Made-to-measure fly screens: €220 to €480 for five windows

Made-to-measure fly screens: €480 or €220 for the same job

A quote of €480 for five made-to-measure roller fly screens has been enough to reopen a recurring question: how much should it really cost to protect a home from mosquitoes? The maths behind the quote is simple and a bit brutal: a 95 cm window comes in at €95 and a 105 cm one at €105 — practically one euro per centimetre. Five windows, €480. Nearly 80,000 old pesetas, the poster notes, for a contraption of mesh and aluminium.

The figure is not an isolated whim, but it is not the only possible price either. Against that quote stand alternatives ranging from €220 down to €2, and that spread explains why the topic sparks more debate than it seems to warrant.

How much does a made-to-measure roller fly screen cost?

The initial quote is the most expensive of those that came up: €480 for five roller units, with the particularity that the installer charges by exact measurement. The seller's logic is that the product is made to order, and you pay for that.

Not far off that figure, another case provides a contrast: in Ciudad Real, an installer charged around €80 per window of a larger size. The comparison puts the unit price in the range of €80–105 depending on size and province, which suggests the problem is not so much the price per unit as the final total.

Some have paid considerably less. One case of five openings — two bedrooms, a living room with a large sliding door, kitchen and bathroom, all sliding except the bathroom one, roller type — came to €220 already installed, though the customer himself talks of a "friendly price" through an acquaintance and from memory. In other words: the market price and the favour price are not the same thing, and it is best not to confuse them.

The cheap option: removable extensible fly screens

The most commonly suggested alternative requires no building work or drills. These are extensible fly screens that adjust to the frame, are fitted in summer and removed in winter. You secure them and lower the blind over them; if you need more light, you place one on top of another and lower the blind to its top stop.

The advantage is not just the price. You can buy them as you need them or as your budget allows, and if you move house, you take them with you. They are sold in hardware stores and DIY centres, where there are also roller models with aluminium frames in standard sizes that can be cut to fit the window.

The limit is wind and the blind. The ones that stick to the frame with velcro come off in strong air, and anyone with a Majorcan-style shutter faces an added problem: with the fly screen in place, you cannot raise and lower the shutter without dismantling the whole thing.

Velcro fly screens and other gadgets for under €10

At the most frugal end, a pack of velcro fly screens costs around €2 and covers three windows. For €6 you can cover a whole flat. The experience reported is that they last and that they solved an invasion of wasps coming from several nearby nests.

The problem, once again, is the air: if it blows hard, the velcro gives way. For a sheltered window it does the job; for an exposed balcony, not so much. And anyone with two balcony openings instead of conventional windows is left without the easy solution, because the product is designed for rigid frames.

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There is also the chemical route, which is not a fly screen but competes in the same league: a plug-in insecticide on a timer, switched on an hour before bed and off when you get up. It costs about €5 per refill for 45 days and, according to those who use it, it does not fail.

The question that remains is the usual one: do you pay for the mesh or for the peace of mind of never having to think about it again? With €480 on the table and alternatives from €2, the answer depends on how much it is worth to each person not to have to raise and lower blinds in July.