Hands-on people who want a low-cost, low-risk mobile side business with simple, repeatable work
Seasonality and low per-job ticket size making it hard to fill a calendar profitably
Ranges reflect realistic outcomes across reported data — not best-case promises. See the full earnings breakdown below.
What this business actually is
A window screen repair business rebuilds and rescreens damaged window and door screens — replacing torn mesh, bent or broken frames, and worn spline, and building new custom screens to fit. Most operators run it mobile, repairing screens on-site in a customer's driveway or yard, or doing pickup-and-return. The work is simple to learn and the materials are cheap, which makes it one of the lowest-cost service businesses to start. Because tickets are small, the real money comes from volume, route efficiency, and upselling premium screens like solar (sun-blocking), pet-resistant, and no-see-um mesh.
What you actually do — the daily reality
A typical job takes 10 to 30 minutes per screen: remove the old mesh and spline, cut and stretch new mesh over the frame, roll in fresh spline, trim, and reinstall. Mobile operators carry rolls of mesh, spline, a spline roller, and frame stock in a vehicle and knock out several houses in a route, often doing 5 to 20 screens at a stop. Around the work, expect time on quoting (frequently from customer photos), scheduling, and driving between jobs. Spring and early summer are by far the busiest, and many days during the off-season are slow.
Real startup costs — itemized
Every realistic cost, with low and high ranges. You can start near $300 by skipping what is optional, but a comfortable starting budget is closer to $2,500.
| Item | Low | High | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spline rollers, utility knives, frame tools, measuring tools | $50 | $200 | |
| Initial mesh inventory (standard fiberglass, plus a little premium) | $80 | $400 | |
| Spline assortment and corner inventory | $40 | $150 | |
| Aluminum frame stock for rebuilds and new screens | $50 | $400 | Can skip at first |
| Frame chop saw or miter setup for building new frames | Free | $400 | Can skip at first |
| General liability insurance | $300 | $700 | Annual |
| Business registration / LLC | $50 | $300 | |
| Google Business Profile + simple website, yard signs | Free | $300 | Can skip at first |
| Realistic total to start | $300 | $2,500 | Minimum vs. comfortable budget |
Real earnings — an honest breakdown
Not best-case fantasies. Here is what beginners, experienced operators, and the top earners actually report — and what it took to get there.
Part-time beginners typically earn $800 to $2,500 per month during the busy season and much less in the off-season. Operators who market consistently and batch jobs into routes can reach $2,000 to $3,500 per month in peak months.
Experienced solo operators with steady reviews and repeat customers commonly report $3,000 to $6,000 per month in season, especially when they build new custom screens and upsell premium mesh. Annualized, off-season slowdowns pull the average down unless they add complementary services.
Top operators run a small crew or a shop with a fabrication setup, handle property-manager and builder accounts, and gross $8,000 to $20,000+ per month in peak season. Getting there means moving beyond solo repairs into custom fabrication, screen rooms or enclosures, and recurring commercial work.
On-site, an efficient operator earns roughly $40 to $90 per hour of actual rescreening, since each screen costs a few dollars in materials and bills at $15 to $40 or more. Counting driving, quoting, and slow days, realistic blended rates are often $25 to $55 per hour solo.
Volume and route density matter most because each ticket is small — packing many screens into few stops drives the real hourly rate. Upselling premium solar and pet screens (which carry much higher margins) and adding off-season services are the next biggest levers.
How to actually start — step by step
- Week 1
Buy basic tools (spline rollers, knife, measuring tools) and a starter inventory of standard fiberglass mesh and spline. Practice rescreening your own and friends' screens until you can do one cleanly in under 15 minutes.
- Week 2
Set simple per-screen and per-job pricing, with premium upgrade prices for solar and pet mesh. Create a Google Business Profile with clean before/after photos and get general liability insurance before paid work.
- Weeks 2-4
Post in local Facebook groups and Nextdoor, drop yard signs, and offer a small launch discount for your first jobs. Ask customers to send photos so you can quote and batch nearby jobs into a single route.
- Month 1
Complete your first jobs, ask every happy customer for a Google review, and track your time per screen so you price for profit. Start carrying a little frame stock so you can rebuild bent frames, not just rescreen.
- Months 1-3
Add custom new-screen builds and premium-mesh upsells, approach property managers and handymen for referrals, and plan an off-season service (gutter cleaning, holiday lights, handyman work) to smooth out the slow months.
What skills you actually need
Skills you must have before starting
- Basic hand dexterity and patience for tidy, repeatable detail work
- Reliability — showing up when scheduled and quoting accurately from photos
- Comfort talking to homeowners and offering simple upgrades
Skills you can learn as you go
- Rescreening and splining technique (an afternoon of practice gets you competent)
- Building new aluminum frames and measuring openings accurately
- Choosing the right mesh (standard, solar, pet-resistant, no-see-um) for each customer
What separates average operators from high earners
- Upselling premium solar and pet screens, which carry far higher margins than basic rescreening
- Batching jobs into tight routes so small tickets still add up to a strong hourly rate
- Adding custom fabrication and off-season services so income does not collapse in winter
What most people get wrong
The common mistakes, the reasons people quit, and the things nobody warns you about.
- Pricing per screen so low that, after driving to a single-screen job, the effective rate is terrible
- Driving across town for one small repair instead of batching nearby jobs into a route
- Stocking only the cheapest standard mesh and missing the higher-margin solar and pet-screen upsells
- Underestimating seasonality and having no off-season plan, then scrambling for income in winter
- Sloppy splining and over-stretched mesh that sags or pops out, leading to callbacks and bad reviews
- Skipping insurance and a Google presence, then relying only on slow word of mouth
Tools and equipment you need
What to buy cheap, where to invest, and what you can rent or borrow at first.
- Spline roller (convex and concave wheels) $10 – $40
The core tool for setting mesh; buy a decent one, cheap ones skip and tear mesh.
- Screen mesh rolls (fiberglass standard + premium) $80 – $400
Stock standard fiberglass; add solar and pet mesh for high-margin upsells.
- Spline assortment and frame corners $40 – $150
Keep several spline diameters; matching the groove is what keeps mesh tight.
- Aluminum frame stock + chop/miter saw Free – $700
Needed to rebuild bent frames and build new custom screens; add when ready to fabricate.
- Utility knives, blades, scissors, measuring tape, square $30 – $100
Sharp blades make clean cuts; replace often.
- Vehicle and a simple work table or rack
Most operators work out of a car or van off a folding table; no shop needed early on.
How to find customers
What actually works:
- A complete Google Business Profile with before/after photos and reviews for local search
- Local Facebook groups and Nextdoor, where homeowners post torn-screen photos asking for help
- Yard signs and door hangers in neighborhoods immediately after a visible job
- Referral relationships with handymen, window cleaners, and property managers who see damaged screens
- Quoting from customer-submitted photos so you can batch nearby jobs into efficient routes
Where your customers are: Residential homeowners — especially in older neighborhoods, rental-heavy areas, and warm climates where solar screens are popular. Property managers and HOAs are valuable because they generate many screens at once and recurring turnover work.
How long it takes to build a client base: First jobs usually come within one to two weeks of marketing locally. Because tickets are small, building a calendar that stays full through the busy season typically takes one to three months of steady reviews and referrals.
What is usually a waste of time: Paid ads for a low-ticket service rarely pencil out early, and a fancy logo or website before you have reviews and photos does little. Driving long distances for single-screen jobs is the most common quiet waste of time and fuel.
How this business scales
Can you grow it to full-time? Possible in busy regions and warm climates, but seasonality is the limiter in much of the country. Reaching full-time usually means adding custom fabrication, premium screens, screen rooms or enclosures, and off-season services rather than relying on basic rescreening alone.
Can you hire people and step back? It can support a helper or small crew, especially with property-manager and builder accounts, but the small ticket size means you need real volume before payroll makes sense. Stepping back fully is harder than in higher-ticket trades.
Can you sell it one day? A solo screen-repair operation is essentially a job and hard to sell. A business with a fabrication shop, commercial accounts, a brand, and documented routes has modest resale value, usually as part of a broader window or handyman operation.
What scaling actually requires: A fabrication setup for building new screens, premium-product offerings, commercial and builder relationships for volume, and complementary services to fill the off-season. Without those, growth is capped by daylight, distance, and the seasons.
Is this right for you? An honest checklist
A strong fit if…
- You like tidy, repeatable hands-on work and want a very low-cost start
- You want a flexible side business you can run part-time around a job
- You live in a warm climate or busy region where screen demand runs longer
- You are comfortable batching jobs and quoting from photos to stay efficient
A poor fit if…
- You need steady year-round full-time income from this alone with no off-season plan
- You dislike small-ticket work and the volume needed to make it add up
- You are unwilling to drive a route or batch jobs and want one big job at a time
- You expect to step back and run it passively quickly
Before you start, ask yourself…
- Is there enough year-round or seasonal demand in my climate to keep a calendar full?
- Will I commit to batching jobs and upselling premium screens so small tickets still pay well?
- What will I do for income during the slow off-season months?
Frequently asked questions
How much can I charge to rescreen a window?
Standard fiberglass rescreens commonly run $15 to $40 per screen depending on size and region, with premium solar, pet-resistant, or no-see-um mesh charging significantly more. New custom-built screens and door screens bill higher. The materials cost only a few dollars per screen, so margins are good — the challenge is volume, since each ticket is small.
Do I need any experience or a license to start?
No prior experience is required — rescreening is genuinely simple to learn in an afternoon of practice. Most areas need only a general business registration and liability insurance, with no special trade license for screen repair. Always confirm local requirements, but the barrier to entry is low.
Is window screen repair seasonal?
Yes, strongly. Spring and early summer are by far the busiest as people open windows and notice torn screens, while winter is slow in most climates. Warm-weather regions have a longer season. Many operators add off-season services like gutter cleaning, holiday lighting, or handyman work to smooth out income.
Should I repair on-site or do pickup and return?
Both models work. On-site repair in the customer's driveway is fast and convenient and lets you upsell, while pickup-and-return suits multi-screen jobs and custom builds done at home or in a small shop. Many operators do on-site for simple rescreens and take frames home for rebuilds or new fabrication.
What are solar and pet screens, and why do they matter?
Solar (sun-blocking) screens cut heat and glare and are popular in hot, sunny regions, while pet-resistant mesh is much tougher against cats and dogs. Both cost more in materials but command substantially higher prices, so they carry far better margins than basic fiberglass rescreening. Offering them is one of the easiest ways to raise your average ticket.
How do I make money when each job is so small?
Volume and efficiency. The operators who do well batch many nearby jobs into a single route, quote from photos to avoid wasted trips, and upsell premium screens and new builds. Driving across town for a single low-priced rescreen is the main way people lose money in this business.
Data sources and research notes
Figures on this page reflect ranges reported across the sources below plus operator accounts. They are honest estimates, not guarantees — your results will vary.
- Angi / HomeAdvisor — Window Screen Repair and Replacement Cost Guides (reported pricing ranges)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — self-employed building and grounds services data
- Screen and window mesh manufacturer pricing and product specifications (fiberglass, solar, pet mesh)
- Operator discussions in handyman and home-service communities for real-world pricing and seasonality
Last reviewed: June 2026