Retractable Screens in West Hollywood: Why Fall Is Peak Mosquito Season

Mosquito season in Los Angeles does not end with summer. County health officials identify August and September as the peak period for West Nile virus transmission in California, and invasive Aedes mosquitoes stay active into November. Tashman Home Center has installed window and door screens across West Hollywood since 1961, using trained in house crews.

Most people here treat Labor Day as the finish line for bug season. The calendar says fall, and screens stop being something anyone thinks about until next June.

The mosquitoes did not get that message.

September and October are the months when West Hollywood homes are opened up the widest and the longest. It is the most pleasant stretch of the year. It is also one of the riskiest, which is why so many homeowners end up looking into retractable screens in West Hollywood at exactly this time of year.

The Two Mosquito Shifts Most Homeowners Do Not Know About

Los Angeles has two very different kinds of mosquitoes working two different schedules.

Native Culex mosquitoes carry West Nile virus. They feed primarily on birds and bite people at dawn and dusk. They are the reason public health guidance always mentions covering up in the evening.

Invasive Aedes mosquitoes are a newer problem in Southern California. Vector control districts describe them as daytime biters that strongly prefer human hosts.

They are small, aggressive, and often called ankle biters. They breed in tiny amounts of standing water, sometimes no more than a bottle cap.

Put those two together, and the result is simple. No safe window exists.

Culex takes the early morning and the evening. Aedes covers everything in between.

That matters in a West Hollywood home in October, because that is exactly when the doors stay open from breakfast until well after dinner.

What Los Angeles County Recommends, and How to Check Your Own Screens

County prevention guidance starts with something that has nothing to do with our business, and it would be dishonest to skip it.

Eliminate standing water. Every vector control district in the state leads with this.

Plant saucers, fountains, clogged gutters, pool covers, forgotten buckets, and the tray under a potted ficus are where these mosquitoes actually come from. Dumping standing water weekly does more than any product you can buy.

The second piece of guidance is where we can help. The county health officer advises residents to make sure windows and doors have screens that fit tightly and have no holes or tears.

That sounds obvious. In practice, most homes in West Hollywood fail it.

Walk your house this week and look for:

Mesh with tears, patches, or holes at the corners
Frames that sag, bow, or no longer sit flush in the track
Gaps at the sill or along the jamb where light shows through
Doors with no screen at all, especially French doors and patio sliders
Screens taken off years ago for a party or a paint job and never put back

That last one is the most common by far. A screen leaning against the garage wall protects nobody.

Standard insect screening is an 18x16 mesh, which handles mosquitoes well when the frame actually seals. On custom window screens in Los Angeles, the failure is almost never the mesh itself. It is the fit.

The Real Problem Is Screening a Door You Want Open All Day

Windows are the easy part. A window screen goes on and stays on, and nobody minds looking at it.

Doors are where this falls apart.

September is the hottest month in Los Angeles by average high, running around 84 degrees. Once those evenings finally cool off, people stop running air conditioning and open everything.

In West Hollywood that usually means French doors onto a patio, a wide slider to a deck, or a set of doors designed to disappear so the living room and the courtyard read as one space.

Nobody wants a clunky fixed screen bolted across an opening like that. So it gets removed.

And a removed screen does exactly as much good as no screen.

That is the entire practical argument for a retractable system. The screen is there when you want air, and it rolls away into a housing at the side of the opening when you do not.

There is nothing to store, nothing leaning against a wall, and nothing anyone is tempted to take down in October and forget about until next summer.

We install retractable screen systems for French doors, single entry doors, sliding patio doors, folding door systems, and wide openings up to 32 feet across. Our screen program has been built around manufacturers including Rollaway retractable screen systems, whose disappearing screens we have installed for years.

Fit is what makes any of it work. A retractable screen that seals cleanly at the head, sill, and side track keeps mosquitoes out.

One installed sloppily leaves the same gaps as the torn screen it replaced. That is why we measure every opening ourselves and install with our own crews rather than subcontracting the work out.

Why Fall Is the Right Time to Schedule

There is no artificial deadline here, just a practical one.

Custom screens are fabricated to the exact dimensions of your opening, so there is a lead time between measuring and installing. Scheduling in September or early October generally means the system is in place while mosquito activity continues through November.

If the timing slips past that, it is still worth doing. Installing in late fall means custom retractable screen doors are already up and working when the next season starts in June, instead of being booked in the middle of the summer rush.

Talk to Tashman Home Center About Your Screens

Tashman Home Center has been a family business in Los Angeles since 1961. We operate a West Hollywood showroom with trained in house installers rather than subcontracted crews.

If the screens on your doors are torn, missing, or sitting in the garage, this is the season to deal with it.

Come see the systems working in the showroom, or schedule a free estimate in West Hollywood and we will measure your openings.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is mosquito season in Los Angeles?

Mosquito activity in Los Angeles runs from roughly June through November. Local vector control districts report invasive Aedes mosquitoes as active across that entire window. California health officials identify August and September as the peak period for West Nile virus transmission statewide, which means fall is an active part of the season, not the end of it.

Do mosquitoes bite during the day in Los Angeles?

Yes. Invasive Aedes mosquitoes bite during the day and strongly prefer human hosts, according to California vector control districts. Native Culex mosquitoes, which carry West Nile virus, bite mainly at dawn and dusk. Between the two species, biting activity covers most of the day, so evening precautions alone do not cover the risk.

Do retractable screens actually keep mosquitoes out?

A properly fitted screen is a physical barrier, and Los Angeles County guidance recommends screens that fit tightly with no holes or tears as one part of mosquito prevention. Screens are not a medical protection and do not replace eliminating standing water, which remains the most effective step any homeowner can take.

Can you put a retractable screen on French doors?

Yes. French doors are one of the most common applications we handle in West Hollywood. A double retractable system meets in the center of the opening and retracts into housings on either side, which leaves the doors and hardware fully visible when the screen is not in use.

How much do retractable screens cost in West Hollywood?

Single door installations typically run between $300 and $900 per door. Larger systems for folding doors or wide, multi-panel patio openings generally range from $1,200 to $3,500, depending on the width of the opening, the mesh selected, and whether the system is manual or motorized.

How long does retractable screen installation take?

Most single door installations take between 30 minutes and a couple of hours. Wider openings and motorized systems take longer, up to about four hours. Every system is fabricated to the specific opening, so installation is always preceded by an in-person measurement.

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