Fly screen without drilling: the complete guide to fitting one without damage

In short: A fly screen without drilling attaches to a self-adhesive hook-and-loop strip stuck to the frame, with a magnetic or hook-and-loop closure. No holes, no screws, around 10 minutes to fit with no tools, and a clean removal the day you move out. It holds on uPVC, aluminium and wood, provided the surface is clean, dry and flat. It is the only option in a rented home, and the safest on recent joinery still under warranty.

Let us look at why drilling is a problem, which systems genuinely hold, and what makes an adhesive strip peel away when it happens.

Why you should avoid drilling into your window frames

This is not fussiness. On today's joinery, a hole in the wrong place has concrete consequences.

Warranty and weathertightness

A uPVC or aluminium frame is not a plank of wood. uPVC is reinforced with an internal steel core, and modern aluminium is thermally broken, meaning it is made of two profiles separated by an insulating bar. Drilling in the wrong place risks going through that bar, creating a cold bridge, or opening a water path into a drainage chamber. Most manufacturers explicitly exclude damage caused by occupant-drilled holes from their warranty.

Renting

For a tenant the question is simpler still: drilling into window frames counts as altering the property, not furnishing it. Without written consent from the landlord, you are looking at a deduction from your deposit. A fly screen without drilling comes off without a trace, so it needs no permission at all.

Reversibility

Even as an owner the question stands. A fly screen is seasonal equipment: fitted in spring, stored away in autumn. A screwed system turns temporary equipment into a permanent installation, with holes that stay visible nine months of the year.

No-drill systems, compared

Three families share the market. They are not equivalent, and the difference shows in the very first season.

System	How it holds	Best for	Its limit
Magnetic on an adhesive strip	Self-adhesive hook-and-loop strip on the frame, magnetic closure down the middle	Doors and openings you walk through often	The mesh stays visible
Full hook-and-loop	Self-adhesive strip all the way round	Windows, sloped fittings, roof windows	You have to peel the mesh back to get through
Clip-in frame	Wedges into the rebate under tension	Windows in standard sizes	Suits neither unusual shapes nor wide openings

One clarification that saves a lot of disappointment: on a well-designed system, the adhesive never carries the weight of the mesh in shear. The strip works in peel, spread over the whole perimeter, and that is precisely what makes it last. Budget kits that hang from four adhesive pads in the corners concentrate the entire load onto a few square centimetres: they let go at the first gust of wind.

Which surfaces it genuinely holds on

What matters is less the material than the state of the surface. A quality adhesive strip holds on almost anything, as long as it has something to grip.

uPVC

This is the most favourable surface: smooth, non-porous, stable. A simple degrease with rubbing alcohol is enough. Do watch out for foiled uPVC, the woodgrain-effect frames: their decorative film is sometimes slightly textured, which reduces the contact area. On those profiles, press for longer and let the strip settle overnight before hanging the mesh.

Aluminium

Powder-coated aluminium behaves very well. Bare or anodised aluminium does too, provided it is dusted off: those surfaces hold a powdery film that prevents adhesion. A wipe with alcohol, a full dry, and it is sorted. On a south-facing frame, let the profile cool before sticking: a profile at 50 degrees softens the adhesive at the very moment it should be setting.

Wood

Painted or varnished wood in good condition poses no problem at all. Bare, stained or flaking wood, on the other hand, is a poor surface: the adhesive grips the top layer, which comes away with it. In that case, run the strip on the wall around the opening rather than on the frame itself.

Cases to avoid

Render, bare stone and porous walls will not do: they crumble under the strip. The same goes for siliconed surfaces, where the adhesive simply will not grip. Also spot any proud seals and rounded corners: the strip has to sit flat along its whole length, otherwise it peels from the ends.

Fitting, step by step

Allow around ten minutes, without a single tool.

1. Measure and check. Width and height of the opening, taken at two or three points. Work out where the strip will run: that perimeter has to be flat along its whole length.
2. Degrease. Rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth, then dry completely. This is the step everyone rushes, and it is the one that decides whether it holds.
3. Fit the strip. Unroll without pulling, following the frame, and press firmly along the whole length. Do not stretch it: a strip fitted under tension wants to spring back and peels at the corners.
4. Let it set. Ideally a few hours before hanging the mesh. Acrylic adhesives reach full strength in 24 to 72 hours.
5. Hang the mesh and adjust it. On a magnetic model, check that the two panels meet properly over the full height.

The full detail, model by model, is in our installation guide.

The five mistakes that make an adhesive peel away

When a no-drill fitting lets go, it is almost always one of these five reasons. None of them is inevitable.

• The surface was not degreased. Every frame carries an invisible film of dust, pollen and cleaning product. The adhesive sticks to that film, not to the profile.
• It was fitted on a cold or damp surface. Below 10 degrees, most adhesives do not start to set. Fit in dry weather, at room temperature.
• The strip was stretched during fitting. This is the most common and the most discreet mistake: the residual tension works away for weeks before a corner gives.
• The mesh was hung too soon. Loading a strip that has not finished setting amounts to half peeling it off on day one.
• The perimeter is not flat. A seal standing proud, a rounded corner, a piece of hardware: the strip was bridging a gap there and never really adhered.

No drilling, by type of opening

The principle is the same everywhere, but the system to favour changes. For a window, the magnetic window fly screen is the simplest case: little surface area, little load, the strip holds without difficulty. For a door, the door fly screen needs a magnetic closure down the middle, because a system you have to peel back every time you walk through is abandoned within three days. For a sliding patio door, it all comes down to how the width is divided: magnetic separations stop the mesh acting like a sail, as covered in our guide to the fly screen for sliding patio doors.

For a roof window, the case is different: the mesh works on a slope, sometimes overhead, and hook-and-loop on all four sides gives the best hold. We cover it in detail in the article dedicated to fly screens for roof windows.

See our no-drill fly screens

The mesh matters as much as the fixing

We tend to focus on the fitting and forget what it is holding up. Yet a mesh that sags cancels out the benefit of a flawless fixing: it gapes at the bottom, and the mosquitoes get through.

Our fly screens use a coated E-glass fibreglass mesh, woven at 18 x 16 threads per inch. It does not rust, does not deform and stays supple, which is exactly what a no-drill system needs: that suppleness lets the mesh follow the frame without pulling on the adhesive. It is flame retardant (M2 rating), UV treated, and rated for 8 to 20 years. The detail is on our technical specifications page.

How much does a fly screen without drilling cost?

With us, no drilling is not a paid extra: it is the default system on every model. A window or door fly screen starts at $59.99, and a large opening runs from $199.99 to $859.99. The adhesive strip is included, delivery is free, and the volume discount applies from the second screen (-10 %, then -20 % from four).

Compare that with the real cost of drilling: fitting by a tradesperson, or the risk of voiding a joinery warranty that runs into hundreds. The breakdown by type of opening is in our price guide.

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