Magnetic screen for French doors
Magnetic screen for French doors
Both doors wide open. Not a single mosquito.
A magnetic screen door made to the full width of your French doors, with the magnetic center opening lined up on the seam between the two doors. Attached to the frame with no drilling, it snaps shut behind you.
In short: a magnetic screen for French doors is made to size from 48 to 80 inches wide with the door screen (from $39.99), beyond that with the sliding glass door screen (from $149.99), in 6 to 9 business days. It mounts with hook-and-loop tape on the frame, no drilling.
★★★★★ Rated 4.83/5 from 410 reviews for the door screen.
A pair of French doors is not just a door twice as wide
Through a single door you walk wherever you want. Through French doors you always walk through the same spot: where the two doors meet. That is the center seam, with its handle, and often a second door you only unlatch in spring to get the couch out onto the patio.
Our screen hangs in one piece in front of both doors, attached to the frame, not to the doors. Its magnetic center opening sits right on the seam: you push the doors open, walk through, and the magnets close behind your back. Nothing rubs against a door, nothing is left ajar.
Then there is the handle. On French doors it sticks out 2 to 3 inches on the inside, and it is the one detail that ruins one install in three when nobody thought about it beforehand. More on that below, because three customers wrote almost exactly that in their order notes.
How it goes onto two doors
Everything is decided before you order, while you measure. After that it is ten minutes of hook-and-loop tape.
Measure the frame, not the doors
Full width of the fixed frame, outer edge to outer edge, then the height. For an install on the frame, add 1½ inches to the width and ¾ inch to the height for the mounting tape. The size guide shows you exactly where to hold the tape measure.
Put the center opening on the seam
By default it sits in the middle, like the seam of two doors of the same width. If one door is wider, or you only ever open the right-hand one, tell us: we move the opening so it follows where you actually walk.
Pick the side according to the handle
Doors that swing in: the screen goes on the outside of the frame, or inside the door jamb like a tunnel. Doors that swing out: the screen goes on the inside, and the handle stays outside. Either way, nothing catches.
The handle that sticks out
"French doors swinging outward", "two doors, one handle": those are our customers' words, not ours. A screen stuck to the inside of the frame, right in front of a handle pointing at you, gets pushed by that handle all day long. It will hold, but badly, and the mesh ends up with a dent.
The fix is one question before you order: which way do your doors swing? It decides which face of the frame the screen goes on, and so which measurements you type in.
- Install on the outer frame: the screen is outside, the doors open toward you, the handle touches nothing.
- Tunnel install in the jamb: between the walls. Measure the inside width and add 1½ inches.
- Self-adhesive hook-and-loop tape that holds on vinyl, aluminum and painted wood, and peels off without a trace.
From 48 to over 80 inches, we switch range on the way
The French doors we are asked about are usually 60, 64 or 72 inches wide, the classic 5 to 6 foot pair. Here is how we steer them.
| Full frame width | Recommended model | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 47 in | Door screen, standard size | Six widths from 28 to 47 inches by 83 inches, shipped within 24 to 48 hours. Rare on French doors, common on a single door. | from $39.99 |
| 48 to 80 in | Door screen, custom size | The typical French door case. Made to the inch, center opening placed where you walk through. | from $39.99 |
| Over 80 in, or a wall that catches the wind | Sliding glass door screen | Weighted bars in the hem, magnets 4 times longer, center splits to suit. Up to 240 inches. | from $149.99 |
Torn between two rows? Take the lower one. Mesh stretched across 75 inches with two 1½ inch magnets in the middle does close, but it closes slower than with weighted bars.
Two models, one configurator
Buy more, pay less: 10% off from 2 items, 20% off from 4. Custom sizes made in 6 to 9 business days.
Door screen
For French doors up to 80 inches wide. Magnetic center opening, closes on its own.
Sliding glass door screen
Beyond 80 inches, or when the wall takes the wind. Weighted bars and center splits.
Custom size, guided
Opening, install type, measurements, color: the configurator asks the right questions and shows the price right away.
From 410 reviews
Rating of the door screen, the one on most French doors.
To install
Frame wiped, tape stuck, screen pressed on. No tools.
Holes in the frame
The tape peels off without residue. Renting or owning, same job.
Fiberglass mesh
Fire-resistant E-glass, nylon-reinforced edges. It lasts season after season.
Your questions about French doors
My doors swing out. Does that work?
Yes, and it is actually the easiest case. The screen goes on the inside of the frame, the doors open out onto the patio, the handle is outside and never touches the mesh. You measure the frame from inside and add 1½ inches to the width and ¾ inch to the height.
I only ever open one door. Does the center opening have to stay in the middle?
No. If you always go through the right-hand door because the left one stays latched, we move the magnetic opening to the right. Say so in the order comment box, with the width of the door you use. We put the opening where you actually walk.
My French doors are 64 inches wide. Which model?
The door screen, custom size. At 64 inches the mesh stays light and the magnetic center closure is enough, unless the doors sit in a wall that really catches the wind. In that case the sliding glass door screen and its weighted bars close more decisively.
My handle sticks out on the inside. Will the screen still hold?
Yes, as long as you install it on the face opposite the handle: on the outer frame if your doors swing in, or inside the jamb as a tunnel install. A handle that pushes the mesh all day ends up leaving a dent.
Does the tape hold on white vinyl, aluminum or painted wood?
Yes on all three, as long as you clean the frame before sticking and let it dry. On bare wood or flaking paint, sand lightly and dust off. The adhesive tape can be repositioned in the first few minutes and peels off later without a trace.
What if the dog or the cat goes through ten times a day?
They learn fast: the magnets part under the nose and close behind. The fiberglass mesh takes repeated passes. For a pet that scratches the bottom of the mesh, ask for the reinforcement strip when you order.
How long does a custom screen take?
Allow 6 to 9 business days to make it, then shipping to the US. Standard sizes of the door screen, up to 47 inches, leave within 24 to 48 hours.
Before you order
Size guide →
Which measurement to enter for your install, in three animated steps.
Installing without drilling →
Every no-hole mounting, honestly compared.
Sliding patio doors →
What works on a wide sliding opening, and what does not.
RVs and travel trailers →
Tape on an aluminum frame, the sliding door of a camper van: our tips.
Tonight, both doors open until midnight
Give us the frame width and which way the doors swing. We make the rest.
Build my screen