Don't Throw Away Your Old Screen Door, Use It As A Garden Sifter Instead

If you've been making some upgrades to your home, you may have a few household items on hand that you're looking to upcycle rather than kicking them to the curb. There's one more item which offers surprising utility in the garden: an old screen door. Whether you've upgraded to a storm door for the rainy season or you're simply looking to modernize your home's entryway, you'll find that a screen door makes for a surprisingly good garden sifter, ideal for filtering out pebbles and other debris from your soil. With just a little bit of creativity and almost no added cost, this DIY can potentially save you hundreds of dollars, and many hours of your time.

For those that don't know, garden sifters (also frequently referred to as soil screens) are used to separate fine, workable soil from standard dirt, which may be loaded with rocks and other outdoor debris. They are especially useful tools for home gardeners that prefer to make their own compost while short on time and space, or those looking to enrich their soil to offer their flowers the best foundation possible. These sifters don't usually cost a ton of money — though one the size of a screen door could cost you more than $100. A smaller sifter would be even more affordable, but could cost you hours of your valuable time slowly sifting through a mass of soil one square foot at a time.

Those wondering how to put this hack to good use needn't look very far for an explanation. Depending on how beat up your old screen door is, you may be able to lay the whole thing down on top of a wheelbarrow or compost bin and start sifting with no added DIY necessary. If there are holes in the screen, or you're looking to section the door off into multiple smaller-sized sieves, there is a simple and easy process to accommodate your needs. Simply screw together a square wooden frame, and staple the screen mesh all the way around. Using this method, you can make your garden sifter the exact size you need to accommodate your compost bin, or account for the most sturdy portions of your screen. If the door frame is in decent shape, you can even break that down and make the sifter frame out of the very same material.

If you'd like to add a little extra DIY flare to the whole project, consider crafting a sifter box to sort out any metals or other trinkets you may encounter in your yard. This would entail throwing together a wooden box with an opening approximately the same size as your newly-crafted garden sifter. To take this box to the next level, snag a couple of hinges from your discarded screen door and install them on the side of the box, then attach the sifter for easy-swing access. Before long, you'll find that this screen door hack is just as good or better than any store-bought sieve on the market. If you still have materials leftover after this project, you can also repurpose your screen door as a garden trellis.