Fly Screens On The Outside

[SamSipEt]

Fly screens always seem to be fitted on the inside of windows but I am thinking of putting them on the outside The logic behind this is that when it is time to lock up and go to bed you don’t have to open the fly screen to close the window which lets all the little beggars zoom into the room. If the screen is on the outside you can open and close the windows without letting them in.

Just an idea but perhaps someone can shoot it down in flames with a good reason why it shouldn’t be done this way.

[autonomous_unit]

That's the way it is done where I grew up, and it has all the benefits you mention. I was rather confused to find them fitted on the inside here. In fact, on close inspection of the aluminum window and door tracks, I suspect that the builders had to hand-modify the hardware to fit them this way because they were actually manufactured to US standards to go the opposite.

A related problem is that they put the sliding element of the door/window on the outside of the fixed part, in order to make the screen fit on the inside. This too should be reversed.

[Tony Clifton]

We had ours done pretty cheap (inside) by a local guy, they do the job. Only thing I wasn't happy about was that he used white netting which seems to diffract light and blur the view outside compared to black netting that is less visible and better looking in my opinion.

[chownah]

In Thailand (from what I've seen) the tradition is shutter-like windows on the outside and screens on the inside. There is a piece of hardware available that has an arm that goes through a hole in the window frame just beyond the screen that can be cranked to open and close the window without having to open the screens......but I've never seen it installed anywhere. Seems like they cost about 400 baht each.

Side hinged windows use less space inside if they open outward and they also act like scoops to help catch cooling breezes and direct them into the house.....two things in favor of the Thai style.

Chownah

[astral]

Side hinged windows use less space inside if they open outward and they also act like scoops to help catch cooling breezes and direct them into the house.....two things in favour of the Thai style.

Chownah

These are the windows we have, and the screens have to go on the inside,

otherwise opening the windows outwards would be impossible.

Have you ever seen a window that opens inwards?

Doors yes, windows NO.

[Thaddeus]

Astral has probably hit the nail on the head.... wooden windows came first, screens second (probably net) and sliding aluminium ones last, therefore screens have always been on the inside and it shall ever be thus.

[Crossy]

Have you ever seen a window that opens inwards?

Doors yes, windows NO.

Actually YES

The windows on my apartment in Rome opened inwards, caused consternation to my then GF (now wife), roller shutters on the outside had something to do with it I suspect.

[basjke]

Side hinged windows use less space inside if they open outward and they also act like scoops to help catch cooling breezes and direct them into the house.....two things in favour of the Thai style.

Chownah

These are the windows we have, and the screens have to go on the inside,

otherwise opening the windows outwards would be impossible.

Have you ever seen a window that opens inwards?

Doors yes, windows NO.

In my homecountry,Belgium,windows open almost always inwards and mosquito screens are on the outside.

[ProThaiExpat]

When I built my house, I had the installers of the windows merely turn the tracks around so I would have my screens on the outside.

To me, the less screens the better. They catch all the flying dirt and I have yet to see a clean screen for very long, even those who have them washed regularly.

When they are on the outside, yes, you can open and close sliders without letting in all the bugs, but also, you can hose down the screens without removing them, something you can't do if they are on the inside.

I also had my doors open inwards, very difficult to slam the door in someones face if the door opens outward. Just joking. Anyone know what Thai's have them open outwards?

[chownah]

This brings up a question I have been asked before: Do screens keep dust out of a house? When my wife asked me this before I told her they didn't...or maybe just a little bit but not enough to justify putting screens on every window just to keep the dust out. But...maybe I'm wrong about his because as has been pointed out screens to collect dirt. Has anyone of the opinion that screens are effective in keeping dust out....to any noticeable degree? And better still does anyone have a link to infomation on this?

Chownah

[tutsiwarrior]

This brings up a question I have been asked before: Do screens keep dust out of a house? When my wife asked me this before I told her they didn't...or maybe just a little bit but not enough to justify putting screens on every window just to keep the dust out. But...maybe I'm wrong about his because as has been pointed out screens to collect dirt. Has anyone of the opinion that screens are effective in keeping dust out....to any noticeable degree? And better still does anyone have a link to infomation on this?

Chownah

it ain't just dirt that screens collect...in our stairwell we had them vent type breeze blocks to vent the hot air that collects in these areas. The screen was on the inside. Of course the insects accumulated between the screen and the concrete as well as the gekkoes that pursued them with the resultant gekko excrement...what a mess...when it rained liquid gekko shit flowing down the walls of the stairwell...

after much haggling with the wife finally got it sorted...plastered over the vent blocks with glassblocks in place to provide much needed light...the hot air can exhaust into the bedroom where we got the windows open...

isn't natural air circulation wonderful?

[chownah]

Good job tutsiwarrior. I'm still wondering about whether screens are effective for removing dust from air.

Chownah

[lopburi3]

Can only say that a whole lot of pollen collects on the screens so it would obviously be in the house and your lungs otherwise. Not sure if it would be a valid reason to reduce the air flow that much however. But mosquitoes and large bees are. I am a screen user.

Removing the screens to wash is not really that hard and would prefer the dirt on the roadway rather than wall of house (using the spray window method). Not to mention most of the dirt would then be on the window having been forced through the screen.

Anyone who has seen the piles of bodies at an inward opening door after a fire will be hesitant to have them on a main entry. It does not take many people in a panic to block a door that you have to back away from to open.

I suspect the theory on evolution is probably correct. Older homes had outward shutters, then side hung outward windows and then Jalousie windows. All of which were more usable with inside screens. Then when aluminum windows started to be used it was in high rise construction where you wanted the screen on the inside for ease of cleaning.

[autonomous_unit]

I suspect the theory on evolution is probably correct.

Me too. But, oh, how I'd have liked to have an intelligent designer involved in our house.

[Godders]

What about fly screen doors? The only ones I have experienced in Thailand fit on the inside and are heavy metal jobs which need to be bolted to keep them shut. Can one buy lighter fly screen doors anywhere, which have a spring mechanism to shut them automatically when somebody goes in or out. I have a particular interest in this because I have four kids who are as fed up as I am with me shouting bpit platoo, kap every five minutes!

[Tony Clifton]

Now have a look at your doors sitting on outside walls. How many of them have the hinges installed outside where no matter how many locking devices you have on the door, thieves simply have to pop out the hinge nails and pry it open.

[chownah]

Good quality Thai hinges are made so that it is very difficult to remove the hinge pins.

Chownah

[Thaddeus]

Good quality Thai hinges are made so that it is very difficult to remove the hinge pins.

Chownah

Very true.

We locked ourselves out of the house a while back.... I tried to get the pins out and failed miserably, Nah Concrete had to get his angle grinder to cut them off.

[lopburi3]

They can make screen doors to order of lightweight aluminum the same as screens. Have had them for over 30 years (not the same ones). I always have them install a solid panel at the pull to keep fingers from damaging screen material. These are too light for springs I suspect.

[astral]

The windows on my apartment in Rome opened inwards, caused consternation to my then GF (now wife), roller shutters on the outside had something to do with it I suspect.

Ah yes.

Mediterranean shutters, I had fogotten.

[astral]

[in my homecountry,Belgium,windows open almost always inwards and mosquito screens are on the outside.

You need mozzie screens in Belguim????????

Now I do believe in global warming.

[scotsman]

We have the upvc double glazing units that open inside the house with roller screen nets on the outside and they work very well. The nets are easy to clean and we only use the nets on the widows we have open as you can just roll them up if you dont want to use them.

[lannarebirth]

We have the upvc double glazing units that open inside the house with roller screen nets on the outside and they work very well. The nets are easy to clean and we only use the nets on the widows we have open as you can just roll them up if you dont want to use them.

scotsman,

If at all possible, could you post a picture or link to what type of window you're talking about? It sounds interesting.

[scotsman]

We have the upvc double glazing units that open inside the house with roller screen nets on the outside and they work very well. The nets are easy to clean and we only use the nets on the widows we have open as you can just roll them up if you dont want to use them.

scotsman,

If at all possible, could you post a picture or link to what type of window you're talking about? It sounds interesting.

Well this is the best pic i have at the moment the company who installed them are A.R.C pattaya.

[lannarebirth]

We have the upvc double glazing units that open inside the house with roller screen nets on the outside and they work very well. The nets are easy to clean and we only use the nets on the widows we have open as you can just roll them up if you dont want to use them.

scotsman,

If at all possible, could you post a picture or link to what type of window you're talking about? It sounds interesting.

Well this is the best pic i have at the moment the company who installed them are A.R.C pattaya.

Thanks scotsman,

I found their website:

http://www.arcaircon.com/windows/company.html

I'll give them a call.

[tartempion]

[in my homecountry,Belgium,windows open almost always inwards and mosquito screens are on the outside.

You need mozzie screens in Belguim????????

Now I do believe in global warming.

We have nasty flies

[SamSipEt]

Thanks for all the input I do like the different slants put forward by people on any question posted

I think I’ll go with external fly screens. Now another aspect to all this …..

If you have a large opening and use door panels that are hinged together and slide in a single track finishing up folded together at the end presumably you could do the same with fly screens. This means that in the day time the opening would be open and later you could close the fly screens and later still the glass doors and of to bed! Seems to be a viable way forward however….

Edited November 19, 2006 by SamSipEt

[N47HAN]

We have the upvc double glazing units that open inside the house with roller screen nets on the outside and they work very well. The nets are easy to clean and we only use the nets on the widows we have open as you can just roll them up if you dont want to use them.

scotsman,

If at all possible, could you post a picture or link to what type of window you're talking about? It sounds interesting.

Well this is the best pic i have at the moment the company who installed them are A.R.C pattaya.

Thanks scotsman,

I found their website:

http://www.arcaircon.com/windows/company.html

I'll give them a call.

Just a quick note. I see from your profile that youre from Changmai, Try www.duro-products.com

they have offices in Phuket Bangkok and CHANGMAI that offer exactly the same sort of stuff as ARC, (Im Guessing Pattaya to Changmai maybe a tad to far for them! ) ? Hope this helps

[basjke]

[in my homecountry,Belgium,windows open almost always inwards and mosquito screens are on the outside.

You need mozzie screens in Belguim????????

Now I do believe in global warming.

What makes you think that thailand is the only place that has mosquitos.By the way I think that this year there are far more insects then other years,especially at night.

[astral]

What makes you think that thailand is the only place that has mosquitos.

I do not think that, but do not associate mozzies with nothern Europe.

They are quite rare in the UK and short lived too.