Has anyone installed screening on their cabin door opening?

[Dave S]

I believe I have come up with a good way to do a professional looking installation of a pseudo "screen door" for my cabin entrance on my 260DA so I can keep the bugs out and keep the air circulating. :grin:

But before I talk to a canvas guy about custom making this panel, I thought I would first ask to see if anyone else ever tackled this job. If you did, could you post pictures of what the finished product looked like? :thumbsup:

 

[Sea Ray 300]

There is a screen door on the new model 29.
You may want to take a peek at that. :wink:

 

[ImpulseIII]

Dave,
I have been thinking about having a canvas door with a screen made for ImpulseIII. It would have a canvas "flap" that could be zipped closed or rolled up to expose the screen. A zipper would allow you to enter and exit without having to "unsnap". I had something like this made for a sail boat (before I was the light and went power) and it worked very well. Just another "thing" on the to do list. :smt021

 

[Dave S]

Frank that sounds similar to my idea. It's a bit more complicated though if your cabin door has steps built into it like mine has :smt101 .

Therefore mine would attach around the inside of the door frame which is at least a flat surface. I guess I will go ahead and talk to a canvas guy about making it up for me. I actually think it will be very functional and usable but not as functional as a screen door like you see on the 290DA or other brands like Regal. :smt021

 

[gerryb]

Funny, this is another one of those things I've caught myself thining about as I sit through a commercial when watching TV in the cabin of our 280. My idea was to use a flexible screen with some type of weighting to it where it would lay across the top of a partially open entryway (door closed half way). My wife has asked for this as she gets a bit claustrophobic with the door closed at night. I've my short term fix may be the best we can hope for until someone comes-up with a better solution and markets it...

 

[Dave M.]

I have not done it, but realize what a good idea it is. Posting here so I stay in the loop on this one. I would like to see some photos if anyone gets this done.

 

[gengiant]

I agree with Dave - great idea! When we replaced our camper canvas I had additional screen panels made for the sides. However, during the summers it still gets too hot - plus, we typically don't want the solid front canvas up then anyway. As such, I would think that some snaps mounted on the inside of the sliding cabin door frame would work great to hold a canvas frame with screen insert. Not so sure about the zipper though, as the door is pretty narrow to begin with. A zipper would require a couple of inches of solid canvas on either side of it (both for attaching the zipper as well as the screening). Add those 4 +/-inches of solid material to the width of the zipper itself plus the solid edging material and before you know it you loose 8+/- inches of potential screening - leaving you with very narrow screened openings. I don't know... maybe reports by someone that's actually done this could describe the effectiveness of such a solution?

 

[Sundancer]

I almost had some made a couple of years ago. Then I decided I could make it myself. I just haven't done it yet! My theory was to just hang it off the window or dash with rubber coated weights at the bottom. It would be similar to a shower curtain, but anchored to one side and using some kind of bungee stretchy thing on the other side to return it, covering the whole opening. That way you could just fling it aside to get out and it would return automatically. It would have to be kid proof so that if someone stepped on it, it wouldn't rip. We don't have much of a bug problem and have only needed it once.

 

[CharlieN]

I did a simple screen door for our 268. The plastic screen came from the Hardware store-you could also use mosquito netting from a sporting goods or camping supply with a finer weave. I edged it with 2 inch webbing with a home sewing machine. Put snaps in the corners. Attached the male part of the snap to the wood in the door jam. I let the screen extend about 4 inches up to meet the cabin door cover. Not a real good fit. You could also put snaps on the top edge to attach to the cabin door cover but I did not.
CharlieN
268 Sea Ray