Retractable fly screens or security screens: which do you need

A retractable screen is an insect screen that rolls out of sight

A retractable screen is a fly screen built to disappear. The mesh winds into a housing at the side or top of the opening, or folds up like a concertina, and you pull it across only when you want insect cover.

Centor says its retractable screens and blinds go with patio, bifold, sliding, French and traditional doors and windows, and it lists systems up to 9 metres wide. That width is what suits them to wide stacking and bifold doors, where the aim is to keep the whole opening clear.

The mesh itself is ordinary insect mesh. Centor's S2 and S4 systems use polyester/PVC in a standard weave for flies and mosquitoes or a tight weave for tiny insects like midges, and its S5 and S6 systems use a lightweight fibreglass. If you were hoping for an invisible fly screen, no maker we read claims one. What a retractable screen offers instead, in Centor's words, is a screen that's there when needed and hidden when not.

Are retractable fly screens secure? No: they are not built or tested as security screens

A retractable fly screen won't keep a person out, and it isn't sold to. Centor presents its screens as a way to manage insects and glare. Amplimesh, a security screen maker, puts the wider point plainly: fly screens are not security screens and are not regulated by security standards.

The NSSA's definition shows the gap. It describes a security screen as a physical barrier to entry that lets air through while keeping insects and intruders out, and says these products must pass the Australian Standard testing and be fitted with compliance labels. Its own rule is short: if it's not labelled, it's not a security screen.

The infill tells the same story. The NSSA lists steel, aluminium grille, perforated aluminium sheet and stainless steel mesh as security door infill. Polyester and fibreglass insect mesh aren't on that list. A security door is also expected to carry a 3-point lock, a 5-pin key cylinder as the minimum and at least three fixed-pin hinges. None of the retractable makers' pages we read list that hardware.

Wind and salt: retract it when the weather turns and rinse it more often

A retractable screen lasts longest when it's stored in its housing and kept clean, and that matters more on the coast and in storm season.

Ultrascreen says the bottom tracks need to be kept free of debris and the screen left retracted when it isn't in use. It says the mesh can be wiped with a wet cloth, without chemicals. Phantom Screens, a New Zealand screen business, adds two points that hold anywhere: salt builds up faster near the coast, so exposed hardware and tracks need a fresh water clean more often than at a sheltered house, and a high-pressure water blaster can stretch insect mesh.

Wind is the other test. Phantom advises against leaving a screen part way through its travel in rising wind, and says wind guidance differs from product to product, so follow the instructions for your system. For a house at Holloways Beach or Trinity Beach, that means checking the maker's wind instructions before a storm and not leaving the screen part way across. If cyclone cover is the real question, our guide to security screens and cyclones covers what any screen can and can't do there.

• Keep the bottom track clear of sand, leaves and grit.
• Leave the screen retracted when you aren't using it.
• Rinse salt off the hardware and tracks with fresh water, more often near the beach.
• Wipe the mesh with a wet cloth; skip chemicals and high-pressure water.
• Before strong wind, put it in the position its maker's instructions give, and never leave it part way across.

Using both on one opening: a security door outside, a retractable screen inside

A security screen and a retractable screen can share one opening, because they do different jobs. The security screen handles the locked, open doorway; the retractable screen gives insect cover across a span the security screen doesn't reach, or lets you keep a clear view when insects aren't a problem.

Centor says its screens can be fitted internally or externally, built into a new door frame or retrofitted. That flexibility is what makes pairing possible. Whether a given doorway has room for both needs measuring on site, not a guess from a photo.

In practice the pairing often runs the other way too. A tested security screen with a fine infill already keeps insects out: our SCREENGUARD range uses woven 316 marine grade stainless mesh, and PERFGUARD uses 2 mm perforated aluminium. Diamond Grille is the exception, which is why our grille screens carry fibreglass mesh behind the grille as standard. On a hinged or sliding door, one security screen with a fine infill can do both jobs, and the retractable screen is only needed on the openings it can't cover.

Which one for which opening on a Cairns house

Choose by the opening, and ask two questions of each one: does it have to stop insects, and does it have to stop people?

Insect cover matters across the whole house here. Queensland Health says towns in north and central Queensland with the dengue mosquito are prone to outbreaks when travellers bring the virus in, that these mosquitoes bite quietly during the day, and that living and sleeping areas should be screened. Any intact insect mesh does that job, retractable or fixed.

Security is a narrower list: the doors and windows someone could reach from outside that you want to leave open. Those are the openings for a labelled security screen. The NSSA also notes that compliant screens are made and installed to very tight tolerances with specialised fixings, and recommends against fitting one yourself. That's different from a retractable screen, which Ultrascreen sells as a DIY kit.

We make flyscreens, with fibreglass as the standard infill, and made to measure security screens. Our range of mesh compares each infill, and you can ask for a measure and quote for the openings you've picked.

• Wide bifold or stacking door you leave open for the view: a retractable screen for insects, plus a security option only if the opening needs locking.
• Front or back door left open for the breeze: a labelled security screen door with a fine infill covers insects and intruders.
• Sliding patio door used after dark: a security screen with a 3-point lock.
• Upstairs or out of reach window: an insect screen is usually enough.