Kalleh and I just had a discussion of ways to keep Shu's and her dog from tearing through their screened-in porch when frightened by thunder. I suggested hardware cloth, but she said she'd never heard of it. Is this now a rare item? Do the rest of you know what it is?

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm
not sure about the former. "
Albert Einstein

Hardware cloth is very much still around.

Kalleh - it comes in grades by fractional inches. For example, 1/8" X 1/8", 1/4" X 1/4", up to 1/2 by 1/2". After that, I think it's called welded mesh.

Another item (just learned of this) is something called pet screen - which is basically plastic window screen with slightly larger openings and much larger fibers to withstand the onslaught of pets.

Bob

Never heard of it. If I wanted welded mesh I'd ask for welded mesh

Nope, unknown to me, too.

If pressed to guess, I'd have said it was a cloth used for polishing a computer.

Well, I am off to the hardware store this weekend, so I will let you know what they call it. I can't wait to be able to use our porch again. Asa has been a lifesaver!

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Asa has been a lifesaver!

Huh? I'm not so fat as to be round (yet!) and there's no big hole in me middle (yet!)

Perhaps we could experiment by throwing you in the water, Asa, to see if you saved someone who was drowning.

quote:

Well, I am off to the hardware store this weekend, so I will let you know what they call it.

Don't forget the frotting pencils.

Great skit!

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Great skit!

Indeed. But I think this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu9MptWyCB8 has the edge.

Ah! The "Four Candles" sketch! Pure genius.

Well, experiment completed. I went to our local hardware store, that has been in existence for many years, and asked one of the regular clerks for "hardware cloth." He'd never heard of it. When I explained what I wanted, he immediately knew: "Oh...pet screen!" Go figure. He wasn't a baby, either. I'd guess he was at least in his 60s.

I'm just going to have to send you some to prove that I'm NOT hallucinating! Of course, pet screen will do the trick too!

So it's different? He wondered if I meant chicken wire, but I didn't think so.

My father used to say he should put emery cloth on the screen doors when the dog scratched them in the summer. That would tend to file down the doggie toenails. But a few years back, we bought the pet screens also for our screen doors. When George is awake, I'll ask him if he ever hears of hardware cloth. He grew up in Upstate New York.

I'm not surprised our UK friends have not heard of it, since everywhere I've ever been in the UK, which is certainly not very many places, I admit, but they have had neither screens in their windows nor screen doors in the summer. Not enough bugs, I guess?
Wordmatic

He must not have been in the hardware business very long despite his age! Look here: http://www.twpinc.com/ And here:http://www.twpinc.com/twp/jsp/product.jsp?type=4
and here: http://www.wovenwire.com/galvanized-hardware-cloth.htm

Hey, Asa, that last link was perfect. Now we have a definition of hardware cloth!

Wordmatic, I related right away to "emery cloth" (I grew up in upstate NY). I'm sure we had that in the hardware store. My dad & friends were in the construction business, & I only remember them saying 'wire mesh' (fine gauge etc)-- but then, my dad grew up in Indiana.

In Indiana, we called it hardware cloth. We used it for rabbit cages, burying in the ground to keep small critters out of flower beds, fortifying screen doors, and probably many other things.

I just had a look at the Four Candles sketch. We used to see The Two Ronnies on our local PBS station years ago, but have not seen it listed for years. What a hoot. I had a little trouble with the "pumps" and the "Bill Hooks" references, until I read this Wikipedia article.

It is hilarious.

Wordmatic

Now that we have established the existence of such a thing as hardware cloth, I'm left wondering if the Monty Python folks, in the Holy Grail movie, might have knitted their knickers out of steel wool and their shirts of hardware cloth? No? Wellll, there's a skit waiting to be written!

Interestingly, that first site that Asa posted spelled it "hardwarecloth."

I visited my father today in Wisconsin, and he immediately knew about hardware cloth. I guess I missed out on those conversations when I was a little girl.