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Are there effective anti-glare screens?

Are there window screens that CAN'T pop out?

  • Our windows have pretty standard screens on them. We'd like to open our bedroom windows at night in the summer, but we worry about our indoor cat accidentally popping them out and escaping. Are there screens that are extremely hard to remove from inside? Yes, we are probably being over-paranoid, but our cat is our baby, and we aren't willing to accept any risk of him seeing a bug or something, pouncing against the screen, and ending up outside (in our semi-rural area with lots of coyotes, etc.). Just for our bedroom, we'd like screens that are impossible to remove from inside with just pressure against them. Does this exist? I realize that in some situations, irremovable screens could be a hazard (fire escape, etc.). But our bedroom has big French doors right by the windows that can easily be opened for escape. And I'm ok with screens that can be removed from inside, as long as there's some kind of secure locking mechanism that needs more than just pressure against the screen to pop it out. Does something like this exist, and if so, what do I need to search/ask for?

  • Answer:

    Just put one of those wooden lattice baby gates over the window. Screw it right to the wall. Easy to open or remove if you need to. If you secure a screen super well the weakest point becomes the screen itself. Even a small cat is heavy enough and has sharp enough claws to just destroy the screen. You need an extra reinforced cat-proof layer. A well secured screen will quickly become a screen with a hole in it.

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Remember though that screens should be able to be removed easily from the inside for fire escape. Making them hard to remove prevents means of egress and is a building code violation.

chevyvan

Heavy duty velcro, attaching the inside face of the screen frame to the windowsill. In the corners and in a few spots along the sides depending upon dimensions.

snuffleupagus

The problem, should you turn out to have a very determined cat or meet with a very determined outside critter wanting to get at your cat, is actually the screen itself. If yours isn't made of cut-proof screening, it actually doesn't take much to cut it. I ended up getting a mesh reptile aquarium cover at the pet store, like http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QFQ30K/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/, that I put in the gap and closed the window on (I used a bit of weatherstripping on all the contact points to give it a firmer fit) to take the brunt of any weight/pressure instead of the screen. That reptile-proof mesh is really sturdy.

Lyn Never

Could you perhaps post a picture of your window frame? There certainly are some types of screen that won't pop out with pressure from the inside (the kind with a flange that rests on the inside of the frame, for instance), but it at all depends on how they might fit into your window frames. After all, the issue here is the interface between the screen frames and the window frames.

ssg

that's how you get ants

You can get a "baby gate" sort of thing that is made especially for the window. I'm on my phone and can't link but Target, Home Depot, etc. carry them as "window guards" or something like that. Will also stop your cat from clawing the screen!

mskyle

In the Netherlands, we have https://www.google.nl/search?tbm=isch&q=raamrolhor that consist of a frame with a screen that you can raise and lower. The screen can't pop out of the frame because its sides sit in "channels" within the frame. It looks like this kind of kit is http://www.qualitywindowscreen.com/store/retractable-window-screens-c-167.html.

neushoorn

tilde

One extra measure of safety: you can easily teach most cats to come when called.

amtho

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