Spline for 1983 screen enclosure

Hello,

We had our screened pool enclosure re-screened and the contractor mentioned something about the spline used in the enclosure that was installed in 1983. We're fairly ignorant of this process and the different types of spline and since this man was referred by our neighbor we trusted him to do the job correctly. Three months and $1900 later, we have flat spline popping out of screens in different locations: corners, high up above the door frame, down low in another corner, and along a wall. In some areas the end of the spline popped out and it continued further along and one area has 2 separate areas where the spline popped out in the middle but is still intact on either end. Is it possible this contractor took the easy, yet wrong approach and used a flat spline when he should have used round and a certain diameter? How are we to know?

Thank you,
Meghen Vance, Florida

Hi Meghan;

Sounds like the spline used was the wrong size.

Without seeing some pictures of the bars that the spline fits into, I cant say if round spline would fit

You do have to use the spline that the bar was designed for. There are two common sizes of flat spline, one is slightly wider than the other.

The flat spline I have is 11/32 inch wide, my arched spline is 5/16 inch wide which is 1/32 inch narrower.

Perhaps he used 5/16" wide when you really needed 11/32"

You could install a test piece of 11/32" and see if it solves the problem.