You like to do things yourself?  You're at the right place!

If you're comfortable doing home projects yourself then installing custom screens on your windows shouldn't be too difficult.  It just takes a few tools and a little planning to do the job right.  Here is my offer to the adventurous: (You can verify these prices for yourself.)

Purchase fully assembled screens for almost the same price as materials alone!

Many people believe that they can save big money by building their own screens.  Let's take a look at what you get from the home-improvement stores, what it costs, and how it all compares to what I offer.

As I've stated before, the most durable, best shading screen available is Phifer Suntex 90.  It is not available at home-improvement stores (Phifer substitutes a thinner screen "SuperSolar" that they feel is more friendly to the do-it-yourselfer) but for our price comparison let's assume that Suntex 90 is available, and for the same price as SuperSolar.   (You can buy it at some custom screen shops, but at a higher price.)

There are several components that go into a screen:  The frame, corners, spline, screen, and clips that fasten the finished screen to the window.  The sturdy 1" by 7/16" frame is not available at most home-improvement stores, but can be found at some hardware stores or custom screen shops.  The best price that I've seen for this frame is $--- per 12ft length, most screen shops are closer to $-.  Spline is usually -- cents/ft, corners -- cents, clips -- cents.

It is difficult to get full utilization of the materials you buy for a small project, but for a best-case price comparison let's assume you just happen to have the perfect size and number of windows to use up a 25ft roll of screen.  Let's say you have 5 screens to build, each measuring 34" by 58".  A 25ft roll of 36" SuperSolar can be found for $-- (this is near wholesale cost).

These are the materials that you need:
One 25ft roll of 36" screen
Eight 12ft lengths of frame (this much is needed to build 5 frames)
80 ft of spline
20 corners
20 clips
20 screws

The cost is:
$-- for the screen
$-- for the frame
$- in spline
$- in corners
$- in clips
$- in screws
You'll also need a spline roller, you can just get a cheap one for $-

There are some other tools needed: saw to cut the frame, screening table to hold the frame while screening, and drill/drill bits but we'll assume you have these already just to make it interesting.
Total cost of materials (not including "other" tools): $---
Cost of materials per screen = = $--

Now let's take a look at what I charge for assembled screens with the self-install discount of 15%.  A 34" by 58" screen would cost $-- or just over $-- per screen more than what you would pay for materials alone.  Remember this is BEST case, in reality you may not even save $-- by building a less effective screen yourself.  Remember you would also need to invest more in tools and time to try to save these few dollars.

$-- = Homemade (with thinner less effective screen)
$-- = Professionally made maximum shading screen 

In reality it would be difficult to match our quality and price by building you own screens, not even counting your time and frustration!   The average handyman, first time making screens can plan on spending at least 2 to 3 hours making his first screen.  That's IF he has all the right tools.  Considering that you probably won't get full utilization of materials like we did in this example, and that the same quality materials will probably cost more - it becomes real hard to justify the "build it yourself" route.

My "self-install" offer:
I will build and deliver screens to your home (if you live in my service area) at a discounted price, all the rest is up to you.  If you were already considering building screens you probably have the installation details worked out.  Email me the specifics (screen and frame colors) and exact measurements, I'll reply with the total cost.