind us, the central air conditioner is afforded a long-overdue rest, while a few open windows take the reins and allow that cool autumn breeze to filter through the house.
There’s something wonderful about a cool breeze wafting from an open window. At my place, an open patio door on the main floor is the go-to source of fresh air. For several years, I seriously entertained the possibility of adding a storm door with a screen at the main entrance of the house, so that when opened along with the patio door at the back, a stream of air could flood the interior like a wave of nature. However, upon seeking a door which catered to the esthetics of the house, I became disillusioned and quickly dismissed the idea. Then, something new caught my eye, something I hadn’t seen in my initial search: the retractable screen door.
This screen door is quite simplistic, yet elegant in design. It’s basically a spring-loaded door-height dowel mechanism within a trimmed vertical compartment fitted to the inside of an existing door frame. The screen comprises a solid vertical edge with a handle that wraps around the dowel in the open position and fully extends to the opposite side of the door frame when closed. The screen remains closed by way of a magnet that "latches" to a plate mounted on the opposing side of the door frame. Horizontal u-channel trim is set along the underside at the top of the door frame, and along the top side of the door threshold — these channels guide the screen back and forth when opening or closing the retractable screen door. And when the screen is left fully open, it’s like it’s not even there!
And that’s what sold me on this product — it’s inconspicuous until in use, exactly what I had intended to install at my front entryway. After searching and browsing online, it became apparent there were only a few distributors and installers in Winnipeg. After providing the particulars of my doorway to a gentleman at Prairie Shutter & Shade, the installation date was scheduled and I waited anxiously for that day to arrive.
The morning of the install, I watched curiously as the retractable mechanism was removed from its packaging. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much to it at all. Having blindly chosen the brown door-trim colour named "chocolate," the colour was amazingly near a perfect match to my existing exterior trim. Once it was completely installed, the retractable door trim became an unobtrusive extension of the existing brickmould and door trim. As the final step, I gave it the breeze test — with the patio door already ajar at the back of the house, the front door was opened with the retractable screen engaged. The flow of air was instantaneous — the wind confidently entered through the front door, meandered throughout the house and conveniently escaped out the back as if the route had been preordained. Other than the dogs freaking out the first time they tried to walk through the screen during that evening post-install, I have been thrilled with this product ever since.
This past spring, the retractable screen mechanism required some servicing. Prairie Shutter & Shade no longer installs retractable screen doors, but Jeff Cook from Cedar Tree Enterprises was more than willing to come out and service my door. Once on-site, Cook was able to provide his assessment. Apparently, the strong winds throughout the years had blown dirt and debris into the spring-loaded dowel compartment, which in turn prevented the retractable mechanism from operating properly. As such, the screen had stretched in a few places near the bottom u-channel and needed to be replaced.
Once the new screen was inserted, and the trim set back into position, the door worked flawlessly once again, as it had the day it was first installed. The retractable screen door has proven to be a great storm-door alternative, a worthwhile investment — and inconspicuously effective.
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