Pleated Fly Screens
Home Decisions makes and fits made to measure pleated fly screens across Rainham and East London: folding concertina mesh that pulls across a bifold, patio or French door to keep insects out, then stacks away to nothing when you want the opening clear.
Pleated Fly Screens Fitted Across Rainham & East London
The Insect Screen Built for Wide Doors, Not Just Windows .
Fitted bifold or patio doors and realised that opening them fully invites the whole garden in?
That is the exact problem a pleated fly screen solves. A fully folded bifold can leave an opening several metres across with nothing over it, and a standard window screen will not span that. A pleated screen runs on a slim top and bottom track, and its concertina mesh pulls smoothly across the whole width, then folds back into a stack barely a few centimetres deep when you want the doorway open. You get the breeze and the garden view without a cloud of flies arriving with them.
Home Decisions designs, builds and fits every pleated screen with our own team across Rainham (RM13), Romford (RM1 to RM7), Hornchurch (RM11 to RM12), Dagenham (RM8 to RM10), Barking (IG11), Upminster (RM14), Ilford (IG1 to IG3), and out through Stratford and East Ham. The opening is measured, the screen is made to it, and the same team fits it. There is no kit to assemble and no gamble on whether a mail-order size will match your doors.
It begins with a free home visit. We look at how your doors open and stack, check the threshold and the depth you have to work with, talk through single or twin configurations, and leave a written price. Nothing is ordered until you are happy with the plan.
What Are Pleated Fly Screens?
A pleated fly screen, also called a plisse insect screen, is a type of insect screen whose mesh is folded into a fine concertina, like the bellows of an accordion or the folds of a pleated blind. Instead of rolling up or sitting fixed in a frame, the mesh compresses and expands sideways along a track, so it can cover a very wide opening and then gather into a slim stack at one side. The word plisse is simply French for pleated, and you will see the two terms used interchangeably.
This is the screen designed for openings a window screen cannot handle. A framed fly screen is a fixed panel for a single window. A roller fly screen rolls vertically into a cassette over one window. A pleated screen works horizontally across a doorway or a wide run of glazing, which is why it has become the go-to for bifold and sliding patio doors. Fine tensioned cords thread through the pleats to hold the mesh flat and stop it billowing, so a single panel can span several metres without a central post in the way.
At Home Decisions, every pleated screen is built to the exact dimensions of your opening and fitted properly across Rainham and East London. It excludes flies, wasps, midges and moths while letting air and light pour through, and it operates completely independently of the doors themselves, so the doors keep working exactly as they did.
How Pleated Fly Screens Work
The system is elegantly simple once you see it. A slim top track and a matching bottom track are fitted across the opening, with side channels at each end. The pleated mesh is carried between the two tracks, and a handle bar draws it across the gap. Let go, or guide it back, and the folds collapse into a compact stack at the side. Because the mesh is guided top and bottom, it stays put in a breeze rather than blowing inward the way a loose net does.
How the screen is configured depends on the width and how you use the doorway:
Single panel runs from one side and pulls across the full opening, parking its stack at the opposite end. The straightforward choice for standard patio and French door widths.
Twin, or centre-pack, starts from both sides and meets in the middle, where the two mesh edges seal together. Each half only has to travel half the distance, which makes very wide bifold runs easy to operate and lets the screen span openings a single panel would struggle with.
Both-sides opening lets you part the mesh and walk through from either direction, then closes behind you on a magnetic catch. This is the configuration to specify for a door you are constantly in and out of on a summer evening.
The detail that decides whether a door screen gets used or resented is the bottom track. A tall rail is a trip hazard and a nuisance with a pram or a wheelchair. We fit a low profile rail, and where a genuinely flush, barrier-free threshold is needed the rail can drop to around 8mm, low enough to step over without thinking and low enough for wheels to roll across. On the frame side, the profile is slim, often around 18mm, so the whole system reads as a neat edge rather than a bulky addition.
Pleated Fly Screen Types We Fit Across East London
Pleated screens are not one size of one thing. The right configuration depends on the width of the opening, the way you move through it, and whether it faces a windy aspect. All of the following are made to measure and fitted by our own team across Rainham and East London.
Single-Panel Pleated Screens
One mesh pack, one direction of travel. It suits French doors, single sliding patio doors and narrower openings where the full width sits comfortably within a single panel’s reach. Simple to operate and the neatest option where the width allows it. Common on rear French doors in Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster homes.
Twin Centre-Pack Pleated Screens
Two packs that meet and seal in the centre, so each side travels only half the span. This is the configuration most garden-facing bifolds in Dagenham, Rainham and Barking end up with, because a fully open three or four door bifold is simply too wide for one panel to cover well. It spans the gap without a permanent post in the middle spoiling the view.
Both-Sides Walk-Through Screens
Built for the door you actually live through in summer. The mesh parts from either direction and snaps shut on a magnet behind you, so carrying a tray of drinks out to the garden does not turn into a wrestling match. The answer to the most common complaint people have about wide door screens.
Pleated Screens for Wide Windows
The same concertina principle works horizontally across a wide window or a run of glazing that is too broad for a roller or a fixed panel. Useful for large kitchen and living-room windows in newer Rainham Riverside and Barking Riverside flats.
Motorised Pleated Screens
For very wide or hard-to-reach spans, the screen can be motorised and driven by remote or a wall switch, so there is no reaching across a run of bifolds. Specified occasionally for large open-plan rear extensions and commercial terraces.
Pleated Fly Screen Mesh by Room and Need
The configuration decides how the screen moves. The mesh decides what it keeps out and how much you see through it. Every mesh below runs in the same pleated system, and we bring physical samples to the free home visit so you can judge them against your own light and view.
Standard Fibreglass Mesh for Everyday Openings
The default, and the right call for most homes. A fine, rot-proof fibreglass weave that stops houseflies, bluebottles and wasps while keeping the garden view sharp and the airflow generous. It does not corrode and it wipes clean.
- Garden-facing bifolds and patio doors across Rainham, Romford and Hornchurch where the aim is simply flies and wasps kept out on warm evenings.
- Family kitchens in Dagenham and Upminster that open onto the garden all summer.
- Any opening where you want the clearest possible view through the mesh.
Fine Midge Mesh for Waterside and Garden-Facing Homes
Midges and fruit flies slip straight through standard weaves. A tighter midge mesh closes that gap and is worth specifying near water or damp ground.
- Homes backing onto Rainham Marshes, the Beam River corridor or Barking Creek, where dusk brings midges to a lit kitchen.
- Rear extensions near allotments and green space around Elm Park and Upminster.
- Openings left ajar on summer evenings when the garden lights are on.
Pet-Resistant Mesh for Households With Cats and Dogs
A tougher, tear-resistant weave for the pleated system, so a dog nosing at the screen or a cat testing it does not put a hole through in week one.
- Dog-owning families in South Hornchurch and Dagenham whose back doors are the main garden route.
- Cat households in Ilford and Barking where an open patio door is an invitation.
- Homes where the screen needs to survive a busy household rather than just a quiet one.
Pollen-Filter Mesh for Hay Fever Sufferers
An ultra-fine weave that cuts the pollen drifting in with the breeze as well as the insects. It costs more because of the density, but for a hay fever sufferer who still wants the doors open in June, it changes the room.
- Open-plan living spaces and home offices across East London that stay open through pollen season.
- Rear rooms facing grass and trees in Gidea Park, Harold Wood and Upminster.
Commercial-Grade Mesh for Cafes, Pubs and Restaurants
A more robust mesh for premises that need a wide, walk-through screen across a terrace or garden door as a matter of hygiene, not just comfort. Built to take constant use and regular cleaning.
- Cafes, pubs and restaurants along the Romford, Rainham and Barking high streets with garden or terrace service.
- Food premises where a screened, walk-through opening supports insect exclusion during service.
Pleated Fly Screen Frame Colours for London Homes
With a door screen the aim is for the track and frame to read as part of the doorway, not an add-on. Matching the profile to your door frame does most of that work. These are the finishes we fit most often across London and Essex, all available across every mesh type.
| Frame Colour | Where It Works Best |
|---|---|
| White | The default for white uPVC bifolds and patio doors, the most common frame in East London homes. The track blends into the reveal. |
| Anthracite Grey | Matches the grey aluminium bifolds specified on most recent extensions and new builds around Rainham Riverside and Barking Riverside. |
| Black | Suits the black aluminium bifolds popular in contemporary rear extensions and open-plan kitchens. |
| Brown | For timber and older brown uPVC French and patio doors in period and post-war homes across Ilford and Barking. |
| Cream, light grey & color-match | Softer neutrals for painted frames, plus a colour-match option where a standard finish does not suit. Chosen at the home visit. |
Pleated Fly Screens by Door and Opening Type
East London has spent years opening the backs of its houses up: bifolds on extensions, sliding doors on flats, French doors on terraces. A pleated screen is made to the exact opening, so the question is which configuration and threshold suit how you use it.
Pleated Screens for Bifold Doors
The signature job. A folded-back bifold leaves the widest opening in the house, and a pleated screen is the only insect barrier that spans it cleanly while stacking out of the way. On a three or four door run, a twin centre-pack is usually the answer, and the screen works whether the doors are half open or fully stacked. It is the most requested pleated fit across garden-facing homes in Rainham, Dagenham and Barking.
Pleated Screens for Sliding Patio Doors
A sliding patio door only ever opens to half its width, but that half still needs covering, and a magnetic net rarely seals it. A single pleated panel sized to the sliding leaf gives a clean, tensioned barrier that parks neatly against the frame when the door is shut. A tidy, low-fuss fit for flats and terraces across Romford, Ilford and Hornchurch.
Pleated Screens for French Doors
French doors swing, so the screen has to sit clear of the leaves and still let you through. A single or both-sides pleated screen fitted to the outer reveal lets the doors open fully behind it, and the walk-through configuration means you are not unclipping anything every time you step into the garden. Popular on rear French doors in Upminster and Gidea Park homes.
Pleated Screens for Wide Windows and Glazed Runs
Not every wide opening is a door. Large kitchen windows and glazed runs in newer riverside flats can be too broad for a roller or a fixed panel, and a horizontal pleated screen covers them without a central post. A neat solution where the opening is unusually wide.
Pleated Screens for Conservatories and Garden Rooms
Conservatory and garden-room doors open onto exactly the spaces where insects gather. A pleated screen keeps a warm, glazed room ventilated through summer without letting it fill with flies, and folds away when you want the doors wide for the afternoon.
Pleated Screens for Cafes, Pubs and Restaurants
A commercial terrace or garden door needs a wide, durable, walk-through screen that staff and customers can pass through all service without thinking about it. A pleated system with a low threshold and a robust mesh does that, keeping insects out of a food area while the doors stay open. For a permanently open service hatch or a very exposed opening, a zip screen may suit better, and we will say so.
Made to Measure Pleated Fly Screens in London
With a pleated screen, made to measure is not a nicety, it is what makes the difference between a screen that seals and one that gaps. Bifold and patio openings are rarely perfectly square, thresholds vary, and the depth you have to fit the tracks into changes from one door system to the next. A screen ordered to a rounded-off size will sit proud of the frame, leave a gap at the meeting point, or foul the door as it folds.
Every pleated screen Home Decisions supplies is built to your opening and only your opening, then fitted by the team that measured it. We do not send a kit for you to trim on the kitchen floor, and we do not approximate a wide door with a standard size. On an opening this large, precision is the whole job.
How to Measure for Pleated Fly Screens
Measuring a wide opening is less forgiving than a single window, because a small error is multiplied across several metres and across a moving mesh. The principles below are what our team checks on site, and the reason a free home visit is the reliable route for a door this size.
| Measurement | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Width | Measure the full opening width the screen must cover, at the top, middle and bottom. A twin screen splits this width between two packs. |
| Height | Measure the drop from the top track position down to the finished floor or threshold, on both sides, and use the shorter figure. |
| Bottom rail | Decide the threshold you need: a low profile rail as standard, or a barrier-free rail around 8mm where a pram, wheelchair or flush finish matters. |
| Fixing depth | Check the depth available in the reveal or on the frame face to seat the tracks without fouling the doors as they open and fold. |
| Square check | Note any out-of-square in the opening, common on bifold reveals, so the screen is built to the real shape rather than an assumed rectangle. |
Other Fly Screens and Blinds We Fit
Most homes need more than one type of screen, and often a blind on the same opening. We quote the full range on a single visit.
Framed Fly Screens are fixed panels for individual windows, the natural partner to a pleated door screen elsewhere in the same room.
Roller Fly Screens retract vertically into a slim cassette over a single window, for the windows a pleated screen is not meant to cover.
Zip Screens are weatherproof screens for outdoor and very exposed openings where a domestic pleated screen is not the right tool.
Vertical Blinds handle light and privacy on the same patio and French doors a pleated screen handles insects, and the two work happily together.
Roller Blinds and Curtains finish the windows around a garden-facing room, fitted on the same visit.
Not sure which screen suits which opening? The fly screens hub compares all the options at a glance.
Book Your Pleated Fly Screen Fitting
Open doors should mean the garden coming to you, not the flies. A pleated fly screen, measured to your opening and fitted to glide, gives you the full width of your bifold or patio doors with a clean barrier across it, and folds away the moment you want it gone.
Serving Rainham, East London and surrounding areas
Call us on +44 1708 505379
Door Pleated Fly Screen
Key Features:
– Pull bar 24 x 44 – 5m
– Top guide 29 x 60 – 5m
– Closure profile 14 x 26 – 5m
– Side profile 31 x 37 – 5m
– Complete top end cap sliding bar
– Complete bottom end cap sliding bar
– Double tape for bottom rail – 100m
– Clip brackets
– Clip on magnet positive
– Negative magnet – 100m
Mesh Pack:
– Composition: Polypropylene
– Standard color: Black
Central Pack Door Pleated Fly Screen
Key Features:
– Pull bar 24 x 44 – 5m
– Top guide 29 x 44 – 5m
– Closure profile 14 x 26 – 5m
– Side profile 31 x 37 – 5m
– Complete top end cap sliding bar
– Complete bottom end cap sliding bar
– Double tape for bottom rail – 100m
– Clip brackets
– Clip on magnet positive
– Negative magnet – 100m
Mesh Pack:
– Composition: Polypropylene
– Standard color: Black
Delivery & Despatch
– FREE DELIVERY to all mainland UK destinations including highlands
– Shipped within 12 working days. Please call if your requirement is more urgent.
– Shipped by courier
– For UK Islands, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Northern Ireland a charge will be added to your basket
– For all other destinations please contact us for a shipping quote
Pleated Fly Screen
Pleated Fly Screen
Pleated Fly Screen
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