How to make aluminium sliding screen doors fit existing door frame?

[Keith_S]

Hi, I would like to make an Aluminium framed sliding screen door to add to our existing sliding glass door frame. The existing door frame has 4 sliding glass doors that stack to one end and I propose to add a single screen door that I can close while one glass door is open to let some air in and keep birds out.

The existing frame has the track in the bottom, and the screen door would need to be 2100mm high (this is the height of the existing glass door, from the top of the track) and 800mm wide, in a frame 20 to 25mm thick.
Can I buy the materials at Bunnings?

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Keith_S. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about creating an aluminium frame.

We have Metal Mate 25.4 x 25.4 x 1.2mm 3m Silver Aluminium Square Tube and Metal Mate 2 Way Connect-It Corner Joiners, though at 25.4mm, they might be slightly too large for your track. Also, you can't easily attach a flyscreen to them. Perhaps pop-riveting a flat bar around the inside edge would be enough to sandwich and compress the flyscreen.

The only other option I can think of would be to use a flyscreen frame, which doesn't lend itself to having the flyscreen easily attached. However, it's generally used in a fixed location rather than for a sliding door, so you'd need to add several horizontal braces to help provide rigidity. It's 11m thick, so it's on the thinner side.

The Pillar 2040 x 1000mm Link Screen Pleated Flyscreen Door is an interesting concept, and perhaps it could be adapted to your application.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell