Insect Proofing Our Home

One of the things that I get really busy with in spring/summer is INSECT-PROOFING our home. Moving from the Philipppines to Switzerland, I never thought that I would have a problem with insects. But one of the “perks” of our country-life is that we live across a FARM & CREEK and behind us is a FOREST… so there are A LOT of insects trying to get into our home.

The most common that we find are:

Spiders
Moths
Fruit flies
Mosquitos
Crane flies

But we’ve also had some small flying cockroaches from the forest. I’ll be discussing how we deal with them using chemical & none chemical methods and it’s up to you what you prefer to do.

PREVENTION USING CHEMICAL SPRAYS

TD’s local colleague told me he sprayed something on the window & door jambs to prevent insects from coming in. I did this before I could put a screen on all the windows, because it was too expensive to screen everything at once. They reduce the insects coming in, but they are not 100% insect-proof.

IMPORTANT:

I wore a mask to prevent inhaling the toxic chemicals while applying.
Spray twice on the jamb, once open & once closed.
Leave the space for 30mins to avoid inhaling.

USING SCREENS AS A PHYSICAL BARRIER

For me using a physical barrier like a screen is still THE BEST, but even temporary renter-friendly solutions are pricey, especially if you have a lot of windows/doors & if they are larger than normal.

There are 3 kinds of screens in my experience:

Tulle – cheapest, super soft & hardest to install & untidy looking. Only lasts 1 season. White & Black.
Fiberglass – more expensive, flexible but easy to handle & can stay for many seasons. White & Black.
Aluminum – stiff but more permanent solution. Most expensive. Only in silver & black.

I chose FIBERGLASS because it’s the tidiest & looks beautiful in our all-white home. Best-value for money too, especially if you are only renting. #ContentToRent.

FIBERGLASS WINDOW SCREENS

So far I’ve found 2 good brands for FIBERGLASS SCREENS:

1. INSECT PROTECT

I purchased in Carrefour France. I use it for our smaller windows & they are still going strong on their 3rd summer. If you see these, I can only recommend them.

2. WINDHAGER

You can buy Windhager Fiberglass screens on Amazon.de, Amazon.fr & in Jumbo hardware store. I use this for all our big windows because they have it in different sizes i.e. 100 x 120 cm or 100 x 250 cm.

For our extra wide double-panel windows, I sewed 2 rolls together. The sewing isn’t perfect but the screen works & that’s what’s important.

FIBERGLASS VS TULLE

Btw when buying online, I noticed that they label it with FIBERGLASS, but it’s actually TULLE. So make sure you’re buying the correct thing. Tulle is cheap but a nightmare to install & will only last one season.

FASTENING TAPE

Usually, box sets come with a fastening tape, but if you only buy a screen roll then you need to buy the fastening tape separately. I had to buy extra because our double-panel windows are so huge.

FIBERGLASS DOOR SCREENS

One of the things we would like to be able to do in summer is keep our balcony door open for some fresh air without massive flies coming in & trying to taste our food. Guys, you cannot believe how massive these flies are. They as healthy as Swiss cows.

The past 2 summers we have had these WINDHAGER DOOR CURTAINS & they worked okay. The cons are:

If it’s windy it’s still easy for the quick flies to get in between the slats.
Because of the dragging motion on the floor, they end up having holes so we had to throw them away after 2 summers.

I haven’t decided yet what I will do this summer, but I’m looking into more permanent options like the WINDHAGER SLIDING DOOR SCREEN below.

They also have a WINDHAGER TENSION FRAME DOOR SCREEN.

It’s very important to measure your own doors & windows before purchasing. Many of the measurements are a maximum because you can adjust by cutting. The only reason I haven’t gone for the doors is I am not so confident with my ability to cut it to size. I am afraid to make a mistake & waste our money.

As it is now, we are very happy that once the sun is down we can easily cool the home by opening our windows. My big win for the summer is finally finding the perfect way to screen our VELUX WINDOWS.