Warm water, a soft brush and a mild detergent, then rinse it properly so no detergent dries on the mesh. Stay away from abrasive cleaners and anything heavy duty. They will scratch the coating, and on fibreglass they will fray the weave. If the screen comes out easily, lay it flat on the lawn and hose it. If it does not, do it in place. Once or twice a year is plenty inland. Near the coast, more often.

Less than most people assume, and it is driven by three things: the size of the opening, which mesh you pick, and whether it is a new screen or a rescreen of a frame you already have. Standard fibreglass is the cheap end. Stainless is the expensive end, and most of that gap is the mesh itself rather than the labour. Send the sizes and you will get a number rather than a range.

Usually yes on a window screen, and it is a two-minute job. Locate the top of the frame in the channel, lift, then swing the bottom in and drop it down onto the sill. If it will not seat, the frame has probably bowed, and forcing it will crease the mesh. Door screens are fiddlier because the rollers have to line up with the track, and that one is worth a call rather than a fight.

No. Flyscreens are insect screens, and none of the mesh on this page is tested to AS5041, the forced-entry standard. If keeping people out is the point, you want a security screen or a security door, and we make those too. From a few metres away the two look almost identical, which is exactly why it is worth being clear about which one you are buying.

The 316 stainless, if the budget allows. It is marine grade and salt spray tested to 2,000 hours, and it is the only mesh here with a corrosion figure attached to it at all. Fibreglass is a reasonable second, since it cannot corrode, though UV and salt together will still age it. What you do not want on a beachfront house is plain aluminium mesh.

If the frame is sound and only the mesh has gone, yes, and it is a fraction of the cost of a new unit. Sagging, a hole the cat made, or fibreglass gone chalky and brittle after a decade in the sun are all rescreening jobs. Send a photo of the frame. What matters is whether the spline channel is intact and whether the corners are still square. If either has gone, replacement is the better spend and we will say so.

A tighter weave than standard. Sandfly-grade fibreglass goes to 20x20 strands per inch on a thicker 0.3mm yarn, which drops open area to 45%, roughly half the airflow of a standard screen. On the beaches at Palm Cove, Clifton Beach and Kewarra Beach most people decide that trade is worth it. Inland around Redlynch or Mount Sheridan a standard weave is usually plenty.