Like many people, you’re probably used to seeing traditional screen doors. While they can be opened and closed, these doors remain in a fixed position most of the time. This means you see them — and probably the inferior, lightweight mesh that most screen doors are made with — most of the time, too.

By contrast, disappearing screen doors are housed on the vertical side of a screen door. They consist of four basic parts: an aluminum housing, a sliding bar, track and durable, high-quality, polyester mesh. When you want to enjoy the benefits of a screen door, you pull the door to one side. In this state, it’s visible, but barely so. The thin mesh is strung as tightly as strings on a violin.

When you don’t want or need the screen door open – say, on a cold, rainy or windy day – you simply slide the door back into the discreet housing unit. You know that the screen door has disappeared, but to unknowing guests and visitors, it’s as though the screen door isn’t there at all. (Remember: to them, seeing is believing.)