Retractable Screens for French Doors: How They Work and What to Check

The short version

• Two screens meet in the middle, so both doors can open fully.
• On a narrower pair, one screen can pull right across.
• They work whether your doors swing in or out (per the manufacturer).
• Put away, they leave your French doors looking exactly as they did.
• For security, you need a French door security screen pair instead.

Why French doors are hard to screen

French doors are made to open wide. That is the whole appeal. A fixed screen door gets in the way of that: it adds a second set of doors to swing, and it covers the glass you chose the doors for.

A retractable screen avoids both problems. There is no second door. When the screen is away, all you see is a slim housing on each side of the frame.

How a retractable screen works on French doors

Each screen lives rolled up inside a narrow housing fixed to the side of the door frame. You take the handle and pull the screen across. Tracks at the top and bottom keep the mesh taut and close the gaps at the edges.

On a pair of French doors, there is usually one screen on each side, meeting in the middle. You can open one side for a quick breath of air, or both for the full opening.

When you let go, the screen does not snap back. The screens we install use a slow-close mechanism that brings the screen back in at an even speed (per the manufacturer). That matters with children and pets around.

Double or single?

• Double screens suit most French doors. Each side is independent, and the opening stays wide.
• A single screen can pull right across a narrower pair.

Roman will look at the width of your opening and how you use the doors, then tell you which makes more sense.

Doors that swing in, and doors that swing out

This is the question we hear most. French doors that open into the room and French doors that open out onto the patio can both take a retractable screen. The housing simply goes on the other side of the frame (per the manufacturer).

What we check before we quote

Every screen is measured on site and built to that door. When Roman visits, he looks at:

• The frame. Is there room on each side for the housing, and is the frame solid enough to fix to?
• The handles and locks. The screen has to clear them when it is pulled across.
• The threshold. Where the bottom track will sit, and whether the floor is level.
• The trim color. The housing comes in a range of powder-coat colors, and custom color matching is available (per the manufacturer), so it can blend in.

Retractable screen or French door security screens?

It depends on what you want the open doors to do.

If you only open the doors while you are in the room, a retractable screen is usually enough. If you want them open in the evening while you are elsewhere in the house, or overnight, look at French door security screens. Some homes have both: a security screen at the front and retractable screens on the French doors at the back.

Read more: security screens vs insect screens

Living with them

Retractable screens ask very little. Brush the tracks now and then so grit does not build up, and wipe the mesh with mild soapy water. If the mesh is ever damaged, it can be replaced without replacing the whole screen.