Amazon. Google. FlexScreen. Wonder what these three successful companies might have in common? They all started in garages.
Owner Joe Altieri sold windows for close to 20 years before starting his business, FlexScreen. Once he did, Wallside Windows became his very first customer. Wallside is proud to offer the product – a superior choice for those replacing windows. And spring is the perfect time to try FlexScreen.
The FlexScreen is the world’s first flexible window screen. Find it this spring at Wallside Windows.
Alteri will be the first to tell you that window screens have a lot of inherent problems, - from scratching and denting, difficulty to remove or replace and corners that break open.
Five years ago he started experimenting in his garage to come up with a better option. The product eventually became the FlexScreen, the world’s first flexible window screen.
It all came about through a series of fortunate accidents, he said
The core of these screens are made of high carbon oiled and tempered springs. Alteri got the idea to use this material after an electrician came to his house to put an outlet in the wall in his office.“
He used an electrician fish tape made out of spring,” Alteri said. “He was fishing it up to the wall. He could bend it around corners and return the spring to its original shape. Being in that experimental mindset I was in, I just asked him, ‘What is that?’”
Altieri ran out to the home improvement store and cleaned them clear out of the tape.
Wallside Windows uses FlexScreen, which is easy to bend, making it simple to install and remove.
Then he had to figure out a way to bond the mesh into the frame and use a material that wouldn’t corrode over the long term. Alteri met with a local spring company who wasn’t able to help with his prototype but gave him a packet of coated super clips. A little experimentation went a long way.
He heated up an iron, took one of the huge paper clips and put the screen mesh on it. After a minute he discovered the mesh didn’t release He had discovered his material.
Today FlexScreen is experiencing fast growth. They’ve expanded from one location to three more - Pittsburgh, Chicago, and South Dakota - with a fourth opening this spring in Atlanta. By then, “we’ll have a million units sold,” he said. FlexScreen has already received a couple of patents and has more pending.
It is a simple design, is damage resistant, and is “beautifully invisible,” meaning it hides into the window screen pocket, improving sightlines and eliminating any need for color matching.
All of Wallside’s double hung and sliding windows installed after March 2016 now feature FlexScreen. It is easy to install and remove, and promises the best view to the outside world. They’re available in full and half screens.
Ready for your own FlexScreen to improve your view to the outside world? Spring is the ideal time to find our more. Call Wallside Windows for your free estimate today.
