Screen Mesh

What Is Screen Mesh and Where Is It Used?

Screen mesh is a square-aperture mesh with even, uniform openings, made to separate granular material by size. Pass mixed material such as sand, gravel, soil, compost, rubble or mortar across it and anything smaller than the aperture drops through; the oversize stays on top. It is produced 100 cm wide and sold by the square metre, cut to size and stretched over a frame.

It has plenty of uses beyond screening. Lying flat and holding a true square aperture, it serves as facing mesh on rabbit, pigeon and poultry cages, protection panels for vegetable beds and nursery plots, compost bins, shelf and basket fabrication, coarse filters over flue and ventilation openings, and guarding panels in workshops. Unlike hexagonal poultry netting it stays flat and holds its shape, so it is preferred wherever the mesh sits in a frame.

10x10 mm or 20x20 mm? Choosing the Aperture

The mesh aperture is the largest particle you want to let through. 10x10 mm is the standard for fine sand, plastering sand, garden soil, compost, grain and fine chippings. In caging it is tight enough to stop small-bodied animals and chicks, so it suits rabbit and poultry cages.

20x20 mm is for coarse-grained work: separating gravel, chippings and rubble, screening coarse compost and sorting excavated material. A wider aperture screens faster; fine material through 10 mm slows the job and blinds the mesh constantly, while coarse material through 10 mm rather than 20 mm fills the screen and kills output. For caging, 20x20 mm suits larger animals and protection panels, but never small animal pens.

Why Wire Diameter Matters: 1.2 mm and 1.6 mm

The aperture decides what the mesh separates; the wire diameter decides how long it lasts. The 10x10 mm product uses 1.2 mm wire, the 20x20 mm product 1.6 mm. The pairing is deliberate: as the aperture grows, each wire's unsupported span lengthens and deflects more under the same load, and heavier wire offsets that deflection.

The difference shows most on frames worked with a shovel. Every shovel-load hits the mesh; thin wire eventually bellies out, the aperture loses its shape, and a distorted aperture screens badly. Heavy-duty work therefore needs closer frame spacing and more support under the mesh. On static cages and guard panels, which take no impact, thinner wire is ample and far easier to form.

Technical Specifications

How Many Square Metres Do You Need? Worked Example

At 100 cm wide the arithmetic is easy: 1 metre of length = 1 m². The formula is m² = piece length (m) x piece width (m), and piece width cannot exceed 100 cm. Add roughly ten per cent for cutting and edge folding.

Example 1: four screening frames of 100 x 200 cm. Each is 1 x 2 = 2 m², so 8 m² in total. With the ten per cent allowance that is 8.8 m², so 9 m² is ordered. Sand is being screened, so 10x10 mm in 1.2 mm wire is the right choice.

Example 2: cladding four rabbit cages of 100 x 50 x 50 cm. One cage comes to 2.5 m²: two sides (2 x 1.00 x 0.50 = 1 m²), front and back (2 x 0.50 x 0.50 = 0.5 m²), floor and roof (2 x 1.00 x 0.50 = 1 m²). Four cages need 10 m², or 11 m² with the allowance. Door openings are small, so they are not deducted but count as cutting allowance.

Screen Frames and Installation

1. Build the frame strong enough to tension the mesh. On screening frames add intermediate supports every 40-50 cm; the longer the unsupported span, the more the mesh bellies.
2. Cut the mesh to overhang the frame by 3-4 cm on every side.
3. Fix one long edge first, then pull the mesh tight by hand from the opposite edge; tie the corners last.
4. Use wide-crown staples or a timber batten on wooden frames, tying wire or a clamping flat bar on metal frames.
5. Fold the overhang over the frame section. A folded edge prevents cuts and stops the mesh pulling away.
6. Set the frame at a 30-45 degree slope; steeper and material slides straight off, shallower and screening slows.
7. On cages, tie panels at the corners and every 15-20 cm along the edges; reinforce door frames separately.

Screen Mesh, Perforated Sheet and Expanded Metal Compared

Three products look as though they do the same job, and confusing them costs money. Screen mesh is woven: light, easy to cut, fold and stretch over a frame, and inexpensive. It reaches its limit in heavy industrial screening under constant shovel impact.

Perforated sheet is made from a single sheet; hole sizes are very precise and the surface rigid, so it leads in mechanical screening and decorative panels, but it is heavy and costs more. Expanded metal is sheet slit and stretched open; its non-slip surface and strength suit platforms and guarding, though screening accuracy is low.

The fencing side is just as clear-cut: for a garden or land boundary use galvanized chain link fence, not screen mesh, which is not made to be tensioned over long runs. For an insect barrier at a window use the much finer insect screen; a 10x10 mm aperture lets insects straight through.

Maintenance, Service Life and the Cost of Choosing Wrong

The worst enemy of screen mesh is mortar and mud left to dry on it. Brush and rinse while the mesh is still wet and the surface stays clean; hardened mortar blocks apertures and stresses the wire when chipped off. Store screens upright and dry; screens left flat get walked on and deform. Once the mesh bellies, the aperture loses shape and screening quality with it; closer frame supports prevent this from the outset.

Choosing wrong plays out predictably: a 10x10 mm aperture bought for coarse material, a screen that blinds constantly, double the labour. Or thin wire over a frame taking heavy shovel work, bellied out within weeks and no longer a screen. The third classic mistake is tensioning screen mesh along a long fence line; it ripples, never sits straight, and ends up replaced with chain link fence.

What Determines the Price, and How Do Delivery and Site Surveys Work?

Price comes down to the mesh aperture, the wire diameter, the square metres ordered and current steel raw material costs. Heavier wire over the same area means more steel, so the 1.6 mm product sits above the 1.2 mm one. Unit cost falls as square metreage rises, so it pays to plan a cage or screen build in one go. Every figure in the price table on this page includes VAT.

Our Ostim, Ankara based company sells and ships to every province in Türkiye; screen mesh is stocked in rolls and cut to the square metreage ordered before despatch. Delivery is always charged; shipping is added to the order total, including deliveries within Ankara. Inside Ankara, site surveys are free of charge: we measure, plan the cuts and give a total square metreage that keeps waste to a minimum. Installation is not one of our standard services; our teams attend site only on projects of approximately 1,000 metres and above.